Why is Apple the better 'smart' watch vs others?

[Night Spring]

But they need to have at least a week of battery of more. My OP Watch has two weeks and it was amazing how nice that was it have.
One thing that surprised me, once I got away from daily use of the AW I was surprised at how well other devices work.

Yeah, extending battery life to something like one and a half day isn't going to change people's usage. They'd still be charging the watch once a day. Extending it to two days is just going to be confusing -- is today the day that I charge the battery, or no? And if Apple does come up with battery technology that lasts a week at current size, I'd rather have a watch that's thinner and lasts a day or so.

 

[PaladinGuy]

Yeah, extending battery life to something like one and a half day isn't going to change people's usage. They'd still be charging the watch once a day. Extending it to two days is just going to be confusing -- is today the day that I charge the battery, or no? And if Apple does come up with battery technology that lasts a week at current size, I'd rather have a watch that's thinner and lasts a day or so.

I think that’s a big part of why Apple hasn’t really focused much on it. When devices last under a week, it just makes it more likely that you end up stranded with a dead device. It’s just too annoying to keep up with the battery. If you could have a charging routine every Saturday or something, it would be perfect. Some sort of regular cadence makes it much easier to remember and keep up with because it’s predictable.

 

[TechRunner]

For some of the rougher hiking I have done, a watch just don’t cut it.

This is the number one reason I use a Garmin Instinct. I've banged that thing on more rocks than I can count, and it still looks and functions great after two-plus years. I heard Apple might be coming out with a ruggedized AW. That would sell to people like me who don't want to baby a watch while treading in the rough. And it would give me an excuse to buy an iPhone to supplement my Android use

 

[Night Spring]

This is the number one reason I use a Garmin Instinct. I've banged that thing on more rocks than I can count, and it still looks and functions great after two-plus years. I heard Apple might be coming out with a ruggedized AW. That would sell to people like me who don't want to baby a watch while treading in the rough. And it would give me an excuse to buy an iPhone to supplement my Android use

You don't have to wait for Apple to come out with a rugged watch, just buy a rugged case for it. That's the thing about the third-party ecosystem around Apple products, if there's a demand for some feature that's not big enough for Apple itself to address, then a third-party is likely to make one.

 

[jz0309]

Yeah, extending battery life to something like one and a half day isn't going to change people's usage. They'd still be charging the watch once a day. Extending it to two days is just going to be confusing -- is today the day that I charge the battery, or no? And if Apple does come up with battery technology that lasts a week at current size, I'd rather have a watch that's thinner and lasts a day or so.

I do not understand why a watch has to have a battery life of 1 week or so… most people charge their smartphones daily, most people who use their laptops on battery charge them daily or dock… what is so special about the watch in that context?
Having to monitor battery life to know when I need to charge is a nuisance, for me, I prefer having a routine…
But I guess we’re all different

 

[TechRunner]

You don't have to wait for Apple to come out with a rugged watch, just buy a rugged case for it. That's the thing about the third-party ecosystem around Apple products, if there's a demand for some feature that's not big enough for Apple itself to address, then a third-party is likely to make one.

I agree with your thoughts here. There is definitely a robust aftermarket for add-ons for Apple products. Having said that, I just prefer an integrated "ruggedness" for both durability and aesthetics. An Apple watch isn't designed to take a beating like an Instinct can, and even though a case will protect it, it won't give the watch that level of durability, IMO.

 

[dk001]

This is the number one reason I use a Garmin Instinct. I've banged that thing on more rocks than I can count, and it still looks and functions great after two-plus years. I heard Apple might be coming out with a ruggedized AW. That would sell to people like me who don't want to baby a watch while treading in the rough. And it would give me an excuse to buy an iPhone to supplement my Android use

If it can also do true GPS instead of the assisted it currently has.

 

[dk001]

I do not understand why a watch has to have a battery life of 1 week or so… most people charge their smartphones daily, most people who use their laptops on battery charge them daily or dock… what is so special about the watch in that context?
Having to monitor battery life to know when I need to charge is a nuisance, for me, I prefer having a routine…
But I guess we’re all different

I like having my watch map my usage including sleep habits on a weekly basis. So I charge my OP Watch and don’t worry about it for a week plus. When the battery says 20% or less I drop it on the charger mid day and it takes an hour or so to charge to 100%.
Easy Peasy.

Like I mentioned earlier, it was nice to not have to do the daily charging gig.

 

[Cheefy]

So I'm reading reviews on the popular wearables from Apple, Fitbit, Garmin etc.
They all pretty much come to the same conclusion...

Get an Apple Watch if you want a smartwatch first, and fitness watch second.
Get a Fitbit or Garmin if you want a fitness watch first, and a smartwatch second.

Okay, but what 'smart' features does Apple have that the others don't? Is it merely Apple ecosystem integration?
Are there that many unique watchOS apps that aren't available on other platforms?
Do people actually use that many apps outside of stock AW apps?

I use an AW 7 and a Venu 2s. The AW is my preferred daily wearer as it is the smarter of the two. I use the AW for shorter GPS activities (up to 4 or 5 hours but it will do more) and the Venu for longer ones. The one downside for the AW for me is the erratic behaviour of the HRM during activities, walking and running. My AW6 was the same and I don’t have tattoos. The Venu 2s HRM works perfectly on me so I use it as an HRM on the other wrist and broadcast it to the AW7 when I’m running. That set up works perfectly for me abd saves battery life on the AW as a result. I like having both and getting to grips with the technology on both systems - keeps me young ?.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I use an AW 7 and a Venu 2s. The AW is my preferred daily wearer as it is the smarter of the two. I use the AW for shorter GPS activities (up to 4 or 5 hours but it will do more) and the Venu for longer ones. The one downside for the AW for me is the erratic behaviour of the HRM during activities, walking and running. My AW6 was the same and I don’t have tattoos. The Venu 2s HRM works perfectly on me so I use it as an HRM on the other wrist and broadcast it to the AW7 when I’m running. That set up works perfectly for me abd saves battery life on the AW as a result. I like having both and getting to grips with the technology on both systems - keeps me young .

I’m feeling an itch to try the Venu 2 Plus so that I can have all my fitness stuff in one place, and It would be great if I could do this. I just don’t think I can get used to wearing two watches…

I really want a full week of battery life though, which really means I’d need a Garmin with the MIP screen and not OLED. Not sure I could adjust to that after using an Apple Watch for years.

 

[satchmo]

I’m feeling an itch to try the Venu 2 Plus so that I can have all my fitness stuff in one place, and It would be great if I could do this. I just don’t think I can get used to wearing two watches…

I really want a full week of battery life though, which really means I’d need a Garmin with the MIP screen and not OLED. Not sure I could adjust to that after using an Apple Watch for years.

But the Venu 2 has a AMOLED display, not MIP. Which makes the Garmin all that much more impressive with a week of battery life.

 

[PaladinGuy]

But the Venu 2 has a AMOLED display, not MIP. Which makes the Garmin all that much more impressive with a week of battery life.

True. I want AOD though which massively lowers battery life on the Venu series watches. I think I’ve read the 2 Plus can get about 4 days with AOD, which means a weird charge schedule.

 

[satchmo]

True. I want AOD though which massively lowers battery life on the Venu series watches. I think I’ve read the 2 Plus can get about 4 days with AOD, which means a weird charge schedule.

You're not asking for much are you? ?
Even the huge Garmin Epix with AMOLED is rated at 6 days with AOD.

Or wait for the rumoured 'rugged' Apple Watch which might get improved battery life. But I still don't think it'll get more than week with AOD.

You might just order a Venu 2 Plus and give it try. The battery life is so dependant on use case and you might find you get more than 4 days. I actually might do just that myself.

 

[Danfango]

I started writing this post with incoherent ramblings so I deleted it and started again.

I use my AW S7 for tracking running and hiking workouts mostly so my domain is mostly related to health and GPX tracing. I haven't really had any problems with the AW S7 or my SE on that front. They have been extremely reliable and last a full day without a problem. Mostly used with the Compass app, OS Locate and usual Workouts app. If I do a multi-day trek I'm already dragging a large Anker powerbank with me so throwing the charging puck that came with it in my backpack is no big deal. I know a lot of people with SE, S6 and S7 who come out on our group walks and they never have any problems or complaints about theirs either.

There are three minor annoyances which I'd like to outline though:

1. If it gets damp, occasionally it'll go on the fritz and stop activity tracking. Wiping it down fixes that.

2. It's not that easy to extract the GPX data for a workout hiking route from the health app. You have to download a 3rd party app to do it.

3. It thinks I'm insane after walking for 5 hours solid (I can do 12 hours and 50km) and keeps asking me to stop activity tracking.

With respect to fitness, running in particular, Apple wins for me again because it works with Apple Music and my AirPods. I go out with the S7 and the AirPods and that's it. I don't want my phone smacking my ass or strapped to my arm while I'm running.

Conversely, our few Garmin (Instinct/Fenix) users seem to have endless problems with theirs. On two separate occasions now I've had to lend someone my backup eTrex 10 because their watch has bricked or the GPS has given up. Also they seem to crash occasionally or freeze which you don't notice. Also, and I think this is Android more than Garmin, getting them to sync post-hike appears to require at least two pints of beer and a bunch of swearing ?

No one uses fitbits that I know. They are outcasts

One point to note though is that at least 50% of the people who have Apple Watches that I know got them free with their additional corporate private healthcare insurance as a benefit.

 

[The Game 161]

the apple ecosystem is a rather massive deal when it comes to the apple watch being so good.