apple watch itch..

been considering a new GPS smart watch for swimming / gym / indoor classes use.

garmin haven’t released a new swim watch for 4 years, my current vivoactive 4, isnt great in water, touchscreen, rolling through screens and misscounting lengths, (always under counts etc) its 2 year old and scratched up , battery good, but i’ve had 4 or 5 garmins that have packed up around this age.

I’ll continue to use garmin for more risky bike rides etc.

anyway, been considering a Watch SE (non cellular) £220 are these good for swimming, gym, pilates/ classes etc

do you use apple tracking and then load to strava / garmin ?

the only disadvantage i see is battery length. but i’d more likely wear it for best or indoor only.

i like the payment tap function, which is a must, so good

i’d more likely wear it for best or indoor only

I do the opposite. My Apple Watch goes on for mountain biking and going out…. for tracking rides (not Strava though) and paying for beers.

how do you find the screen @ Kelvin

I’m sure i’ll eventually use it on the bike, but whilsts its new, probably not, i have previous on 2 or 3 garmin broken screens

The couple of times my watch has given me an itch it has cleared up again by itself, thankfully.

I switched to an Apple watch some time ago and I’m glad I did – it is just so much easier to track exercise (I had a Fitbit before and half the time it would hang when trying to start recording exercise and I’d end up having to ‘forget’ and reconnect the device). Weirdly I end up doing it in different ways though, depending on what I am doing – if I am walking, running or cycling, I track directly from Strava (the app is on the home screen so it’s a doddle to do. However, some exercises are better tracked via the Apple Tracking (Strava doesn’t seem to like exercises that don’t involve moving) so if I am at the gym on the exercise bike or doing a class or whatever, I use Apple Tracking and I can select the specific exercise I am doing (they have a huge list of exercise-types to choose from). Occasionally though, the connection between Strava and Apple seems to be forgotten (probably after iOS updates) but it’s a quick click or two to re-connect.

Regarding battery life – I don’t have a problem with it – I am desk-based during the day so just stick it on charge for a bit each day.

how do you find the screen @ Kelvin

I’ve got an old titanium edition one with the tougher “sapphire crystal” screen. The metal is scratched up, but the screen is flawless still. Wish I had a phone with the same screen tech. No idea which version of the current watches have that tougher screen, but I’d pay the extra for it again.

I have a very old Apple watch and currently considering upgrading to a newer one with cellular. I like the idea of heading out for a run or ride without taking my phone, but I still need connectivity.

Like most Apple stuff, their watches just work easily.

I have a cellular one, so I can leave the phone at home when out. If you use it for tracking on its own, it chews through battery FAR faster than if your paired phone is with you. Not really up to the job if doing big remote rides (on my old watch that is, newer ones might fair better). For going to the pub, or shopping, or any non tracking situation, it works on its own really well… all day.

Anyway, dug on the Apple site for screen info… cheaper ones still don’t have the tougher screens, that’s a shame:

Ion‑X front glass (aluminium cases)
Sapphire front crystal (titanium cases)

I am on my second Apple watch (series 9 now) and use it for daily wear and swimming, yoga etc.  I also have a Garmin Epix Pro 2 which i wear on the bike. I find the Apple watch to be much better in the pool, never misses a count and very easy to read in the water.  If you are using iphones and ipads it is totally seamless and IMO much better as a smart watch for mail and notifications etc.

I find the Garmin has better body battery, health, sleep tracking functionality and the Epix 2 does have touch screen and colour and it’s not far behind Apple on smart watch functionality.

perfect thanks all, Great tips and advise , I’ll go have a look at the nike sports watch strap at the weekend.

think i’ll stick to the basic SE for now and look at the premium ones in the future..

I’ve had the same, had an epix gen 2 for a year, just taken delivery of a used apple watch ultra so I can pick and choose. Wondering whether the ultra was the right move, might return it for a stainless 8 or 9

Ive fot the latest gen SE.  battery life is anything from 24-36 hours but if you are desk bound its easy to charge.  does all the connectivity nice n easy – I like the whatsapp alerts as i use the Ipad for whatapp and that doesnt have the push functionality of the watch/phone.

for £220 its good value IMO.

Another vote for the SE. Great for the money and if you are already in the Apple ecosystem then it’s a no-brainer.

yeah got two iphones and an ipad, WFH desk based too, so fully engaged in that world, the SE sounds like the good choice,

i’m a little watch kind of guy is the 40mm big enough, is the 44mm too big..

think i’ll go have a look so i can decide , also watch strap S/M or M/L

 Size S/M fits 140mm to 180mm wrists. Size M/L fits 165mm to 205mm wrists

wrist is circa 175mm, definately a M/L then..

The 44mm isn’t very big, I’m wearing an Ultra now (49mm) and I don’t think it’s that big, more comfortable than my Earmin Epix anyway, which was stainless steel so this is probably lighter

I’m having similar thoughts but had moved away from idea of apple watch and was looking at the Garmin Venus sq2 – but this has tempted me to look at SE or series 9.

I like the idea of linking up to iphone/ipad.

But I’m also falling for the fitness tracking of the garmin – most notably fitness body battery and stress levels – but not sure if that is really just a nice feature and will actually impact what I do. Also expect I can get the Garmin cheaper than the apple (will be going down 2nd hand route for both).

Just a note from what I’ve read (Samsung user, but fancy a Garmin watch)

Apple works well with Apple

Everything else works well with Android – Garmin included

I’ve had various wrist based HR systems, from Garmin, Wahoo watch (don’t touch!) through to Whoop band, the Apple watch had by far the most consistent HR reading of all of them (when wearing chest strap as well for comparison).

If the battery life was better it would be first choice every time

Everything else works well with Android – Garmin included

Been using Garmin with apple since I got a vivoactive 3 years ago.

Works flawlessly. Integrates fine with health and other device apps. I cannot see how it would work any better (or worse) with android.

Apple may have preferred propitiatory systems ten years ago but these days they deal with other devices just fine.