I have been researched the best Apple Watch to buy for the past few days because I’m finally ready to get one for everyday use—mainly for health tracking, notifications, and fitness. I’ve gone through reviews on The Verge, CNET, and TechRadar, and they all seem to highlight these two as top choices:
However, I’m still not sure which one would best suit my needs, and I’d really appreciate some expert advice. I want something reliable with good battery life, accurate fitness tracking, and future-proof features. I’m not a hardcore athlete, but I do work out 3–4 times a week, and I’d like good heart rate monitoring, GPS, and notifications for calls/texts. Siri and integration with my iPhone are important too.
Is the extra price for the Series 9 really worth it compared to the SE? Or should I wait for the next-gen model if it’s coming soon?
Any recommendations or personal experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I had a Garmin Fenix 6 and recently went to an Apple Ultra 2. It didn’t work well for me. It’s a smart watch with some sports features, and I didn’t use the smart watch features enough. Even with the Ultra, which has the biggest battery, I was still annoyed with having to charge it every few days.
I had bought it at Costco which had a 90 day return policy and bought a new Garmin. The Garmin in a sports watch with some smart features. I can read texts and see who is calling me but can’t answer either on my watch. But, my Enduro has a 29-day battery life. That said, it’s way more than the two apple watches you’ve posted, so take that for what its worth. My Fenix 6 still has a 9 day battery life and works fantastic (I just had the itch for something new). I bet you could get an older Garmin if battery life is something you care more about.
I don’t want to throw you off the Apple Watch, it could be just me. Obvioulsy a lot of people use them and they work well with TR workouts.
I think the extra $$ is worth it. I don’t think you need the latest one - but the difference from the SE to the 10 is big enough to warrant it in my opinion. I have been using the AW9 since release and it does everything you are looking for perfectly. I will keep using it for another couple of years - I see no reason to upgrade it at this time. And honestly not sure I could ever get away from having Apple Pay/siri/all notifications I want on my wrist. Though lately I have turnoff most notifications…
I have stopped wearing the watching while riding my bike both indoors and outdoors and use the HealthFit app to import .fit files from TR and my Karoo2. I do wear a HR strap so that all data is in Health. I also use it 2x a week for Strength Training as well as family walks/bikes/hikes/etc… I just charge it while in the car or on my bike and the battery is just fine. I have never worried about battery life but I do turn off always on screen to help in that aspect. And I wear it to bed nightly as well to track sleep.
Not sure you can go wrong either way though with a Garmin or Apple Watch.
I had a AW Series 5 that I enjoyed for day to day stuff and running when I was getting started. Battery life was a day at most - you should expect to charge every night.
I’m not super polite to my things and they go through a normal amount of wear and tear; work in the garage, yard work, gym, etc. - and I found that the glass and body scratched very easily. It went from looking nice to not very quick.
I now have an AW Ultra Series 2 and it looks as good as the day I got it after over a year of daily use in the same conditions. The Ti body and stronger glass are a selling point. The size is something that was initially a shocker, though i’ve gotten used to. The cost is quite prohibitive for a lot of folks. I enjoy the battery life which is somewhere in the 48hr mark during normal use. I often wear it as an alarm (and dont charge over night) and it will last through the second full day even with logging a few hours of workouts each day.
Probably the wrong forum for this - you’ll get a lot of Garmin users here because of the better fitness tracking metrics and far far far superior battery life.
I’m rocking the Garmin Enduro 3 and get over a month in battery life in smartwatch mode.
I vastly prefer the Apple Watch Ultra over non ultra… too much charging anxiety with the smaller batteries. I’d rather have an Ultra v1 used with excellent battery health over a new SE/10. I personally hated having to think about charging and how I was going to use the watch the rest of the day starting every day by afternoon.
I used to use Garmin watches and would probably stick with them if that were my primary workout device, but I almost exclusive cycle and always use a Garmin bike computer, so prefer the Apple Watch for general smart watch use and occasional run and doing various workouts (gym bike, run) when traveling w/o bike. But if I had reason to “optimize” the watch for fitness (endurance events, more running, long hikes, etc.) or hated charging I’d go Garmin.
I have the Ultra 2, and really like it. I use it for walking and running, and it’s also a dive watch too. Sure it has some warts, but all of them do. The battery life is substantially over the other standard Apple watches. The biggest gripe I’ve heard about the Ultra watch is the weight, but I hardly notice it when I’m wearing it. Probably like a dog and their collar?
I got the Milanese loop band, and it’s the best IMO for the Ultra. It’s cool, can be adjusted quickly, comes off quickly, and is durable as all get out. (It’s worn down some of the wrist rest area of my MacBook Pro, and has kept its color 100%. The fenix I had started losing the black color almost immediately. The Ultra has kept its color 100% from what I can tell. I do have a very thin scratch in the rim around the face. It’s small enough to not be a problem, and the face crystal didn’t break. I’m rough on my toys though, and wear it everyday, and for doing everything: mechanic tasks, tractors, yard work, home reno, etc.
I had an early fenix watch and like in Mozart (the movie) it had too many notes. It did so much, and the menus were cumbersome and sometimes hard to navigate, where the Ultra is just easier. The support is likely better with the Ultra.
Since this is important, then you can ignore every other device out there. Nothing will integrate with Siri or your phone better. If you don’t already use Siri on your phone, then you probably won’t use it much on your wrist.
Make sure you get the fast charger (it will have a braided cable rather than smooth). I put mine on the charger for about 15 minutes every morning and it’s full (Series 8, no cellular connection). A full charge will get me at least a day and a half, unless I’m doing long rides (8+ hours) with GPS in which case I might need to charge for a few minutes before bed.
FWIW, I find all watches terrible on the bike and have mostly stopped using it. It’s fine for general fitness, strength sessions, sleep, steps etc. but it’s really difficult to use while riding. If you’re at all concerned with seeing data while riding, get a head unit. If you just want to review what you did afterwards but never look at it while riding, then it’s probably fine.
After two+ years of using it daily I’ve come to realize I don’t really need it or maybe I’ve just gotten bored with it. The two things that I really appreciate about a watch are controlling music/podcasts when using headphones and navigating while walking in new cities so I can keep my phone in my pocket. All the other stuff just turns into noise for me.
RE: Apple Watch battery life. You may need to charge it once a day but it only needs like 15 minutes. If you wanted to wear it 24/7 for sleep tracking, you could charge it while you take a shower or something and that would keep it going just fine. They charge really hast.
Here’s one from left field. I bought an HK10 Ultra Max which is a clone. It does all the usual smart watch stuff. The Milanese strap is silky smooth. I can’t believe this thing cost $40 shipped from China. This just shows us how much profit Apple makes on watches.
(I also have a 42mm SE. It works fine. I don’t use iWatch features that much and turn off all the nags like the rings anyway.)
A lot of discussion about charging / battery life were raised when the Ultra was released, so it might be worth having a look at this thread
I went from Fenix → Series 7 → Ultra 1, mainly as a T1 diabetic I wanted CGM that appears on the watch face of the Apples, Garmin can only do it (not directly and up to 10 mins out of date) in workouts
As I have a head unit for cycling, I just use the Apple for runs/gym and short cycling commutes, is fine for that, I use the TrainToday app, and sync my biometerics in intervals.icu using the HealthFit app, and use intervals to plot some nice little graphs for me
I have also been looking at getting an Apple Watch, and I’m deciding whether to get one now or wait until September and see what new features they will have on the AW 11 / Ultra 3. I am leaning toward getting a used AW Series 9 now (which has the blood oxygen meter if you get the right model - model number needs to end in LL/A, not LW/A). They run around $250 - $275 (GPS + Cellular) on Amazon. That will allow me to trade it in on an AW Series 11 (or Ultra Series 3) later this year if there are some compelling new features, or keep it for another year until the AW Series 12 / Ultra Series 4 come out.
