How much will playing music from the watch be a use for you? Battery life suffers a lot when you use the watch for music, and the 255 specifically suffers a lot. From a week or two of battery to hours.
It might be worth it to upgrade to the higher end watch just for the battery life alone.
My experience with the 255 Music is the same as two other friends with the same watch. Playing music had a big drain for all of us.
Maybe you got lucky and got a 950 battery accidentally installed in yours at the factory hahaha
Hello everyone. I’m having a hard time deciding which watch to commit to using.
I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and a Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, and I’ve been alternating between the two, which makes it difficult to stay committed and keep all my training data in a single app.
First, I’m a 35-year-old man and I started training a bit more seriously about 3 months ago. My workouts are mainly focused on health, since I have a full-time job that I can’t step away from, as I’m the primary provider for my family. However, I’ve been venturing a bit more into triathlon training with a dream—still distant—of completing an Ironman 70.3. I finished my first half marathon two weeks ago.
I really like the battery life of the Forerunner 255 as well as the way Garmin presents health and training data. For example, in swimming, the rest intervals show up every time I get out of the water. During runs, there’s an upper graph displaying my heart rate zone or pace so I can check it with just a quick glance. I also really liked the Daily Suggested Workouts and the adaptive coaches that adjust based on my sleep and recent training.
But the biggest issue with the watch is that it doesn’t have LTE, nor does it have a microphone or an assistant for timer requests, alarms, Apple reminders, or voice notes.
With the Apple Watch, the screen is amazing and vibrant, but it’s not always-on like an MIP display. My workout data ends up split across two different apps (Health and Fitness), and it’s not presented very clearly. I end up using Bevel and WorkOutDoors to improve the layout and presentation, but this data doesn’t influence the training suggestions. My sleep doesn’t influence my workouts, nor do my recent exercises. Everything feels a bit disconnected.
But I love going out for a run with just my watch, without carrying my smartphone, and using LTE to receive notifications and calls, as well as Apple Pay for payments. Also, the convenience of voice reminders, timers, alarms, answering calls without having to run around looking for my phone—these things make life so much easier.
So, I’d like to know if anyone has gone through this and how you ended up solving it. I believe that if the LTE issue were resolved, I would switch to Garmin for good. I hate running with a smartphone. Do you keep it in your pocket? Do you use a specific Lycra band or something like that?
What did you decide in the end?
I find that both are equally reliable on training. Pace, distance and everything else. Just the way Garmin presents are way better.
If only Garmin create a LTE experience likewise Apple.
AdeptusKapekus2025
