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you are saying you will probably try it. Many others will too and many will stick because they do things in their lives other than exercise/explore and the new watch features may make it worth using a third party app for that one area of their lives. No idea if it eventually works for you, but it will and has for many others.

I saw the watchOS got some new native features today with the workout app. Some of these may work for certain people, as well. Not saying they will work for you, but you are only speaking for yourself.

Nothing is going to move everyone. That’s just the facts. However, Garmin had no reason to make that snarky post unless they were worried. ( many of their current customers are calling Garmin’s post BS… they should at least try to make accurate statements with their snark).
I agree with you. I think it was tactless for garmin to do that. They have to feel threatened the AW watch is nicer than its ever been. I am going to give it a go but still a bit underwhelmed by what apple has shown with it thus far (essentially an AW8 in a rugged body which the AW8 is essentially the AW7 and 6) hopefully they have something up there sleeve as far as the app goes. If they can get all the apps that are third party under one roof they may have me.
 
I agree with you. I think it was tactless for garmin to do that. They have to feel threatened the AW watch is nicer than its ever been. I am going to give it a go but still a bit underwhelmed by what apple has shown with it thus far (essentially an AW8 in a rugged body which the AW8 is essentially the AW7 and 6) hopefully they have something up there sleeve as far as the app goes. If they can get all the apps that are third party under one roof they may have me.
I think people have a tendency to defend the high-end as the primary market. Garmin would go out of business (or certainly suffer a huge hit to revenue) if they only sold to people that actually needed those features. I would argue that the majority of their sales are to people that needed something that fell in the wide gap between other smart watches and Garmin's offerings. Apple never has to directly address the extreme features of Garmin's watches. All they have to do is start closing the gap between the two companys' products to have an impact. The greater number of potential customers is always going to be on the lower end of the gap so the more Apple nibbles away at that, the greater marketshare Garmin loses.

The Ultra may not be the watch for you, but millions of people will be quite happy with it and not have a second thought about Apple's built in apps. If they find it works for them, they also won't ever consider a watch from Garmin no matter how much better it is.
 
I agree with you. I think it was tactless for garmin to do that. They have to feel threatened the AW watch is nicer than it’s ever been. I am going to give it a go but still a bit underwhelmed by what apple has shown with it thus far (essentially an AW8 in a rugged body which the AW8 is essentially the AW7 and 6) hopefully they have something up there sleeve as far as the app goes. If they can get all the apps that are third party under one roof they may have me.
It has features you may not care about.. twice the battery, better water resistance, an action button, better bluetooth, a siren, better GPS, brighter screen with a night mode, better mics and speakers, larger screen and probably a few other things that don’t jump to mind. These all go past just having a more rugged case.
 
If you need to be able to go without charging you watch for days, you are right, the Apple Watch (now and for the next few years - or maybe ever) is not the product for you. No question about that. I charge my watch before I go to sleep and if I have a heavy workout morning, while I am in the shower.

I have a few questions for those Garmin users talking about the over a month long battery life:
  1. how often do you charge your watch, and how do you have a habit to make sure you do it?
  2. How long does it take to charge from empty to full?
  3. How long do you get with live track running on LTE using a Forerunner 945 LTE?


Not likely in real world use, I expect it will still be a day (simply because it is unlikely that most people will turn enough other things off to make that work). While many of the Garmin folks here cannot understand why anyone would ever want things like LTE for calls, etc., many Watch users just expect it to be there and want the larger battery to make it work better.


The two most apps that most people talk about for adding missing functionality are WorkOutDoors and HealthFit. I think the are both $4.99 with out a subscription. One's data for for most of the workout apps I have used gets stored in Apple Health, meaning that I will never have to pay to get access to it, nor can anyone not in possession of my iPhone have access to it (unless I chose to use HealthFit or similar and uploaded it to some other service).

Given that both of those apps have been around for a long time, I think their current amortized cost for me for both of them is $2 a year. I will note that both support Family Sharing and if one includes my BF and the others on my account that have watches it drops the cost down to under $0.40 per person per year.


Do you have any examples of applications that you actually used (or considered) that duplicated functionality of the built in Garmin Apps that as a group would cost over $500 a year (even $250 a year), or is this just "it could be"?


What percentage of Garmin customers do you think use 75% of the stats that Garmin's watches collect? What about 50%?


By "occasional athletes" do you really mean "anyone who does not mind a routine that includes charging one's watch every day, and does not do extreme sports"? I jog/run/walk several miles every day. I do a HIIT workout every day (using another one time purchase app called Streaks Work Out) and done over 1,400 consecutive days. I have been doing a Daily Yoga practice every day over over 1,400 days. I also do other sports activities, but not as regularly. I have happily been using my Apple Watch as my only tracker for many years.

Are there things I wish Apple would add? Of course. Would I consider giving up all the things like Apple Pay (and transit cards), real LTE connectivity, voice control, Home Key, having my boarding bass on my watch, etc. to switch ecosystem primarily to get better battery life? Not at all.
Really good argumentation.
But, it's impossible to ultimately compare one watch and army of Garmin watches. Let's be realistic. And also apple is a state of mind like Garmin is a state of mind and let's not forget that apple watch targets only iphone users while Garmin with a more diverse product range targets everyone. Even old school upload on PC users.
Also LTE doesn't work in many countries.
Cheers
 
I have never seen an automobile company get preemptively defensive about a boat anchor company before. It's not Apple that is looking directly at Garmin's market and saying "we want a piece of that." Apple has decided to expand their watch market up a notch to customers that are more active that were trying to do things with the standard Apple Watch that were just outside of its reach. Garmin is the one that is looking at that as a threat.
They should have said weeks instead of months and then it would be spot on. I’ve no idea why you think that was “defensive”. It mocked Apple. It’s easy to mock Apple and their “oh it’s the best thing ever” schtick, delivered without fail for the smallest incremental update or pointless feature that probably doesn’t work, or something that others had for years.

There’s no humility, and a lot of sanctimony about Apple. This makes them easy to mock.

I find the product name hilarious. Ultra what? Ultra silly? It’s a little ridiculous brick on your wrist.

There’s a lot of copium here “Garmin is afraid of Apple”. Did you look at the trends? You have years of Apple Watch being on the market and yet Garmin’s selling more and more. Clearly, they’re doing something right. And the 2022 product portfolio is really strong. Unlike Apple, who makes something a little bigger or a little more whatever, Garmin has actually delivered quite dramatic generation-on-generation improvements, particularly in battery life.

They would not impress you on a Garmin because they either do not exist, or are not integrated into the ecosystem and so would need to be dealt with separately. On an Apple Watch, they are seamless and tightly integrated.
I disagree, I’ve seen what Apple Watch does. You like it and I don’t, I think it’s an awkward and inefficient experience with mostly duplicated, unnecessary functionality that takes longer to access. Garmin’s music controls are super tightly integrated but it’s hardly a reason to use them, when I can use the headphones themselves.

What you write reminds me of a friend who bought a Tesla and came over to show it off. He was very proud that he can unlock the doors using his phone. He fumbled for a while and managed to do it. It would have been easier with a regular remote. And on my cars you just touch the door handle and they unlock as long as you have the key. But hey, cool tech, right?

You’re correct in that I’m not “invested” in Apple’s ecosystem. It’s not my job to be “invested” in anyone’s ecosystem. I have several Apple products but I’m nobody’s mindless piggybank. I look and evaluate and change as required. Sometimes the first version of a product is bad but the 4th is good. Sometimes it goes the other way.

This is an undervalued comment that I have been thinking about for years.
It’s the elephant in the room. When I had the Venu, which had a bit longer battery life compared to this “Ultra” (just over a day) I discovered that I couldn’t really use it as a sleep tracker because it was often the case that it needed charging right before bed time. Eventually I gave up on trying to use it as a sleep tracker, I didn’t want to arrange my life around the watch, it’s got to be the other way around.

Having a great battery life is the core prerequisite for using the features. Otherwise it’s just bullet points in a presentation, nothing really useful.
 
Trying again:

If opening your door with your watch (bad idea, I work in security) is paramount, there was no way you’d have bought a Garmin to begin with.
I work in security as well. Can you provide any documented vulnerability for CarKey, HomeKey, HotelKey, or OfficeKey?
I find it interesting that you rarely actually respond to points others make, just keep asserting false things and denying that any other world view might have merit.

You have asserted that there is a security risk with HomeKey (which, give the common design would also likely OfficeKey and DormKey). Please provide some documented vulnerability for it, or should we just assume that it is just baseless like your statement:
Plus, I highly doubt that my 2FA applications will do anything but show a notification on an Apple Watch - same as any smartwatch.
You keep claiming to be familiar with the Apple Watch and then make statements like that, that are clearly false.

Here is an example of Duo’s two factor authentication on an Apple Watch:
1663055593275.png


Pretty clearly not just displaying a notification.

Talk about needing to “fumble around” to find things like boarding passes and keys, but that is the opposite of the watchOS experience. When I am at the airport, Apple surfaces my boarding pass so I do not have to do anything to find it. You talk about how hard it must be to reply to a text message from one’s watch, and yet clearly do not understand that on top of Siri, one have have a set of common replies to common requests at one’s finger tips.

You talk about my personal real world experience (and that of others on here), and describe it as far fetched as if it did not happen many times a week.
 
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It’s the elephant in the room. When I had the Venu, which had a bit longer battery life compared to this “Ultra” (just over a day) I discovered that I couldn’t really use it as a sleep tracker because it was often the case that it needed charging right before bed time. Eventually I gave up on trying to use it as a sleep tracker, I didn’t want to arrange my life around the watch, it’s got to be the other way around.
Too bad that in peer reviewed studies over a long period of time Garmin’s devices have consistently performed at the bottom of the pack. (A recent one funded by ONR.)
Having a great battery life is the core prerequisite for using the features. Otherwise it’s just bullet points in a presentation, nothing really useful.
You keep asserting this, and yet person after person on here says you are wrong from their actual experience. Quite easy to charge for 15 minutes as one is getting ready for bed, and have more than enough power to make it through the night.
 
You keep asserting this, and yet person after person on here says you are wrong from their actual experience. Quite easy to charge for 15 minutes as one is getting ready for bed, and have more than enough power to make it through the night.
I have actual, practical experience with this. I have tried to do this with a watch having an even better battery life compared to the Apple Watch, and it didn't work. With a one day or even 1.5 days battery life I always revert to leaving the watch to charge overnight, same as my phone.

"Quite easy to charge for 15 minutes" yeah sure, maybe. Perhaps I get to bed late and I don't have the 15 minutes. Or I fall asleep during the 15 minutes. Perhaps I forget about it. It's a patchy experience and I want a better one. I don't want to schedule my life around the watch. It's a wearable, it should last a longer time so I don't worry about it.

It's rather clear that you and others here have little idea about Garmin software and watches, and the whole experience. At least not recent ones. If you bothered to look on youtube for example you'll find plenty of people who moved from Apple Watch to Garmin and they describe the transition in positive terms. Having this great battery life is not only a quality of life improvement but it lets you get the most out of your watch.

We're not talking about the Garmin 310XT here with its ANT+ dongle. Times have evolved for Garmin.

You have asserted that there is a security risk with HomeKey
No, I haven't, actually asserted anything about this particular tech. And do your own research.

and yet clearly do not understand that on top of Siri, one have have a set of common replies to common requests at one’s finger tips.
You think you've got some smart comeback that I didn't consider but I've seen this feature (canned replies) many times. Android Wear had it years ago. It does not impress me. A watch is not the appropriate device for answering communication. It's not effective and flexible enough because it's too small.

You keep confusing "can" with "should". Just because I can read the news on a watch doesn't mean I should. Same for just about everything else you bring up. It's tech for the sake of it. It doesn't improve you life, it wastes your time but it gives you enough of a dopamine hit that you keep banging here on the forum about how you need your Apple Watch to help you tie your smart shoelaces.

The point of a wearable is to be a good wearable, not a good mini-iPhone. The Apple Watch may be an ok mini-iPhone but it's a mediocre wearable. That's why the likes of Garmin, Oura, Whoop etc have been doing well in the last few years. Because Apple has ceded the actual wearable space focusing on silly apps and fancy animations, while Garmin was working hard at getting to a month-long battery life. And they all have better or more interesting software compared to the Apple's Fitness/Health/Apple Watch trio mess of watch management.
 
Just to be 100% transparent about the garmin battery... Yes its days longer than even the ultra will be but when they measure it its not truly measured with all the metrics on. I like to use all the capabilities of the watch so Pulse Ox is always turned on. This takes a few days of the battery life off. It would be nice if they stated that in their battery life chart. I realize that most will not use this setting however why not when it is another full metric that can tell you how another aspect of your body is doing.
 
I think with the square it is more out of the way with wrist flexion. Overall though if the watch is too big it's going to be an issue with sticking out anyway.

I'm not thrilled with the 44mm/45mm size. It's too big when compared with the 42mm.

It would be nice too if it could count swim laps where you are just kicking, too, but as for now, nope.
round shape is definitely more ergonomic as a watch on human wrist,the fact that over 90% of (non smart) watches always have been round proves this.

Apple decided to go with square form because they believed for smart features;reading,showing stats etc square shaoed screen is more suitable.(it’s debatable but understandable at the same time)

However other manufacturers are using round shape smart watches without any issues.
And with Apple Watch size getting bigger and bigger ,the square shape becomes more and more un-ergonomic and un-attractive.
 


Garmin has reacted to Apple's new rugged Apple Watch Ultra, saying in a tweet following the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch event that it measures battery life in "months" and "not hours," promoting its latest Enduro 2 watch for athletes.

apple-watch-ultra-2.jpg

While the Apple Watch Ultra has the longest battery life of any Apple Watch to date, with Apple promising up to 36 hours of normal use and up to 60 hours with watchOS 9's new Low Power Mode setting and other optimizations, the Enduro 2 can last significantly longer depending on usage scenarios.


Despite Garmin's claim that it measures battery life in months, the company actually advertises the Enduro 2 as having "up to 150 hours of battery life in GPS mode with solar charging" and "up to 34 days of battery life in smartwatch mode." The Enduro 2 has a 1.4-inch solar-powered display, compared to the nearly 2-inch display on the Apple Watch Ultra that can reach a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, the brightest ever in an Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch Ultra also has a wide range of advanced sensors, including the ability to take an ECG, measure blood oxygen level, alerts for high and low heart rates, and a new body temperature sensor focusing on women's health.

The Apple Watch Ultra is offered in a 49mm case and costs $799, while the Enduro 2 costs $1,099. The Apple Watch Ultra was made available for pre-order earlier this week and will begin shipping on Friday, September 23.

Article Link: Garmin Reacts to Apple Watch Ultra: 'We Measure Battery Life in Months. Not Hours.'
I had a fenix and switched to apple since certain functions were limited to apple watch. Not really fair comparison… but the big advantage is the warranty and durability of the garmin compared to apple’s 1 year BS… 2 apple devices died on me, battery is not reliable… i would not dare to use apple as main dive computer…
 
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round shape is definitely more ergonomic as a watch on human wrist,the fact that over 90% of (non smart) watches always have been round proves this.

Apple decided to go with square form because they believed for smart features;reading,showing stats etc square shaoed screen is more suitable.(it’s debatable but understandable at the same time)

However other manufacturers are using round shape smart watches without any issues.
And with Apple Watch size getting bigger and bigger ,the square shape becomes more and more un-ergonomic and un-attractive.
The market has spoken on this already. They sell the most and have the most revenue.

I think another reason they gave it that shape was to make it easily identifiable. It fit their “ think different” philosophy.
 
I don't know a serious athlete who prefers an Apple Watch over a Garmin. Ultra won't change that. They serve two different purposes.
 
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round shape is definitely more ergonomic as a watch on human wrist,the fact that over 90% of (non smart) watches always have been round proves this.

Apple decided to go with square form because they believed for smart features;reading,showing stats etc square shaoed screen is more suitable.(it’s debatable but understandable at the same time)

However other manufacturers are using round shape smart watches without any issues.
And with Apple Watch size getting bigger and bigger ,the square shape becomes more and more un-ergonomic and un-attractive.
I would like some more basis on how round is more ergonomic that rectangular or square, how can round fit be more ergonomical when a screen with pixels is laid out in a rectangular format (HxV pixels) ?
 
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I don’t believe the round is better than sqare stuff. Both have pros and cons. People are used to round watches, but the round screen creates problems for UI/UX as well. I wouldn’t make a big fuzz about it. Even Garmin does have both in their portfolio and as we know from @solq they‘re the masters and only true wearable manufacturer.
 
Source: IDC (https://www.idc.com/promo/wearablevendor)

Other analysts have very similar numbers, with Garmin being at 4.5% to 4.3% decrease from 2021 to 2022. It will loose more customers in the premium segment with the Ultra.
"Garmin saw 53% year-on-year growth in net sales revenues, powered by upwards trends in all five of its key device categories." (https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrew...ad-garmin-to-record-revenues/?sh=3583c5641372) - that was 2021, it's easy to find other sources.

I think they'll do well in 2022 since they had such a series of strong product launches. Q1 started well "overall sales rose 9% to set another quarterly record" (source: https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/07/24/garmin-q2-earnings-3-trends-to-watch/).

But in the end it's not like I particularly care about Garmin's fate. I own no Garmin stock. If they make good products - and right now they have the best - that's all that matters to their customers.
 
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If we have to draw battery life equivalence between Garmin and Apple Watch, how does the H/W and S/W spec breakdown compare (experts here care to populate the specs). Here are the items that I can think of, feel free to add more.

1. CPU - Apple Watch S7 1.8GHz 7nm processor, Garmin -?
2. Screen - Apple - LTPO OLED display, up to 1000 nits. Garmin - ?
3. OS -
4. GPS -
5. Battery Size - Apple S7 1.189Wh, Garmin - ?
 
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