Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.

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Apple for everyday and my quatix for backcountry. Apple Watch and phones as a backup satellite communicator.
I’m pretty sure the Instinct 2 and 3 both use the same sensors and, internally, are quite similar. I bought a base model 45mm Instinct 2 at the tail end of 2024 to replace my AW6. Great move. I’ve been trying many Garmin MIP watches since but keep switching between the Instinct 2 and a Quatix 7 I snagged on sale. The base Instinct 2 is a great and affordable introduction to Garmin. It often goes on sale for under $300CDN and is easily available at big box store, so you could try one new and return it if it isn’t your thing. (I’d bet you will keep it.) The updated look (orange) and flashlight are the biggest changes with the 3, as far as I recall.. And OLED, if that’s of interest to you. Getting away from an OLED screen was one of the draws to the Instinct line for me.
was exactly in the same situation and got a quatix 7 pro trust me, after years of garmin connect and garmin watches it’s very difficult to move to apple. at least that’s my experience. i ended up like a clown using runGap to fake a garmin watch and import data into garmin connect and then i realized this is idiotic. and add to that the constant anxiety around battery life. but if you decide - good luck. :)
Battery life makes the AW a non-starter for me. I’ve never lasted more than a month with an AW. I really like my Quatix 7 but do sometimes wish I had gotten the AMOLED instead of the MIPS.
Quatix I can control everything from anywhere on the boat. Setting up to the start line for racing
After going to an Apple Watch for everyday use + sports, kept my Garmin Quatix for water sports, including SUP. Apple tracks very few activities and no water sports. Only issue is where to maintain activity logs so I use Run Gap to sync Apple data to Garmin Connect.
Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.

Garmin
Forerunner 955 Series
Best value, clear MIP screen; limited smartwatch features.

Garmin
Fenix 7 Series
Durable, multi-week battery, flashlight; high price, buggy software.
Garmin
Instinct 2 Series
Rugged, solar multi-week battery; bulky, small screen readability issues.

Garmin
Enduro 3
Multi-week solar battery, lightweight; but bulky form factor.

Ranked #1
Oura - Oura Ring Series

Ranked #1
Apple - Ultra Series

Ranked #1
Garmin - Enduro 3

Ranked #1
Garmin - Fenix 7 Series

Ranked #1
Garmin - Forerunner 255 Series

Ranked #1
Oura - Oura Ring Series