Best non-Apple smart watch for iOS user

[Apolloza]

Hi,

My medical aid/medical insurance has a set of benefits for their members. One of them is a nice discount on a set of smart gear that has a health aspect to it. the discount extend to most Huawei, Fitbit and garmen smart watches as well. Unfortunately nothing from Apple.

Whats the most apple friendly non-Apple smart watch out there?

 

[Howard2k]

Best bet is to Google “best smartwatches” and ignore Apple from the list.

Like here:

The best smartwatches of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

We tested the best smartwatches from Apple, Samsung, Google, and more. Here's how to choose the right one for you.

www.zdnet.com

 

[Apolloza]

I was sort of hoping for some experiences of iOS users using a non-Apple watch. What has the best level of integration? What features are missing etc. I’ve done the search but when I go for reviews of the watches they are paired with an android so it’s not a valid review for me then.

 

[bransoj]

Not me personally as i have an Apple Watch but my brother in law has a Fitbit of some description and seems to like it. Its one of the more watch looking type ones that the band type, i had a couple of band type ones years ago and they were pretty good.

 

[bricktop_at]

Well, this is an Apple Watch forum, so I am not sure if you‘ll get many recommendations. Garmin seems to be mentioned often as quite good

 

[mikelets456]

I had a Samsung smart watch that I kept when I had to switch to an Iphone for my work. That watch was solid, realistic looking and had great battery life. However, the main thing I use and Apple watch for is communicating or control from my wrist when my phone is tucked away....I wasn't able to do that with a Samsung watch.

 

[BenGoren]

If good integration with the Apple ecosystem is what you’re looking for, your only option is an Apple watch.

Period, full stop.

Everything else is going to be extremely limited / “crippled” in comparison. I wouldn’t even expect that the health data collected by the non-Apple device would gracefully integrate into the Apple Health app. I mean, I’m sure that some of them do that — but all will be via a third-party app installed on the Watch. In general, such have often been slow to update after major iOS updated, or the developers have simply stopped supporting them, or the like.

I personally wouldn’t even trust something from a “big name” manufacturer like Google. When I bought my Nest thermostat, one of the cool features was being able to adjust it from the Apple Watch. A year later … the Watch app uninstalls itself because Google said so. I also have Philips Hue lights, and the Nest smoke detector used to talk to them enough so as to make them turn red when the alarm went off; that’s gone, too.

Apple isn’t perfect — far from it. But they play these kinds of idiot games much less than anybody else.

I guess what I’m trying to suggest is that, in the long run, you’ll spend less money by paying out of pocket for an Apple watch than you will by getting a discount on something else. And the “long run” may well not be so long, after all.

b&

 

[Jackbequickly]

Samsung and Garmin make some “solid” hardware with a lot of good features and allow some limited use with your iPhone. I am wary if Fitbit hardware as I used to use it and it was very undependable.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

As others have mentioned, I don't think there's a watch or fitness tracker that integrates nearly as well with iOS as an Apple Watch. I have a Fitbit Charge 5 and I really like it. I actually got it after selling my AW6. My goal was to find a device that would hold a charge for a long time (I get almost a week from the Charge 5 with AOD and notifications off) that would track my steps, distance, exercise time and heart rate with some accuracy. I think I got it for around $120.00 USD on Amazon a couple of years ago.

If Apple made a device that could hold a charge for three or four days minimum that I could use for fitness tracking I'd pay top dollar for it just to have the iOS integration, but I don't see that happening. I would recommend the Fitbit to you. The app is pretty good. Once I am forced to move my data over to Google at the end of next year (2024) I will no longer use the Fitbit, however, so I will be looking for an alternative at that time. I haven't looked too deeply into that, but I believe that's the plan since Google purchased Fitbit. I hope my experience helps a little with your decision.

 

[nospleen]

Hi,

My medical aid/medical insurance has a set of benefits for their members. One of them is a nice discount on a set of smart gear that has a health aspect to it. the discount extend to most Huawei, Fitbit and garmen smart watches as well. Unfortunately nothing from Apple.

Whats the most apple friendly non-Apple smart watch out there?

I’d recommend Garmin if I were to use a non Apple Watch with an iPhone, which I believe is your question. Great selection of watches and their app is good too.

 

[Jay Tee]

Apple isn’t perfect — far from it. But they play these kinds of idiot games much less than anybody else.

I guess what I’m trying to suggest is that, in the long run, you’ll spend less money by paying out of pocket for an Apple watch than you will by getting a discount on something else. And the “long run” may well not be so long, after all.

I find it strange that an insurance company, knowing full-well that the Apple Watch is the most accurate health-stats measuring watch on the market, would incentivise their customers to get an inferior product because they, the insurer, might earn a couple of bucks from a deal they've done.

This behaviour is not characteristic of an insurer that'd be willing to pay-out when the time comes, if they're going to nickle-and-dime their customers this way.