Apple - Watch Regular Series

I swim every other day with my series 9. Accuracy and reliability measuring pace, distance and laps is very good. Calories is no better/worse than any other device

I use it for my workout. Its great, it has also greatly improved over new versions for tracking the meters better. I would never consider switching, most likely will get a new one in a year or 2. I also use it in open sea training.

I also went from apple, to garmin… then back to apple. I loved the body battery features and stress level features of the garmin in addition to the recovery estimates… but the garmin is really slow, its bulky, I missed being able to answer texts, change my music when working out, Apple Pay, etc. with the Apple Watch. I honestly regret buying the garmin but I do see how people would love it. It’s just not for me.

Apple Watch, using WorkOutDoors for the run itself and then looking at them afterwards in Strava and Tempo. I found my S7 watch was fine for marathon distance as long as I enabled low power mode for the runs, but when the battery health went down to 80% I decided to upgrade to an Apple Watch Ultra 2.

I disagree. I have a 7 and I can run a 2hr+ long run and wear it the rest of the day without issue, and that’s with a worse battery than a new 10.

Without low power mode yes. Using GPS for the run obviously…

Oh well yeah, mine is nowhere close to that bad. I can easily run a marathon with it and not worry about battery. 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

The expensive ones aren't any more accurate than the cheap ones, but they do last longer. I'm on my third Apple Watch and likely will never switch to anything else, so take my advice with all the weight of a single grain of salt.

Apple Watch every time. Allows me to control my iPhone on the floor or outside if I want to switch tracks or start stop my timer. No issues so far.

AW is a better watch. Garmin is a slightly better sports tracker, but only barely, and lacks a lot of features the AW has. Neither is incredibly accurate, so I would just pick the better watch.

I can’t stand my Apple Watch. It always turns off during my workouts and counting “exercise minutes” is literally pointless. I bought an Ultra 2 because I wanted to have the best shot at success with it and that thing is a POS for health tracking. The whoop is so much more comfortable and consistent at tracking with better data analytics. I have the 5.0 and the band is fine. Idk what everyone is complaining about. Is it something you would wear to dress up an expensive outfit? No, but that’s not really what it is intended for. Personally, I would wear it with a suit without thinking twice because I don’t really care what other people think.

I'm on a Samsung smartwatch with my Pixel but I am also sorta eyeing switching to iOS. You can get used Galaxy or Pixel watches cheap or if you're just using it to track swimming Samsung makes a cheap fitness tracker for like $70 but that's compatible with only Android. Cross compatible trackers I think there's Amazon and Garmin but if you're planning on switching I think you'll get a better experience with an apple watch

I use an AW 8, 41 mm. I either charge it to full before bed & then for 15 min in morning or vice versa. Battery for me took a big hit with OS 11. Personally I don't like AW & I'm thinking of getting the basic Garmin 55 on Black Friday. Same griefs as others. Using a touchscreen is such a pain for segments & for fartleks that I've stopped doing them. Double tap registers 50% of time when out of breath & running hard. Especially bad with sweaty fingers or in winter when I have to take finger out of mitten. I've started to program workouts in so I don't have to record segments, but programming workouts is tedious. Every race I've run has shown to be short on my AW. I've found I don't use/need/want 85% of the features like oxygen, ECG, notifications, fall detection (set it off when I bang my fist on table at work, lol).

I have an infrared sauna that goes to 170 degrees. I wear my Apple Watch in it all the time to track my heart rate, because I workout in the sauna

Depends on what type of fitness that you do. If you’re just working out casually, apple watch may suffice but if you want to see more detail/data or get more “nerdy” regarding your fitness i think a Garmin forerunner (55 or 255) may suit you better.

I compare my apple watch logs with my pedometer. Ultimately, the device that exists for that single function will be more accurate.

To be honest I just use my AW for structured running workouts and for cycling as well. If I need some data if you started a cycling workout your phone can display them so I use this method, I mount my phone on the bike. Garmin and other sport watches offer a wide variety of sports related features so you have to decide whether you need those. For me it was also important that I can use my watch as an everyday watch so I kept the AW.

there are third party data analysis options available. and yes, i agree, if you're a serious athlete, it's where AW falls short. actually, if you do lifting or climbing or, hell, even rowing, the oura is uncomfortable - and in some cases, actively dangerous (you sure as hell should not climb with a ring on)

Tried whoop, Fitbit, and now am on Apple Watch. I loved whoop but I couldn’t justify the monthly subscription. So if money isn’t an issue, I recommend whoop. Fitbit sucked. At least for me it did. Loving my Apple Watch the most. It’s easier to see how my heart rate is going and it keeps me motivated during the day outside of working out. Plus it has the find my phone feature which helps my flakey ass.

Apple Watch with the MySwimPro (https://www.myswimpro.com/) app. Super cool workouts with splits, super accurate for metrics.. Catches multiple stroke types, works for flipturns. Nothing more I could ask for tbh.

I just use an Apple Watch because I like it for out of the pool too. Does all I need it to do is

If you have an Apple Watch, you can program it to intervals for an outdoor run!

You can do repeats up to 99! It’s really easy. I do 90/30 and it took me less than two minutes to get it set up.

Yet my watch 7 reads almost identical to my apple watch s8 for hr en sleep. I ve never heard him say apple has poor accuracy regarding lowest hr and hr in rest because it only measures hr in rest every 5 min. It also only reads hrv a few times a day. These indicators are far more important for your health than for example hr at weightlifting or spinning which could be influenced by the band, movement, sweat etc.

Personally I find health more important than the fitness part. Also as long as the average is close you ll have a well enough indicator regarding recovery. If hr is good at rest, running and walking but bad at weightlifting it seems to me that other factors are in play here like how thight the band is. Same with his difference in cycling outdoors or inside. I found it all pretty unscientific tbh. I ve compared it to my AW 8 and a Garmin, it s almost identical, haven t been able to test it much yet though.

He also said it was very good while running, if it chance when doing anything else it seems to me that other factors are at work. For example my GW6c with a metal band read 120 when walking compared to 90 on my AW, yet with another band it was almost the same. The 7 is identical to my AW for the short time I ve been able to test.

Apple Watch is fine if you have one. The modern apple watches are pretty good, and the GPS models will do everything you need, with great accuracy. You need to remember to lock them out (use the water button) to prevent errant screen taps by clothing or just sweat dripping. Battery life is fine on Apple Watch, unless it gets old and the battery needs to be replaced (which only the store can do), and should easily last you an 8 hour workout. But it won't last much longer than that. Without workouts battery life on Apple Watch is around 1 day, that's it. You have to charge every night. Garmin is better if you want a dedicated running or workout watch. Garmin will have much, much longer battery life (depending on model an usage, between a week and a month), a more focused interface, and physical buttons to perform certain activities.

Nice summary! I wish I could test the MG, but as it stands my order 12 days ago isn’t even worked on yet! I can only imagine how long it takes to even ship. However, I won’t extend my membership after this anyway, unless they cut down the yearly price *significantly* AND I end up being in love with the MG afterall. I am finally okay just using my Apple Watch and the PeakWatch app. I guess I kind of have to thank Whoop for cutting me loose from my whoop data addiction 😄🫶🏻

I find that the Apple Watch , or at least mine, often adds a length for kick sets.

My Apple Watch paused my work out 10 miles into a half marathon race. Went out that same day and got a garmin. I like the physical buttons the garmin has. Multi-week battery life is amazing. The only things I miss is the phone locator (the one on garmin isn’t that good) and replying to text messages from my watch.

Yes, just replaced my series 4 with a series 10. I swim 3x a week and it’s doing great.

If you're in the apple ecosystem, get an apple watch.

BUTTONS I had a 245 that broke a couple years back, and while I waited to get a new one I borrowed my wife's old apple watch, and hated every minute of using it due to the touch screen for everything interface. Now I've got a nice sleek 965 my dad gifted me last year and it's so nice. Love the AMOLED screen.

It's a good device for the price but if i has an iphone i would take an AW

I think AW has better GPS tracking than Garmin - I have Garmin and a friend I ran a HM had AW - I had to run an extra 300 meters to complete the same distance- Garmin was cutting off the corners on turns!!

I'd agree, OP may find the Apple Watch better for their use at the moment. Garmin's HRV is shit though. I would not ever suggest that it's a deal breaking feature that would make someone ever want to get a Garmin over something else. Apple Watch apps can take them far though. Bevel and Athlytic can get users chronic and acute load details, which I would argue is a much better feature to have than the HRV feature on a Garmin watch.

Apple Watch. I cover it with a sweat band to protect it when climbing. I use an app called pinnacle so I can track the boulder levels I climb. I’ve benn climbing 3+ years and I’ve never caught the wrist band on anything.

I feel naked without it lmao. I swim long distance usually I start with half hour straight (I use the timer) and then I see how much yards I swam. It’s so helpful keeps track of my splits as well

I swim in a 25 yard pool and for me the Apple Watch is very accurate with freestyle and breastroke. The other strokes tho not so much. It also doesn’t record if u just do a kicking workout. Overall, I just do freestyle and breastroke so for me it’s great

Ooooh no way. I gotta get me one ty. That just changed the game for me

I have the third generation. Maybe it can do it I just never knew about the update

I wear an Apple Watch Series 10. It counts my laps and even gives me a SWOLF score. Also HR. It’s accurate enough for my needs.

Haha, good joke with the battery. Is this a parody or what? And tell me how Apple is offering the same metrics like Garmin watch? I have Epix Pro 2 47mm, and Apple watch 8. There is no contest who's better as a sport and endurance watch

Tbh when I had an Apple Watch I’d just click strength training and do my workout.

I’m not a pro but I consider myself semi serious. I dont want to go back to Apple after switching to Garmin. Building workouts in Garmin connect is far better than doing it ON the Apple Watch. GPS has been way better on Garmin. My next watch will likely be another Garmin, but I will consider Coros or POSSIBLY whatever the latest AWU is, depending on how it progresses. I really don’t want to go back to less than a week of battery, however. Edit: forgot my biggest annoyance! Physical buttons, or lack thereof! When it’s cold or rainy, progressing laps and stuff is horrible on an Apple Watch. I will never give up physical buttons at this point. The AWU at least has one extra for lapping.

Conversely, I ran less than half that with a series 7 and with cross training/gym days and work I was charging twice a day most days.

I don't believe any wearable fitness tracker is good for CrossFit, mainly because calculating the strain on your body from the weightlifting type activities based on your heart rate is not going to be very good. Most of them have a way to manually enter exercises you are doing, which is a cumbersome effort especially when you're doing something fast paced like CrossFit, that's more like something you do sitting on a bench between sets head down on your phone. Some you can go back after the fact and enter the lifts, but I'm not really sure how accurate that is anyway. If you're just interested in tracking your heart rate then one is as good as another, probably. They all differ a little in their data. My beef with Apple Watch personally was you have to explicitly start the workout most of the time and if you don't you don't get data. Also AW only can be worn on the wrist which gets in the way for multiple CF moves and gear. I went with one I can wear on my bicep.

It’s really unfortunate that WHOOP has decided to take this route — not updating devices for existing subscribers with active plans. For example, I cancelled my subscription yesterday and don’t plan to renew it. It’s disappointing to see this approach from WHOOP. And I especially feel bad for people who just subscribed. Like my boss, for instance — I recommended WHOOP to him, he purchased a yearly subscription, and received his new device only three weeks ago. Now, every time he opens the WHOOP app, he’ll get a reminder that a new device is available — but to get it, he’ll have to pay an extra fee. Sadly, this will be the case for all new users who joined at the last minute. They’ll constantly be getting follow-up prompts: “You’re not using WHOOP to its full potential,” or “Discover more – upgrade, subscribe, pay extra.” As for me, I’ll stick with Apple Watch, a one-time purchase, paired with an app like Athletic, which costs significantly less. I’m confident this combination will cover 90% of my needs. And if one day I feel that I’m missing something, I’ll just buy an Oura ring — and even then, it’ll still cost less than WHOOP.

The issue is that he is checking just the hardware accuracy, not the whole ecosystem (hardware+software). Whoop app is incredible. What is the alternative for AW?

On top of that, AW sensor actually works kind of funny. It measures your HR just 1 time per minute, while Whoop does it 100 times per second. Therefore, if you have a spike in heart rate you can derive much more related info about it, while AW could lose this whole event altogether.

Mine randomly adds laps, especially at the beginning of my swim. I’ve recalibrated and fiddled with the settings, but can’t find a consistent fix. It’s annoying

I have both. Apple Watch does not record VO2max data for my daily exercise, which is “Nordic Walking with poles”. The ring does record it although for some unknown reason that data is not copied over to the Apple health app! Another reason for having both is sleep tracking. The ring gives several days worth of battery life. The watch only a day and a half. (For data collection other than VO2max I take the Watch off overnight putting it into low power mode.) I have found that using the ring and its app my sleep have improved significantly.

I went through exactly the same scenario recently. Here's the brief version of what I found. Apple Watch Alone: Does an excellent job of recording sessions, but the data display during the workout is limited and doesn't include some fields I want. Personally I found the display slightly difficult to read. It was also quite frustrating that when transferred to Training Peaks the workout was broken up into 25yd pool lengths rather than the actual sets I swam. Apple + swim.com: This one works really well. I'm still not thrilled with the data display, but it is more useful than AW alone. Recording accuracy is excellent. The only issue that I had was the quality of the downloaded data into Training Peaks. No matter how I did it (and I took a number of different approaches) the HR data was wonky. Garmin (I'm using the 955, but they're all essentially the same): Data display is fully customizable so I can show exactly what I want and the rest timer display is useful. Note that the 955 has the older MIP display rather than the AMOLED that is all the rage now. The MIP is absolutely my preference as it is far easier to read in/at the pool and the rest timer screen is much clearer. Data transfer to Training Peaks is perfect. I don't use the auto-set feature on Garmin as it is far too sensitive of motion during rest, plus it's really unreliable if the rest interval is less than 20s (which most of mine are). I had one session where a descending set of 100s was recorded as one 800 since the rest was only about 15sec between. Now I have auto-lap off and hit the lap button when I push off at the start of a lap and again when I touch the wall at the end to start the rest timer. The watch does an excellent job of recording pool lengths and overall lap distance. I started out by trying to program the workout into the watch and then have the watch run it, but this proved to be cumbersome. First off, there's no truly clean way to get my coach's workout into the watch directly so there was always some manual intervention required. Second, if the watch mis-counted something or I needed to re-start a set the process was extremely frustrating in the pool. Now I just write the workout on a post-it with pencil and stick that to my water bottle. I just use the watch to record the workout. I'm currently using the Garmin to record swim workouts and it's working very well for me.

It’s OK, but the workout builder is kind of cumbersome to use. Lots of tapping, then turning dials, then tapping. Just a poorly conceived user interface. The issue I have with all of them is that you become a slave to the watch in the pool. Need an extra 10s rest? Well you had better hurry up and pause the watch because if you let it get into the next interval then it’s a total pain to back up. I had one workout where it was a series of 25yd sprints with short rest in between. The Apple Watch got totally confused and double-counted laps so it was having me finish the set in half the time. There was no easy way to get out of that so I ended up pausing the watch and finishing the set without recording. It’s so much easier just to write the workout down and let the watch record it. Plus I find that the act of writing it down commits it to memory. I’ve settled on Garmin as it just works better with Training Peaks and that’s a key feature for me. I do wish it was smarter about auto-lap but it has been 100% accurate hitting the lap button after every lap. To be clear when I say lap I don’t mean length of the pool I mean collection of lengths (eg 50s, 100s, etc)

It has some form of auto detecting activity but it logs the time of the activity not the break down like zones and intensity like when you start the work out option manually. I would not replace the Apple Watch because the Apple Watch will track intensity, length, location, and more automatically when it detects work out where the ultra human will not. Also working out with weights will be asking for trouble with the ultra human ring. Where the ultra human shines is - stress detection - sleep details (also much better comfort to wear at night with longer battery) - caffeine time recommendation - auto detect sun exposure - recovery score - a more reliable Vo2Max daily update where Apple Watch measure whenever it feels like it sometimes takes weeks to even tell me anything. I use both at the same time and I feel I get substantially more accurate information together than apart.

Are you going to train seriously for anything? If yes, Garmin din bagsak mo eventually. Kulang kulang stats ng Apple Watch when I started training seriously for a marathon.

I think both have pros and cons so I use both. Garmin for workouts and overnight HRV tracking, and AW for day-to-day smartwatch features (and LTE and music when I'm running).

I would keep the AWU you already have for running and workouts and add a Series 10 (titanium is my preference) for daily use and sleep tracking. I’ve always kept either two Apple Watches (one old one and current one) or and Apple Watch and Garmin and never have any battery issues. One watch is always charging. Apple makes it so easy to switch between watches and resale values are so low it makes sense to always hang on to an old one.

Also, I think the AWU coupled with a Nike Sport Loop makes the weight/bulkiness of the AWU more tolerable. But the S10 titanium is perfect for daily wear (except that it lacks the Modular Ultra watch face, which is the best watch face Apple has designed IMHO).

I hope it works out for you. I’m currently using a S10 titanium with a refurb AWU 2 (trying to replace my Garmin 965) and it’s a great combination. I’ve had a S7 graphite as my primary watch in the past but the redesign of the S10 is much better than the written specs would leave you to believe. Good luck.

I hope it works out for you. I’m currently using a S10 titanium with a refurb AWU 2 (trying to replace my Garmin 965) and it’s a great combination. I’ve had a S7 graphite as my primary watch in the past but the redesign of the S10 is much better than the written specs would leave you to believe. Good luck.

Amongst 12 runners in my group, 3 have appl watches sitting Ina drawer, all of them use Garmins except me. It's just designed so well in not only tracking but the way data is presented. I love my Apple Watch but I preferred the way Fitbit presented the data to me.

Apple watch is a great fitness watch with some modifications. I had a Garmin Fenix for 4 years and its a great watch, certainly better looking than an AW (imo). But it fell short in a few areas Sleep tracking - its heavy and I would remove it in the middle of the night. Sports where you can’t have something on your wrist. For me, this was Climbing and Jiu-jitsu. So I had to get polar verity sense to track those sports. And polar didnt sync with Garmin Connect that well. Music - needed your phone near by. So still running with a phone. Enter the AW… Lightweight makes it forgettable. Bicep band accessories convert it into a HR tracker off your wrist super fast. Music, even without cellular I can download playlists and podcasts from my phone to the watch. To make it a great fitness watch: Create a focus mode to not receive calls/texts while working out ( personal preference) Buy HealthFit $6, like Apple health on steroids, syncs all your activities into a single app and gives you rest, recovery, training effort based on your workouts and sleep. Honestly the only app that I would say is required, but the next ones are super nice. Buy Autosleep $5, terrible UI but great tracker and more stats than you’ll ever need. Buy WorkOutdoors $5, another steroid app that makes the Workout app seem like a Fischer-price toy. So for the price of the watch and <$20 for one time purchases, you have a powerhouse fitness platform.

Well Apple Watch has lumi health and rewards that you can earn back the cost of your watch and more.

It’s meant to motivate you. Cumulative over time. It’s not a lot but not little either. We are the only country that paired up with Apple on this, so make sure to take advantage. I didn’t even get a new Apple Watch tbh. Got a used one off Carousell. Just make sure it’s not tied to Apple ID by accident or stolen. The extension of the Apple watch if you’re an iPhone user is unmatched. Paying for public transport is way more convenient with an Apple Watch.

If you are an apple user get this one [https://amzn.to/3ZbUnDs](https://amzn.to/3ZbUnDs) my girlfriend bought it for my bday and I have never had an apple or smart watch before but I will say this thing is sweet and I can never leave without it now lol

My Apple Watch works just fine

I use the Ultra currently and previously had a series 4. I love it. I think the main issue with the Apple Watch is battery life, specifically for 70.3 and Ironman. The Ultra and Ultra 2 can handle that distance but I doubt a regular series could. And when you are spending Ultra money you can also buy a Fenix 7, Epix or 965 for basically the same money which has better battery and better integration with things like ANT+, plus some software stuff like body battery. Durability is also a consideration for bike crashes, salty swims etc. My Ultra has held up well but my series developed several scratches in the year I had it.

I don’t think it’s “much more.” It varies from person to person. For me, the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Garmin Fenix 7 are within +/- 1 bpm compared to the Polar H10. However, I do agree with you that a cheap chest strap (connected to an iPhone via Bluetooth) is the most affordable way to measure heart rate accurately during workouts.

I personally like to track my workouts as well as my sleep. I wear an Apple Watch to bed, then workout first thing in the morning (after getting the kiddos off to school). After the gym/shower, I put the Apple Watch back on the charger and put on one of my Omegas and wear it throughout the day (work, etc). At the end of the day, I put my Omega in my watch winder box and put the Apple Watch back on before bed. Rinse and repeat…

I am an ardent sleep tracker enthusiast and always look at the Quantified Scientist before buying or considering a smartwatch/sports watch, he does have a disclaimer as well that he tested the devices only once, sleep tracking only one night. One device has to be tested at least 4 weeks continuously for it to be reliable. I had an Apple Watch series 7, one of the best sleep trackers according to Questified Scientist but mine sucked, not even registering some stages of sleep during sleep mode. Garmin takes 3 weeks to call your HRV, they will gather your data first and then present it. I don't think Quantified Scientist reviews are fully reliable due to the amount of time he tests the devices. Recently I switched from AW 7 to Forerunner 255, Forerunner has been very accurate about the quality of sleep I get, at first at was so-so but now, it seems like its getting better and better each day.

It completely depends on how you want to use NRC. If you want to do Training Plans and listen to Audio Guided Runs, your only options are an Apple Watch or an Android watch with Wear OS, as those are the only wrist devices that run NRC natively. If you just want to record runs and view your data in NRC *afterwards*, you could also include Garmin or COROS devices in your search, as they have the ability to sync to NRC, but not run the app natively.

Used apple watch. You might need to charge it every evening but it's your best bet. You really don't want to buy a cheap fitness watch.

I wear my Apple Watch every time I climb, I have scraped it, but one of my friends wears a sweat band over it to protect it.

Apple Watch, most precise health tracking. Garmin is better for sports as has better gps tracking and sports features

My Apple Watch is incredibly accurate for high-level training. I have started using the Phlex app, which gets it even more accurate. But I still just print out my workouts and slap them on a kick board with some water. I don’t like the idea of my watch guiding me through the workout because I might make changes on the fly or add some rest when I need it and I don’t want to have to fuss with the watch just to do that.

Swim - Apple Watch Cycle - Wahoo Element & Wahoo HR Cycle Indoors - Kickr and Zwift Run - Apple Watch Thinking of switching to Garmin though depending what the next Apple Watch Ultras have as features…I feel they focus too much on the recreation and apps rather than fitness.

The “rumour” is that the next one will have features for hiking and trails…and if that’s the case I may stick. But else-wise I’d prefer a sport watch from a sport watch company.

Garmin Forerunner does a great job. I like the Apple Watch, but the battery life kills me. With my Garmin, I can use it to track swims, runs, and bike ride and I still only need to charge it once a week.

Apple is lacking coming from someone who uses apple products. I’d take a look at Fitbit or Garmin products, emphasis on the Garmin. They can get quite expensive but I think it would be worth it if you’re using it consistently. If you want an apple watch that’s good for working out, i’d look at the apple watch ultra 2, which is pricey but it’s more equipped for that kind of thing. The biggest issue i have with apple watches is the battery life, they die so fast. the ultra 2 i think has a better battery life but i have the 8 and i know people with the 9 and you can’t really track say a marathon on those because they just die (i’m not sure if you’re gonna run a marathon but im just saying, the battery life isn’t there).

Apple is lacking coming from someone who uses apple products. I’d take a look at Fitbit or Garmin products, emphasis on the Garmin. They can get quite expensive but I think it would be worth it if you’re using it consistently. If you want an apple watch that’s good for working out, i’d look at the apple watch ultra 2, which is pricey but it’s more equipped for that kind of thing. The biggest issue i have with apple watches is the battery life, they die so fast. the ultra 2 i think has a better battery life but i have the 8 and i know people with the 9 and you can’t really track say a marathon on those because they just die (i’m not sure if you’re gonna run a marathon but im just saying, the battery life isn’t there).

I guess I'm the odd one out here- I tried using my Apple Watch when swimming, but found it doesn't sit tight enough on my wrist to be effective. I've since started using the Form 2 goggles & find them much more effective (and motivating!). I don't really track my activities, it's more important to me that I make it to the gym at least twice a week than that I keep track of what I'm doing once I get there, but I live a pretty active lifestyle.

Here, here. Me too. Went from an AW6 to an Instinct 2 and eventually to a used Enduro. Couldn't be happier. I get weeks on a charge, health tracking is great, and it has all of the smarts I want but is an excellent timepiece and less of a distraction. (Bonus: new Instinct 2 + used Enduro 1 cost less than a new base model Apple Watch.) I also find the Garmin/Apple Health integration to be pretty solid. Rarely have I gone from something from Apple to something from another company and been this happy with the change.

I do and I'm disappointed to say I'm on my second apple10 watch.. first one couldn't count laps at all and sent it back and the same problem with this replacement.. My 2023 apple SE had no problems at all counting laps.. I updated to the apple10 watch for the always on display.. so disappointed and not sure what to do next .. Maybe next big software update \~\~\~

Honestly, an Apple Watch.

I wonder if that's the reason for the difference in battery life. I believe that the watches released before 2022 would off-load their GPS to the phone if it was nearby and connected by bluetooth. I didn't notice much of an impact to battery life on my Series 5 and I always carry my phone with me.

This is often an underrated factor in why people choose Apple devices. It started with me choosing a Mac computer because it was just better and I don't play games. Then I have to use iPhone to get all continuity features. Then when I need a Bluetooth TWS I have to use Airpods Pro 2 because even if a "better" TWS exists, I'd lose auto switching if I switch. And I can't use another fitness tracker because as far as I know, Apple Watch is the only one that can ping my phone when I misplace it.

As far as fitness is concerned, i've been very happy with AW. My only complaint is the support for cycling, the data tracking randomly stops and every now and then I don't get any sort of elevation/speed/GPS data for some of my cycling workouts. It doesn't bother me, but it's very peculiar and it might bother some people that are meticulous in their tracking.

I had a Fitbit Versa 3 and liked it but when the screen started separating from the body, Fitbit/Google offered zero support, they told me the life expectancy is only 18 mos. So, I moved to Apple Series 9, which is not perfect but seems like it will last longer and do more.

I wear my Apple Watch for swim/exercise/sleep tracking but don’t feel I really consciously change my habit based on the data. Just more investing than anything.

AW does support power meters, but does not seem to actually use the data from the power meter directly for calories burned. My AW always says I burned about 40-50% more cycling than my wahoo does, despite both being connected to the same power meter and both showing same power data.

Down voted but you're right. My partner tried an apple watch and couldn't even track his sleep because the battery died so quickly. I brought him a Garmin amd he's never looked back.

Currently running a dual band with AW and whoop. Dropping both for a Garmin Epix 2 Pro is my plan. Currently doing 75 Hard, running in the AM and lifting at night. All other times primarily strength train and mix in some cardio. For me - AW - only use because I bought one for my dad and it lead him into working out for first time in his life, is now on day 475 of 5k with a goal of 500 in a row. No real desire on my end to use it as a smart watch so most of the pro’s here just aren’t what I’m looking for. Got a whoop due to the strength trainer. After a year, getting very sick of it. Customer service is awful. Consistent issues with it tracking properly. Tired of inputting every rep and see twice as I already use and prefer the Strong app for several years for that purpose. Btwn that and the $20 per month cost that never stops I’m ready to go to 1 device that handles it all. On top of that, the $20 per month is allegedly due to the consistent innovation. In the year I’ve had it virtually nothing has changed, minus the ability to undo a lifting set, which is nice. Biggest concerns for me is how the sharing works btwn family / group whatever they call it on garmin, and how best to track weighted runs on there while awarding badges and not skewing V02 max and running times as from what I can tell garmin has no ruck / weighted run specific workouts. Any inputs into if I’m going the right direction with the garmin?

Last night my new watch 7 claimed my heart rate was 100 when I was resting, which I knew was completely wrong. My resting heart rate is usually in the 50s or low 60s. I checked it manually and verified that's where it was, at 60, but the watch (set to continuous heart rate) continued to display readings hovering around 100. Incredibly disappointing. I guess I won't be retiring my polar chest strap.

I use Apple Watch

I just got the Garmin Forerunner 265 and absolutely love it. I got rid of my Apple watch and won’t go back. I’ve had it for about a month now and while the NRC integration is only in sharing the stats, all of the other metrics, and battery life, far surpass the Apple Watch as a fitness tool Imo.

Try the WorkOutDoors app on the Apple Watch. It’s pretty great. That’s what I used and just uploaded directly to Strava from there. I would recommend either an Apple Watch, a Garmin, or a Coros. You need a real fitness watch to do marathon training tracking.

G shock. I m considering getting one. A real watch with tracking features. Have an apple watch. Biggest cons - one more thing to charge everyday - whatever pros they have, I dont want another screen on my wrist. - notifications, sometimes useful but not worth it - looks and feel, the novelty fades very quickly. Doesn’t even compare to wearing an actual watch. Tldr. Be a man, get a real watch.

I can't really compare, but figured I’d chime in anyway. For heart rate tracking, nothing beats a chest strap. I’m using an AW 8, but the battery life drives me crazy (I have to charge it every morning). So I’m probably switching to Garmin next. The only thing that bugs me there is having to switch to Spotify :( And honestly, it’s just more convenient when all your devices (phone, laptop, watch) are from the same brand. I’m not a serious athlete though, no marathons or triathlons in my life.

Hi! Yes, I swim with my Apple Watch and use it for all my workouts. However, I’m currently considering switching to Garmin for the longer battery life. In general, I’d say Apple Watches are very popular among people who aren’t super serious about training but still work out regularly.

I don’t really get the recommendation not to swim with the Apple Watch either. I used to swim with my old Series 4 for a year or two, before the battery got completely trashed. Now I’ve been swimming with the Series 8 for two years, and it’s been absolutely fine. I am considering switching to a Garmin for better battery life, but I hate the idea of having to give up Apple Music. Not that I need it for swimming (I swim with MP3), but if I ever get back into running, I’d definitely want to run with music on my watch.

I don’t really get the recommendation not to swim with the Apple Watch either. I used to swim with my old Series 4 for a year or two, before the battery got completely trashed. Now I’ve been swimming with the Series 8 for two years, and it’s been absolutely fine. I am considering switching to a Garmin for better battery life, but I hate the idea of having to give up Apple Music. Not that I need it for swimming (I swim with MP3), but if I ever get back into running, I’d definitely want to run with music on my watch.

Another for Apple Watch.. works well for me once I fixed the wrist settings

Same. I think I’m in my 4th year and I don’t see the benefit of upgrading aside from the longer battery life and this age thing. Big deal. EKG I have with my Apple Watch and I don’t even use it. If they could get the step counter to work properly, I’d be happy.

I got my Apple Watch to track my swimming. I've found I love it for daily life but I think it's great for swimming. I love the splits feature.

I’ve been using my Apple watch paired with the Peloton app. I got the bike during the pandemic, and it got me into outdoor cycling, but I also use the yoga and strength training classes a lot so I like having all my fitness metrics in one app. The only downside is it needs GPS and data to function, which usually isn’t a huge issue, but I’ve gone on some remote rides in dead zones where it doesn’t work.

I think to each his/her own. I started with an Apple watch but the golf app was laughable at the time, so I got a garmin for golf and used the Apple watch for everything else. But when my bank stopped supporting Apple pay and I started running and biking and swimming, I decided to upgrade my garmin and stopped using the Apple watch because garmin features were better AND it was just really annoying that I had to charge the apple watch every single day. With the Garmin I only really have to charge it max once a week and so I get good sleep data with it too which I could never get with the Apple Watch consistently because it had to be charged all the time. I really enjoy the virtual caddy function which Garmin has. I agree that the Apple watch looks better, but that’s not the reason I bought the Garmin, though honestly it looks pretty good and other than like a black tie event, I feel like I can wear my garmin watch all the time. I am thinking of upgrading from Garmin S70 approach golf watch to something that looks a bit nicer and am definitely considering getting the Fenix 8 as it seems it has the same golf features plus additional sports features my watch doesn’t have. I just watched the Apple keynote. Seems a lot of the newer golf apps are similar to garmin. Cannot say if they are better/worse. Apple claims the new watch can charge 80% in 30min so that sounds promising, but I am 99% sure I’d still have to charge it every day regardless and that to me is a dealbreaker. I wear airpods too, but always have my phone with me so I’ve never had a problem. Look, If you want something that has a friendly UI and nice design so you can wear it even to nice events with general overall sports features, and you’re ok charging it everyday, get the Apple. If you’re sporty and want something durable to deal with harsh outdoor conditions and prefer to wear the watch on 24/7 to also track sleep so you need better battery life, get the garmin.

Have a regular peloton bike (not a bike+). I tried an Apple Watch and an oura ring. Best thing I’ve done is buy a regular Garmin forerunner + hrm strap for the best output capture. The hrm can be synced to the device for real heart rate during exercises.

Do you use a branded smart phone, tablet or laptop is so google will already have your data. As to fitness trackers Fitbit are best but they are changing to google wear or something like that. And either Samsung watch or Apple Watch are far superior in build and use for health and fitness tracking in all fairness.

I came from daily wearing a Fitbit luxe and added a Garmin 735 for run tracking. I became disillusioned with the google ecosystem as they don’t share data with apple and wanted to force me to sign up for a google account. I simply don’t trust google with my data in general. Garmin freely shares your data, but has other issues. Apple Watch has objectively the best HR and sleep tracking sensors available. Add music on the watch with large capacity, and the fact that Garmin doesn’t offer the right combination of features for me, and I was pushed toward AW. All I really want is a fitness tracker with good recovery metrics (sleep, fatigue, etc.) and Garmin’s sleep tracking is crap. Their body battery system only works with one device- I can’t do a ride with another Garmin device and have it count toward body battery without wearing the Garmin watch at the same time…. Apple has athlytic as well as fatigue integration soon. Anyways, the combination of features and lack thereof is what pushed me this way.

I second this, garmin seems like the best Although.. I use a Apple Watch

I’ve been running with Apple Watch (currently aw 8) for about 5 years ~100km/wk. I used to use Stryd but I became aware that the values are incredibly inaccurate, every different type of shoe has to be recalibrated. I switched to the WorkOutDoors app it’s amazing. I use a polar hr monitor. I consider it superior to my old garmin watches of the past, even with the more frequent charging.

Apple Watch, bar none, is best smart watch sold today when you are already in the Apple ecosystem. The way notifications, complications, the optional cellular, crash detection, incredible screen and myriad of other features work is heads and shoulders above all the alternatives from Garmin and Fitbit... it's the best SMARTwatch. Notice I said nothing about fitness and health tracking. There is no question Apple Watch lagged for years (and still does) the advanced features and metrics found on modern fitness watches like Garmin, Polar, and Coros (Fitbit has never been advanced and Apple had them beat early). Despite this many people felt Apple had \*enough\* of the most important features that its fitness capabilities were "good enough" to accept so they could get the best Smartwatch on the market. In the last 3 years of watchOS revisions Apple has steadily started catching Garmin and others on more advanced features like running power, cycling power, triathlon support, and now this year begin to catch up with running and hiking mapping. Garmin still has many very, very niche features that Apple doesn't and may never have, but the number of people who need them are vanishingly small and growing smaller as Apple adds features. Also it has to be said, Apple has had the best watch sensors bar none in the industry, the accuracy of the optical heart recognition and sleep sensing is well ahead of Garmin, Polar and others so while the watch still does "less" what it does do is actually more accurate, which is the most important part anyway. Bottom line? The Apple Watch has long been and remains the best daily smartwatch for the 22-23 hours you aren't working out and a good fitness watch when you are. As each year goes by the watch is becoming closer to a great fitness watch and making the number of people for whom the Garmin's of the world are a better fit smaller and smaller.

There's really only 2 accurate brands for health monitoring: Huawei Watches or Apple Watches. Anything else are too inaccurate to be useful. Just watch the Quantified Scientist on youtube. My reccomendation is: For fitness, Go Huawei Watches. Long battery life. (Ex. I get 4 days on my GT 3 Pro with all features on including AOD. Without AOD it gets 7 to 8 days. My Apple Watch 9 only gets 1 day. Hassle irecharge araw araw) For smartwatch purposes: Apple watch. Most accurate in the market.

Calorie burning will never be accurate if the wheelchair user doesn’t have fully innervated muscles. The formulas are based on able bodied formulas. You might get an idea for how many “calories” are burned for you in a more abstract way, but I wouldn’t rely on it for calculating calories you want to then eat back, etc. The Apple Watch is great for not nagging you to walk more, you can change to the wheelchair mode (tells you to push instead of stand).

Fitbit is surprisingly good. Outstanding battery life. Apple watch, but get the app WorkOutdoors and use that.  It's less than 10 bucks.  No subscription.  Watch videos on YouTube about it. Here's one.  You don't need the ultra to use it. https://youtu.be/0CO4Nqn1PVQ Garmin is highly recommended for athletes but I've never used it so can't compare.

Apple Watch is probably the best for HR currently but is out if you are not in the walled iPhone garden. Also note that a lot might come with how are you wearing the watch. Samsung Galaxy 7 is being launched in like one week and apparently is a huge lot faster than 6 (like 2-4 times faster). Battery life remains to be seen but Watch 6 like latest normal Apple Watch models were "charge daily devices" (with AoD and most of stuff you normally want to use on). If you want 2-3 days then look at the "huge" models (but wait at least one week to learn how things are with the new Samsung Watch 7 Ultra or whatever will be called). If you want more battery life you can look at Garmin Venu 3 (or 3s for a smaller watch) and the much less expensive (but apparently better on HR) [Huawei Watch Fit 3, see my mini-review](https://old.reddit.com/r/smartwatch/comments/1db9i4s/quick_minireview_of_huawei_watch_fit_3_vs_huawei/).

Mmm...I wouldn't agree. I had AW and F7Pro was my watch of choice for IOS. AW awkwardly blocking multiple Bluetooth connections for my sensors is the reason.

This is the same reason I've been considering Whoop for the longest time. But I just don't think I can commit to the lifetime subscription cost. Currently wearing a Charge6 and it's been fine for now. I came from Apple Watch, but found it too uncomfortable wearing that and a mechanical watch.

I have had the gen4 for a couple weeks and really like it. I wore a whoop for many years but got tired of wearing a strap. I have a specific need for data again so I went with the Oura. I wear it instead of my wedding ring and so far it’s great. I also use my apple watch with it for workout where I like to see data and zones easily without my phone. Anything in particular people are complaining about? I have had tons of wearables and it’s solid.

How are you going with it now? I am looking at making the switch after being with the Apple Watch since 2017 and getting more into my fitness. Currently using Apple Watch 7 and looking at either the Venu 3S or the Fenix 7S pro.

I use the Garmin Instinct 2 and really happy with the tracking and training guidance it provides. Being able to customize the screens I see during my swim is something that I really like. Previously, I used an Apple watch for track my swims, and that was pretty accurate too, but because it was all touch interface I would end up accidentally pausing or ending my workout without intending to. Also, I realise now that Apple’s insights don’t even come close to the detailed analysis and guidance I get with Garmin.

I do since yesterday. Its a gamechanger. Tracking training progress makes it so much easier to visualize your progress. (and i like numbers, they do funny things to my brain)

I wear an Apple Watch (I forget what model) and it works great for me! I track all the important things: time, distance/GPS, heart rate. Plus I can build interval workouts into it. Battery is fine if you turn off cellular, but that’s not a problem either because you still get GPS and can have your songs downloaded to the watch itself.

I have used Apple Watch 7, and I would rate the fitness 7/10 (since I know of better features that are absent) and smartwatch features 10/10 (since it is the best smartwatch) in my opinion. I cannot rate any Garmin since I haven't used it. What would your ratings be?

I have used Apple Watch 7, and I would rate the fitness 7/10 (since I know of better features that are absent) and smartwatch features 10/10 (since it is the best smartwatch) in my opinion. I cannot rate any Garmin since I haven't used it. What would your ratings be?

Playing devil's advocate, Garmin and Coros are much better sport watches, but AW is a better smartwatch. So if you're looking for text messages, Siri integration, emails, NFC payments, notifications etc..AW is going to do a better job. So how to make an AW more bearable to use as a sports watch; use apps like WorkOutdoors and HealthFit that sort of emulate Garmin features. You can build intervals, set routes, get HR or pace notifications. HealthFit gives you a better visual health data while bridging data over to Strava. Create workout shortcuts that plays your music, start your workout and puts you in a focus mode. The Apple fitness app is catching up...but at a molasses pace. The rate its going, its going to be years before you get the level of customization the third party apps provide. Even with third party apps, AW feels a bit clunky to juggle multiple apps to get the functionality of a Garmin. Personally I'd like a Garmin for Christmas for my running, but the rest of the day, I prefer an AW. Also another thing to note, AW sucks running in the rain. Physical buttons is something you really miss when you realize the screen doesn't work when you're soaked in water.

Love my apple watch, use it for every game and it is pretty great. (I turn it around to face the inside of my wrist so my goalie glove doesn't hold down the crown, and since doing that it's been more accurate, too)

I’ll piggy-back on this excellent review, since I generally agree with it. Sleep: I have both the ring and pay for Sleepcycle on the watch and find the ring to be more accurate than the watch but also on the conservative side — I don’t feel like I’m getting credit for sleeping when I should but it’s hard to know since human memory is not accurate either. Data: You can download your data if you want and there’s a lot of it. Advice/coaching: turning data into things you can do differently is probably a lot of their R&D and it is annoying because it can’t be turned off, nor can you streamline what data you’re shown to reduce obsessive thinking but the language choices are surprisingly not off putting Vs Apple Watch: Agreed on it being okay for exercise but short of the watch, which seems more accurate and easier to use. If you just want a vague sense of your activity level it’s good. Ring best for sleep, watch best for exercise

Given that the AW doesn’t measure HRV often at all through the day, body battery is a total guess with all of them. I wouldnt bother focusing on that metric with the AW.

It’s not false. You’re expecting people to enable a function reserved for people diagnosed with afib. Apple even says that it’s for people diagnosed with afib. The average person won’t know to do this. This is a “hack”, not a normal feature. The Apple Watch doesn’t measure HRV all day long, it’s not a feature. Even with afib on it measures sporadically

I just completed an 18wk marathon training plan (40ish mpw) with an LTE AW9. Charged it while showing when I'd get back in the mornings. Battery held up for all my 4-8 mile dailies, no problem. Rolled out of bed and out the door. Even with my 21 mile runs, with headphone use, I had about 20% left at the end. There's a setting that puts it in low-power mode when you enter the Fitness app, and I download the music so it's not streaming over LTE. That said, I don't believe that it would have held up for my race, especially considering the 3 hours from leaving my hotel until the gun. So I bought an Ultra the day before the race.

Had a charge 5 for over 3 years. Battery was still lasting a week but felt the last half of the battery was dying a bit faster than before. The charge did pretty much everything I really cared about for just day to day stuff. I have an Apple Watch but the short battery life just kills it for me for every day but I will use it if I’m going somewhere. Was mostly happy with the charge 5 as a simple fitness tracker, biggest complaint was comparing the heart rate on it vs Apple Watch or polar monitor the charge way overestimated once I was at about 70% max heart rate. I had heard the 6 had a better algorithm for heart rate and they had a ok sale for Black Friday so I figured I’d grab one. So far so good, need to do a head to head with my old one and see if the heart rate is different. I didn’t abuse my 5 but didn’t baby it either. Wore it most every day for over 3 years and the biggest issue I had was having to reset it to get it to sync again but that seemed to have gotten better recently to. I know I see people saying theirs didn’t last a year but I can’t say that was my experience.

Apple Watch + spigen case, haven’t had any issues over many years!

As an ultra runner with both a Garmin Fenix and AW, Garmin is by far superior for fitness and running metrics, but it’s the only time I wear it. For the rest of the day, I’m wearing my Apple Watch. I think for casual athletes, Apple is fine, but all the hardcore mountain & trail athletes, serious runners, and triathletes I know are all using Garmins or Coros.

The majority of people just assume that Garmin is the better fitness tracker because that’s what seems to be the general consensus to the masses. I think it’s total baloney. Apple has been proven to be as good as, if not better in wrist based heart rate and sleep monitoring. Apple has brought numerous improvements to their workout app, especially for running (pacer and heart rate screen I’m looking at you) and they are a huge amount of apps to give you different UI and software experiences. Watch GPS accuracy Garmin may have the upper hand for a total accuracy but really, does that affect training? You still did the work who cares if the map line is a few metres out in some spots. And half the time Apple Watch users actually use the iPhone GPS which is better because bigger antenna anyway. “Oh but Garmin has the body battery etc” - For anyone serious about fitness and conditioning I think they’d have better intuition themselves then to rely on some software telling them what they should do today. Body battery and stress monitoring are not accurate enough to be relied on, despite anecdotal evidence you’ll hear from those people who probably got 5 hours sleep after a hard training day and then commended their Garmin body battery for telling them to take a rest day. “Omg my Garmin just knows, you know”. With training load coming to Apple, just use that - pure quantitative data, baby. But if you want to consider why Garmin is objectively better, then look at battery life. Still annoys me that I gotta charge AW all the time. And subjectively- how much better are round watches! TLDR Apple is a great smart watch and a great fitness tracker. Garmin is a shit smart watch and a great fitness tracker.

I don't see a whole lot of other Apple Watches at Ironman events, but I've had various models since 2019. The Ultra has the battery life to get through everything up to a 70.3 with plenty of juice to spare. (I've actually done a full with one as well, which required a little bit of help to get through the 140 miles.) I can link the watch to the power meter on my bike, and my data has always been accurate on my rides and runs. I have the cellular model, and it's a great peace of mind to go out and leave my phone at home. I know if something comes up, I can call my wife for rescue on my watch. Only real complaint is the lack of structured workouts with swims. For bike rides and runs, I can import workouts from TrainingPeaks. But swimming in general leaves a lot to be desired compared to what Garmin offers.

I agree that the Apple Watch's battery life is a weakness. My approach is to charge it while I am showering and getting ready in the morning. I charge it to ~80-85% and it easily lasts until the next morning.

My whoop 4.0 comes today. Won’t even need to take it out of the box to know I’m returning it. Can’t wait to get my Apple Watch 10 today

Me and my wife used to have Apple Watches but when we ran together we noticed a wide difference in distances on our watches for doing the same route. Like one watch would say 4 miles while the other would say 2.4 miles for doing an approximately 4 mile run. Additionally during summer months when I was doing workouts, I got tired of my watch face being sweaty and making it difficult to start/stop during intervals. Navigating the touch screen was less than ideal when sweaty so the Garmin has actual buttons to mark laps, start/stop runs, and so forth.

Everyone is going to say Garmin… if you already have an Apple Watch or really like the smart features of it, it will still work great and integrates with a lot of running apps

Every single time. Calories, yards, time are pretty much all I use/ need

It didn’t always; the enhancement came a couple years ago.

I’ve been using one for the past 4 years; first the 6 and then the Ultra. No significant problem with front crawl or keyboard, but I have had trouble with accurate reading on backstroke.

I have been using an Apple Watch for the last four years. I started with an Apple Watch 6, and upgraded to the ultra a couple of years ago. For my swims, the ultra provides no advantage, so if you’re going to get an Apple Watch, just get the regular one and you should be fine.

I have an Apple Watch with LTE. I do receive calls while I’m swimming, though I must say I don’t ever take them!

I’ve been using it for swimming over the last six years, about 300 times a year, and it works well for me. I can count on one hand the number of times that it has glitched.

Apple Watch is great. Shows the swolf also which is useful for efficiency. Downside is it won’t actually stop the timer if you’re resting. So pause it by pressing both buttons simultaneously.

I loved going to Apple Watch after having a Fitbit. It actually was a big game changer for me because I’m very closing all the rings motivated haha. It is different than Fitbit but I like it better. I use it with the Peloton app and the Lifesum app. I like how it does the rings (and how the details are all laid out) and how easy it is to start/log a random exercise. I also feel it’s more accurate than a Fitbit. I no longer have “swim” exercises whenever I do laundry lol. I vote give it a try! But also, you do you. :) 

I got a refurbished Iwatch 4 on eBay for maybe $60, bought only for running & kayaking.

Can’t speak for 4 but I’ve really enjoyed 3. I can honestly say It’s really helped me improve my overall well-being over the last 3 years. I use my Apple Watch specially for tracking performance metrics during workouts (and for work notifications when I’m away from my computer).

Yes! It’s very likely. I had an Apple Watch several years ago and it would pause basically as soon as I started a workout. So frustrating. It was the worst of the three fitness trackers I’ve had.

I do recommend an Apple Watch if you have an iPhone/airpods. It’s v convenient to pair with your phone and track your steps etc (10k steps a day for fat loss), weightlifting tracking mode (do note that all watches have some level of inaccuracy in calorie tracking) but it’s still nice You can pair your workout music etc and use it for other purposes like Apple Pay etc so that’s a plus also Battery life lasts a day so you might have to charge it when you sleep + wearing watch while asleep is uncomfortable for me so I wouldn’t recommend it for sleep tracking

The Apple Watch SE has been great for me. I did switch to a different watch, but if all I cared about was swimming the Apple Watch would always be my personal favorite.

I’d love to get a proper running/multisport watch, but I couldn’t change my AW for anything else because there’s so many non-fitness related features I’d miss. I have thought about getting a sports watch in addition to my AW, but I’d need to wear it 24/7 in order to get relevant data, and I’m not going to be wearing two watches all the time.

I have an Apple Watch Series 3 that’s at least 7 years old, I’m a little tired of it, is it worth getting this cmf? does it have enough sensors for training, oxygen etc? Is it an upgrade to get it? the apple watch 3 hasn’t updated in years

I climb with my Apple Watch 7. It's totally fine getting chalk on it. For me, the watch face itself has never scratched or touched anything on the wall. And as for the watch band, it's never "caught" on anything before though it might rub or scratch against volume or slopers. So if you dont mind the watching band getting rubbed and potentially slightly scratched I'd say go for it.

Yep! I use it for every single activity and utilize its health features heavily.

My partner also wanted me to start wearing a heart rate/fitness tracker but I couldn't stomach putting my Apple Watch back on, so I bought an Oura ring. The Whoop fitness tracker also seems like a good alternative to a smart watch. For a fitness tracker it is 100% best practice to wear it 24-7 for at least the first few months - but if you don't want to do that, workout + sleep is a good compromise that should still create plenty of data for your health apps to analyze.

I’ve been using an Apple Watch 7 in the pool for years. Love it and find it’s more accurate at lap and stroke tracking than any Garmin my lane mates use .

Usually mine’s accurate, but it sometimes misses laps or counts extras, and if I’m doing kick only, it misses a few.

Take into consideration that your watch is old and is not holding a charge as good as it used to. My old Apple Watch 6 would barely go a day before I upgraded to the 10 series. Although the batteries were only a bit different on paper - I got considerable better charge for it. So if the Ultra says double your series 2 - it will actually be better than that. But I hear you on the cost. There are def cheaper options.

Take into consideration that your watch is old and is not holding a charge as good as it used to. My old Apple Watch 6 would barely go a day before I upgraded to the 10 series. Although the batteries were only a bit different on paper - I got considerable better charge for it. So if the Ultra says double your series 2 - it will actually be better than that. But I hear you on the cost. There are def cheaper options.

I do triathlons, so similar training, and battery life is only big factor - I can do a 3-4hr bike ride with AW, or Olympic distance Tri, but battery wouldn’t last a whole Ironman. I actually think swim tracking (front crawl) with AW is better / more accurate than garmin. Looking at both traces uploaded to Strava of others and comparing distances over measured courses (buoy marked loops on reservoirs). This was a big differentiator for me. One thing I’d like on AW is more flex on planned workouts, eg programmable interval sets with rest periods. Supposedly coming to swimming this update, would be really helpful with my training. This is something Garmin does well. I currently use a phone app for this which suffices, but I’d rather have it all on my watch.

I use it for counting laps which it is pretty good at, and I will admit that I feel sad when I don't close my activity circles (although I'm trying to not be so hard on myself). I recently received a set of Form googles, so I've added those to my daily data addiction. Notably, the calorie counts on the Form goggles are much lower than on the Apple Watch; I'm pretty skeptical about both of those anyway. (for reference, I'm 62, male, swim 3x/week averaging 1500-2000 m per session). Hope this information helps you

I use my Apple Watch for swimming - it’s great as the fitness app can track your pace and can tell what stroke you’re swimming. I also use ‘my swim pro’ which is a swimming workout app you can connect to your watch - creates sets, tracks pace, suggests improvements.

I’ve used mine for years. It’s not going to ruin it as it’s designed for swimming. I also use mine for day to day use.

I run the Apple Watch to pull a average heart rate for the session but use the finis goggles for timing sets etc, import the finis data into Strava and add the average HR data manually

As someone who had every single Apple Watch between the series 3 and the Ultra 1....it's not a real sports watch, don't try to make it one. Get the best Garmin watch you can. It's the gold standard among runners and cyclists and its compatibility with a wide variety of apps, sensors, and devices is unparalleled.

My wife does marathons and ultras and switched both of us from apple to garmin. The Apple Watch is better for all the other stuff (music, home control, navigation). For anything sports related, the Garmin is far superior.

I think Apple Watch (AW) is better than whoop, especially for health. Personally, I love the AW rings, especially the “stand” ring, and I’ve also added a “steps” ring to my AW (using the StepsApp – free version), which I also love; they help me stay active and reduce “sedentary time”. AW estimates cardio fitness (VO2max), and it has notifications for low HR, high HR, irregular rhythm (which could indicate afib), and low cardio fitness (VO2max); of course, they are the first to state AW cannot detect a heart attack; but, from my experience, these notifications can be quite valuable – without getting too personal, I’ve had cases of high HR notifications due to extreme stress at work, which really made me pause and rethink some things in my life… The newer AWs also have ECG, and now sleep apnea detection. Whoop doesn’t have any of that (they just added step count - and it seems incredibly inaccurate). And it seems to me that the AW HR measurements are more accurate – especially during “interval”-type activities, including but not limited to lifting weights. It seems like the new watchOS has a lot of updates for health and fitness. And of course the AW is much more than a fitness tracker. I think the main benefit of whoop is its personalized insights; AW shows data, but it doesn’t really help you interpret the data; whoop gives you personalized insights based on your data. But if you learn how to interpret your own data, I think you can get what you need from Apple Health (and even with whoop you need to learn to interpret the data and insights). I’ve also read good things about the “Athlytic” and “Bevel” apps for AW, which are competitors of whoop, but I’ve never used them. In the end, what I learned from the whoop insights is that “the basics work” - which doesn’t require a whoop. I've had an Apple Watch series 3 for over 6 years; it still works great, and I plan to use it until it reaches end-of-life. And it's paid for - no subscription cost...

I wore no watch for a long time. No problems or hitting wrists on anything that I noticed. Was gifted an Apple Watch. Wore it climbing once. Didn’t catch band at all, but afterward noticed a large single scratch along the center of the face. Never wore it climbing again.

I'm an recent amputee and started getting fat. Ditched the apple watch for garmin and i am much more active now and have lost 55 lbs. I just love the data the watch gives me and enjoy not having to charge it much. Started with the forerunner 965, traded for a epix pro 2 51mm sapphire then just sold that and got the fenix 8 amoled 51mm sapphire. They aren't cheap but I find it worth it for me and won't have to upgrade for a while.

Adding my two cents here. I just switched from Garmin Fenix 6X to Apple Watch nine. I was disappointed with the Garmin build quality. My First 6X sapphire only lasted about a year and a half before battery died. Replacement 6x sapphire—at a charge of 300 over dollars—only lasted 14 months. Activity Button failed despite very moderate usage. My routine comprises pool swims, running, gym workouts, road cycling and occasional open water swimming. Nothing too strenuous on the watch, but it failed far too quickly. What’s worse: Garmin refused to sell me the version nine because it’s not released here and told me that there is essentially nothing that they could sell me this period. So I gave up and opted for an Apple Watch at half the cost. My immediate review: Although I sacrifice some fitness features, I gain the smart watch Apple ecosystem features (e.g., Siri and smart home access from wrist is convenient) and configurability beyond fitness applications. It’s too early to confirm the build quality of the Apple Watch, hoping it lasts more than 14 months!

I dropped the whoop for : Apple Watch + Athlytic app.

Had Apple Watch 3 and it was terrible in the pool. Switched to the Garmin Venu and now on the forerunner 955. I’ve had no issues with the Garmin, you can select the screens/info you want and it even logs drill sets. Most people I swim with use Garmin. Just make sure that you check the specifics of the model you get as some have more swim features than others.

I have an Apple Watch and it works very well. Usually accurate to within 0-150m over 2.5-3km practices. No trouble with it tracking kick sets for me. I wouldn’t count on it for tracking split times. I never find them accurate. Tbf it’s hard to figure that out depending on which arm moves first or touches first or when your feet hit the wall on a turn. Total practice time and total meters along with a breakdown of the total by stroke/kick is great though.

I went from apple watch 8 back to garmin ecosystem (former fenix user when i was actively running, training for triathlons) basically as I thought it was not as geared towards sports and basically got boring after 18 months However, minus the battery life, i was more miserable with garmin venu 3 also…for 1 most of my sports are racket sports so garmin doesn’t focus as much unless you are a runner The garmin body battery never really worked well for me..i run on 6 hours of sleep usually and garmin wanted me to sleep for 8 hours!! I dont know who has a regular job and really manages to get 8 hours sleep alongside exercise and life Beyond a point the constant low sleep and battery scores just dragged me down more than I thought I also missed the simplicity of apple ecosystem and apple pay , generally the smartwatch side of things With apple watch 10, I moved back to Apple Watch after about 6 months..battery is not as much as an issue as it easily charges up while i have my bath every morning..needs to be seen if i miss the garmin app

I went from apple watch 8 back to garmin ecosystem (former fenix user when i was actively running, training for triathlons) basically as I thought it was not as geared towards sports and basically got boring after 18 months However, minus the battery life, i was more miserable with garmin venu 3 also…for 1 most of my sports are racket sports so garmin doesn’t focus as much unless you are a runner The garmin body battery never really worked well for me..i run on 6 hours of sleep usually and garmin wanted me to sleep for 8 hours!! I dont know who has a regular job and really manages to get 8 hours sleep alongside exercise and life Beyond a point the constant low sleep and battery scores just dragged me down more than I thought I also missed the simplicity of apple ecosystem and apple pay , generally the smartwatch side of things With apple watch 10, I moved back to Apple Watch after about 6 months..battery is not as much as an issue as it easily charges up while i have my bath every morning..needs to be seen if i miss the garmin app

Apple Watch is a better activity tracker but oura is better for all around health. If you care about your streaming heart rate or monitoring your heart rate during your workout, the Apple Watch or Garmin is better than oura. I use my Apple Watch when I work out but I never really take off my ring so I can see metrics like resilience and HRV (and watch them improve as my fitness does!)

While I agree and have gone this route, my last watch went 3.5 years before the battery started not even lasting a day. Also, you require an iphone for it to work. YMMV

absolutely keep using your apple watch, i have to say i got tired of the battery life and couldn’t take it on longer distance swims as it just would run out of battery. I upgraded to a garmin FR 165 as i OW + pool swim, cycle and occasionally run a 5k - i absolutely adore it and think its so much better than my apple watch. Had i of slightly further looked into i probably would have gone for a different model of the FRs, just because you can’t use a chest strap when swimming but if that’s not your bag then the 165 is not as expensive and just a really good watch. I charge it maybe every 7-10 days depending on how many activities i’ve done in that week! Edited to say that maybe the garmin swim2 would work best for you as you said you just want to swim with it

I used a Whoop for a while but went back to an Apple Watch. Whoop has a lot of metrics and I liked that it could go days without a charge, but I like all the other stuff the watch does - like show me the time. 😉 I also didn’t want to wear both. I know that’s an option some choose to go with. Edit to add: I don’t really *need* it for CF. I mostly like to keep an eye on my heart rate, primarily because I find it interesting to watch my perceived exertion vs. where my heart rate is at. I also get a kick out of seeing what the watch says vs. the C2 rower for calories - they usually are very close!

I have been using Garmin for a couple of months now instead of my Apple Watch. I honestly don’t miss my Apple Watch.

If you’re doing more steady state stuff I think Samsung is totally fine. If you’re doing high intensity stuff then Apple Watch or Garmin are the way to go

I use Apple Watch S3 and the stock fitness app is good. From there you can go into Strava settings to connect the device, and import the workout.

That was a good comparison. I agree paying twice for an Ultra is nuts, it just looks good and that’s it. Series 10 can do everything else. I’m not a outdoor person that goes camping so Garmin I think isn’t for me, I think I’ll go with Series 10

I have limited experience with both. Garmin (Swim) was not as good as AW for counting laps without flip turns. I killed an AW by swimming in a saltwater pool though.

I use my Apple Watch in the sauna up to 190F for 20 minutes top.

I will say that I had an older Series 6 and it was fine in the water for about 2 months swimming 3-4 times a week. Then it literally fell apart mid-swim. Face detached and battery fried. I ended up getting a swim 2 to replace and I’ve been happy with it, but will likely upgrade to a FR 265 when this dies. I’m sure a newer model AW would probably do fine, but I didn’t want to spend that much to test that theory. So yes there are some of us out here that would be hesitant to recommend an AW, but you also may not have any issues at all. I think the older the watch, you’ll already have some degradation of the seal, so likely why mine just fell apart after a couple months in the pool.

I started running with an apple watch and eventually switched to garmin and I would never go back.

You will be paying for a whole bunch a shit you don’t use if you buy Garmin. Just get an Apple Watch or Samsung.

I’ve gone to the ultrahuman as a daily wearer, however I use my Apple Watch for tracking workouts. I find the ring uncomfortable when gripping dumbbells. I still love my Apple Watches, don’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon, but this has given me the flexibility to wear my other watches while being able to track stress/sleep/recovery.

I switched from Fitbit to Apple Watch 3 years ago. I know I wasn’t using all the features Fit Bit has to offer, but I like the Apple Watch better because: -I can share my fitness data with friends. This has been great for some of my long distance friendships to help us stay in touch and to motivate each other. We love sending each other the cheesy messages they offer to send after a friend completes a workout -I can text/call/get emails/all phone notifications on my watch. Personally this has made my job so much easier and I look at my phone a lot less -completing my “rings” for the day is great motivation and makes me feel accomplished. Forget about the blue standing one though, it’s useless. -Apple Watch sends me notifications about my “trends” changing which has been really motivating, just as motivating as seeing a progress photo. Like my resting heart rate decreasing, my average time walking a mile, etc -I can pause, skip, like or replay a song from Spotify on my watch instead of picking up my phone while working out -it pairs with apps like couch 2 5k -I like the charts and work out data thats available to see after -the “take a photo” button is helpful for taking certain progress photos Honestly there’s more reasons but can’t think of them. I was bummed to lose the 10k steps celebration but now I have an app that helps me track step counts

I use the Apple Watch and a bike computer and my apple watch is way more accurate and reliable

Apple Watches aren’t particularly crazy, and they’re state of the art for HR monitoring on the wrist. You can get them for dirt cheap and turn the other notifications off if that isn’t your jam.

I’ve had an Apple Watch and used it for lifting and running. Liked it very much but it died… don’t swim with it in salty water… Now a Garmin forerunner 265, also for the same sports. Like them both, different but they do the job. For the criteria you’re mentioning, I think the Apple Watch is a better choice since you’re already in that ecosystem (I’m too) and besides sports, it’s a great device.

Nope. My old Apple Watch for hikes (altimeter) and workouts. But the ring is better for everything else.

I use the [swim.com](http://swim.com) app on Apple Watch. It’s better than the built in workout App.

Apple Watch and strava. Used to use runkeeper way back in the day.

The Apple Watch is good enough for me. Over 2000 yards it might be 50 yards off. When I use the kickboard, I have to huge arm swings to make sure it registers. I don’t use any analyzing apps.

Apple Watch for daily usage and strava app on the watch for distance and HR when rowing m. Doesn’t do stroke rate and doesn’t pause when sitting still, so the split time for the workout is always off. Apple Watch just added native “outdoor rowing” to the workout app. I haven’t tried it yet. Native workout app “indoor rowing” is way low on calorie burn imo. That’s my experience so far.

As a few others also noted, the Apple Watch works really well.

Apple Watch is good only if you rely on 3rd party Apps (Hevy or Strong for example) or even if you pay a subscription to something like that, but just by itself (the Strenght workout on AW) it's worst than Garmin, as it will only give you the timer and heart rate, it won't count reps, track weight or give you the option to see and edit your workouts when you're done.

I just bought a Apple Watch 10. As a runner I always used Garmin ( fenix 7x Pro latest ). I just found them to bulky lately and the smart-watch functions are not that good. Apple watch works so nice together with my iPhone and the Health app etc. It just works BETTER. Love my Apple Watch. It's just more fun to use.

It’s particularly sensitive to being set to the correct wrist. Have you checked this? I swim with my Apple Watch all the time. It works great

If you have an iPhone, i suggest Apple Watch since it has many other uses. For my experience, also old models work very well to get path/time data.

If you are a beginner runner you may be better off getting a coros pace 3, it is cheaper and has all of what you need. I started off with an Apple Watch as I got is as a smart watch and then became a runner, for me garmin was the better choice since it has great smart watch capabilities but much better running metrics and battery life than the AW. But it is because having Spotify and Apple/garmin pay were super important for me. If all you want is to run I would go with a coros.

I actually did have a Fitbit before I had an AW. I gave away my Fitbit because I was tired of getting friend requests from random men I didn’t know. None of that happens on my AW. And it fits into my Apple ecosystem nicely.

I had a Fitbit from 2014ish-2022. Originally an Apple Watch wasn’t even on my radar, though by the time I got my first Fitbit I already and a MacBook Pro and iPhone. I was happy with Fitbit for a few years until they just started overall declining. Made the switch to a series 7 because Fitbit just didn’t seem like they cared about their quality or customers anymore.

AW + Stryd has been my setup for years - 100% worth it. I also have no desire for a Garmin because it just seems too unnecessarily complicated.

Yes, I always use my Apple Watch while swimming.

Been using it for over a year and I think in all that time it’s missed two lengths. Form goggles on the other hand miscount about 75% of my swims by 1-2 lengths.

I used an Apple Watch for years until it died. Decided to replace it with the garmin venu and I’ve been happy with it. Did the whoop for a bit and didn’t like not having a watch face.

I'm an Apple Watch person, have been for years. I love it, and with the new sleep features, warnings, etc I like it even more. If being too connected is a concern, just remember, you can disable all the warnings and notifications you don't want. I only have messages come in from my wife and kids and most apps are shut off notifications so it's not vibrating my wrist all the time.

I used to have an S6LTE and even it was good for 2-3 hour runs. The battery life issues are blown way out of proportion. Everyone on the Garmin sub wants to pretend they run ultras when in reality they run 10k per day on average and a marathon once in their life. The AW is fully capable for 99.9% of the running community.

Umm I like mine. I had to use HOA dollars so I bought it. Here’s my take: I’m a poor sleeper and I already knew that. I wanted to see what the ring said about it for someone reason and of course it confirms but like so what. Now I am reminded about my poor sleep. It’s also a very poor fitness tracker so far. I’ve had an Apple Watch and a Fitbit and both were much much better I’m still wearing it but I for me I’ll just buy another fitness tracker. After a week of sleep results I’ve seen my patterns and that’s about all I wanted to know

I have an Apple Watch and use Nike Run Club app. Haven’t had any issues with my battery on any of my long runs or marathon

Former Apple Watch 8 and current Venu 3 user here. Disagree almost completely. Find a nice watchface on ConnectIQ. See my post at [https://www.reddit.com/r/GarminWatches/comments/1em448p/comment/lgyrfsx/](https://www.reddit.com/r/GarminWatches/comments/1em448p/comment/lgyrfsx/) for the ones I found that work for me.

\* 10+ days battery life rather than 1 day.... \* 10+ days battery life rather than 1 day.... \* 10+ days battery life rather than 1 day.... \* 10+ days battery life rather than 1 day.... \* quicker recharge time by far vs. the AW8 \* to me Garmin has a far better UI for getting to Apps and favorites \* an incredibly rich third party watchface ecosystem \* better watch-like shape and look \* lighter weight \* in my opinion, better sleep and health tracking in general \* to me, Garmin phone app is far better organized and useful than Apple's lame health app \* even simple walking tracking provides far better and more organized data on the Garmin The only thing the AW8 did for me that was better than the Venu3 is the AW interface for timers where you can save multiple frequently used timers and access them quickly. That said, I set the left-swipe on my Venu3 to timers so I can get there quicker on the Venu3. I 'did' like the ability to use the AW as a remote for the camera on the iPhone but that is just a nice-to-have. I didn't use the AW as much of a smartwatch so not being able to call or reply to txt using the Garmin is not a downside for me. I also had terrible pinched nerve issues with the squircle shape of the AW but zero such issues with the Venu3. (note - I also have a WHOOP which for me meets my health/fitness tracking needs better. I basically use the Garmin as a watch+fitbit replacement that has the ability to read notifications without pulling the iPhone out)

I have both a 5 and an 8 and I noticed zero difference for swimming, cycle tracking, or heart rate. Honestly the only noticeable differences are that the 8 is 1mm larger (which is annoying) and I paid for the cellular function, which I love. Both are still somewhat prone to [cadence lock](https://runningwritings.com/2021/05/cadence-lock-why-gps-watches-have-hard.html), but I haven’t noticed a discernible difference between the two.

I have both a 5 and an 8 and I noticed zero difference for swimming, cycle tracking, or heart rate. Honestly the only noticeable differences are that the 8 is 1mm larger (which is annoying) and I paid for the cellular function, which I love. Both are still somewhat prone to [cadence lock](https://runningwritings.com/2021/05/cadence-lock-why-gps-watches-have-hard.html), but I haven’t noticed a discernible difference between the two.

I've had mine since 2021 and I love it. It does have it's moments but overall it has helped me to provide data to my doctor. I do wear an apple watch on my opposite wrist primarily for day time activity tracking and I use the ring all day but primarily for the night time data.

That sucks. My Apple Watch tracks laps better than my garmin 965

For longer runs battery becomes critical. I have the GPS+WiFi version A 30 minute run with music (from the watch, phone at home) and tracking is around 25% battery. For longer runs I think I’d have to go for the Ultra.

Apple watch X when it comes out since you have an iphone. Series 9 is only 26k without sim now and will drop in price sooner than later.. i would go with the sim model so i can use it anywhere as well as find my phone if ever misplaced or go for a run without needing your phone on you.

Apple watch X when it comes out since you have an iphone. Series 9 is only 26k without sim now and will drop in price sooner than later.. i would go with the sim model so i can use it anywhere as well as find my phone if ever misplaced or go for a run without needing your phone on you.

Apple Watch. I use the direct connection to Apple Fitness on the bike+ and the Peloton App on the Tread. It automatically connects when it detects a workout.

Another vote for Apple Watch.

I like the Ultrahuman for just my sleep score. I use my Apple Watch for everything else, including fitness.

One more pro is that in this life full of distractions - Whoop doesn’t keep going off all day with notifications from apps and people. Really helps stay focus and does it job as effective. My apple watch keeps going off every now and them distracting me both during workouts as well as during office!

I wear my Apple Watch when I swim, but not to analyze my stroke. I use it to count and time my laps to push myself to go a little farther/a little faster. I could count laps in my head or move my water bottle to track laps, but with the watch I can just zone out for most of my swim and I like that. That said, I’m annoyed when it doesn’t give me credit for half of my one-armed fly drills. :-)

Garmin is full of navigation features apple don’t have my last apple watch did not even have xc skiing.

The Apple Watch rings keep me pretty motivated to do at least 60 minutes of walking a day. I’m pretty active but def have those days where I’m a couch potato and the watch minimizes that

I actually run with both a Garmin 955 and an Apple Watch Ultra 2 so I can keep my phone at home. The AW definitely can give some funky HR data and a lot times measures short or maybe the garmin measures long on the runs but they’re always off by about 0.02 every 1-2 miles ish.  One thing to consider is if you run during the winter. I used to run with AW series 7 and my battery would freeze and the watch would die in the middle of a run regardless of my battery charge. The garmin hasn’t died in the winter before. This will be my first winter with the AWU so we’ll see how it does. 

Apple Watch has more accurate tracking but thy don’t really do anything with the data

Not a problem with my Series 5. So shouldn’t be one with 10

Apple Watch is pretty good, sometimes misses kicking sets but is always within 50m of an average 3k workout. My coach sends my workouts via training peaks which integrates to the Apple Watch fitness app. I have used swim.com on the Apple Watch and it works great also

Mine misses laps when I do drills more often than not. It’s +\- one lap. So to play it safe I always swim till an even ten number. Doesn’t care for the paddle board(correct name?) drills the most

I had an Apple and switched to garmin, I like the garmin way better. More accurate for my bike rides and HR. The battery life is way better too

I use my Apple Watch

I’ve used Fitbit in the past. Twice. Accuracy was way off on a few things - once hit my 10k steps while driving… on a road trip, my heart rate read normal too. Quality was low, first broke in 3 years and the second just outside the warranty period. I’ve had Apple Watches since the series 4 came out. Just bought my second one as the battery on the series 4 wasn’t cutting it anymore. While the frequent charging is annoying it’s picked up on a few things that were medically confirmed. My heart rate is abnormally low, dropping to 40 regularly (I’m no athlete). The series 9 helped me figure out I’ve sleep apnea. While it’s not entirely accurate oxygen tracking, it is within 10% of reality per studies. My O2 will dip from high 90s to mid 80s in the middle of the night. My only wish for the health app is that it helped put the picture together more clearly. It’s hard to line up my respiratory rate, heart rate, and O2 levels in the app. You’ve got to export the data and visualize it yourself, a total pain

I’ve used Fitbit in the past. Twice. Accuracy was way off on a few things - once hit my 10k steps while driving… on a road trip, my heart rate read normal too. Quality was low, first broke in 3 years and the second just outside the warranty period. I’ve had Apple Watches since the series 4 came out. Just bought my second one as the battery on the series 4 wasn’t cutting it anymore. While the frequent charging is annoying it’s picked up on a few things that were medically confirmed. My heart rate is abnormally low, dropping to 40 regularly (I’m no athlete). The series 9 helped me figure out I’ve sleep apnea. While it’s not entirely accurate oxygen tracking, it is within 10% of reality per studies. My O2 will dip from high 90s to mid 80s in the middle of the night. My only wish for the health app is that it helped put the picture together more clearly. It’s hard to line up my respiratory rate, heart rate, and O2 levels in the app. You’ve got to export the data and visualize it yourself, a total pain

I had an apple watch 6, and after some time the water proofing gave up, the side button malfunctioned, and decided to call emergency services. Apple told me that since it was right out warranty repair would be about 300 euros

I have the 9 and enjoy it. I use it as my everyday watch and trail runs 50k and shorter. I keep my Garmin for lap swimming and 50k+ days.

I use an old Apple Watch 3 without any fuss. I can’t speak for how accurate the things like calories burned are, but the syncing and update process has been flawless for me. The only hiccup is the first time I open Cronometer after completing an exercise the app logs it twice. Once I back out and then reopen the app it correctly displays the workout only once. I get my heartbeat update at 12am and it syncs everything else without having to mess with any menus or manually input anything.

Sadly you are correct. you can find some really cheap deals on old Apple Watches nowadays, and they are accurate enough for simple stuff (counting steps, tracking simple day to day stuff like non-exercise heart rate and gps stuff) unfortunately im pretty sure they are branded as an “iPhone accessory” meaning they won’t even pair with something like an iPad or a MacBook, you would need an iPhone.

Yepp, done haemorrhaging money. Moving to the apple watch, quantifiedscientist on yt has proven accuracy is miles ahead anyway

If WhatsApp and Spotify got upgrades my AW experience would improve a LOT!

Apple Watch allows me to run with out a phone and still be able to listen to music, receive phone calls and text as needed. Garmin can do that.

I tend to mostly see Garmin and Apple Watches in my boat house. Garmins have a solid built-in support for on-water rowing workouts and a relatively long battery life. However, if you want to use your watch as a general smartwatch, I personally prefer the Apple Watch. While the built-in support for rowing workouts isn't ideal, there are several third-party apps that provide the same high-quality data as a speed coach would right on your wrist. As the developer of PocketCox, one such app for the Apple Watch, I must admit I'm biased. But if you have the chance to borrow someone else's watch and compare the data a Garmin provides to the data an Apple Watch provides, I suggest you see which one works best for you.

I love AW but am about to replace my AW 9 as it’s the second watch (last had the 6) that hasn’t lasted three years. I’m wandering if it’s all the chlorine and salt water. Reviews for swimming are awesome for AW but those reviews are mainly functionality of a new watch not how durable they are and how long they last. I’ve come up with a new plan to give AE one final chance before switching to Garmin. I’m about to buy an Ultra and get apple care with it so that if it starts glitching at 18 months again I will get a free replacement. AW is amazing for swimming. Almost prefect. Good GPS. Just need it to last longer.

I have AW 9 and before it I had AW 6. The problem I have is I am so used to Apple products I’m kind of stuck. I want to try a Garmin because the last two watches haven’t managed to last 3 years. I’m not sure if it’s cos of all the swimming. Chlorine and Salt Water maybe is not good for longevity on these watches. All the reviews say AW are awesome for swimming, but those are mainly reviews on brand new phones. I have done more research and I’m gonna give AW one last chance before switching to Garmin, I’m about to buy AW

I have AW 9 and before it I had AW 6. The problem I have is I am so used to Apple products I’m kind of stuck. I want to try a Garmin because the last two watches haven’t managed to last 3 years. I’m not sure if it’s cos of all the swimming. Chlorine and Salt Water maybe is not good for longevity on these watches. All the reviews say AW are awesome for swimming, but those are mainly reviews on brand new phones. I have done more research and I’m gonna give AW one last chance before switching to Garmin, I’m about to buy AW

I came from a Garmin watch. My 645 forerunner broke and I wanted to try apple for a change (as I'm deep in the Apple system anyway). I'll immediately say any Garmin is better for running, but I like my Apple watch better for just about anything else. I do greatly miss the battery life of my Garmin tho

I have an Apple Watch s6 and an older Garmin (FR235), I wouldn’t recommend an older AW, mine only tends to hold a charge for 18 hours or so whereas the Garmin, although it has less functionality as a smart watch, it does give more stats for running and the battery life is more like a week. That coupled with Apple’s habit of withdrawing support for older devices would definitely lead me to the Garmin if I had to make the choice.

I’m loving it. It gives you understandable insights, analyzing your data., tips etc. other wearables provides similar info but not in the same user friendly way. Eg I have an Apple Watch that use to track my workouts but in terms of sleeping only tells the time you slept and the phases. Oura tells you if your sleep was repairing, if you had movement during your sleep, advise on the best time for you to go to sleep…

There’s a YouTube channel called ‘The Quantified Scientist’; he goes into depth on all trackers & their accuracy. I’m currently using an Apple Watch.

Same. Apple Watch 9 and athlytic work just as well as whoop did for me at a substantially smaller cost when you take over a couple of years. Only annoying thing is battery life, miss having 4/5 days without needing to worry about charging

Apple Watch does count strokes. It’s the number after the / in your auto sets and splits. In your screenshot you can see 52 for the first 825, 53 for the next 125 and 57 for the last 950. You can see a lap by lap breakdown in the splits. It’s very obvious when you do a kick set as it is 0.

Check out Oura ring as well. I’d say it’s between that and the whoop as you’ve already pointed out. I’m that guy from time to time who wears both an Apple Watch and Seamaster.

I switiched from a s4 to s10. The upgrade was worth it but I do miss the heart rate view. For some reason the s10 swimming does not show heart rate anymore, and I do miss that because it would help me gage cardio zones.

I switiched from a s4 to s10. The upgrade was worth it but I do miss the heart rate view. For some reason the s10 swimming does not show heart rate anymore, and I do miss that because it would help me gage cardio zones.

yes daily (just about). works well in water. My only gripe is that the pool is 25 meters and I don't have my watch set to metric, so I'm in yards. WHen I tell it how many yards, I'm always a bit off on the length (1.09)

I’ll start swimming without a coach and I need something to help me tracking distance, recording time and to show me the sets and reps. I swam with an Apple Watch of a friend, and it recorded my training session perfectly! **Even the laps when I just used the kickboard (no arm movement) was recorded correctly.** The downsides with the Apple devices for me are battery life (AW’s is horrible) and I would avoid being locked into Apples ecosystem. My budget allows me to get the Forerunner 255 or something cheaper. My Apple alternative is the Apple Watch SE 2. I saw some people complaining that the Garmin don’t track well the laps, but I question myself if the case is that these people are just very bad swimmers.

When I tried yesterday with the AW, it even counted some very bad simple turns correctly.

Garmin service should be really good but after three watches with bad luck I get that you’re turned off. In the old days people just trained what felt good. If that works for you, no watch needed. Personally, working out feels good, so I tend to go harder and longer than recommended. Leading to too much fatigue or strain afterwards. Because my tri-training is 6 days per week the chance of over training and missing one or multiple days is high. Additionally a lot of my training is done in Z2 for both a tracker is imperative. Switched from Apple Watch S5 to Garmin Forerunner 965. Steep price, but really like the watch.

I have a series 3 Apple Watch, yes it’s quite old but still works, and inks rot for swimming. What it doesn’t do is count laps when I’m kicking which is very frustrating because sometimes I do a lot of kicking. I know what my workout is and how much yardage I’ve done but it’s just kind of annoying.

I love my Apple Watch for lap counting. I do 100 laps straight every morning and it used to be a nightmare to try to count it. Can’t say a garmin or another might not be just as good but I’m in the Apple ecosystem and it works great. I’ve been considering getting some water-proof audio like you. My big turnoff to that is that I believe there is some value in just turning off the world for 45 minutes. The other minor thing is that I would get into a groove and certainly slow down. The big pro is that I would love to just knock out 45 minutes or an hour and listen to my favorite podcasts and really bump up my distance because of the distraction as opposed to me just searching for how close I am to 100 laps.

Can’t speak to the Fitbit, but I’m generally happy with my Apple Watch

I’ve ended up just keeping my Series 5 Apple Warch in “low power mode” all the time, which drastically increases battery life and doesn’t have drawbacks that I notice or care about. (I wish I didn’t have to manually put it in that mode every day, but oh well…) I’m pretty sure it would last a 70.3 in that mode, not sure about 140.6.

Garmin is great but I switched to iPhone fuck Samsung. iPhone Apple Watch 3 still works years old better support someone told me they had an issue with it and Apple gave them a newer model 7 or 8?

The HRV obsession of the recovery score was a key reason to not extend/renew. It makes no sense. Now trying Apple Watch + my gen 2 Oura .. and also not happy. I liked having everything in one place, only one device, without screen, that I can use for sports. Oura doesn't go well with weights/kettlebells, and I dont long rings that much. Close to going back, honestly.

I had both Fitbit and Apple Watch but since I have an iPhone I went with the Apple Watch. I gave my Fitbit to a friend with an Android phone. I had a AW 3 for years and finally got a new one, I went with the SE it works great for my needs. My mom is using my old 3 to see how she likes it. It’s still going. I don’t have an issue with the points double counting, I’m slowly losing while eating most if not all of my dailies and the points I get from activity.

I got an Apple Watch. Started playing and got an Apple watch to keep track of everything, couple it with Hockey Tracker and you're golden. Make sure you get the AppleCare (monthly) on it, you never know if it's going to take a hard hit.

I run 70-80mi/week using an S8 for marathon training. It’s mostly fine but the lack of lap button for intervals is maddening especially if you’re wearing gloves or it’s raining. Battery can be annoying, mines on deaths door around 7pm if I sleep, do a long run (2h+), and work a full day without charging but it’s easy enough to plop it on the charger after my run. I’m planning to upgrade to an ultra to fix the above issues.

I've had various Apple Watches: \* v2 \* v4 \* v6/7 \* Ultra 2 I've used the 6 and 7 (I had a warranty issue with the 6, needed to be replaced, and they sent a 7) for some very long swims, like 5-7 hours of open water swimming. The Ultra 2 I used for a 10 mile swim in July. I regularly use it for 3-4 miles most weekends, along with normal pool swims during the week, and it works wonderfully. For most regular pool users, for 60-90 minutes of swimming, a normal Apple Watch (I think they're on v9) will work just fine.

I've had various Apple Watches: \* v2 \* v4 \* v6/7 \* Ultra 2 I've used the 6 and 7 (I had a warranty issue with the 6, needed to be replaced, and they sent a 7) for some very long swims, like 5-7 hours of open water swimming. The Ultra 2 I used for a 10 mile swim in July. I regularly use it for 3-4 miles most weekends, along with normal pool swims during the week, and it works wonderfully. For most regular pool users, for 60-90 minutes of swimming, a normal Apple Watch (I think they're on v9) will work just fine.

Which version of the Apple Watch do you have? Mine does count kicking, and the last version I had did also. It was an update a few years (about 3 I think) ago.

I am on Apple Watch and actually considering changing to Venu 3. The thing is that Apple Watch resting heart rate, hrv and sleep tracking are atrocious. Sensors are the best for single measurements, but interpretation of the data is the worst.

Garmin tends to be the popular choice amongst people in the boxes I go to, but my Apple Series 9 is perfect for what I need it for.

I hated wearing a garmin all the time because it just felt aesthetically unpleasing. I sold mine and usually use an Apple Watch but I did buy a coros pace 3 for a relatively low price that I wear for long training and long races it my Apple Watch battery won’t last. Not for everyone but turns out I did need a smart watch and a sport watch.

I have an apple watch and it's phenomenal. A much higher price point, but the activity tracker and goals has made a big difference in my weight loss goals.

Same deal here - big Apple Watch user but wanted more insights on sleep. Looking at oura for sleep insights and analysis (health) vs that of fitness

I am afraid there is no Garmin that currently can do that. I run with apple watch on my other wrist as a phone. If you are on Android then pixel watch or a Samsung watch.

I had Apple Watch and didn’t really like it and I think whoop is better. Never had a garmin so Can’t speak to that. My freind has an aura ring and it looked the same as whoop with all the same stats and if I was a girl I would prob just get that bc it’s lower profile😭😭 but I just don’t wanna wear a ring around Edit but also whoop is def more health and wellness focused then fitness and training. But if you do the same lifts every week and only change every 6 weeks like I do it’s easy and I log them each week and just change the numbers real quick and the workouts are already saved.

I recently got the FR265. My Apple Watch screen cracked and I was tired of having to charge every night. I gotta say, I’ll never look back - garmin has been legit for everything so far. I do a lot of running and biking. The stats they provide like lactate threshold and FTP outperforms the Apple Watch by miles. It suggests the next days workouts and tracks my body fatigue levels to let me know when I should ease off. With that said, I decided not to track gym/weight lifting sessions on it because I have to push a button after each set. Too much work. The Apple Watch was better for that because I could set it to weight training and it’d just record the entire 60 minute session. But overall the fr265 is great! I’m still learning all about the features. Edit: also, the Apple Watch just gives average pace whilst this one gives me my real time pace all the time. Game changer

Completely agree. I switched from garmin to AW7. Its night and day. Tracking is MUCH better on the AW7. Especially sleep data, which was useless on my Garmin, but also during running, where AW shines. I agree with other comments though. When I am doing intervals I am wearing my garmin because nothing beats buttons when you are on your limit. For everything else I am choosing my AW

I use on a daily basis the walkie talkie feature, calendar, reminders, Siri, HomeKit, find my phone, and app to unlock my Tesla on my watch. And I can leave my phone in the car on runs and stream music and take an emergency call if needed. I hear so many people say garmins are better but there’s so many things I would lose. The battery life is my only issue so I’m really hoping Apple releases a new watch with improved battery in September.

Same. It’s so nice to not have to haul around my phone on my runs and I can stream music and take a call if needed. My only issue is the battery.. six mile runs is about all I can do with it. Holding out for a September Apple release for the the X.

I like the channel but it does seem slightly bias toward Apple. I have a Venu and Apple Watch Series 6. I did a 5 mile run with both watches. All the stats, pace, HR, cadence were all within about 1-2 of each other. HR 186 vs 188. Pace 9.58 vs 9.57. Cadence 160 vs 161. It’s consistent through each mile as well. So they both appear to be accurate. The only thing that seems out is resting HR. One day 55 vs 56, another day 58 vs 58, then 58 vs 66 (Apple Watch). The Garmin seems consistent whereas the Apple Watch is up and down. I had a Fitbit Charge 6 before and that was more in line with the Garmin, so I think Apple isn’t that accurate for resting HR. I think the reason is both Garmin and Fitbit record the HR more frequently, and tend to more accurate. What’s does everyone think?

I didn’t know that about Gamin. I know they take Resting HR differently, but which one to believe? According to quantified scientist you would think Apple is super accurate, but I have cycled and run, compared HR and they are virtually the same. I like the Apple Watch but battery life sucks. Also the data isn’t shown in a very user friendly way. Garmin app is much easier to see how much I have run, cycled, etc in a week.

I did my first half in 2019, very slow, and my Series 3 didn’t last much longer than the race duration. You’re probably safe but I feel and hear you! You only live once, buy the things!

Apple Watch 10 LTE all the way. With LTE you can leave your phone at home or in the gym bag, no need to carry it around.

Yeah, that’s the main reason why I switched from my old AW to the AW10 LTE. It’s key for me. Not only for taking calls if needed but also to be able to listen to podcasts etc.

I had a Whoop for 1y (gone), a AW9 for 1y, and I'm going to get an Oura 4. I'm getting rid of my AW9, but just because I'm getting a AW10 with LTE. Here is my plan: AW10 - Wear it during activites only. I do weightlifting, sauna, and indoors/road cycling. I'm getting the LTE version so that I don't have to carry my phone around in the gym, sauna or in the road. Apart from being able to make and take calls, I'll also be able to pair it with some open earphones and listen to podcasts/audiobooks while exercising. The AW has awesome HR tracking precision, and I can use all the available fitness apps to track workouts. Oura seems to pull all the info from apple health just fine, so I'm not missing anything from not wearing it during activities. Oura - Wear it 24/7, except during activites. I want to get back to mechanical watches, so wearing the AW10 instead is not an option (plus, I get a bad reaction on my skin after a few days with it).

I had a Whoop for 1y (gone), a AW9 for 1y, and I'm going to get an Oura 4. I'm getting rid of my AW9, but just because I'm getting a AW10 with LTE. Here is my plan: AW10 - Wear it during activites only. I do weightlifting, sauna, and indoors/road cycling. I'm getting the LTE version so that I don't have to carry my phone around in the gym, sauna or in the road. Apart from being able to make and take calls, I'll also be able to pair it with some open earphones and listen to podcasts/audiobooks while exercising. The AW has awesome HR tracking precision, and I can use all the available fitness apps to track workouts. Oura seems to pull all the info from apple health just fine, so I'm not missing anything from not wearing it during activities. Oura - Wear it 24/7, except during activites. I want to get back to mechanical watches, so wearing the AW10 instead is not an option (plus, I get a bad reaction on my skin after a few days with it).

Garmin is a superior sportswatch and the Apple Watch is a better smartwatch. If your interest is more for sports tracking, get a Garmin and vice versa for an Apple Watch. But if you like me and care more about sport tracking but need to have cellular on your watch, the Apple Watch is the only way to go. Hate going for runs with my phone but need to stay connected, saved my ass a few times

Both are fine. I would put the Apple Watch as slightly more accurate given it has dual band GPS versus the single on the 165. Personally I think the metrics on many higher end Garmin watches are overboard so this 165 might be ideal for your needs. Apple metrics are very accurate, i’m just not so fond of the touchscreen and button arrangement for runners. And of course the battery isn’t as long as 165.

I went through four FitBits in 3 years because they kept breaking and switched to Apple and my series 3 lasted me 6 years until it got hit with a basketball

I can confirm my Apple Watch overheats and shuts down at any temps above 170. Fit Bit seems to handle it. I stopped wearing mine, I was doing it out of curiosity to see how high my HR would get based on temps.

I had an Apple Watch Series 5 and it was good at distance but very patchy at stroke detection (my form isn’t that bad!). Switched to a Garmin 245 4 years ago and it was much better at stroke detection. Distance is fine with the occasional missed lap but that also happened with the AW for me. I now use a Fénix 7S and I like it a lot. I really like the ability to push structured workouts to it. That was not doable with the AW. The system for logging drills is a little cumbersome but you get used to it. The missed laps problem has been reduced for me. Now I find that if I keep swimming it catches up eventually most of the time. (Of course newer AWs may have improved too.) Good luck!

I just ran a 2:43 marathon. And I used my AW 7 for that and all the training I did over the last 3years with no problem (70miles per week) I don’t get the Garmin hype

Never happened to me once

In use overcast to sync my podcast to the watch

i dont know why it was asked about initially, but im happy to share why i need one! i use my apple watch, by the way. i primarily use my own lyra, but regardless, i would be hard pressed to take it off. especially as i can change the watch band to a once piece slip on. no edges. that said: i have a medical bracelet. i wear my bracelet next to my watch, because i / others can see certain data on the screen always that wouldnt be on my phone screen. additionally, my watch and phone can unlock each other. the other reason is that all of my doctors can see the same exact data, in the same exact format and i dont run the risk of forgetting to jot something down. (i wouldnt be in the air if i was unsafe or at any risk that would come from being there, versus being at target, for example. also, my cardiologist, autonomic neurologist, sports medicine team, and so on are aware and encouraging of this.)

Agreed. If you’re planning to get the Apple Watch anyway, it works incredible well and smoothly. I don’t remember how much fiddling with settings it took, but I’ve never had to worry about it. As someone else mentioned, I used to have a Fitbit that would double count the steps for a workout. Only mildly related: With any wrist based device, crocheting always counts as steps and sometimes triggers the “it looks like you’re working out” prompt. A few other activities can do it as well but with crochet it’s pretty much guaranteed for me lol

I use my garmin edge for cycling and my Apple Watch’s built in workout app for everything else.

Thanks for the great write up! I am one that is also frustrated with WearOS in a sense none of them do well for fitness focused people :( . I want to like it but im always drawn back to Garmin. I also use apple phones so i have an apple watch as well which is pretty good at fitness. I love garmin for fitness but lacks anything smart really even their latest watches. (cant voice to text translate a reply to a message) Is there some reason WearOS doesnt allow HR straps to connect that would fix alot of the fitness data for me. I mean come on even apple allows my HR strap to pair with apple watch

I just use my Apple Watch and the Atlon app, it’s designed to track movements automatically

Apple Watch with Strava app is fine.

second the apple watch. i use a 6 and that’s great too. i know many people use a garmin watch so an older version of that would be great too

Right? I knew the Apple Watch was better, but I was surprised how much better. Probably will switch to apple next phone I get, Samsung just hasn’t been impressing me much lately and my s20 sd slot is what kept me with them this long.

I can only speak for runners and from my limited knowledge within my group of running friends. They all have their coaches who would plan their running schedule for them. No one really uses all the training load or coaching stuff that Garmin has. Are you going to relax and do recovery runs instead of following your training plan just because your Garmin told you you had a bad sleep? Most of us are no. We rather just get it done with. I dunno is it similar for other more serious runners? They all use it the same way my Apple Watch Ultra is capable of, like custom workouts setup, track mode, and Stryd pod integration, which Apple Watch 1 issue I dislike is unable to see GPS and Stryd data metrics at the same time. Maybe the battery life is the biggest plus for Garmin; otherwise, I myself am struggling for a reason to get a 965 to replace my AWU1.

I use Apple Watch with data so I can listen to podcasts/ music. I use Apple workout to track my runs, Apple Health linked to Strava. I also use custom workouts for speed workouts. Set up warm up, speed repeat distances with pace range, recovery, etc. Battery doesn’t last as long as running watches but I enjoy the features and mine lasts through my long runs (although, I don’t listen to anything on those).

My Apple Watch seems to lock as if I’ve taken it off waaayyyyyyy more frequently now with my forearm/hand tattoo. I’ve been wondering if the ink could be part of that.

I was willing to live with the cost and all its issues - dealbreaker for me was lack of VO2 and continuous HRM and Afib. AW has everything and so do the rings etc.

I had a garmin when I was doing a ton of distance/trail running and apple was just introducing watches. I don’t do that anymore, my garmin is way out of date and I’m pretty imbedded in apples ecosystem. The lowered amount of fitness I’m doing is absolutely fine with an Apple Watch.

Any advice on how to adjust settings if you wear an Oura gen 4 and Apple Watch 10? I don’t sleep with my watch and used to wear Oura only at night. I’ve decided to wear it daily too but I’m getting duplicate steps and wildly different heart rate info. Wearing the ring on my right index finger and watch on left wrist. I really like activity tracking on the watch and thought the gen 3 ring was terrible.

I use my Apple Watch and My Swim Pro app to count laps, get splits, and stroke count. Plus design workouts, set intervals, etc.

That’s right. I’m using my Apple Watch at the gym for strength training because I feel it’s closer to accuracy comparatively and it’s much safer not to have something interfere your full hand grip. For work (&sleep) I prefer wearing the UH ring and rocking a mechanical watch

By work I meant I generally wear it for constant tracking of all the various parameters at work. I use the ring instead of an Apple Watch to track my HR, steps and walking I do at the office. Not just that, I prefer a normal watch on the outfits I wear to the office. A ring would work out in your case if you ask me if none of the calling, message notifications matter to you. Forgetting to charge is also an issue in the ring. I just make it a point to top up the battery every time I go to a shower so that bit of battery at least gets me through that day and night.

I just use the Apple Watch. I find this more usually the remaining 23 hours a day when I’m not working out. 

My Apple Watch is not great about recording kick board laps. Not sure if other watches are better.

I swim with my regular Apple Watch all the time in the gym pool and I can know when a call comes through. Answering it is sometimes a different story but I can tell who is calling, so if it were the school I can hop out of the water.

My wife and I got Apple Watch 9s for the blood oxygen. Used mine for first time today. 2200 yards with the statistics. It’s great.

AW will automatically detect intervals you preset before the workout. If you have to manually do laps, Ultra has a new side button that can do it.

Agree with all but the auto detection. It’s very good.

I swim for health and fun and I love it to keep track of my laps and my heart rate. Even if it’s not perfect I don’t need it to be. I have an Apple Watch and it fits into my everyday life so it’s not something that’s single purpose. I like Apple Pay since don’t really carry my wallet on me but in my backpack and I also don’t have my phone on me so I can still play music on my runs or workouts.

i use a apple watch s7, works fine for me tracks sets etc, should be able to pick one up cheap enough these days seeing as it’s about 3 gens old now

I used my Apple Watch, but I used the IntervalTimer App. Worked really well.

I think the battery life is the main issue of the AW. Fitness features are constantly improving but the fact that it’s also a “mini” iPhone means a high battery consumption. The Ultra is only a bit better in that department but is bulky and expensive

Mine’s pretty accurate but it doesn’t pick up lengths I do with a kick board.

I've got an AW and 955. As others have said, AW is a smart watch Garmin is a fitness watch. Do you need battery life for long runs/rides? Garmin Do you need cell service/text/calls? Apple I wear my AW most of the time because its got my work calendar on it plus I get texts etc. I also use it for swimming, surfing, and sports where I don't want to bring my phone because I need cell service. I had an emergency surfing about 5 yrs ago and got an apple watch with cell service immediately after. This is one area garmin fails. I wear my 955 for my runs and workouts. I find it track HR much better - no drops. If you are wearing a chest strap then they would both be the same for that. I prefer garmin for sleep tracking as well. Pretty sure bike power meters wont play nice with AW either. As far as health stats, I actually use healthfit for both AW and Garmin which gives me more than either of them.

Am I the only one where my Apple Watch (all 3 I’ve owned) call a length a lap? Drives me nuts.

I keep saying that and all those tied whoop users keep saying there's no need for an update technology and then it keeps being asked so its funny to watch that bipolarity 😆 regarding alternatives i would say garmin singe you going to use a band anyway to sleep then a watch dont make difference and is way better in general use and better in sports I would say if you have ios then apple watch If you dont like to sleep with eatch then you need to go to a ring or withings sleep matress or some really expensive 8sleep Those are the alternatives i remeber

I went for the AW Ultra 2 recently and I am really happy with it. 48+ hours of battery from 100 to 25% with daily workouts and 24/7 data usage. S10 is the newest alternative, with twice the smaller battery but twice faster charging. Both will be doing great work for you. I personally went for the ultra because of the design and to avoid being without battery without timing the charges.

I use it for every swim. I'm only doing 1500m of breaststroke but like to be able to compare time to previous swims. It's a great way to monitor progress.

My Apple Watch 6 performs well - except on kick laps if I’m using a snorkel with hands down at my sides. If I do the laps with hands extended in front (like they would be with a board) it tracks fine which is weird. My Apple Watch is equipped with cellular & on the surface it gets calls / texts / notifications if I forget to put on “do not disturb”.

Agreed, the health measurements of apple watch are just too good.

I use a series 9 at the moment and usually run for 45 minutes to 2 hours each day. I don’t wear it when I sleep, but a single overnight charge lasts me the full day. For those who are not getting a full day, you probably have some 3rd party app killing the battery. This is probably my last Apple Watch but I’ll be sad about it. I know the garmins are better running watches but I’m pretty sure the AW is overall a better smart watch.

When I first started climbing I wore my Apple Watch with the hope of tracking overall fitness, took it off pretty much immediately and never wore it again. Too much risk of scraping it /banging it on the wall

I use the Apple Watch in my own 32ft outdoor pool and it’s absolute trash at tracking my laps even with the pool length set properly. It consistently tracks less than I do, I wouldn’t recommend.

Yep, I have swam with it about 8 miles a week for over a year and I love it. Zero issues.

I love my Apple Watch so much. I got it “renewed” (refurbished) for cheap on Amazon. It’s been great for a year now, zero issues.

Love my Apple Watch: perfectly tracks lap count, splits, stroke style, heart rate, etc. I don’t have to do anything but select “pool swim” as my workout, and go. It’s amazing. Love love love it.

Apple Watch is very accurate once calibrated over a few weeks of use. It is waterproof for swimming, and uses water lock. No reason to get something else “water proof” unless you plan to dive deep.

Buy an Apple Watch instead. You'll get a smartwatch AND a training device. The Garmin is only good for training and looks clunky and ugly the rest of the day.

I'd honestly rather not swim than go to the pool having forgotten my apple watch because if it's not recording my data I fear it doesn't count. Same for training at the gym. I'm dependent on this lil gadget that makes me feel like Kim Possible. I still count my lengths in my head but like the safety net of my watch to make sure I'm not losing track and it's fun to follow my data and changes over time.

Unless you need the battery life for long events like Ironman or ultras, Apple Watches are better fitness watches than garmins are smartwatches. If you really value the smartwatch portion, you could easily get a used, low ish end garmin or coros for <$200 and use it for your couple of big events a year, and use the Apple Watch the other 360 days.

I use it always!

I shake my head at the fact that in 2024 garmin can make a smartwatch that has anywhere from a two week to 4 weeks battery life and with more bells and whistles than Apple. But all Apple can only give you 2 days battery life max. What a damn shame. Apple is robbing people blind. Hell, I would be happy with one week of battery life.

Garmin has watches with amoled display that give you 16 days battery life. Room for everything? Garmin watches give you way more options than Apple Watches and make room for everything. All that with 16 days of battery life. Apple Watches are suppose me to have these better processors that are power efficient. Yet year after year, it’s still the same 1-2 days max of battery life

I have both watches. I wouldn’t say the Apple watches ‘clearly’ does more. Sure with other apple devices ices it integrates better. But that’s pretty much it.

I wore an Apple Watch while training for the Boston Marathon, running 60+ miles. Battery life is really a non-issue—the quick charge is very effective and so if you just drop it on a charger for 30-45 min while you get ready in the morning you’ll be fine. What was most annoying was lack of buttons. Wet clothing or raindrops triggering unintended touches is a major annoyance and the only option is to lock the touchscreen, which is annoying in its own way. Obviously you lose the Garmin training data side of things, which is a mixed bag. A lot of that stuff doesn’t really add much besides another thing to obsess over.

The bad review bias is strong because we happy customers don't have a need to spam reviews. I've had my 4 for couple of weeks now and I'm extremely happy with my product. I had the Gen 2 before this but the battery was so worn out after years of use that it was basically useless, so I decided to upgrade. The problem I had with the Gen 2 was that it was one size too large and it had hard time tracking my sleep reliably. With the 4 I decided to go with as small as possible. The first 4 days I was sceptical did I buy too small and I had to remove it from my finger time to time just because an unpleasant feeling. I did not had any actual physical symptoms. After I got used to it I don't feel it at all and it tracks everything perfectly. The battery in the 4 is simply amazing. I get like 6-7 days of battery. I have my charger at my desk so I just pop it in every once in a while when I remember. I think the battery size depends slightly on the ring size so just for the information I have size 10. I love the automatic activity tracking! It might not be as accurate in calories as my Apple Watch but it does detect all my activities correctly automatically and that's the most important thing for me. In Apple Watch I have to activate the activity in advance and with Oura I just simply confirm the activities afterwards when I remember. That's amazing feature! The stress meter is very eye opening for me and it gives me clues on what actually stresses me out and what helps me recover. I love my Oura 4 and I would buy it straight away again if it gets lost or breaks.

Well I've had my Apple Watch for 4 years and I still get solid 30 hours of battery. It means it still needs to be charged every night. To me 8 hours of battery in Apple Watch indicates that something is wrong with it.

I wore my Apple Watch series 5 while climbing. I had a bumper cover around it so no worries there with scratching. Chalk definitely got around it but I’d wipe the whole watch/band with a damp towel when I got home. I have a Garmin Epix now and still wear it while climbing. I have the sapphire glass and have taken some hard bangs with it on the wall and it’s going strong *knock on wood*.

I've had an Apple Watch and switched to the Coros Pace Pro. If you're only going to use the watch for crossfit and exclude any sort of running then I would say skip the pace pro. A lot of the stats is catered towards running/runners

Yes, wouldn’t be without it.

Like many of you, I am deep into the Apple ecosystem. I never had an Apple Watch though until this past year as I never really wanted all the extra dings, beeps, and distractions coming from my wrist. I eventually got a series 9 for fitness tracking and was largely happy with it. However, I \*only\* used it for fitness tracking and didn't care much for other features. Most notifications were off. Also, Apple's health app is surprisingly clunky, IMO. I run, cycle, and lift, so the rings were fun and motivating at first, but over time I stopped caring about them. Sometimes I need a rest day. (Yes, I know that now you can pause your rings, but whatever.) Ultimately my reason for switching was just that I got the itch to try something new. Did I really need to? Probably not, but I wanted a dedicated fitness tracker. The better battery is great, of course, but not the end of the world. Even my AW would probably last a full marathon, which I am not planning to do anytime soon anyways. I still charge the Garmin for a few minutes every few days, even if I dont need to, because I get battery anxiety and prefer to keep it between 20%-80% anyways. My absolute favorite thing so far is having actual buttons. I LOVE BUTTONS! There were so many times where I struggled to stop my workout because my watch was wet, or my hands were sweaty. So... buttons. Love 'em. Garmin also syncs better with my trainer's app. Thats more of a personal thing that may not apply to everyone though. I know this isn't a super detailed spec review or anything, but it's my experience. So far I am very happy with Garmin. I like a more simple watch. I dont really miss any of the things I liked about my AW like I thought I might. The size was nice (I have small wrists), and I loved the WorkOutDoors app, but the trade off is worth it so far. I was hanging on to the AW for a bit in case I changed my mind, but I think I am gonna sell it now. I spent so much time going back and forth on this but I am glad that I tried the Garmin. I can always switch back, but for now I am a Garmin Guy.

How often do you track workouts? I saw people saying it lasts a month but i don’t think mine would last close to that long. Seems to burn about 10% during a 1.5 hour run with GPS and Live-tracking. Not an issue for me though. Still way better than AW.

I was going to say this. My newest gen apple watch records everything, including kick sets, very accurately and automatically. However, it has a hard time if I am doing some kind of drill like broken/1 arm fly or something like that, which makes sense to me bc I would imagine its harder for the watch to detect.

Same about me. I get the hype about AW and I\`m very comfortable with them as Iphone extension, but garmin with it\`s battery life and training programs get training expirience so much forward. I fucked up so much with forgetting to charge my AW and missing my swim/run session.

Apple Watch right now but eventually I’ll go back to the Garmin life

If you plan to wear it daily and you are inside apple’s ecosystem then it’s a no brainer for the apple watch

You can use strava I think to sync your swim workouts but it’s more focused for running and cycling, when I had the apple watch I just used the ios stock one and I think it does enough.

I use garmin and I love it. I used to have an Apple Watch for me it was the look. I can’t stand the square Apple Watch look but… Apple Watch is a smartwatch that can do some fitness tracking and garmin is a fitness tracker that can do some smartwatch

I use a sweatband over top of my Apple Watch. If I’m snatching I may turn it inside out as well. May not be perfect as I’ve definitely hit the face with the bell but so far so good.

I have had my 265 for about a month now after 7 years with Apple Watch. I have a nice Salomon running belt so I don’t mind bringing my phone on runs, but I found using YouTube Music on the watch to be okay after the initial setup. I never got offline Spotify to work on my AW and even syncing Apple Music to the watch was difficult so in my experience, music is easier on the Garmin. My decision to make the switch was that I am afraid my AW8 will run out of battery during my upcoming marathon. Yes, the series 8 battery is horrible. What I found after the switch was that running with the 265 is much better than AW. The suggested runs are really nice with a good balance of regular runs and intervals. I also like the breadcrumb navigation and this is worth the extra cost over the 165. AW navigation is good if you are walking in an urban area, but for running, I prefer the breadcrumbs on my 265. I always used my phone for navigation when running with my AW. Whether the upgrade to 965 is worth it depends on whether you want full maps with navigation.

And the irony: Sleep tracking is on every watch heavily inaccurate. AW7 barely tracks correctly, Garmin barely tracks correctly. When I wore them both at night both watches had different results.

I don’t do quite as many miles (in the 30-something mpw range though) but have definitely done 2 hour runs before with a series 6 and a series 10 now. It should work fine for that, at least for a few years. My 6 was at the point where I’d probably have to top up the battery depending on time of day that I’m doing a run, but I also wear at night for sleep tracking, etc. I’d say it’s totally doable for your use case, though.

I think the sleep tracking is pretty good. It usually makes me feel better about my sleep, actually. I often have a negative perception of my sleep, and sometimes the watch convinces me I slept longer\\better than I thought I did. lol It does provide some measures of cardio fitness measured in VO2 Max, lots of heartrate related measurements, respiratory rates, physical effort measured in METs, it does track calories and "active calories". I am not sure how accurate the measurements are, but I think they are accurate to themselves (ie if your trend is going up or down that is probably accurate). It also can count steps but that feature seems to not be emphasized. I had to use a third party app called Duffy to get a step complication on my watch face. This did allow me to replace my Fitbit. The steps counted were very close to the Fitbit's numbers when I was wearing them both. The watch definitely helps me. It tracks your progress each day (standing hours, exercise minutes, and active calories). You configure goals for yourself and the watch will periodically remind you. And if you don't make your goal, you have it forever marked against you on the calendar. This kind of pushes me to do the bare minimum to close my rings every day I can, lol. I definitely exercised more today than I wanted to (and more than I would have if I didn't have the watch) just to get the damn move ring closed. It works for me.

I go into the sauna with my apple watch so I can track my heart rate. My time in the sauna ends once my heart rate hits a certain level which I find to be much more helpful versus a set time. I'm guessing your watch will be fine in there as well.

I would add that apple measures heart rate continuously during all activities.

Apple Watch for sure. I used my whoop for a while and the HR was wildly inaccurate. I could be sweating and tired on a high resistance portion on the bike and my HR would only show zone1-2….. I find my HR accuracy with my Apple Watch.

Apple Watch will do fine for a long time - only got a Garmin last year. However once you go to only having to charge your watch once every two weeks you just can’t go back to Apple. I have a Garmin Fenix (on the $$$ side) but I wear it every day as my normal watch too and have had zero issues making the switch. However there’s heaps in the range, I love accuracy, maps, long battery and lots and lots of data so I can overthink every run - so Fenix it is! The forerunners are great and the vivoactives are a good mid range model. There’s other brands like Suunto, Polar etc. For true accuracy on any wrist watch you may need a chest monitor. But if you really like your Apple Watch I found it pretty good unless you’re somewhere with not much reception

The swim workout on apple watch kind of sucks. I use the swim.com app instead. It kind of sucks too, but I feel it tracks my laps in the pool a little more accurately. I use the apple open water swim for open water swims. It just does a gps track. Nothing extra.

I have no idea why you’re being told not to use your Apple Watch. Plenty of people do, and since you already have one it’s the obvious place to start. If you use it and after a while feel like you’re missing something, then look at other options at that time.

There’s no such thing as a totally waterproof watch, and I can’t say I’ve ever heard anybody say theirs got damaged by swimming with it. Apple say > Apple Watch Series 8 has a water resistance rating of 50 metres under ISO standard 22810:2010. This means that it may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. The watch has pool swim and open water swim modes, and Apple have a page on their site dedicated to how to use it for a swim. And you would find all this in less than a minute if you just googled it. I mean, >.

Had a Fitbit. It didn’t have heart rate alarms or integration with Apple Health. Had a heart attack. Received the Apple Watch after that and have been wearing one ever since.

I have had many Fitbits, an Apple Watch and a Garmin Venu 3. The Fitbits have gone downhill since Google bought them and they usually break right when the warranty is over. So I can no longer recommend although I have owned at least 10 Fitbits over the years. I own an Apple Watch and never use it. It shows my calorie burn insanely high (I am talking several hundred calories high each day). And it has to be charged every day which is a pain. I've had my Garmin Venu 3 about an a year and a half. I like it a lot. It is not super complex but does what I want. Like all fitness tracker/watches it tend to over estimate calories a bit as did all of them. But it is closest to accurate.

I just tried on Fitbit Inspire 3, Garmin forerunner 165, and Apple Watch series 10 (I use iPhone). They all have pros and cons. I ended up keeping the Garmin. I’d choose Fitbit if you just want to track your walk, I love how affordable and simple it is. The sleep tracking seems to be the best out of all 3. It has auto-start activities when it detects you walk, run, exercise, which is great because I sometimes just forgot about my watch. Longest battery life. I do pilates, yoga, a bit of weight lifting and plan to start running so I went with Garmin because it allows me to track more activities and it collects more data. It’s bigger than Fitbit and more sporty than I’d like but it doesn’t bother me too much. Battery lasts about 10 days. While I liked the stylish AW and its smartwatch capabilities and seamless Apple transition, it was not for me. I only need fitness tracking, not constantly be connected to my phone. The steps count tend to be lower than Fitbit and Garmin. (A few times time it’s 1000+ difference). I hated having to charge it everyday.

Ive tried a few and here’s my feedback. Apple watch: it’s a smart watch not a fitness watch. It has improved recently (the latest models should be significantly more accurate than the one I had 4+ years ago) however for me personally it’s the distraction element that I do not like. I do not need another screen. Fitbit; data is ok for a beginner, but definitely not great or accurate for someone training 5-6x a week and combining cardio, sports, weights etc. Whoops: no screen which is a major + for me. Can wear it on wrist, bicep or underwear. Really good measurement of sleep and calculation of sleep/down time based on your daily activity. That helps a lot plan your sleep and have better recovery and as a consequence, perform great in the following day. I am quite curious to try Oura and Garmin (even though I’d hate to go back to screen wearables) maybe i’ll get one of them next year but so far, Whoop is 100% the best Fitness tracker out there imo. In addition, I’ve realized that in all High End resorts that I’ve been in the past 3 years, people wear 2 things: a rolex or a whoop 😂 so as a Henry I guess that’s a good indicator.

I personally only wanted 1 watch and didn’t want to exercise with my phone. Apple Watch was a no-brainer. While limited compared to non-Apple fitness devices, its heart rate and gps are excellent. For long-distance endurance sports, the most sophisticated fitness watch is worthless if I can’t call, text, or share my location with others. In addition, i believe many amateur athletes begin relying on technology long before they understand their bodies’ rhythms and limits.

I literally leave my phone at home because the watch can call and text. No illusions.

I prefer the cool 'tech' style of the apple device, the Garmin products are way better but they look like a Texas Instruments calculator on your wrist and they feel a bit cheap - despite being anything but.

Do you have any details on what isn't accurate on the Garmins compared to other products? I had an apple watch for years but switched to a Forerunner 965 and have been very happy; didn't notice any accuracy differences. I can't even name 10 competitors in the smart watch market so I'm not sure if that's an exaggeration?

Only thing keeping me on whoop at this point is I like sleep tracking, but don’t like sleeping with my Apple Watch on..

I use it every swim. I also stopped using the apple fitness app for swimming because it gives inaccurate pace times. I installed the Swim.com app and it’s great, EXCEPT, it doesn’t pick up any kicking sets. If you can mimic the swim.com app, but toss in kicking, it would be the best.

Thing that blows me way about my AW is it’s ability to know what stroke you’re doing. My watch is about 98.5% or better on tracking yardage.

I’ve been using Apple Watches for almost 5 years, 3-4 hours a week in the pool. Waterproofing is flawless Accuracy: The delta in my self reported yards (on the USMS tracking app) vs my watch is like 1.15% this year. Occasionally the watch misses one kicking lap in a 300 yard set or maybe if I’m swimming with fins or doing drills. Rarely misses anything w/ straight freestyle or other strokes My biggest beef with the watch is how it refers to kick sets as “kickboard”. Did Apple ask a single swimmer what to call this???

Apple does track splits automatically but it’s not super accurate. If you’re resting more than 5 seconds between repeats the sets are reasonably accurate. Total yardage is in the 99% accurate range for me

Current version of Apple Watch does record kick sets

Stroke recognition is pretty amazing I think. I’ve noticed errors lately on butterfly more often. Maybe my stroke is degrading and Apple is telling me I can’t acknowledge that crap as butterfly…

It is slightly less accurate than when tracking freestyle, but Im happy to have the feature.

I’m not missing the point at all. My watch gives me a pretty good record of my workout. I don’t use it at all DURING workouts— the pace clock is the right tool then obviously. Ive never used a Garmin but Apple is designed to be locked out during the actual workout. But for a good sense of what I have done over the course of the week, my watch is more than accurate enough (and mine is pretty consistently 98-99% over any given time frame— agree that it’s most vulnerable to errors on kick sets and some of my coaches favorite drills really mess it up) I can’t recall ever being off my more than 25y in a workout of up to 3500y) It frankly never occurred to me that anyone would use it in lieu of a pace clock. That’s crazy

Garmin >>>> Apple. I tried on Apple and didn’t like app on watch and the constant talking. Also screen harder to read. Garmin was easier and more customizable data screens

Garmin or Apple, you can get a solid run tracking watching from China for 40-50$ I think the Xiaomi Smart band is what Dr Mike uses and they're like 40$ and do adequate work. If you love apple and don't mind charging your watch every night, get the apple watch. If not Garmin.

Apple Watch (mine is a 6) has been pretty solid at 1 & 2 with native Apple workout app. #4 Used prior gens in good condition are cheap Number 3 on there might limit you to simpler devices if you want to wear it all day. It does all the nice to haves depending on which apps you use but best if you use Apple as your phone too.

My refurbished iwatch gen 5 is pretty good for the price

I have RingConn and an Apple Watch. I use both daily. The watch has the most data. I utilize the ring for sleep tracking (I don’t sleep with watch). Watch is used for more stuff. Apple Pay, weather, timers, messages and more. Both are beneficial.

I have an Apple Watch and it doesn’t do everything I need. I’ve heard good things about garmin, but i don’t think any watch will do what we need straight out of the box. That’s why visible has a market. The trick is to make sure that whatever watch you choose can be compatible with other apps. I have symptom shark as well and it tells my HR but it says “oh yeah your HR went to XX ten mins ago”…no, I need something that will alert me now. TBH, no matter what app you choose there aren’t a ton that do exactly what we need for an illness like ours. Maybe one day they’ll create a wearable just for ME/CFS and other energy limiting illnesses like long covid. There’s millions of people with this so there’s a market for sure.

I went from Apple Watch to FR265s. I didn’t love my Apple Watch, it on my gave basic tracking features and battery died quickly, but the communication/phone functionality was definitely better. I much prefer the 265s to get more in depth training stats and love that it’s not as easily connected to my phone so I don’t have a mini phone on my wrist and get a break lol

The Apple Watch uses Apple Health, so that’s exactly what you want. I have no issues at all with the WW app syncing to the activity my Apple Watch measures.

For me, I don’t like to be ripped of. I’m not a junkie that must have the product. I don’t like the feeling of getting played because I “must have a thing”. I get on fine without it and use an Apple watch, which has the added benefit of unlocking my devices, apple pay, gps and voice control of my house 🤷 But no judgement. Get what suits your life 🫶

Just to add, I still have my Apple Watch and use it for exercise tracking as I think that’s the main thing the Oura doesn’t do as well. It still has some functionality so you could manage it all through it, but my Apple Watch and Strava sync into it anyway so I still use those alongside

I have both Garmin 945 and Apple Watch and they both get really close. Have doublechecked them against a polar device on my temple and all three were comparable.

I did the same thing. Got the apple watch once I cancelled and I charge it before bed every night and it lasts the entire day. That's the only thing Whoop will now have on apple watch. The charging.

Absolutely, but having the screen isn't all that bad. It is useful. You can also set notifications to a minimum if you don't like distractions. You can also set focus's which is great. It's also a significantly less burden on the wallet over time.

But only slightly. Heart rate is much more accurate on Apple Watch. That may change with 5.0 hardware/software update. But Apple Watch isn't a bad product at all. When you factor in the cost, I believe you get more bang for your buck with Apple Watch.

Good news is you can program your watch by either (or both) focus's and notifications. The watch isn't the same as whoop. But it gives you all of the same features depending on which subscriptions you have. They are all significantly less than whoop though. I frequently golf and was drawn to whoop years ago and I loved it. I learned a ton on what is good and what is bad for me. I cancelled shortly after the 4.0 drop because I already learned everything there is to know. But I still wanted the data. I just couldn't fathom spending an annual subscription that was as much as the Apple Watch itself when I didn't see Whoop trending in the right direction. Whoop 3.0 was it's peak. Once they started selling eye masks and new bands at a rate of 300% more than it was in the blink of an eye, I was out. I use; Bevel = $50/year Heart Analyzer = $9/one time fee HeartWatch = $6/one time fee AutoSleep = $6/one time fee Heart Analyzer and HeartWatch both offer V02 Max, Bevel will probably offer this in the future. All of the above offer HRV. AutoSleep measures HRV during sleep and upon waking (Breathe app is recommended which is free) The others track HRV through SDNN and RMSSD. Whoop tracks it more often, however you still get multiple readings per day with the other apps and can manually trigger it using the Breathe app. Bevel is the highest cost but also provides you: * Recovery score * Stress score * Energy bank * Sleep score * Sleep recommendations * Strain score * Strength builder * Journal * Lifestyle impact analysis * Training zones * complication/widgets for the watch Autosleep: * Automatic sleep detection * Plethora of sleep metrics and analysis * Sleep bank * Smart alarm

Same as you. My charge 6 just died on me one fine day. Considered Garmin Lily and Apple Watch, finally went with Apple simple because there’s more support where I live. The biggest learning curve was how frequently Apple Watches need to be charged.

Try a used Apple Watch 7 first. See if you use the features of the watch enough. Buy extra chargers , since u have to charge it daily. The Apple Watch 8, 9, ultra and ultra 2 is not going to be massively different from the 7. When you are frustrated with daily charging or charging every 2 days, then u will be ready for ur first Garmin. May I suggest the forerunner series 165, 265 , 965. Software is well supported for 4-6 years easily. Battery life is 7-10 days from new, and even if u use it frequently, since you are only charging it every 7-10 days, ur battery health is going to be good and the decay won’t be as much as the Apple Watch. 5 yrs later your battery life will degrade to 4-7 days -> still double or triple that of a brand new Apple Watch battery life.

Try a used Apple Watch 7 first. See if you use the features of the watch enough. Buy extra chargers , since u have to charge it daily. The Apple Watch 8, 9, ultra and ultra 2 is not going to be massively different from the 7. When you are frustrated with daily charging or charging every 2 days, then u will be ready for ur first Garmin. May I suggest the forerunner series 165, 265 , 965. Software is well supported for 4-6 years easily. Battery life is 7-10 days from new, and even if u use it frequently, since you are only charging it every 7-10 days, ur battery health is going to be good and the decay won’t be as much as the Apple Watch. 5 yrs later your battery life will degrade to 4-7 days -> still double or triple that of a brand new Apple Watch battery life.

Try a used Apple Watch 7 first. See if you use the features of the watch enough. Buy extra chargers , since u have to charge it daily. The Apple Watch 8, 9, ultra and ultra 2 is not going to be massively different from the 7. When you are frustrated with daily charging or charging every 2 days, then u will be ready for ur first Garmin. May I suggest the forerunner series 165, 265 , 965. Software is well supported for 4-6 years easily. Battery life is 7-10 days from new, and even if u use it frequently, since you are only charging it every 7-10 days, ur battery health is going to be good and the decay won’t be as much as the Apple Watch. 5 yrs later your battery life will degrade to 4-7 days -> still double or triple that of a brand new Apple Watch battery life.

I have a Apple Watch Series 8 and it works fine for counting the laps, the distance of each stroke, and even the distance of kickboard

I use my Apple Watch and Seconds Pro.

I use mine to count laps as well

I started with Fitbit but switched to an Apple Watch and I love it. I have a friend who has a Samsung watch and loved it but she switched to Apple Watch also and loves it. I think it also depends on preference and what your are looking for in a fitness tracker. I would think it’s a toss up between Apple Watch and Samsung Watch.

Compared to my 4 year old Apple Watch it‘s really slow. And the UI is terrible.

I switched back to Apple Watch after a week 😜

I’d recommend apple watch ultra 2 or apple watch 10 if you use and like apple products. Im swimming with watch ultra 2 and like it very much!

My apple watch was fine for swimming but only counted laps (not what type of stroke). I use a Garmin venu 3 since December last year and I'm happy about the change. (Venu 3 was affordable for me and offered all the SmartWatch options I wanted) Sometimes it counts more laps than I actually swam, especially if I dive or change stroke midlane.

Yeah to be fair, I think it was a series 3 or something. 😅

Apple Watch is already in the post

I wanted the most accurate sleep tracking and, according to the Quantified Scientist, Apple watches are the best.

I use the smartwod app on my phone to set the interval. Plays over my music + counts down to start/stop. I just use my Apple Watch to track distance but have been debating on switching back to Garmin for more accurate miles.

Apple Watch - I have a series 3 - been swimming with it since 2018 and it has never failed me. Keeps up with all my strokes and laps. Works perfect.

Apple never promised free hardware with subscription. And I used an Apple Watch series 2 for nearly 6 years with no issues. Apple and Whoop are nothing alike. This bold face lie about free hardware with subscription is enough for me to walk away. I just got the Whoop 4.0 one month ago. They’ve fooled me once. Not again though.

Mine stopped syncing last week, exactly 1 year and a week after I bought it.. Got a brand new Apple watch in the black friday sale..

I bought an Apple Watch hoping it would serve as a smart and sports watch. Not satisfied with the sports function. All my friends have Garmin or something else and their km/h measuring and battery life is much better. Not familiar with the Apple Watch Ultra though.

If Apple Watch could last a 70.3 and moreso a full IM, I'd actually prefer it over Garmin. The UI is better and easier to understand, plus I get to wear it whole day as a normal watch since it kinda suits what I wear at work. The functionality which is also customizable is also exceptional and the resulting data (HR, distance, etc.) is the same with Garmin. Plus, I do use an iPhone and airpods. I used to run using the apple watch and then pair it with my airpods - i loved that I get to listen to music without bringing my phone, and a voice which says if im over HR target range or if my run/rest interval is done.

I’m using a Apple Watch and I love using the function to use spotify offline so I can listen to music without my phone. Is this also possible with a Garmin Watch?

Apple Watch is the obvious answer

My Apple watch closely matches the heart rate given by hospital equipment, but my skin is very pale, which makes optical sensors work much better. If you happen to also be pale, there's a good chance that a high quality Android-based watch will work similarly well. Not a very helpful suggestion if you're not on the pasty side, sorry! Best of luck with your recovery!

You'll get basically all the tracking (Apple will surely have blood pressure monitoring if Whoop does). And if you like the Whoop app's style of Strain, Sleep, journalling etc.. you can get an app like Bevel or Athlytic for a couple of bucks a month. Personally I'll be ditching my Whoop due to this pricing and using my Apple Watch with Bevel.

Apple Watch does not collect 24/7 second by second hr and Hrv data which Garmin does That’s a main flaw for me on the Apple Watch + battery life is a pain in the ass :/

I like the simplicity of the coros pace pro. I dont get overloaded with notifications like my apple watch and the battery life is amazing.

I can make a series watch last for an Olympic distance on low power mode. Even then I still need to charge to get through the rest of the day. My Garmin 955 will last for a complete Ironman with 65% of the battery left. I still sometimes use my Apple Watch for shorter runs or bike rides if I forget to change it out, but the Garmin is my go to training watch.

Apple Watch any series.

I’ve had mine 4 years now. You can dive with it, swim, walk in the desert- only issue is actually the short battery life. You must charge daily.

Both my partner and I love our Apple Watches but they are horrendously bad at tracking accuracy and would terminally underestimate distance by around 5-10%. For some reason my partner’s would only record her heart rate for around 20% of a workout. Tried all the usual (tightening wrist band, re-pairing etc) but they just don’t work as a fitness tool. It’s a real shame because as a smart watch they are amazing (especially leaving your phone at home with the cellular models), but as a training tool, my 8 year old Forerunner 235 is a better option than my 1 year old Apple Watch.

I have used Apple Watch for a year and have been very happy with it. Prior to that I had a Fitbit, which was brilliant tracking workouts but not so much climbing. I use my Apple to track all my workouts in the gym and indoor and outdoor climbing. It’s accurate and easy to use.

The Apple Watch really just felt like a second phone on my wrist with a few fitness tracking features. I didn’t need to see that I got a Gmail notification on my wrist and my phone at the same time. The constant clearing of notifications from my phone and watch was really annoying. After turning off all of those features to make it more fitness focused, I thought why am I paying for this when I could spend around the same amount of money and get more features that I want with the garmin? So I am keeping the garmin over the Apple Watch.

Ugh - tried to use my Apple Watch to push heart rate to garmin for calculations / metrics - no go … third party apps can “display” but garmin cannot ingest the data to interpret/compute. What gets me is that Apple is so slow to make a viable alternative yet it’s got a stranglehold on the wearables market. Annoying.

I wear my Apple watch every time. It has normal wear and tear, nothing crazy. I don’t do dynos (yet) which is the only thing I can think of that is not currently contributing to my watch condition.

Exactly this. When you use a Garmin you can tell it was clearly built for purpose (endurance sports), and Apple Watch is clearly not. Just different uses and different uses.

I have always used my Apple Watches to track sleep. The newer ones charge quickly so it’s never been a problem, plus the newer ones charge ultra last multiple days.

I did Apple Watch forever but got tired of being “so connected” Moved to whoop a few months ago. It’s ok… not sure I love it or really understand everything it’s telling me, but it does the trick

Hi! I'm curious what people out there are using for their fitness tracking, especially in triathlons. I'm currently running an apple watch s4 and a garmin edge 530, I plan to replace my watch very soon given its age, relatively poor battery life and touch screen only UI making swimming workouts annoying; that said, my apple watch has performed really well for what I have been using it for but after 6 years of daily use its at the end of its life. I've been eyeing up the garmin forerunner 265/965 for the premium materials, quality sensors, long list of features and battery life. The fact these watches would talk to my edge device is also a big bonus. However, these cost a pretty penny. With coros releasing their Dura computer at such a competitive price, I'm very tempted to get a pace 3 and get dura a little later down the line. Does anyone have experience using any of these devices? What things do you think are missing? What stuff really annoys you? What do you love? Is there anything I'd miss if I go cheaper? Does anyone use apple watches for triathlon sports and how do you think they fare compared to other devices? Looking forward to hearing all your thoughts!

Yes, this is how I feel with the Apple watch. Its super capable and I think a really good fitness tracker. But it's not focussed and there's so many unnecessary features, which are nice, but don't add to the experience of fitness. It feels like the Ultra should address these problems but its just a more premium watch with a bigger battery, not much 'ultra' about it

Yeh. Been using a Series 3 and Series 6 Apple watch since 2018\~ or so basically every day I climb. Mostly used it for tracking how long I've been climbing, my heart rate, and calories burned. It's nice to be able to look at my fitness calendar on my phone and see the days I've climbed vs stayed home. 1. Chalk isn't really a big issue. It does get on the watch but it wipes away easily, even if I don't wipe it away, it tends to just get wiped away over the next hour or two of just wearing it while driving home and stuff. 2. My series 3 did break while I was climbing at one point but it wasn't from "smacking" the watch on the wall. I didn't tie the band well enough and it fell off and onto the ground. My series 6 has taken quite a few smacks onto holds and hasn't broken. The case is slightly scratched. 3. My watch band has never caught on anything but I did buy a stretchy/breathable band specifically for climbing. Secures with velcro so (if need-be) it can detach from my wrist and not get caught on a hold and hurt my wrist. I'll say this tho - I can't ever see a scenario where that would happen unless you're climbing trees or something.

Yeh. Been using a Series 3 and Series 6 Apple watch since 2018\~ or so basically every day I climb. Mostly used it for tracking how long I've been climbing, my heart rate, and calories burned. It's nice to be able to look at my fitness calendar on my phone and see the days I've climbed vs stayed home. 1. Chalk isn't really a big issue. It does get on the watch but it wipes away easily, even if I don't wipe it away, it tends to just get wiped away over the next hour or two of just wearing it while driving home and stuff. 2. My series 3 did break while I was climbing at one point but it wasn't from "smacking" the watch on the wall. I didn't tie the band well enough and it fell off and onto the ground. My series 6 has taken quite a few smacks onto holds and hasn't broken. The case is slightly scratched. 3. My watch band has never caught on anything but I did buy a stretchy/breathable band specifically for climbing. Secures with velcro so (if need-be) it can detach from my wrist and not get caught on a hold and hurt my wrist. I'll say this tho - I can't ever see a scenario where that would happen unless you're climbing trees or something.

I’m just getting back into swimming after like 25yrs and have been using my Apple Watch paired with the swim.com app on it and my phone(free). I really like that it syncs with my Apple health. I can ideally load my workout onto it, it’s fairly accurate in knowing how much of a rest I take etc.

I switched from Garmin to AW. I found HealthFit, which is free. If you’re a runner, HealthFit is a must. Other than that, I rely on Apple for everything else.

Garmin may be better for fitness but its basically splitting hairs at this point. Like the Apple watch still gives good "data." Not like there is a 20% difference. I forget where I read this, but a doctor was saying all these fitness trackers are great if they motivate you and are entertaining to monitor but they fall more into "entertainment" rather than true fitness tracking. Its like "fitness theater" these companies are selling you. Not ragging on them. I have an S8 apple watch too and preordered the S10. But in my opinion I would either get the one you really want, or the cheaper one and deprioritize the precision of either one as they are both 'same-y' If you were debating the different interfaces or how they would connect with your phone or something, thats a different conversation

I agree with you. The data doesn't look that bad at all. HR sensor may have some issues when HR is going up or down. GPS is fine for the ultra, but it's weird the the 7 having dual GPS is way worse. Different antennas. In any case, it's not perfect and the ultra is quite expensive. I agree.

I can run on trails without my phone and the GPS still gives me accurate distance/pace. It's just a better engineered product specific to athletes (runners, bikers, swimmers, etc). The Apple Watches spans across so many features that it doesn't do the core things a runner needs from a watch as good as a Garmin (coming from a 800-1500 middle distance runner). If your a sprinter I guess an apple watch will do bc all ya need is a timer.

I use Apple Watch to play music on left wrist, and Suunto Race S on right wrist for run. It was supposed to be a transition period thing from AW to Suunto, but I am kinda getting used to two watches now lol.

I have Apple and it’s the worst thing ever. It locks itself into water mode restricting you from using stop watch etc.

That must have been a long time ago… I have used Apple Watches for about 6 years, and it’s always identified the stroke!

I use an Apple Watch and I’ve never noticed it doing that. Maybe it’s only on the newer watches? Mine is a series 6 (ie 4 years old now). I have noticed it occasionally double counting lengths (so instead of a 30 second length it’ll show 2 lengths with splits of about 15s), I’ve always put that down to me catching a lane rope with my arm. I mostly swim in open water now, and my Apple Watch seems to be great for that, that just uses GPS for the tracking.

I’ve been using an Apple Watch for pool and open water swimming for about 6 years. You hear people doing the “Apple Watch Isn’t Waterproof” thing every now and then (also the “Apple wont repair water damaged watches”, which is also untrue). Try the thing that you have and see if it suits you. I’ve used AW4, AW6 and currently have an AW10, they’ve all worked well for me. I recently started used a Garmin watch too (Fenix 6x Pro) - it has some significant advantages (better battery life for really long swims) but also some disadvantages (sometimes comical inaccuracy).

I’ve been using an Apple Watch for pool and open water swimming for about 6 years. You hear people doing the “Apple Watch Isn’t Waterproof” thing every now and then (also the “Apple wont repair water damaged watches”, which is also untrue). Try the thing that you have and see if it suits you. I’ve used AW4, AW6 and currently have an AW10, they’ve all worked well for me. I recently started used a Garmin watch too (Fenix 6x Pro) - it has some significant advantages (better battery life for really long swims) but also some disadvantages (sometimes comical inaccuracy).

I’ve been using an Apple Watch for pool and open water swimming for about 6 years. You hear people doing the “Apple Watch Isn’t Waterproof” thing every now and then (also the “Apple wont repair water damaged watches”, which is also untrue). Try the thing that you have and see if it suits you. I’ve used AW4, AW6 and currently have an AW10, they’ve all worked well for me. I recently started used a Garmin watch too (Fenix 6x Pro) - it has some significant advantages (better battery life for really long swims) but also some disadvantages (sometimes comical inaccuracy).

I have an AW10. I previously swam with AW4 (quite a long time ago) and AW6. I rarely swim in a pool, most of my swimming is in the sea or local river. I get an accurate GPS track from my watch in both the river and the sea. The AW10 shows water temperature too (the older Apple Watches didn’t do this). I have friends that use Garmin watches (no idea what model, but “swim2” seems familiar) - they’re very happy with their watches. We have a running joke about ”Garmin miles” - the Garmin watches seem to be more optimistic about how far and fast you’ve swum (maybe they do less smoothing). The Apple Watch distance seems to be more consistent with the distance shown on a map. It might suit you better to get an Apple device if you already have other Apple devices. If you have more Android or whatever, the Garmin watch might be better for you.

At the moment I’m comparing my Apple Watch with a Garmin Fenix 6x Pro that I bought recently. On most swims the Garmin will record a distance about 20-25% higher than the Apple Watch. There are a few swims that I do that I can easily verify the distance on a map (eg where we swim along a river from one bridge to another) and for those, the Apple Watch normally gets the distance about right, so I think generally the Garmin overestimates distance. I don’t see why the watches should give different distance though - like someone else commented, GPS is easily accurate enough to measure distances like this to within a few feet. Both watches might be trying to measure some kind of “effective distance”, eg swimming 1 mile upstream should count for more than 1 mile downstream, but I’ve never seen that written down anywhere. If you really care how far you’ve swum, record your swim with a watch, but then manually measure the GPS track on a real map.

I got rid of my months-old Apple Watch Series 6 after I went out for a long winter run and it died because of the cold (only about -4c). Total garbage watch. I was willing to put up with the multitude of fitness tracking issues until then when I completely lost faith in it. Got a Fenix 7 and kicked myself for even buying the AW in the first place. I honestly can’t stress enough how much better Garmin is.

I wear a whoop on a bicep band and swap out my SMP for an Apple Watch when I go to the gym

If you're already in the Apple ecosystem then an Apple Watch will be good choice that's pretty straightforward to use. A Garmin Instinct2 is also a good, relatively low cost option, but you'll need to use the free Garmin Connect app on your iPhone to view your exercise data. The Garmin is more complicated to set up.

PS, battery life is 1-2 days on the Apple Watch and up to 28 days on the Garmin

I have the Apple Watch Ultra and had Series before it (including the 4). I recently did a 70.3 after forgetting to charge it the night before and still ended up with 55% battery life remaining. I wouldn't trust a Series to last for a 70.3. I think the best point that you make is in regards to "already having the Apple Watch" or at least how the watch fits in with the rest of your life. If I wanted a watch solely for an Ironman, it would be a Garmin, but for the rest of everything I do, the Apple Watch Ultra makes more sense. Even for training, the ecosystem on the Apple Watch gives me apps and connectivity that are lacking on other watches, which make it worthwhile. Especially useful are the FindMy and Focus modes for when my wife is trying to reach me.

This! I had a Whoop and Apple Watch at the same time. I was out swimming and the Apple Watch screen came off and was flapping in the water. Never bothered to get a new one, I don’t need a watch, I want a fitness/health device and screens are just a failure point.

Depends on your phone and budget. The Apple watch will still be the best casual smartwatch for iPhone users. If you're a hard-core runner/outdoors person, go for Garmin. Apple watch price ranges from 16K to 55K. Samsung users will best benefit from Galaxy Watch. Prices range from 16K to 41K.

I just the Apple fitness app with my Apple watch. Does everything I want it to do and more.

I've had Fitbit, Galaxy Watch, and Apple Watch. Of the three, Apple Watch has been the best and most accurate. It was also the easiest to connect and synch. Apple Fitness seamlessly integrates with Apple Health, and Apple Health easily integrates with WW. The only issue I've had, I've had with all three, is I get points for activity AND steps...and the activity is what created the steps. Not a big deal since I don't use the points. YO!!! WW Devs!!! Please turn the ability to stop tracking activity points back on, THANK YOU!

I use my Apple Watch and the [Swim.com](http://Swim.com) app to count my laps every morning at the pool.

I have an Apple Watch but I’ve recently started working in the medical field and wearing a watch increases infection risks. I rather have slightly worse accuracy than catch an infection because gloves don’t cover watches well.

As a long time user, I may just upgrade my Apple Watch and cancel whoop . This is getting ridiculous and for that price + some extra cash get a new Apple Watch.

Apple Watch. I bought a very cheap screen cover that cracks almost immediately, but I can usually keep it on for a few months before replacing it. I like having the watch to track heart rate and calorie burn. However inaccurate these might be, I find them useful to gauge my sessions in the gym. I do not wear my watch when I climb outside.

Fitbit is the least reliable. Apple Watch is ok. If it’s really important to you, get a real running watch. Even an entry level model will be better. Or stick with the Apple Watch. It’s not terrible, just not super accurate and the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

I wear my Apple Watch with Strava running. It’s a bit scratched up, my strap would come off very easily in the case of a snag, I’d be wary which straps I use especially outdoor climbing to reduce degloving risk 🤢

Apple Watch with the sleep watch app on it. Pure gold!

I’ve worn my Apple Watch 7 for more than 180 dry sauna sessions and 20 wet sauna sessions. Never had any issues. Send it!!

Yes they are pretty rubbish for swimming. I just switched to a Garmin Fenix which hopefully will be better. The Apple Watch managed lap counting ok for me but open water was a disaster and the rest of its counting (calories etc) was also well off by the looks of it. Your does sound even more broken than just being rubbish though. It should be able to count laps fairly accurately, I think most of them can do that ok.

My Apple Watch adds a lap here and there.

EDIT: my main gripe has been fixed by third party’s apps in the replies! I switched from AW7 to a Garmin earlier this year. My main gripe was in creating custom interval workouts. Having to create them on the watch itself and not having the ability to create them on the phone and send them to the watch was very frustrating. There may be third party apps that can do it but I didn’t find one I was happy with. I really hope Apple just build it into the workouts app on iPhone. I think if you are used to the AW Ultra experience you should be fine, as long as you’re happy with the reduced battery life (I just charged mine when I showered and was fine) and not being able to have the workout lined up ready on the start line, and having to time the countdown.

I use my Apple Watch to track the run, and the RunIntervals app to give me run/walk alerts

I do really short intervals (:30/1:00) so programming that for a long run would be terrible. And I don’t always catch the haptic alerts from my watch. Audio alerts work better, and I run with my phone anyway.

This. People act like AW can’t offer all the same data and more

Althugh you can get an app for all those features if you want on AW

Apple Watch with screen protector and it works great for me.

Both are great watches and I think you won’t be disappointed. The s10 series are much slimmer and more elegant while the ultra is more bulky and probably more practical. If you don’t have a big wrist I recommend the normal s10 series.

I also have an AmazeFit and like it. It last a way long than my Apple Watch ever did. I have several pairs of Tozo headphones that are great, so I’d trust that brand. I’m not an audiophile though, just casual need to hear podcasts and music headphones user.

Same. I swim with it 3-4 times a week and take couple of saunas on those days. I usually mostly palm it while sitting in the sauna to shield it from some of the löyly.

Well. Yes and no. I swim multiple times a week and go from the pool to sauna and back without removing my Apple Watch. Obviously would not wear my watch if only for sauna.

I use it every time, mostly for counting laps.

I use my apple watch. I bought it for the heart rate monitor and afib detection before I started Chemotherapy since a lot of the chemo drugs really do a number on your heart. Now I use it mostly to track my burn throughout the day.

Try the Apple Watch you already have. You’ll like it enough or not.

If you’re an apple person, apple watch is the answer.

I am using the smart features of AW7 and fr 265 for training and workout

There’s an app called Work Outdoors on Apple Watch. Works well for me.

That’s what I did a few years ago. My Apple Watch +Athlytic. I was an early adopter of whoop 3.0 and a day 1 4.0 but spending hundreds a year wasn’t worth it anymore if I’m always wearing Apple Watch. It’s like $30 a year for Athlytic and tells me everything I need to know

I’ve run with AW for about 5 years including marathon blocks up to 60 mpw. No complaints. No battery issues…will easily last a full marathon and the rest of the day. Some HR accuracy issues early on, but seems to have been solved by playing with bands and placement. Personally I don’t mind double-tapping the screen to lap during track work.

This. Much to my dismay; no Garmin around has this offering so I literally look like an ass with a watch on each arm but it serves two purposes: 1. Apple Watch - able to call / text during long runs. More useful than you could ever imagine. Especially for emergencies / time overruns etc 2. My Garmin - my preferred device for my running metrics.

I have an apple watch. When I flare, my resting heart rate is about 15 beats faster per minute than when I am healthy.

Only ever used an Apple Watch, had a Fitbit charge 2 before that but that always needed phone to be connected for GPS etc. I think the Apple Watch is very accurate

I love my apple watch - I bought a series 5 second hand recently so it has a worse battery life than the newer ones, but I find that even using it all day and checking it fairly often, I just need to charge it before I go to bed every night and it works great! I love that it constantly tracks my heart rate and it can also give warnings if it’s been too high/low for ten minutes or more

I found that the Apple Watch goes a bit funky if you pause the timer after intervals . Usually you get that Apple Watch kind of tacks on a “lap” that is blank in distance , with a time on it . Occasionally if I do a lap where I extend my dolphins quite a bit , it triggers the watch to say I was doing butterfly rather than freestyle . The other time it goes funky is when I start swimming at the start of a session without activating the watch at all (ie : I am just warming up ) . Once I try to start a timer it actually begins part way through an interval , and records the warm up as no distance .

I can do this with the workout app in my Apple Watch, just set the activity to pacing or create a manual workout. If you’re not satisfied with that maybe NRC could work?

I have Apple Watch and whoop. I recommend Apple Watch all the way!!

Huh? I did 18-70 with a Series 3 and it was fine with a charge overnight and day use.

I have a series 7 now and it’s fine. There will have been some circumstance causing unnatural battery drain. I will say that the 7 and below have some strange decisions about linking the phone that will kill the battery in the watch or phone. They’re easy enough to get around, but still my only big problem with the AW.

I depend on my watch for counting lengths and time for determining pace. Previously I used to swim without it, but having used it for more than a year I find it a great help in the pool.

I have both and have tried swimming with both  Apple is terrible for swimming. Doesn’t even have a rest timer. Get Garmin. The only reason I use the Apple is as a key for my Tesla when surfing and because I can call 911 when I’m surfing

Garmin isn’t always accurate, but Apple doesn’t even make an effort in my experience. It doesn’t detect rest intervals at all, and the yardage is off in the way that you described because it tries to be too precise. In comparison, the Garmin is smart enough to know that my distance is always gonna be a multiple of 25 yards. My swimming style is a slow graceful gliding so I can understand how it might not detect that I have stopped and thinks I’m still going sometimes.  Either way if I need a really precise number I wouldn’t use auto rest timer from any brand. I would manually do it. The Garmin is good enough to keep track of my weekly mileage though.

I have had my Oura 4 for about two weeks. I’ve only had to charge it twice! I haven’t had any issues with the physical quality either. I’ve used an Apple watch for tracking for about a year. All of my data from Oura is super comparable. I feel like the sleep is much more accurate, I love the temperature tracking / integration with Natural Cycles, and I LOVE how it adjusts your activity goal based on other data. For sizing, I chose an 8. It was the size that could fit on my index finger tightly, middle finger comfortably, and room to move to my ring finger if I was super swollen.

The Apple Watch probably is more accurate but has significantly less frequency when not in workout mode. Still, the Apple Watch can replace a Whoop but the Whoop can’t replace an Apple Watch.

I used to have an Apple Watch but got rid of it for accuracy reasons for running marathons. Had to buy a Garmin to get accurate km splits and accurate instant pace. I use my Garmin also for swimming now. If it’s a decision between Garmin and Apple and you want accurate and reliable data I would go with Garmin every time. Also consider if you ever want to do open water swimming as many watches do pool swimming only and that doesn’t work at all well in open water. Good luck with your whatever you decide.

Same here. Literally the same story. Apple Watch shat the bed, bought a Fenix 7X and it’s been a life changing upgrade. 8 months in, dropped about 12/13kg, ran a few half marathons, gym 5/6 days a week. Good stuff!!

I started with Apple Watch. Once I got serious about running I switched to garmin. Garmin syncs up with NRC so all runs get uploaded there.

I use mine every single time. What is your app idea? I mostly ask because I can’t think of anything I want my Apple Watch to do for swimming that it doesn’t already do.

If you have an iPhone I wouldn’t even consider anything but Apple Watch or gamin Apple Watch never fails at counting laps and has the best wrist based heart rate sensor, both in and out of water

Inversely, I never had more than more than one lap difference between Apple Watch and real measurement

If you got an iPhone : Apple Watch, or garmin as a second choice Otherwise : garmin all the way Apple Watch is the most accurate both for distance, heart rate, does automatic stroke detection, and you can upload your workouts to it which makes it easy to follow during your swim Garmin does all these too, but less accurately for swimming at least

What I do, just to have a weekly goal, is track all food in MacroFactor. And then, with my Apple Watch, I have a goal to burn 3500 workout calories, tracked in the streaks app. It really started helping me to keep the two separate worth the two different systems/apps, rather than combining them like other food tracker apps do. I can manage my calorie intake much more accurately this way and not feel the need to eat extra

My Sense went haywire a couple of days ago after purchasing it new March 2021. I was not thrilled with the Google acquisition, and Fitbit's reliability has gone to hell in a hand basket over the last few months, so I purchased an Apple Watch 10 during a Cyber Monday sale. Amazon will deliver it today, we'll see how it goes. I am a fitness buff and really miss having a tracker right now.

I received it late yesterday and am still learning how it works, but initial impressions are that it's a wearable iPhone with extra sensors. Almost all of the apps installed on my phone can be used directly on the watch which is pretty cool. Out of the box the display is configured to be *always on*, so the first thing I did was configure it to always off with a 15-second on time activated by pressing the crown, raising the wrist, or tapping the screen. I only lost \~16% battery over night with sleep tracking enabled (it's disabled by default). This watch is much more sophisticated than the Fitbit Sense it replaced, and there's some setup involved. It's going to take some time to learn, but I am optimistic that I made the right purchase decision. There are several reviews out there, but found this article useful while I was waiting for my new watch to arrive. [https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a62162455/apple-watch-series-10-features-review/](https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a62162455/apple-watch-series-10-features-review/)

Pairing a Bluetooth heart rate strap with the Apple Watch will improve its battery life during workouts since it can turn off the optical hear rate sensor. Disabling the always on display can make a noticeable difference as well.

All of my family have apple watches. The fall detect works well but can give false positives but you just tell it you didn’t fall and that you are ok - assuming that you are indeed ok. Also, you can just tell Siri to call 911. That is why I got them for my husband and in the first place. Also, I am a medic and moved to the ultra version because it will last thru a full shift and has a bit bigger face so easier to compute med doses on it and do other fx. It is more pricey but IMO, worth it.

I have an Apple Watch. It syncs with your Apple health app very well. I’ve been extremely happy with it. It even can accurately assess that I am doing a workout. I had a Fitbit, garmin and now Apple Watch and so far apple watch has been the best

Personally I turned off most of the “smart” features of my Apple Watch last year. I found 95% of it was just some garbage spam notification from a social platform or some other app vying for my attention, like having a 2 year old with me everywhere I go grabbing at my wrist. Once I disabled them all, at that point my watch just became a health tracker with the ability to pay for things (and occasionally tell me the time). Garmin watches are superior to apple in that regard, so it made sense to switch. Also, and this is purely subjective, I think the garmin epix and Fenix line look infinitely better than apple stuff. The chunky bezels and circular shape make it look like an actually fashionable watch instead of a toy screen on my wrist

How accurate is the GPS, especially when running through woods or on overcast days? I've found Apple watches and even lower end Garmins don't handle position tracking very well in those conditions. Sometimes they'll be as much as a half mile off for a several mile run. That's the only time I can't fault the Fenix series watches, the GPS is nearly flawless. The only thing I've found more accurate is a handheld.

All these points are good and touch considerations I’m wrestling with. I currently roll with an Apple Series 5! Battery life is starting to fail sooner, but I also don’t wear it 24/7. It goes on my wrist when I leave the house in the AM and comes off some 12+ hours later and straight to the charger. It was gifted to me years ago at a time when I felt like “Why have a phone w/ apps on my wrist when I have a phone?”. It was a novelty at first. I tweaked the face a few times. I use a couple of the apps, but not often. I kind of like some of the notifications, but don’t live and die by them. I have a nice Tag that my wife gifted me years ago that I often wear to the office, to meetings and dinners out - and don’t miss the AW at all! I always have my phone. I’m not a runner, but a rucker and a mountain biker. The bike uses a Garmin. I also hit the gym 4x a week and like my device to track the exercise and I can watch my heart rate. Metrics? Too few on the AW to know if I care, but some of the Garmin metrics do interest me. On the Garmin interest, I’d love to have mapping. Do I need it daily? Of course not, BUT I like the option. I like that it can work independent of a phone that may not get a signal. I have trail maps on my phone, but when the phone goes down…you get the point. Battery life is a no brainer and like I said, I have my phone. As a non-runner, I tend to carry my phone in my pocket or often in a pack of some sort. Obviously the camera is the most used phone option, so it’s always nearby. Five days a week Garmin would have somewhat limited “need” functionally with the exception of workouts. On the weekends I’d exploit more of the outdoor features. I don’t want both, but do I need both? What a PITA. I hadn’t considered the Series 10 as was noted somewhere herein, but I’ll look. It doesn’t change the differences, but the honest decision to rationalize what I truly need is the hard part! I could delete most of the AW apps and be happy. I don’t pay with my watches either - I’m old school AF and don’t care. The head scratching continues…

I tried Whoop and Apple Watch. In general, I think it might just be around your WOD habits. I find myself more focused on the tasks and technique needed and/or strategy when not using a tracker. Plus, if you use any kind of grips or wrist wraps it’s not efficient to get all that together. My 2 cents: get a WOD tracker app like BTWB and log your reps, weights and workouts. It’s oddly not perfect but, if you want some sort of tracking going that’s good. TLDR: whoop is expensive and will tell you that you are exhausted when you are obviously exhausted (listen to your body). apple watch is expensive and I was sceptical of the durability when using various weight types.

Apple Watch is a fair contenter in the triathlon watch realm, even if it's the regular watch and not an Ultra. Sure, you're limited by the battery, but my previous watch (Series 6) has survived two 70.3 races without any issues or mid-race recharges. My main complaint about it is the reliance on third-party apps and the fact that said apps are subscription-based - which is why all my training is done "by Garmin" - in my case Forerunner 955 Solar - and Apple Watch (currently Series 8) acts as a secondary/backup recording device. The app situation improves year after year (this year Apple is finally bringing proper structured swimming support), but lots of features available out of the box on Garmin, Coros, Polar or Suunto watches are not there. If you don't mind the subscriptions - you can replicate quite a lot of top-end Garmin/Coros experience on an Apple Watch, but it will be a disconnected (in terms of data) and expensive (in terms of price) journey.

Apple Watch is a fair contenter in the triathlon watch realm, even if it's the regular watch and not an Ultra. Sure, you're limited by the battery, but my previous watch (Series 6) has survived two 70.3 races without any issues or mid-race recharges. My main complaint about it is the reliance on third-party apps and the fact that said apps are subscription-based - which is why all my training is done "by Garmin" - in my case Forerunner 955 Solar - and Apple Watch (currently Series 8) acts as a secondary/backup recording device. The app situation improves year after year (this year Apple is finally bringing proper structured swimming support), but lots of features available out of the box on Garmin, Coros, Polar or Suunto watches are not there. If you don't mind the subscriptions - you can replicate quite a lot of top-end Garmin/Coros experience on an Apple Watch, but it will be a disconnected (in terms of data) and expensive (in terms of price) journey.

My main gripe about Apple Watch and multisport training is the lack of structured swim training support (and given the fact that pool swimming is quite monotonous, it's the area where I find the structured training on your wrist to be the most useful). When I'm swimming with my Garmin, I get into the pool, open Swimming activity, accept the workout that pops up automatically (because it was pushed there from the training calendar), start the activity and simply switch off my mind - the watch will buzz when the interval is done and it's time to either do the next interval or take a break and recover (and show it on my wrist as well). With Apple Watch I need to be constantly aware of my workout, mentally count how much is left in the interval and what I need to do next.

Apple Watch. Works great for what I need

I use an Apple Watch. My last one cost $400 and lasted 4+ years. It was honestly still fine after 4 years, but the battery life was struggling a bit. I was able to trade it in for $70 credit when getting the new version.

Swimming is the one sport my Apple Watch was better at than my Coros. Never missed a lap, even detected kickboard sets, where on a Coros or Garmin those don’t register at all.

I’ve had regular Apple Watch and decided to come back to running. It was decent for that, had all the data, but didn’t have extras like recovery times, hrv and quite a lite others, including daily training recommendations and health summaries. Probably achievable with 3rd party apps, but I grew out of it quickly because of battery life. 15k run with audio streaming was almost killing battery, while Garmin uses like 10-11% for the same thing, with AOD on. On AW I didn’t used AOD because of battery. So it might be fine at the beginning but when you switch to longer distances you will face the wall because of battery life. Also Garmin has a top notch portal Garmin connect accessible via website as well where you can go through your workouts and health summaries easily

Apple Watch is quite suboptimal for OWS - it doesn’t track distance accurately whenever you’re not doing a freestyle strike (eg, breast) - this is actually confirmed on the Apple Support site - and it’s wildly inconsistent on distance when swimming the same route. Additionally, the touch screen often doesn’t work when coming out of the water. I’m looking for a replacement for my own Apple Watch for my OWS swimming in SF Bay…

If your question is about the waterproofing, absolutely it is ready to go for a swim. I swam competitively 4h a day with a series 3,5 and 8, I’ve also done 3 triathlons and years of showers. They are made to be wet As for the calories, in college I used it to track bulk/cut cycles with a ton of success, If you can, try and do a 30 min walk with it to “calibrate” the calories, I believe there is a wheelchair equivalent workout if you can’t walk that long

If your question is about the waterproofing, absolutely it is ready to go for a swim. I swam competitively 4h a day with a series 3,5 and 8, I’ve also done 3 triathlons and years of showers. They are made to be wet As for the calories, in college I used it to track bulk/cut cycles with a ton of success, If you can, try and do a 30 min walk with it to “calibrate” the calories, I believe there is a wheelchair equivalent workout if you can’t walk that long

If your question is about the waterproofing, absolutely it is ready to go for a swim. I swam competitively 4h a day with a series 3,5 and 8, I’ve also done 3 triathlons and years of showers. They are made to be wet As for the calories, in college I used it to track bulk/cut cycles with a ton of success, If you can, try and do a 30 min walk with it to “calibrate” the calories, I believe there is a wheelchair equivalent workout if you can’t walk that long

I have swam quite a bit with both the garmin 965 and apple watches (3,5, and 8). They are both fantastic at casual lap tracking/ fitness. If you just want a good number both will give it to you. Apple watches however are so far ahead of anything else in swim tracking. It very accurately tracks laps and was spot on if not <50yd off for hundreds of 2h practices. The garmin however misses a lap about every 1000yd (especially if it has breaks) Apple watch also picked up what stroke i was doing 90% of the time and now detects kickboard laps (although i have not used an apple watch while that was available) The splits are also more reliable than garmin.

I trust my Apple Watch for counting laps far more than I trust myself to count.

I’ve had some sort of tracker since the OG Fitbit (so fifteen ish years) swapped with a few brands including misfit, polar, garmin, Withings… finally got an Apple Watch Series 7 2 years ago and will be upgrading to a new one this fall. It took a while for me to tweak my settings so I don’t get 5000 notifications a day. But I love the health app & hated that Fitbit didn’t play nice with it.

Yeah go get the 10. Great watch, slimmer, does everything you'll need. I went from the SE first gen to the 10 and I'm very happy with it.

if you are an ios user; apple watch is a no brainer but if you want a long lasting fitness watch go for garmin

Hard disagree on the watch. The Apple Watch is essential to my day to day. I’ve been using it every day since it initially launched back in like 2015. I use it for keeping me off the phone because I get my notifications on my wrist, controlling my music and Podcasts, tracking my exercise, setting reminders, doing shopping lists, setting timers to keep my kids on track, keeping me focused, and of course telling the time. When I don’t have my Apple Watch, I definitely feel less productive. The Ring however, I have absolutely no idea what purpose it serves.

I’ve used a Garmin Fenix, Garmin Swim 2, and Apple Watch for swimming and by far the garmins were superior. My Apple Watch would die after about half an hour in open water, regardless of water temp, and was always inaccurate with my laps and interval times in the pool. The swim 2 and fenix work much better.

For a time i wore an apple watch with cell service and i got all my notifications as usual while doing a swim workout

I never use the autorest feature on garmin and my splits are spot on. I ditched the apple watch because there was no manual lap reset option.

I have an Apple Watch but I wish I had a Garmin. 😥

Nike Run Club app and it’s training program on my Apple Watch. Sometimes it’s slow to update the phone app, but overall very happy with it.

Apple Watch. Works well for me

It’s never missed a lap for me, even though I’ve heard this reported for others. I always touch the wall with my hand wearing the watch though. Someone said to do that

I’ve swam maybe 100 times with Apple Watch. It’s been off maybe twice, by one lap. Dunno what to tell you though

Track your swim workouts using the built-in Apple Fitness app on Apple Watch, then analyze performance data with SwimNow.

TBH at this point it is much better investing it on a Garmin, apple watch or an aura ring and that's from my perspective only I am about 80% sure I wont resub and wont upgrade

Love my Apple Watch for tracking. It is waterproof and has survived the many many hot yoga classes I have practiced in and taught over the last couple of years. I like that I can track different types of workouts in the same gym visit(sometimes I’ll start with some yoga and then move on to some strength training and then finish with some type of cardio) and see the overall accumulation of the workout benefits. Lots of other cool features on it but I’m not trying to sell you on it.. just saying it’s a great option for tracking those yoga sessions 🥰

Yes for metrics, but not sensors, Garmin & Coros aren’t even close in that regard. The new update will also include training load & structured swim workouts, which historically you could just fill the gap with 3rd party apps. Don’t get me wrong, I have both a Garmin and AWU, I prefer my Apple Watch though.

Apple Watch vs Polar H10 carries an R score of .99-1 during most outdoor activities, so no actually it’s not BS. Blood oxygen sensor is much better as well. Apple Watch allows you to stream music without your phone, dual band GPS, structured workouts, running power. But yeah, god forbid it doesn’t give you a body battery score

I often do multi day hiking so having watch tracking gps and navigating all time is really big plus when i do not need to take care of charging it. Also a LED is very handy outdoors. As for fitness i know on apple watch i can have multitude of apps but that’s the part of the problem because then I miss consistent ux and data for all my activities and trainings presented in same way on. AW is definitely better as smart watch but i have no use of using sophisticated apps on my watch. The only stuff i do is to control my home automation which i can on Garmin as well.

apple watch was dying before i could finish 16 miles :/ garmin is the way to go!

If I needed optimum training I’d use a garmin. My Apple watch does a lot of generally useful stuff for me and so I tolerate its less-than-ideal running features. NRC is fussy and glitchy, but I can usually coerce it to work w the watch. Spotify is similarly cranky on the watch, but I blame Apple for that

I’ve had a couple of AW’s and 3 Garmins. They all tracked laps pretty well. The AW automatically detects kick sets whereas the Garmin needs you to log them in drill mode.

Sadly apple watch barely has battery for one day even the premium models

What if you get used Apple Watch they all a good condition in the stores like cex and you can do all the tracking of swimming and running and any sort of activity. Like even series SE or series 5/6 are cheap now. If he’s an android user maybe better idea be getting some swimming accessories like a pair of fins, board or pullboy, backpack or fast drying towel to motivate and he can invest his own money in a good smartwatch not some uses less and cheap piece of band or something I don’t think they even track accurately I used to have a xiaiomi band and it was way off even in steps and heart rate

For swimming I find Apple Watch the best in tracking literally never missed a lap. For training load garmin is really good they have really good stats. Whoop is overhyped and expensive plus it’s a basically subscription every month till cancelled, no functionality if u stop paying, and it’s rubbish at tracking workouts basically any weighted workout u need to manually input and only good thing about it is sleep coach

I have the ultra 2 but it ran just fine on my series 4, which was a lot lower profile on my wrist!