Does The AW Ultra Log The Following Stats?

[afx22]

Hi All,

I’m considering buying the the Ultra as my first Apple Watch. I’ve used Polar and Garmin for years. I can see much of the stuff I’m keen on is covered by the Ultra. However, can anyone tell me if the following (or similar) are covered?

Stress Level
Estimated Calories Burned (either daily or during an activity)
Body Battery (or similar)
Training Effect (after an activity)
Recovery Time (after an activity)
Exercise Load (after an activity)
Cycling Cadence metrics (I have a Garmin sensor)
Ambient Temperature (if not, will it work with my Garmin Tempe temperature sensor?)
VO2 Max
Lactate Threshold
Lactate Threshold Tests
does it give predictions for potential race times (E.g, how fast it thinks I can run a half marathon and so on?)
Current Altitude
Barometric Pressure
if I use my Garmin bike computer and an Ultra to track a bike ride, will I be able to manage it do that Strava takes the best data from both, without counting it as separate actuvuties?

Some of these I can probably do without but many I’m keen on.

Thanks
Matt

 

[azhava]

Answers in red:

Hi All,

I’m considering buying the the Ultra as my first Apple Watch. I’ve used Polar and Garmin for years. I can see much of the stuff I’m keen on is covered by the Ultra. However, can anyone tell me if the following (or similar) are covered?

Stress Level No
Estimated Calories Burned (either daily or during an activity) Yes
Body Battery (or similar) No
Training Effect (after an activity) No
Recovery Time (after an activity) No
Exercise Load (after an activity) No
Cycling Cadence metrics (I have a Garmin sensor) With certain Bluetooth sensors and apps, but not if it's ANT+
Ambient Temperature (if not, will it work with my Garmin Tempe temperature sensor?) Yes, and no, respectively
VO2 Max No
Lactate Threshold No
Lactate Threshold Tests No
does it give predictions for potential race times (E.g, how fast it thinks I can run a half marathon and so on?) Don't know
Current Altitude Yes
Barometric Pressure Yes
if I use my Garmin bike computer and an Ultra to track a bike ride, will I be able to manage it do that Strava takes the best data from both, without counting it as separate actuvuties? No

Some of these I can probably do without but many I’m keen on.

Thanks
Matt

Some of the "no" answers can be "yes" with third-party apps, but not with the stock Apple workout app.

 

[Susie4170]

Apple watch does Vo2 Max readings on certain workouts.

 

[NT1440]

I’d like to point out that “stress levels”, which some trackers are starting to “track” can’t be viewed reliably across platforms. There’s no real data point to measure against so what one manufacturer calls “high” may be in the upper limits of what another calls “medium” so the idea of accuracy on one device or another should be completely dismissed.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

If you are asking about those, get a Garmin. Apple does some of them and some 3rd party holes will plug some gaps but it is not in as cohesive a way you can view on the watch.

 

[Indianwin2001]

I found stress level and body battery on Garmin to be a joke.

 

[G.McGilli]

Hi All,

I’m considering buying the the Ultra as my first Apple Watch. I’ve used Polar and Garmin for years. I can see much of the stuff I’m keen on is covered by the Ultra. However, can anyone tell me if the following (or similar) are covered?

Stress Level
Estimated Calories Burned (either daily or during an activity)
Body Battery (or similar)
Training Effect (after an activity)
Recovery Time (after an activity)
Exercise Load (after an activity)
Cycling Cadence metrics (I have a Garmin sensor)
Ambient Temperature (if not, will it work with my Garmin Tempe temperature sensor?)
VO2 Max
Lactate Threshold
Lactate Threshold Tests
does it give predictions for potential race times (E.g, how fast it thinks I can run a half marathon and so on?)
Current Altitude
Barometric Pressure
if I use my Garmin bike computer and an Ultra to track a bike ride, will I be able to manage it do that Strava takes the best data from both, without counting it as separate actuvuties?

Some of these I can probably do without but many I’m keen on.

Thanks
Matt

As a user of a Garmin 1030 for many years - the AWU is nowhere near in the same league as far as what you are mentioning...

If you need all that in one device, and a cohesive app where to keep it (Garmin Connect) while using Strava just stay with your Garmin.

I'm getting an AWU for hiking/climbing but I would never use it for cycling as it simply cannot compete with the ecosystem Garmin has built for in depth analysis for athletes.

Just IMO

 

[jole]

Athlytic app claims to provide equivalent metrics for: body battery, exercise load and recovery time. I have not tested the app, so not sure if it can be a replacement for Garmin's metrics that I find useful.

I believe Apple Watch does estimate VO2 Max not unlike Garmin, but calls that "Cardio Fitness".

Apple Watch also estimates calories burned.

Also, I believe that Apple does have heart rate variability measurement (what Garmin calls stress). Up until watchOS 8 it was measured only a handful of times a night, but starting with watchOS 9 it is (more) frequently measured and should become a useful metric.

HRV4Training app claims to be able to measure lactate threshold on Apple Watch.

I do not have Apple Watch and thus have not been able to confirm these: pointers to proper testing of these and their accuracy would be appreciated.

Garmin is really hassle-free: all metrics are there without additional apps needed. Apple should just bring these into their built-in app.

On the plus side: watchOS 9 now has vertical oscillation, ground contact time, and stride length built-in. On Garmin (at least Fenix 6X that I have) I need to wear HRM belt to record these metrics. Furthermore, watchOS 9 measures running power (W) that I believe is missing from Garmin.

 

[Jackbequickly]

The Ultra offers a phone on your wrist . . . . . . . .

 

[matrix07]

Recovery giving you body battery, or at least that’s what I understand. 😀

 

[afx22]

Thanks for all the replies. It's very much appreciated. I hadn't realized how many of the Garmin features/metrics I regularly use - until I listed them out.

Regarding stress levels and body battery - I'm not sure how Garmin put that number together and I assume it's not fully accurate but I've found there is a correlation between high numbers and being ill or over training, so I'd rather have it than not.

 

[PatrickNSF]

In general you’ll get more recovery and training data from one of the current generation Garmins vs the Ultra. I wear my Garmin 955 for sleep and workouts and my AW day-to-day. The one component of Garmin’s Training Readiness I lose is Stress History, but the other components generate a score.

The caveat to this is that in the few times I’ve worn my AW running watchOS 9 to bed I feel like I’m getting better sleep data with the AW compared to the Garmin (looking at things like the start/stop times and awake times). So it’s possible that using the Ultra paired with HRV4Training may give you more accurate recovery data.

 

[NT1440]

Thanks for all the replies. It's very much appreciated. I hadn't realized how many of the Garmin features/metrics I regularly use - until I listed them out.

Regarding stress levels and body battery - I'm not sure how Garmin put that number together and I assume it's not fully accurate but I've found there is a correlation between high numbers and being ill or over training, so I'd rather have it than not.

It’s a relative number, measured only against you, and has no equivalent from vendor to vendor. In other words, they choose what data to combine to make this magic number they consider stress. It’s a useful point when measuring your own day to day against yourself, but outside of that it is completely meaningless because other vendors will be using their own data points and algorithms.

Think of it this way:

I bike. I’m not into super specific metrics so it doesn’t matter to me the specifics of data other than mileage and whether I’ve closed my exercise and move rings. That’s an Apple Watch.

If I went to a Garmin I wouldn’t expect their metrics to be directly comparable, all that matters is once I’m in a system (Apple/Garmin) I’m just interested in measuring against myself.

 

[azhava]

Thanks for all the replies. It's very much appreciated. I hadn't realized how many of the Garmin features/metrics I regularly use - until I listed them out.

Regarding stress levels and body battery - I'm not sure how Garmin put that number together and I assume it's not fully accurate but I've found there is a correlation between high numbers and being ill or over training, so I'd rather have it than not.

I've been wearing Garmin watches for the last 3 years before going back to an AW last week. I pretty much ignored the "Body Battery" reading, as it seemed like a random number generator to me and didn't correlate to anything. There were days it had my body battery in single digits and I had plenty of energy to workout, other days it showed me almost fully charged and I was ready for a nap by the afternoon.

The "Stress" reading correlated pretty well for me - I could look back and see my stress peaking out on the graph during times that I knew had me stressed out, and it stayed low when I was relaxing and doing nothing. I thought the "Sleep Score" was complete garbage - I know my sleeping habits aren't 100% perfect (are anybody's?), but it never graded my sleep high and always had something(s) to complain about. The Sleep Tracker would sometimes show me as asleep for two hours before I ever got in bed. A lot of the other health metrics (Sp02, HRV, RHR, respirations, etc.) seem to match pretty closely for me between Garmin Connect and Apple Health.

Garmin is currently better at tracking training/recovery metrics, and I like that they have a web portal where you can view your data somewhere besides just your phone (although I understand the tradeoff in privacy vs that data staying on-device and encrypted like Apple does). IMO, the software side of things is currently Apple's Achilles heel in the fitness world - Apple Health is cluttered and the data isn't presented coherently (and you can't organize your metrics how you'd like them to appear, you're stuck with alphabetical order), and it's kind of a mess to have separate Health and Fitness apps. The AW has all the hardware it needs to be an excellent exercise tracker, if Apple just gets some solid fitness people on board to clean up their user interface and add a few more metrics in, they could equal or surpass Garmin pretty much everywhere except battery life on the actual devices. Garmin Connect is better than Apple Health/Fitness, but it's not that much better, and Garmin has their own software (and firmware) woes where their devs sometimes break five things in the process of fixing one thing.

 

[johnb300m]

I'll chime in and say that, as a former Garmin user, who was run out of town only by their Connect Ap, the Stress level readings did work for me.
As was said, they correlate only to you and aren't comparable to others or other platforms.
If I was drinking, or getting tired outside or during a workout, or was actually getting sick, or even overheating under too many blankets, it would pretty accurately record those "stress" events.

The Apple Watch's heart rate variability actually seems to do a similar good job for me. Although it might be harder to read, because A) it's inverse of how Garmin mapped it. B) it's much less granular, only taking about 1 reading per hour or less.
However, there's a lot of data out there showing how HRV can correlate to stressors, and it still roughly matched the Garmin readings I used to get. MY HRV stays low during stressful workouts, or drinking, and even tracked when I had Covid a few weeks ago, staying in the low range till I started recovering.

If Apple ever decides to program in more sample resolution for HRV, it could be a good replacement.
I'm just very happy to have back the heart rate zones and sleep stages again with Watch OS9.

 

[Susie4170]

I’m not entirely sure, but I think you can force an HRV reading by using the breathe section of the mindfulness app. So if you want more HRV readings you could try that.