I’d like a smart watch that tracks running, biking, and swimming distances and heart rate data. I’m already team iphone, so would apple watch be worth it for these purposes?
Yes, but if you want to focus on sports you can check out garmin too. I have an AW and a Garmin Fenix and while the apple watch is a great smartwatch (=best smartwatch i would say) and it can track all sports too the garmin watches track more detailled metrics when doing sports or also while wearing it to work or wahtever. But garmi watches are not really smartwatches like apple watches are. I have both and they both have their advantages.
I can’t speak to fitness tracking because I don’t pay that much attention to it but the mindfulness app and medication reminder have changed my life.
As long as you’re not uber-serious about exact stats and extreme battery life, an AW is perfect.
Yup, absolutely, it’d be a perfect fit for your needs.
You described pretty much what it was designed for.
Would be great, yea.
It’s a great tracker. I use it for walks and I have never had a watch with GPS that has been as consistently accurate as my AW. Before this, I had a Garmin Venu and while it definitely had more metrics, the GPS just wasn’t consistent. And before that I had a Fitbit that was absolute garbage.
My AW doesn’t have the crazy level of metrics that the Garmin has but it does have enough. I don’t need 25 different metrics, most of which I don’t understand, for my walks and hikes. YMMV if you are an elite athlete or a marathon runner or something like that. For distance and heart rate, it is a fantastic device.
The accuracy varies a lot from my experience. Both my buddy and I do a lot of mountain biking together. Separately he runs and while I mostly walk. We have both found that they can be off by 10-20% compared to our Garmin bike trackers on the trails and comparing our distances side by side. We have also both found them to be off by 10% or so with walking/running. This has been an open discussion since the Series 2 days and we have both upgraded regularly hoping the better processors would fix the issues. He even got an Ultra last year and it hasn’t proven to be much better.
Yeah. I only have two Apple watches to compare to and I tend to walk the same path over and over. They are always within a couple hundredths of a mile of each other. But I have a hiking buddy who has a new Venu 3 and sometimes they can be more off, like as much as a tenth of a mile.
For reference, I just hike and walk and the areas that I do this in are pretty flat and tree free.
One of the nice thing about the AW is the app store. If you are somebody who needs more metrics chances are somebody has made an app for it.
This
Yes, really nice. Need RunGap for fitness and AutoSleep for sleep tracking
Heart rate session. Good thing to see stuff from the Watch on your iphone
Abso-freaking-lutely. I had a Garmin back in the day, but it only did HR and miles with GPS run routes. Apple Watch so much better. I even have the cell version to leave my iPhone at home when I run, walk the dog, etc. Go with an SE or older model if you’re on the fence to save money. Try used first (swappa.com). Once you go AW, I doubt you’ll go back!
Running/activities there is more accurate watches out there. Leaving phone at home, and still having most of the functions? Plus Apple Pay is worth it for people who are not needing exact calories information for how much food to eat during bulks/cuts but if you are only needing exercise info there are better options
For sure, fitness I’d say is its main purpose
The Apple Watch is not a fitness-first device, so it mau not be the best choice if you only want to use it for workouts. The GPS isn’t always the most accurate (it consistently measures about 10m per lap of 250m too little on my local track and I’ve had some races where it was off a bit more), and battery life is significantly worse than eg most Garmin watches.
However, the Apple Watch is a great smartwatch if you also want to use it during the rest of the day, where it’s the perfect addition to your phone. I personally really love mine, the fitness features are for the most part very good. I couldn’t run without my Apple Watch as it’s the only device that allows me to run with music without my phone. Also the swim tracking is really accurate. Overall I would definitely recommend it, but if you’re only looking for a device to track your activities, there may be better options for you.
What AW are you using? The Ultra/2 has dual-band GPS, and it’s been incredibly accurate for me.
Yes. And do yourself a favour and get the cellular watch so you can leave your phone at home. Game changer
I have Visible wireless and the watch cellular is only $5 a month. So worth it
I don’t really use cellular much if at all, but knowing it’s there is like the difference between knowing you got enough food and managing it. I know I could just walk of my place right now leaving my phone on charge and get important information without issue. It just takes the uncertainty out of the equation
100%. The excercise tracking is superb. I use it a lot for running and ocean swimming
If you’re wanting a fitness watch go Garmin all the way, if you want a smart watch than can track some physical activity, sure go Apple Watch.
Garmin is better at health data and tracking for this kind of stuff, also physical buttons are amazing when you’re dealing with water.
