I think you’re way off here…but we’ve already discussed that. I just keep pointing it out because I believe you’re VASTLY underestimating the people who want a sports watch that you don’t have to charge every day.
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record your cycle rides on it ? So screen size isn’t a issue ?
Fo
I am wearing a Dexcom G6 (not gone to G7 yet as don’t want unknowns in the middle of the season / events) so I use the Dexcom app, it gives me blood sugars in real rime (or 5 min intervals) with additional notification, it works brilliantly, life changing, you can get data field for Garmin IQ, but it’s a data field so can’t be used as part of the watch face, and it only works with a phone signal, doesn’t update if you are out of signal which is often the case in Gravel / MTB events, my next one is in Iceland so I will be relying on my AW a lot
I think this is the great thing about the AW it can be what you want it to be, I have HRV4Training, Trainnow and Athlytic, AutoSleep (does HRV as well) not tide to BodyBattery or Whoop
I know that my reason for moving to AW is unique (or it’s easy to dismiss it that way) but as a endurance athlete (my shortest even this year was 4.5 hours, my longest will be 11) I feel myself moving more towards apple at the moment, but I do feel that the whole “battery thing” is just standard use case, people will buy Suntoo, Polar e.t.c for a specific use case, and Garmin Battery life is another one, if you don’t want to take you watch off when you have a shower or bath (and charge it, thats how long AW takes to charge) don’t , watches / computers are just tools for getting the job done, just get on with it, we don’t need to justify our choices , just be aware that somebody might be improving their tools quicker and making something that is a better fit for you than you think (it doesn’t mater if you stay with what you have, people are still buying Casio calculator watches for god sake)
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I don’t understand why people keep saying this. You can not fully charge an Apple Watch in 10 minutes.
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I charge mine every time I have a shower or bath, I never have to charge it outside this, maybe I don’t take it off the last second before I get in the shower, maybe I don’t put it straight away, maybe because I do it every time it doesn’t go down to Zero (AW7 lasts about 2 day Ultra about 2.5) so doesn’t have to fully change (AW7 goes from 20% to 100% in 25 mins
Works for me
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It seems only the 7/8 and Ultra support fast charging. An older edition or the SE will need an hour or two on the charger.
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No, you can’t fully charge it in 10 minutes, but if you charge it while you shower, and you shower every day, then you’re not charging it from zero every time. When I had an Apple Watch with the fast charger, I charged it from around 60% back to 90% or so in the time it takes me to shower, more than enough to get a couple more days of charge.
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Absolutly, but I am talking about my experiance, which is 7 and Ultra
I would rather the “time in the shower” daily than the Fenix’s 2+ hour charge time, especially for somethinbg that I rely on for my health (not that I can wiith do that with the Fenix)
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Do you guys use it to record multi-hour gps events and still get away with 10-20 minute daily charges being enough? I’m asking because if you read reviews they say it takes like 45 minutes to get to 75% and then another 30 to get from 75-100. (On the 8). That’s vastly different from what you’re saying, so I’m wondering if you don’t use it for endurance sports stuff.
Garmin is the watch for you, AW is working nicely for me
Feel free to look me up on Strave, I did a 2 hour MTB ride yesterday, showered when i got home (might not have put it back on straight away, but I didn’t note what the charge was before the ride), recorded a turbo session this morning and a core workout this lunch and currently at 55%, (so day / day and a half left) I let you know what it is after I shower
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The thing is…I WANT Apple to be the watch for me. That’s why I’m asking so many questions. Thanks for sharing!!
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May be, but
And especially
I just think you will have buyers remorse
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Definitely my concern as well. Everything in my house is Apple except my watch and my head unit. It would be so nice to have everything in one ecosystem
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I am a garmin fanboi, so thats that… 
in any case. I think the whole argument boils down to:
- Battery life. Some people do not want to charge often. I want the most battery life as possible. Most sport specific watches will give me 7 days of continues use, including 9-12 hrs of wo, some with GPS some with multiple sensors.
- Touchscreen vs buttons. Give me all the buttons. I do not like touch screen on the watch for sports. I do not mind for smart watches, but for sport my preference is buttons. I am 100% certain that I am not alone in this. This is a barrier for many people to switch to smart watches. I haven’t used an apple watch for sports in a while, but i didnt like it when i did…
- Ecosystem. Many people have been using a platform for many years. Many do not even own apple products. I love my macbook, I do not like the iphones. For people like me, who use multiple platforms, I rather use a product that is cross platform, like a sport watch, and not andriod or apple watch products.
- Works out of the box. I get my garmin on the mail, I install the updates and register it and I can be out doing a wo in 5 minutes. No need to look for apps that would do what i need. It just works for my needs… Apple has sports apps, but since they are apps, it annoying to some (to me) to look throughout the app list looking for what I need.
Apple will NEVER do a watch that has more than the buttons it has right now. That will alienate many users who want physical buttons.
Making apple watch battery last longer will require a different screen and philosophy related to screens… Apple will not make anything worse than what they have now. They rather have people charge daily or every other day than having a tv quality screen on the wrist.
Apple WILL NEVER allow android users to fully use an apple watch. There are more that 0 android users out there. I am not interested in getting an iphone (pixel fanboi here), so that immediately put me out of apple watch market.
I dont know. Apple watch might be amazing… Its just not what I want on my sport watch. And I am certain I am not alone there. I think apple is not really eating market share. The market is expanding, Many apple watch users would never get a sports watch to begin with.
What I would like to see is how many sport watches users have make a switch to apple. That is a better metric on how garmin vs apple is doing.
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FWIW no problems with battery however my AW comes off when I ride and put on the charger. Garmin 840 and heart rate strap on rides. My AW is only used to record mobility work and walks. Wear it at night and use Sleep+ to record. Turned on a-fib tracking for all-day HRV (4 times an hour?) and that really started draining the battery. On days that I don’t ride, or a short one like last night (didn’t take off watch), I do pop it on the charger while getting ready for bed and in the morning. Im not compelled to record every minute of my life so charging is good it gives my wrist some time to breath.
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I use a series 8 to record strength and mobility workouts and bike workouts if I have to do them on a hotel bike and paced by HR.
That being said, I don’t think my phone will ever replace my head unit. I use a Garmin 530 for outdoor bike workouts because it is great at showing me directions/map while I ride with minimal distraction from the road and (and that’s the most important part) it doesn’t cost 1000 dollars to replace in case of a crash. If Apple wanted to replace headunits, AppleCare would have to get a lot better (and cheaper than a 250 dollar one-time payment to replace an edge device).
I’m not 100% sure about this as a lot of Garmins recent profit fall have been put down to watch sales
I only know about this because I watched this video, where at 8:58 mins he sites that Garmin have just post a revenue decline in the first quarter of 2023 for their outdoor segment, with Garmin blaming this for a decline in their adventure watches
PS in the video he seems to know more about the FTP detection than dc rain does (or has posted) which is a bit strange
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Just some minor items to pick and choose from the last 6 hours of not being on the forum.
I don’t do any paid consultancy with any companies that I review. I’m happy to have discussions on what I think with engineering/product manages/executives from these companies, and often do - both Apple & Garmin included. But none of it is paid. The only paid stuff I do is for large Wall Street investing firms that want my thoughts on the market. Basically, people that have more money than time and don’t want to read my reviews, but want it consolidated into a 15 minute phone call for silly money. 
It’s important to remember that when you try and compare a previous quarter where Garmin launched their most important update to their most important product line (Fenix 7) in 3 years, sales are nuts. Then comparing that to a quarter where nothing happens, sales are lower. It’s why context is important. While Apple sells the most watches out there, Garmin has by and large never had better years than the years since Apple launched their watch. Rising tide and all ships thing.
At present, according to Apple developer NDA’s, I’m not supposed to discuss much more in the way of how watchOS 10 works until public beta happens in July sometime. Fear not though, once that happens, I’ll be diving into it in far more depth than you can shake a stick at. Both the FTP detection (which honestly isn’t that out of left field), as well as the power meter operation/functionality components.
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Like I wrote, it is cool that you have different preferences and your needs are being served. I plan on buying a smartwatch maybe next year. I really would like one, but couldn’t justify it (I bought two expensive bikes and a trainer in the last 2.5 years and my wife got very little in comparison).
Just a quick comment on that: Apple has been working on cutting ties between the iPhone and the Apple Watch. E. g. you can set up the Apple Watch without having an iPhone of your own. My dad doesn’t have one and my brother used his iPhone (as someone else’s Apple Watch). Ditto for children. In a few years the Apple Watch will be untethered, I think.
I stand corrected. Sorry, I misunderstood.
By the way, what are your thoughts (in case you can share): is Garmin’s market expanding or are they in trouble mid- to long-term? Any still speculation on what they will do?
Sure. But to get full advantage of the watch you need an iphone.
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