I got a Garmin watch after being frustrated with the tech company watches lasting only hours on a charge. I charge this watch once a week and it does everything I realistically want from a smart watch: - shows notifications - tracks workouts - silent alarm clock - home assistant shortcuts

Garmin watches are great! I wish the lighter/smaller models also had solar charger, but last time I checked only the bigger "ultra-durable" ones had it, but they're not that comfortable to wear.

I love my Apple Watch (it’s a few years old) and depend on it everyday to track things and keep me motivated to exercise and move. I do have to charge it for nearly an hour everyday, though like others have said I would prefer longer battery life (as opposed to getting a bigger and more expensive one like Apple Watch Ultra).

I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that it’s changed my life for the better. At the same time, I personally know people who have it but aren’t used to it or don’t use it for what it does best.

I switched to the Ultra 2 about a year and a half ago and the battery life is excellent - I don't have to charge daily, I can run or hike for several hours while listening to music or podcasts being streamed from the watch. It actually allows me to carry my phone much less, since the watch can make/take phone calls too & let me pay for things. The battery life on the apple watch I had before this one, was really abysmal though.

I cannot agree more. The battery not even lasting a day is what prevents me from using it. When I want to go for a run with it, it's always out of battery.

I had this exact problem with my Apple Watch. My family got me an Ultra as a gift, and I really didn't think I was going to use it (I didn't even want it), but it ended up being a total gamechanger, and now the Ultra is my favorite gadget and a huge motivator to get into better shape.

My Apple Watch is now so old that it’s unsupported by new WatchOS, but the battery still lasts a day without problem. It probably helps that I disabled the always on screen. Lasting all day has never been a problem, though.

Do you use it for workouts, especially for longer periods everyday? I’m a constant Apple Watch user and workout everyday, but I do find the battery life lacking when I’m out on hikes for a few hours. My watch is only a few years old and is supported for watchOS upgrades.

My guess is that the sensors use a lot of energy (even when the display is normally off) and that the longer one uses it for workouts within a day (with the sensors continuously on [1]) and the older the watch is, the lower the battery life.

[1]: there is a setting to in the workout app to reduce the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings during walking, running and hiking workouts when low power mode is also turned on

I wanted to buy my so an apple ultra watch, is it a bad idea? It seems like a perfect thing that someone doesn't need that would.make a nice present

I use Apple Watch Ultra constantly, it’s extremely worth it to me. The charging is annoying, but otherwise, the watch is amazing.

It keeps me on track every day. I have recurring alarms for my daily and weekly meetings/calls, and for life things like when it is time to pack up and get the kids out time to close things down and go to bed. Each morning I also set alarms for critical events that day. Basically I outsource the “scheduling” part of my brain to the watch and just focus on whatever I’m doing.

I also use it for a stop watch, cooking times, etc. I use it for GPS while hiking and biking. My phone running AllTrails can’t track a 25-mile bike ride through the mountains without dying, but the watch doesn’t even break a sweat.

Beyond that, it’s a great backup phone for when I leave my phone on the table or in the other room, etc. I also bind the button on the side to the flashlight feature, which I use almost every day. It’s not as strong as a phone flashlight but it’s instantly available and more hands-free. It’s so helpful for dealing with crying kids in the middle of the night. It’s nice when I don’t have a hand to hold a phone flashlight, like when I take the trash cans to the curb at night, etc.

Overall I get tons of use out of my Apple Watch every day.

My suggestion would be to start with a refurbished or last-gen normal watch on sale. See if they like it. Upgrade to Ultra a few years later if they do.

It’s a hit or miss product category. My wife and I like ours and most of my friends like theirs, but I have a couple friends who got a smartwatch and then never liked it. Would be a shame to buy an expensive one for someone who doesn’t even like it.

The Ultra battery lasts a couple or three days.

The pulse, EKG, and blood oxygen are first rate.

Get a Titanium band (why doesn't Apple sell this?) and use a square design screen and it's a dress watch:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091H8D561

It’s very subjective, like any jewlery purchase.

For instance I never liked the default band, but the Milanese loop is great. My wife never wore her series 5 but I got her a series 11 which is a few grams lighter and thinner and she wears it all the time now.

I was on the fence about getting an ultra but for some reason never liked the size and shape (big rectangle with a huge crown bulge) since I have small wrists. I ended up getting a garmin epix pro at a big discount which is slightly smaller and round.

At the end of the day they are great if you want to collect data on yourself. Even though my wife didn’t like her series 5 the hypertension features were worth trying a newer one.

I solved the battery problem with an ultra, but I couldn't solve what is consistently off heart rate monitoring.

It now feels almost unusual for it to get the heart rate correct. And I'm not talking about off by a few or feeling off. I'm talking about full on max heart rate when I'm doing a easy run or 1/2 and 1/3 off which is impossible to miss.

Try setting it a bit further back away from the wrist bones that stick up so that the sensors are in constant contact with the skin, and can illuminate the blood pulses in the vessels under the skin.

Heart rate weirdness is usually watch band, but sometimes skin property.

Yep, I am puzzled how so many people seem to like it that much.