Anyone use alternative watches with iphone?

[cuzo]

What do you use? Garmin? Please give some ideas.

 

[firedept]

I used Garmin Fenix 5 for a couple of years with Apple Watch because they were better at recording physical activity. No longer do as Apple has come a long way in that department.

 

[MarkX]

I use a Garmin Fenix 7. I get the notifications I need and it suits me.

If you want to know anything just ask.

 

[PaladinGuy]

It’s really hard to step outside Apple’s walls with watches. If you want a fully functional smartwatch experience, Apple Watch is really the only choice. Garmin will give you basic notifications and that’s it. Garmin Connect can also be extremely buggy. Just look at its reviews. Updates can completely break things.

I’m often tempted by some of the things about the Fenix models, but like I said, it’s just so hard to break out of the Apple ecosystem.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Active 2. When I purchased it in May 2020, I had a Samsung Galaxy S8 phone. I've been using with an 11 Pro Max since July 2021.

Are there any aspects that you're particularly curious about, such as syncing with the Samsung fitness app, or app alerts? Fire away, and I'll help as much as I can.

 

[Mark Stone]

I used a series of Fitbit watches with my SE1 (2016) and my 8 Plus before I got my AWs5. They were not as good as Apple watches, but were not that bad, either. The last Fitbit I used was the Versa. They're pretty sharp and are substantially less expensive than Apple Watch. https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/smartwatches

 

[Howard2k]

I used a series of Fitbit watches with my SE1 (2016) and my 8 Plus before I got my AWs5. They were not as good as Apple watches, but were not that bad, either. The last Fitbit I used was the Versa. They're pretty sharp and are substantially less expensive than Apple Watch. https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/smartwatches

I had been a long time Fitbit user too - but more their basic bands. Ironically the Versa, when it’s time was up, convinced me that a smarter smartwatch might be useful.

 

[Mark Stone]

I had been a long time Fitbit user too - but more their basic bands. Ironically the Versa, when it’s time to was up, convinced me that a smarter smartwatch might be useful.

That was my experience too -- the Versa worked well enough that it whet my appetite for a real smartwatch, and I ended up with the Apple Watch series 5. Apple Watch is better than Fitbit not because Fitbit is bad - but because Apple Watch is that good. 😊

 

[Feyl]

I've been thinking about ditching my Apple Watch for a long time but all the other watches I'd like to try are laggy with poor displays. So for demanding people like me there's really no serious choice. And that sucks because some of the watches are really pretty.

 

[alphasports]

I use a Garmin Fenix 5 and VA3 as my primary fitness watches, but also an AW7 on occasion. Iphone plays reasonably nice with Garmin Connect, and I use Rungap to sync anything recorded on the Apple watch back to Garmin. Garmin still crushes Apple in terms of in-depth fitness metrics, it's what they do. 3 week battery life doesn't hurt either.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I think that unless you’re mostly into outdoor running or cycling, there aren’t many advantages to moving to something like Garmin. Most of their metrics relate to those activities. You don’t get advanced metrics on indoor activities.