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What are some great alternatives to Apple Watch?

iHorseHead

iHorseHead

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 1, 2021
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Hey,
I wanted to ask what might be some great alternatives to Apple Watch? My Apple Watch SE has an awful battery life and I'd like to get preferably European Android Watch with good battery life?
Thinking about Huawei Watch as well. I know it's not European though, but that's fine.
 
wether together with Android or iOS/iPadOS, nothing -no pun intended 🧐 - beats the CMF Watch Pro - looking at price (particularly when they are on a sale), integration and functionality here (incl. battery life). Not a european manufacturer so.

Compared, Huawei watches are okay, but e.g. tracking swimming or displaying emojis in messages is hit&miss in my experience.
 
iHorseHead said:
Hey,
I wanted to ask what might be some great alternatives to Apple Watch? My Apple Watch SE has an awful battery life and I'd like to get preferably European Android Watch with good battery life?
Thinking about Huawei Watch as well. I know it's not European though, but that's fine.
Click to expand...

Is GPS tracking important to you?

What sort of battery life are you looking for?
 
Last edited:
MarkX said:
Is GPS tracking important to you?

What sort of battery life are you looking for?
Click to expand...
I only track my sleep and steps and the reason why I got an Apple Watch SE in the first place was to track my sleep, however, the battery doesn't even last 24 hours. I was sitting on flixbus and when I entered the battery was 100% and I was just sitting and not even touching my watch and it ran out of the battery. It has happened before and I've restored my watch several times, but that does not help the battery life.

I want a battery that lasts over 24 hours while I'm just sitting and doing nothing, maybe sleeping. There are so many watches out there, but years ago I tried some Android watch and it was like $40 and it was absolutely horrible. Their app seemed to be very random and weird and the watch itself was very laggy and whenever I received a call my watch was ringing loudly as well and when I answered on the call from my watch it just put it on loudspeaker and I don't know…It was awkward. Definitely a way to get everyone to stare at you. I wouldn't want to go through that again, because it was embarrassing and I've seen threads on this forum that claim that Samsung watches dont work with iPhones (not surprised there. I recently saw a Samsung TV that only worked with Samsung phones…)
 
OnePlus watch 3 or Samsung Watch Ultra. If you are wanting to spend a little more and want insane battery life one of the Garmin watches. I already have a Watch Ultra. If I was buying another now I'd probably go OnePlus Watch 3.
 
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iHorseHead said:
I only track my sleep and steps and the reason why I got an Apple Watch SE in the first place was to track my sleep, however, the battery doesn't even last 24 hours. I was sitting on flixbus and when I entered the battery was 100% and I was just sitting and not even touching my watch and it ran out of the battery. It has happened before and I've restored my watch several times, but that does not help the battery life.

I want a battery that lasts over 24 hours while I'm just sitting and doing nothing, maybe sleeping. There are so many watches out there, but years ago I tried some Android watch and it was like $40 and it was absolutely horrible. Their app seemed to be very random and weird and the watch itself was very laggy and whenever I received a call my watch was ringing loudly as well and when I answered on the call from my watch it just put it on loudspeaker and I don't know…It was awkward. Definitely a way to get everyone to stare at you. I wouldn't want to go through that again, because it was embarrassing and I've seen threads on this forum that claim that Samsung watches dont work with iPhones (not surprised there. I recently saw a Samsung TV that only worked with Samsung phones…)
Click to expand...

I take it you have an iPhone? That would limit your choices somewhat!
 
aggie99 said:
OnePlus watch 3 or Samsung Watch Ultra. If you are wanting to spend a little more and want insane battery life one of the Garmin watches. I already have a Watch Ultra. If I was buying another now I'd probably go OnePlus Watch 3.
Click to expand...
But Samsung Watches don't work with iPhones?
 
iHorseHead said:
Hey,
I wanted to ask what might be some great alternatives to Apple Watch? My Apple Watch SE has an awful battery life and I'd like to get preferably European Android Watch with good battery life?
Thinking about Huawei Watch as well. I know it's not European though, but that's fine.
Click to expand...
The AW SE is the low end. Look at the AW Ultra for much better battery life - and much better watch IMO. Also note that most folks' lifestyles do allow any AW to be well managed by MagSafe charging appropriately.
 
I like the Unihertz Atom Vanilla, that's the smallest rugged smartphone I know of. Unlike an Apple Watch, it will run normal smartphone apps. It even had a step-counter and an arm-band, if that's what you're looking for.
 
iHorseHead said:
I only track my sleep and steps and the reason why I got an Apple Watch SE in the first place was to track my sleep, however, the battery doesn't even last 24 hours.
Click to expand...

I've gone through Fitbit, Garmin, and now have an Apple Watch Ultra 2. I've found Fitbit's sleep tracking to be the most accurate and easiest to use.

The part where the recommendation gets tricky is because Google is killing off Fitbit and it's unclear if that line will continue to exist in some form or another. It looks like Fitbit is getting incorporated into their Pixel watches, but I've never owned a Pixel watch so I don't know how faithful that is to the Fitbit legacy. Also, one of the best parts of having a Fitbit was battery life that always lasted you 3-5 days. That isn't true with a Pixel watch.

Everything I've tried is better than the others at some things and all of them are infuriating in their own ways. None of them manage to strike the balance of being just right.
 
Amazfit Active. Almost all the features, working well, at a fraction of the price. It's more of a fitness band than a smartwatch, but your requirements are covered. Could be got for as low as 5k on sale in Amazon.
 
I haven’t used it because I’m happy with my Apple Watch, but if I was just looking for something for the needs you mentioned, I would consider the Redmi Watch 5 Active. It’s only £30/€35/$40, it looks like an Apple Watch but it’s plastic with an lcd screen instead of amoled, but it has a plethora of health and fitness features with a claimed battery life of 18 days.

It doesn’t have gps and would need to rely on a phones gps to track outdoor runs, but I see you said that’s not important to you since you want it to track sleep mostly. For the price it is I would give it a try. The reviews I watched for it rated it quite favourably.

Redmi Watch 5 Active - Xiaomi UK

Redmi Watch 5 Active with 2
www.mi.com www.mi.com

There’s the Xiaomi Smart band 9 pro for roughly double the price, which has a Oled screen, metal body, 21 days battery, and a lot of health tracking stuff like blood oxygen measuring.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro - Xiaomi UK

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Upgraded all-round sleep monitoring*, Improved blood oxygen and heart rate monitoring*, Linear motor for better haptic feedback
www.mi.com www.mi.com
 
aggie99 said:
OnePlus watch 3 or Samsung Watch Ultra. If you are wanting to spend a little more and want insane battery life one of the Garmin watches. I already have a Watch Ultra. If I was buying another now I'd probably go OnePlus Watch 3.
Click to expand...

Apple Watch Ultra 1, Galaxy Ultra, Garmin Epix 2.

They all work well and do what I need.
For everyday use I use the Galaxy Ultra as my S25Plus is my main. I prefer it for sleep, steps, and exercise.
For hiking, the Garmin. Battery life and better map tracking (GPS).
My AWU I don’t use much but beta test with it.
 
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aggie99 said:
OnePlus watch 3 or Samsung Watch Ultra. If you are wanting to spend a little more and want insane battery life one of the Garmin watches. I already have a Watch Ultra. If I was buying another now I'd probably go OnePlus Watch 3.
Click to expand...
Is the battery replaceable?

Thanks in advance!
 
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