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.
iPhone Buyers in U.S. More Than Twice as Likely to Own a Smartwatch as Android Buyers
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sorry, if you're not capable of clicking on your browser's address bar, typing "garmin.com", and hitting return, I don't think I can help you.
A relative of mine has a garmin watch for running. He also uses a chest strap for heart rate monitoring. He runs marathons, ... loves that sort of pain and suffering. lol.
I do 2-3 miles every few days (at best) and I'm very happy with my Apple Watch. I have a Scosche Rhythm+ that I used pre-Apple watch days. I find it is 10bpm faster than my Apple Watch 3 and 5 and every now and then gives me a 40,000+bpm rate that I have to manually delete - so I don't use it much. Especially since my AW5 can get my heart rate even when super sweating.
Sorry we're talking about the Garmin GPS running watches...
Yes, I'd see why a serious runner would want those watches. The graphs you get, the information you can get out of them for running is insane. The charts, graphs, stride length stuff is pretty cool.
I have had no desire to get one, but I run to keep my weight under 250lbs, not for fun.
That said I'm very happy with my Apple Watch for running.
^^^ This ^^^
It really comes down to what you want out of the watch. Both have a lot of great features (beyond being a "glorified heart rate monitor", which is the comment I was originally responding to). They just target different audiences.
It really comes down to what you want out of the watch. Both have a lot of great features (beyond being a "glorified heart rate monitor", which is the comment I was originally responding to). They just target different audiences.
Statement stands unless you prove it wrong. I’ve seen (on the web site) the fantastic claims of garmin battery life. Provided you don’t use gps, no notifications, Bluetooth etc. basically a glorified smart watch. Yes, it has stuff for serious athletes, but some of it is after the fact.
There is no magic formula for battery life on these watches.
GPS is the only battery drainer you mentioned. As long as I leave that off and I get a week worth of battery life easily.
I would buy the series 5 if I knew next year’s series 6 will look identical/almost identical. I think Apple knows eventually they’ll have to redesign it, and there’s a patent they registered that shows one possible design they may choose (can’t find it now).
When I first got my Fitbit surge I got a week of battery. If I went for an hour run, using the gps, it would drain the battery significantly.
But that’s my point about how much the watch/tracker is doing and what it’s doing, other than telling time.
Last edited:
A relative of mine has a garmin watch for running. He also uses a chest strap for heart rate monitoring. He runs marathons, ... loves that sort of pain and suffering. lol.
I do 2-3 miles every few days (at best) and I'm very happy with my Apple Watch. I have a Scosche Rhythm+ that I used pre-Apple watch days. I find it is 10bpm faster than my Apple Watch 3 and 5 and every now and then gives me a 40,000+bpm rate that I have to manually delete - so I don't use it much. Especially since my AW5 can get my heart rate even when super sweating.
Sorry we're talking about the Garmin GPS running watches...
Yes, I'd see why a serious runner would want those watches. The graphs you get, the information you can get out of them for running is insane. The charts, graphs, stride length stuff is pretty cool.
I have had no desire to get one, but I run to keep my weight under 250lbs, not for fun.
That said I'm very happy with my Apple Watch for running.
That pretty much sums up the Garmin user base in a nutshell - a very niche group of dedicated fitness enthusiasts who value the unique functionality that Garmin devices bring. It’s no surprise that Garmin’s market share is what it is as well.
For the rest of us normal everyday folk, the features they bring is sheer overkill. Unless I am going camping or out on extended military deployments, what’s the difference between a week’s battery and a day’s when I get to recharge it every night? The fitness tracking capabilities of an Apple Watch is good enough for a run every other day, while looking good enough to wear outside as well.
Likewise, Garmin is never going to be able to get the same degree of integration with iOS devices. A Garmin smartwatch will not be able to use Apple Pay, or Siri, or run apps, or stream music, or change watch faces and bands on a whim.
An Apple Watch is just more versatile overall.
Apple’s wearables division is absolutely NOT the size of a Fortune 500 company, and there’s no debate.
It’s the size of a Fortune 200 company 😂
I don’t think that is why people buy Garmin watches or devices. It’s why the versatility argument is something that doesn’t really apply to Garmin audiences, and I think they understand that even though they keep trying
I thought about buying an Apple Watch to monitor heart rate for cycling. Unfortunately they don’t support ANT to sync with my bike computer, and they are way more expensive than other ANT based wrist watches.
I have a friend that goes hiking a lot. He leaves his Apple Watch at home and takes his Garmin watch instead for obvious reasons.
For you? Perhaps battery life is not a show stopper. For me it is.
Besides better support for running, battery life was a main reason I bought the Garmin instead of an Apple watch. I travel frequently overseas which means flights of up to 19 hours. I don't want a watch I have to charge on the plane.
I must be doing it wrong as I have multiple watch faces, use my Garmin for NFC payments and have a dozen different watch bands. The other items I have my iPhone for.
The Apple Watch has sensors that are not on a smartphone to monitor heart rate and ECG, plus multiple areas of readouts I can access with a flick of the wrist. Everything you do with a smartphone requires you to pull it out, unlock it, then tap the icon to open an app. Ever try to do that while riding a bicycle? Care to strap you smartphone to your wrist or worse, your arm? Even on a bike bag, it’s hard to see, hard to touch or read, and of course, you’re looking down.
With the Apple Watch, I can see the time, local temp, my favorite stock (AAPL) price and day’s change, my heart rate, daily calendar and next event or appointment, my activity rings, Watch battery life, day and date, and can tap call my #1 contact without pulling my phone at all. All of that on one Watch face.
Plus when I open my Cyclemeter Watch App, I get continuously updated ride time, speed, avg. speed, distance traveled plus calories burned. Swipe right for heart rate, range, max heart rate avg. heart rate both in Analog and digital readout and current time. Swipe up for splits, intervals. Swipe right again for current, avg. and fastest speed plus splits, and more. And that is one add-on App in addition to all of Watch’s preloaded apps. Can do all that while continuing to ride or at a stop with phone in my jersey pocket. Could also listen to music if wanted.
That’s just the beginning. And oh, BTW, heaven forbid I crashed or got hit by a car. If I can’t respond, the Watch has detected a physical event or fall and notified 911 and my emergency contacts after 1 minute of inactivity and request for response. Your phone can’t do that but an Apple Watch can.
Really, try one out, check out the features and what’s it can do. Then try to figure out why you wouldn’t want that capability on your wrist.
I believe the Apple Watch can monitor your heart rate pretty much all day and provide you with usable data about your heart. The fast or irregular heart rate notifications plus ECG capability are strong pluses. Below is the detail in the link you cited:Nope. My priority is it should have long enough battery to last the day without cutting features. Apple Watch can barely last a day and it doesn't even monitor your activity all the time.
Apple Watch does many things badly instead of doing a few things well. Surprisingly un-Apple design in that way. Truly a Tim product.
BTW here's Apple's own documentation where they admit they can't do continuous heart rate monitoring
Monitor your heart rate with Apple Watch - Apple Support
Learn how Apple Watch measures your heart rate.support.apple.com
“You can check your heart rate any time using the Heart Rate app. Open the app, then wait for Apple Watch to measure your heart rate. You can also view your resting, walking, breathe, workout, and recovery rates throughout the day. To easily open the app, add the Heart Rate complication to your watch face or add the Heart Rate app to the Dock.
You can also turn on heart rate notifications, so you know if your heart rate remains above or below a chosen beats per minute (BPM), or to occasionally check for an irregular heart rhythm.
In addition, Apple Watch measures your heart rate throughout the day when you’re still, and periodically when you’re walking (Apple Watch Series 1 or later). Since Apple Watch takes these background readings based on your activity, the time between these measurements will vary. Apple Watch also calculates a daily resting rate and walking average by correlating background heart rate readings with accelerometer data when sufficient background readings are available.”
That’s why there are almost 90 million Apple Watches in use vs maybe <15 million Garmin units out there, with Apple Watch sales continuing to rise, and Garmin sales flat to declining. Marathon runners is a small, dedicated niche group, walkers and regular people pretty much make up everyone else.
Maybe, or they don’t or can’t see a reason to spend for a Watch, or don’t want to afford a smartwatch despite some interest. But so many Android users have said they’d like to have a good smartwatch IF there was a good one that ran well with up to date hardware and software that interfaced with Android phones. That Android smartwatches make up such a small % of the smartwatch market suggests there are few good products there worth buying.
Yeah, I’d rather do that too, stop what I’m doing, reach over with two fingers, find my radial pulse on the lateral side of my left wrist, confirm I can feel my pulse, then count the beats in fifteen seconds, (oh darn, I have to also look at some clock or watch with either a sweep second hand or second counter and keep track of that too), then multiply that by four to get my heart rate. And repeat that any time I want my heart rate.
If my heart rate is higher than 120 bpm, it’s unlikely I can feel faster than 30 beats in 15 seconds so I may not be able to detect a rapid heart rate in excess of 140 bpm. And I’m a doctor who can feel the irregular irregularity of Atrial fibrillation with rapid or slow heart rate but most laymen cannot discern that.
But to check my heart rate on my Apple Watch 4, I just lift, then tap the ❤️ Heart complication on the face, and it shows me the last heart rate, when it was taken, and in the 6 seconds to read that, it has a new heart rate measurement displayed. Plus swiping up shows resting and average walking heart rates, something you can’t do manually or accurately on your own. Plus it monitors for low, rapid or irregular heart rate and notifies you of them, plus you can do an ECG which you can’t on your own at all. Plus you can get a days worth of heart rate graphed visually. With my Cyclemeter app, it tracks my heart rate during my cycling rides, especially useful when climbing hills or sprinting.
And that’s just one App of hundreds that Apple and developers have provided for your use and enlightenment. If you choose to disregard all the things (see my Cyclemeter example above) the Watch and it’s apps can do, IMO that’s on you. Many of us have many many daily uses for the Watch and we haven’t even scratched the surface on use cases yet.
I think what the Apple Watch isn't receiving enough recognition for is it will go on to redefine utility on the wrist.
In just 4 years, Apple has made Fitbit unable to continue as an independent company, and forced to sell itself to Google (and as I have stated multiple times, I don't think much of Google's attempts at wearables, between Apple's huge lead in this area and Google possessing the wrong corporate structure for making wearables work).
The next casualty, I suspect, will be the Swiss watch industry.
Eventually, I foresee the Apple Watch becoming an alternative to smartwatches and perhaps even tablets. This is why I feel that much of the criticism of the iPhone kinda misses the mark. Yes, people are holding on to their phones longer due to a longer smartphone upgrade cycle and that is precisely why Apple is pivoting the wearables. Rather than face an uphill battle trying to fight this trend, Apple has decided to rewrite the rules of the game altogether.
There is no smartwatch industry. There is only the Apple Watch industry.
In just 4 years, Apple has made Fitbit unable to continue as an independent company, and forced to sell itself to Google (and as I have stated multiple times, I don't think much of Google's attempts at wearables, between Apple's huge lead in this area and Google possessing the wrong corporate structure for making wearables work).
The next casualty, I suspect, will be the Swiss watch industry.
Eventually, I foresee the Apple Watch becoming an alternative to smartwatches and perhaps even tablets. This is why I feel that much of the criticism of the iPhone kinda misses the mark. Yes, people are holding on to their phones longer due to a longer smartphone upgrade cycle and that is precisely why Apple is pivoting the wearables. Rather than face an uphill battle trying to fight this trend, Apple has decided to rewrite the rules of the game altogether.
There is no smartwatch industry. There is only the Apple Watch industry.
It is clearly a miracle that humans have survived so long without this magic watch!
Actually quite true! A miracle they survived without clean water, roads, sanitation, electricity, automobiles, medicines, etc. etc. etc. down to the computers, internet, and now smartphones and smartwatches. Each innovation or invention improved the quality of life or extended the quantity of life (mostly).
Fast forward 20, 50, 100, 200 years and the same will be said of the primitive way we live our own lives today. As you would guess, there are the way developed technological societies live, and there's still the primitive, ancient, and poor societies that almost live like people did 100-200 years ago, all on the same planet.
That we can bring technological change to those societies and in less than a generation, improve (some say) their quality of living in many respects, speaks to how adaptable humans can be, and how much things can change when the right ideas and tech appear.
This is my favorite quote from the Podcast / radio show "Ruby, the Galactic Gumshoe" circa 1980:
"The stuff we now call physics (or technology), we used to call magic!"