I wonder what the typical upgrade cycle is for gamin? I’m on a three year upgrade in my watch from titanium series 5 to the ultra.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Garmin Reacts to Apple Watch Ultra: 'We Measure Battery Life in Months. Not Hours.'
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh, I didn't realize that this was my issue. Thank you so much!
You probably have to try a Garmin to discover the UX. I know, easier said than done. It's easy to try an Apple Watch in their shops. I have. I went to buy one and in 20 minutes walked out hating everything about it. It's just wrong. I couldn't even find a single nice watch face!
I got into Garmin gradually, first with bands, then a Venu (quite nice), then Forerunner (serious sport watch), then Epix (which is epic) and related ecosystem stuff (chest strap, smart scales etc). Expensive but everything works really well with minimal fuss. I love the Epix. I also tried a Fenix 7 for a bit and I think it's a tough call compared to the Epix. No AMOLED but still a great screen especially outside, flashlight, solar changing and amazing battery life. Next time!
I’m gonna ask this question at the risk of knowing I won’t get an honest answer, but here goes.
1. What was your son’s finishing time in the NYC Marathon?
2. Did he run it just to finish so he could mark off having run a marathon off of his list?
I really like to hear from people that have to work in very hostile, remote locations for extended periods whether they would ever use something like the Apple Watch Ultra, compared to the gear they use now. It would be valuable feedback.
No, but the Ultra is a step in the right direction for Apple. Most who work in remote & hostile locations are generally well trained in their role, have good governance with onsite specialists as the situation demands. Most stick to the likes of Casio's G-Shock/Protrek's as they are extremely robust, easily readable and for the basic watches reasonably priced.
The navigation aspect isn't such a big deal as leaving the site boundary or a vehicle in transit is generally forbidden without very good reason. This is re-enforced literally on a daily basis at safety meetings. The ex-military guys are more likely to have some form of secondary navigation tool in my experience. From my own perspective battery life & durability are the primary factors in such environments so I have a solar G-Shock with full ABC features and basic GPS navigation. The best Smartwatch in the world is of little use if out of power or suffers damage/water ingress etc.
Worked from the sub artic to the equator, desert through to jungle and much in between. Extremes of temperature down to colder than -40C to greater than 50C in the Middle East.
Papua New Guinea
Everything is flown in by heavy lift helicopter, when the job is done everything is returned as is the landscape. No roads, no railways only mountainous terrain covered by jungle in all directions. Better than the Taklamakan as that's truly a harsh environment to live and work being +40C to -40C season to season with near zero humidity in the winter months...
TLDR - Battery life & durability over everything else.
Q-6
Last edited:
I started out with Polar Watches in the late 1990s. Later I went with the Garmin Forerunner 205 around 2006 or 2007. Then, I upgraded to the 305. Many years later, I updated to the 620 because the rubber buttons of the 305 finally de-vulcanized and fell apart. I used my 620 with a HRM and footpod. My memory of those timings are a bit fuzzy because it’s been a long time.
Last time I used a Forerunner was probably November 2018 because that’s when my records for the Watch started. I went from Forerunner to Watch because the 620 was failing. I think it was failing to lock on to satellites street years of use.
So yes, I was quite familiar with the Forerunners of that time period. It was my main electronic tool for keeping track of my runs as my competitive running days wounded down.
It depends - the Lily/Venu are more lifestyle, the Enduro/Fenix/Quatix are quite focused.
Having a fashion product is nothing in itself, just irksome when it's being promoted as some hardcore sports thing. I find the hypocrisy annoying.
What does this matter? If he finishes in 6 hours in the dark or a BQ, it's an accomplishment.
Could happen, but Google already bought FitBit, so...
No where in my post did I state that finishing a marathon wasn’t an accomplishment…
Things changed a lot from 2018.
I personally discovered that the gradual improvement in battery life ended up being enormous in terms of general usability. I had a number of cool Android watches (a Diesel being the best) but I couldn't go back to daily charging.
Yeah but why jump to "what was his time?" "Did he do it to check it off his list?"
If he did it to check it off his list, and he used an Apple Watch to do so, you'll dismiss him as "not a serious runner".
Agreed.
And when you advertise a rectangular watch don't use an analog round face, it makes it look ridiculous.
Their software is crap and they have nowhere near the smart functionality of an Apple Watch ultra. The ultra will be more than enough for a large part of their customer base and they know it. Still they made the classic stupid marketing mistake of drawing attention to their competitor while lying at the same time. Whoever is in charge of their marketing should be fired.
Will you be “hanging off that mountain” for over 60 hours?
Connect iq is garbage and are you seriously comparing what Garmin apps there are to apole watch apps?
They can only hang off the mountain for 36 hours unless they are willing to hang there until Apple pushes update.
Agree with you there. I think the more expensive Garmin watches all seem reasonably priced given the size of the market they are addressing. From what I know, the cost is mostly about amortizing their development costs over their small market and not about gouging.
I think Apple will continue to improve their hardware and add more functionality to their software. As this happens, they will push the line up and help decrease the number of Garmin users. This will cause further price pressure on Garmin’s products.
Just the fact that Apple even jumped into this market segment will affect Garmin's sales. Some current Garmin users won't jump to the Ultra, but a lot of non-Garmin owners might jump to the Ultra rather than going to a Garmin. Especially people who are fans of Apple products/already invested in the Apple ecosystem. The Ultra offers a non-Garmin alternative that didn't previously exist, and that will fragment the market regardless of whether or not it can compete feature for feature. Both brands have different strengths and weaknesses that will appeal to different people.
While not directed to me, I will answer what I know anyway.
The last marathon he did just before Covid he finished in 3:45 (presume that is hours and minutes, not minutes and seconds or days and months).
I am pretty sure he ran just so that he could make people like you ask questions about his motivation….. He has run several, so I guess he really though.