Garmin, Apple, or Android Watch?

Garmin all the way. Much better quality, they arent behind; they are made for running.

Apple watch is great if you have an iPhone and also want to record workouts. If you want to record workouts and also have a smart watch go Garmin.

Every week when this gets posted the answer has been the same. No matter how many times you ask this, the answer won’t change.

If you run track workouts, take manual splits, or like pre-programmed workouts on your watch, get a lower-end Garmin Forerunner. If you have an iPhone and you just hit start/stop once for each run get an Apple Watch. This is because pressing start/stop/lap buttons on Apple Watch during workouts is prone to mispresses....but otherwise the AW of fine for running.

Avoid Android watches- they look great in pictures but are frustrating to use in real life.

RunningOtaku wrote:

If you run track workouts, take manual splits, or like pre-programmed workouts on your watch, get a lower-end Garmin Forerunner. If you have an iPhone and you just hit start/stop once for each run get an Apple Watch. This is because pressing start/stop/lap buttons on Apple Watch during workouts is prone to mispresses....but otherwise the AW of fine for running.

Avoid Android watches- they look great in pictures but are frustrating to use in real life.

+1

This is exactly right. You can read all kinds of detailed reviews online about how these watches compare, but it basically comes down to the fact that Garmins have dedicated lap buttons and smartwatches don't. If you ever do track workouts or you take splits when you hit mile markers in a race, then you should get a Garmin.

For what it's worth, I actually didn't think that the Apple watch was a great smart watch either. I had the most recent version for about 2 months and sold it. The hardware is pretty powerful, but there are almost no useful apps, and the touch screen is a pain to use. I've talked to a lot of people who love their Apple Watches, and they mostly use them for two things: notifications (text messages, emails, etc.) and activity tracking. Apple's notifications work pretty well because all Apple products play well together. Not to mention the fact that the Apple Watch is the only wearable that will allow you to respond to text messages sent on an iphone (Apple refuses to let third party wearables access this functionality). But I find the notifications on Garmin to be perfectly adequate. Plus the five-button navigation is actually way faster and easier than the touchscreen, once you get used to it.

Thanks everyone. I can't believe it, but I guess I'll stick with my forerunner and its mediocre software.

I seriously considered an Apple Watch but after doing some research I realized that it would have the same major drawback that using my phone to record runs did: it dies in the cold unless completely insulated and up against my body to keep it warm. I have had my Garmin FR35 exposed on my wrist down into the single digits (F) with below zero wind chills and it has never quit. My iPhone would shut off on runs barely under 30 degrees and I read stories of the Apple Watch doing the same hence not for me.

watchman wrote:

Thanks everyone. I can't believe it, but I guess I'll stick with my forerunner and its mediocre software.

What do you mean by "mediocre"? Do you think it's missing some software features? The experience is even better if you use the Garmin connect mobile app and app on the computer. What else do you want?

Joe Jackson wrote:

I seriously considered an Apple Watch but after doing some research I realized that it would have the same major drawback that using my phone to record runs did: it dies in the cold unless completely insulated and up against my body to keep it warm. I have had my Garmin FR35 exposed on my wrist down into the single digits (F) with below zero wind chills and it has never quit. My iPhone would shut off on runs barely under 30 degrees and I read stories of the Apple Watch doing the same hence not for me.

Agreed, my iphone shuts down in the cold.

The dedicated, waterproof buttons on the Forerunner should not be discounted.

howzitgoing??? wrote:

watchman wrote:

Thanks everyone. I can't believe it, but I guess I'll stick with my forerunner and its mediocre software.

What do you mean by "mediocre"? Do you think it's missing some software features? The experience is even better if you use the Garmin connect mobile app and app on the computer. What else do you want?

There are also other apps you can download to Forerunner (I haven't tried any), but one can get other apps on their phone that look at the Garmin data, too. So what else is there it's missing?

I am far from an expert with garmin add ons, but I would expect software in 2021 that offers features like comparing similar runs over time (automatically), registering lap times automatically, letting you look at segments in great detail post hoc. Just so much more than the basic features my forerunner/connect seem capable of.

I'm grateful for what it does, just surprised that competitors like Google can't do a lot better.

watchman wrote:

I am far from an expert with garmin add ons, but I would expect software in 2021 that offers features like comparing similar runs over time (automatically), registering lap times automatically, letting you look at segments in great detail post hoc. Just so much more than the basic features my forerunner/connect seem capable of.

I'm grateful for what it does, just surprised that competitors like Google can't do a lot better.

Well think about it...a watch face is probably not the best place to go into detailed analysis, so that's where the Garmin connect apps come in, allowing you to do a deeper dive on your phone or computer.

But when you say "comparing similar runs over time (automatically)", that could open up other cans-of-worms (e.g, what runs exactly are to be included in the comparison). Maybe that is something suited for a third-party app that does what you want specifically.

And regarding "registering lap times automatically", my forerunner does that; you just have to enable it.

howzitgoing??? wrote:

But when you say "comparing similar runs over time (automatically)", that could open up other cans-of-worms (e.g, what runs exactly are to be included in the comparison). Maybe that is something suited for a third-party app that does what you want specifically.

I do agree that the Garmin computer app could be improved to more easily get data over to spreadsheet format. I put some activity data into Google spreadsheets last year, in order to compare different sessions, but it was a bit of a pain to jump through the various hoops, IIRC.

Thanks. I am not surprised that there are features that I haven't uncovered.

I'm eagerly waiting for the app that automatically clusters and summarizes progress on my 1000-meter repeats, my tempos, etc. "You averaged 2 seconds/K faster than any similar workout since 2019, with less recovery."

Not trivial to code, I'm sure, but well within Google's capabilities.

Garmin fenix 6s.

Has become my daily watch. I’ll never go back (previously had a Forerunner for workouts only + other daily wristwatch).

I mean I was sold at wireless music (without the need for a phone).

watchman wrote:

Thanks. I am not surprised that there are features that I haven't uncovered.

I'm eagerly waiting for the app that automatically clusters and summarizes progress on my 1000-meter repeats, my tempos, etc. "You averaged 2 seconds/K faster than any similar workout since 2019, with less recovery."

Not trivial to code, I'm sure, but well within Google's capabilities.

One feature that sometimes gets poo-poo'ed is Garmin's VO2max prediction and Race Predictor, but these features may be under-appreciated. From my experience, firstly, it takes a few weeks of familiarity for the watch to dial-in on its fitness predictions. Secondly, these values should be looked at in terms of there relative use, rather than absolute values. For example, a VDOT prediction of, for example, 63, may not be as meaningful as the change in VDOT. And so, that change in predicted fitness is based on the algorithm's evaluation of a series of historical workout data, over time.

Now granted, I tend to run workouts all at the same track, and sometimes the same workout over many sessions. But the algorithm is supposed to be smart enough to throw out obviously wonky data that, if taken into account, would throw off its fitness assessment. For example, I've driven away from the track once or twice without remembering to 'end' (stop) the workout on the watch, so although it initially appeared to the watch that, all-of-sudden, I became incredibly fast as I drove down the road in my car, the watch threw that data out and did not include it when assessing my fitness, and it did it automatically, without my intervention.

(I'm speaking from the experience of using a 945.)

Apple sucks...very in accurate. Garmin is OK. COROS Pace 2 is what I use now and it is the best I have ever used.

Then dont read it.

Old is as old does wrote:

Apple sucks...very in accurate. Garmin is OK. COROS Pace 2 is what I use now and it is the best I have ever used.

I have both the cellular Apple watch and a Garmin Forerunner 25. The Garmin is better for track workouts with its manual buttons. The Apple you need to slide the screen over. Both watches seem to have their issues with uploading workouts.

The Apple is less accurate and says that you ran farther than you did. My running partner jokes that they should have a finish line around the 25 mile mark for Apple Watch users. Also, the Apple watch has a shorter battery life than the Garmin, maybe because I listen to music from it on a bluetooth earpods. Thus, for a long run, I wear both watches. The Apple to listen to music and the Garmin to record distance and display pace.

Bottomline: Garmin is better for long runs, track workouts, and accuracy. Apple is better for the casual jogger if you want one device to record a run, listen to messages, receive text messages, and make phone calls.