Garmin - Lily Sport

I had the first gen and sent it back as it had a lot of issues. It looks nice, but lacks in capability compared to other similarly priced watches. Would a Vivoactive 5 or 6 be an option?

TL;DR Yes, overall, this IS a good switch from the Apple Watch if you're prioritizing battery life, fitness tracking, and a cute, dainty look. When my SO and I started a weight loss journey early this year, I encouraged her to get a Lily 2 -the Classic, because she's frugal and was unsure if she'd like it or use it. Recently, she said to me, "This is something that I never thought I needed, that I now can't imagine not having." She jokingly calls herself "Princess Luddite" (she's not, really). She's an executive, and the size & style of the Lily was a huge plus, as well as the reasonable cost. She loves that most people simply see it as a watch, not a fitness or smart watch. Battery life IS terrific on Garmins. GPS use will run down the battery, but my Venu is still a multi-day smart watch unless I'm using the GPS all day long, like skiing or sailboat racing. The Classic is missing the onboard GPS, which the Sport has. That should do the trick nicely for tracking your outdoor runs, as it does on my Venu 3 for my cycling, skiing, and more -no need for your phone to be with you. Specs say that it does control smartphone music, but neither of us does that. We use Tidal, which is not compatible. Spotify is compatible, IDK about Apple Music. She isn't much of a fitness person. However, as a walker, she particularly enjoys the step tracking and sleep tracking features. Lily tracks her sleep better than my Venu, which seems iffy on my falling asleep (could be me!). Sleep tracking might be the weakest feature on Garmins in general. Notifications/message reading work well with all of my messaging apps (I'm not sure about Viber, but it should work the same), and are customizable as you desire, so you're not overwhelmed with unimportant ones. Bands are easy to change; she wears a more posh, dressy, jewelry-like, less sporty-looking band. I change my bands and watch faces for everyday casual wear vs more formal events. She hasn't mentioned any durability concerns or wear in 2 years of daily use, even from gardening. She's mainly in an office, so not really beating it up. The Sport has nearly all the activity tracking features available on my old Fenix 5, as well as on my Venu 3. It's not missing much, TBH. Apple compatibility appears comparable. As Android users, we just have access to messaging response options that Apple does not allow, but all the notifications should be the same on an iPhone. She doesn't use any third-party apps, but they should work, I guess?

I use a Garmin Lily and I got it 3 years ago. About 6 months ago one of the little strap loops broke so I replaced the strap. The battery still lasts 4-5 days and it's smaller than the chunky masculine watches that have more capacity. I like the Garmin app, and during the time I've had it they've updated the watch software so it now gives me a VO2 max estimate as well as all the other stuff it tracks, so I'm pleased I'm actually getting more features over time. I expect to get several more years' use out of this one, and all being well I'd likely get another Garmin after.

Definitely don’t get the Lily or Lily 2. The Lily 2 Active does have built in GPS so it might be okay for your needs. However, I had it for about 7 months and changed to the Venu 3s which is 100% better. The Lily series is a basic fitness watch that is not worth the price when there are other watches at the same price point that give you way more features. I also have small wrists and the slightly larger size of the Venu 3s if just fine for me and honestly not noticeable when wearing it. I’ve been using Garmin Pay on my watches over the years and it works great. (Saw someone said it doesn’t work for them, but I’ve never had an issue) If you haven’t already, you can compare watches side by side on Garmin’s website which is very helpful! But I’d recommend a watch in the Vivoactive, Forerunner or Venu series.

I can't comment on the ring, but I can recommend Garmin lily for sleep tracking. I wear a Garmin Lily during the day and for sleep, and switch to my Garmin Forerunner 745 for workouts. I like that the watches talk to each other through Garmin connect so I never miss steps or double count steps.

Actually not all Garmin's have built in GPS which is quite shocking actually, the Lily does not unless you look at the Lily Active 2. The Vivomove watches and the Vivosmart 4 and 5 also do not have built in GPS.

The Garmin Lily is the only model that supports the dance activity in the watch. You can record an activity as Cardio and then change it later to dance on your phone. Garmin offers a full range of products and it's a daunting lineup to find exactly what's best for you.

Except for the Lily 🥲 that thing dies so fast I feel like I barely get to wear it 

I had an Apple watch and different types of fitbit before but now i’m using the Garmin Lily and i like it. I chose it because it’s not too big or bulky and it does look a little bit more like a classic watch. It also depends on what type of infos you want to tracks. The app is also free to use.

I've tried fitbit luxe and garmin lily. My opinion is that fitbit was better at tracking movement/exercise and easier to navigate the menstrual tracking. Everything was very intuitive about the fitbit. The menstrual tracking part did glitch on me bc i didnt log consistently. I would have bought another fitbit but they discontinued the one I liked... they have a slim fitbit that basically just has a screen for stats, so while there is a screen it isn't overwhelming. The garmin lily watch and app is not as intuitive to me. I didn't know garmin had a menstrual tracking section/cant find the section. Garmin also doesn't track climbing well at this price point. It barely registers climbing,swimming,or yoga as an exercise automatically. The fitbit was better at realizing exercise is happening. I currently use my garmin more as a watch than a fitness tracker 😔 What's important to me was: 1) not bulky, aesthetically pleasing 2) reasonable low price, bc my fitbit got smashed up while climbing and im expecting my garmin to get smashed up. 3) silicone band so it doesn't catch on anything climbing and break my hand or somethin 4) tracks heartrate 5) waterproof Tldr; dont recommend garmin lily, fitbit might be a good budget option if you want to try out a fitness watch. Neither are good at tracking climbing specifically, I've only really used the heartrate/activity tracker for both.