New Apple Watches Yet Worth It For Serious Running?

I had the cellular series 3 and no it wasn’t perfect. I have a Garmin 630 and was gonna switch to the Apple Watch. And nope the gps was always off and pace. DCRainmaker is a top gps watch reviewer even said it it’s horrible at gps tracking. I’d do a 4 mile block square where Garmin is 4 miles and each mile length perfect the Apple Watch would be 3.7 to 4.1 various runs never perfect. The music and headphones is great along with being able to talk and run or send a text other wise stay away with series 3. Supposedly series 4 fixes the gps but wait for reviews to come out. None of the reviews that have come out say anything about running. Wait for DCrainmaker.

#1 is still an issue

#2 is solved with 3rd party watch apps. iSmoothRun is a popular choice which allows you to simultaneously press the crown and side button for lap splits.

I’ve written extensively about the Apple Watch 3’s GPS accuracy at

http://www.runningotaku.com

. TL;DR can vary +/- 5% in forest trails and downtown environments. Much better with open skies.

My personal recommendation would be to buy an AppleWatch 3 (now just $279) and a footpod. At $329 to $478, you’d have much better functionality and equal/better accuracy & precision than anything Suunto, Polar, or Garmin sells. Plus, you’d have the best of bread smartwatch for when you’re not running. The only drawback is that it is hard to press the crown+side button when your doing hard intervals.

Any updates on this with people who can say the gps is better then series 3

running182 wrote:

Any updates on this with people who can say the gps is better then series 3

The GPS, in my opinion, is about on par with the Series 3.

Part of the issue is that, because it doesn't have GPS indicator bars by default (some apps do add them in), you can start well before you have GPS lock. The Watch backfills some of that, but can lend some variability to GPS accuracy. If you give it time to get started, I found the Watch as or more accurate than a Fenix 5 (non-Plus) and the same or slightly less accurate than my 630, which was the most accurate Garmin I own.

So what you’re saying is that Apple doesn’t have a mechanism like any other gps watch that says you’re good to go gps wise or a percentage left. On my series three I would just hit start and go. So if I used my series three right and just wait 30seconds to a minute before starting then it would be accurate like Garmin?

I’m wondering though how does the gps start so would I just hit the reset button after a minute I forget how does it actually start looking for gps?

I had the Series 2 and hated it. I got it because I wanted to be able to listen to podcasts/music while having a basic GPS (wasn't training seriously for anything, no intervals, hills, fartleks, etc.). The GPS was good enough, but it sucked for music/podcasts, and had annoying issues like: 1) in the winter, with long sleeves, it would stop recording because my sleeve covered the back of the watch a little; 2) it wouldn't pair bluetooth headphones consistently; 3) it was hard to press the buttons sometimes, causing issues with stopping, starting, etc; 4) syncing podcasts was basically impossible w/o a long convoluted process; 5) heart rate monitor, which I don't really care about, barely worked.

The whole experience sucked.

I was ready to trade-in for a Garmin but the Series 4 announcement intrigued me. The main sell for me was finally getting a watch with LTE so I could be reached without carrying a phone. Essential for me with two kids at daycare, one who has a minute but non-zero chance any moment of needing to go to hospital (hemophilia). The bigger display, faster processor, better OS with podcast syncing (on Overcast and the native app), improved HRM, etc. seemed like it was worth trying.

So far, I'm really happy with it. The bluetooth headphones pair instantly, never any issues. Overcast and native podcast app both sync podcasts, and that issue is solved. Strava and RunKeeper apps both work better with the faster CPU. The bigger 44mm screen makes the button substantially larger, which makes stop/start better. It also feels more responsive. The HRM doesn't glitch. And the speed of the CPU just generally makes it a much better experience.

For me, the benefits of the watch (running without a phone, seeing messages, mail, quick text responses, etc.) and the adequacy of the GPS/running apps make it a no-brainer for someone who seldom does workouts and doesn't really care about small differences in distance logged. FWIW, I ran a 5k this weekend and it was within 0.015 miles accuraacy. Good enough for me.

If you're routinely doing interval-type work with lots of starting and stopping, it may not be the best fit. For a mostly-just-going-for-runs runner, who enjoys podcasts -- especially if you need to be reachable -- it's great. Really happy. And I say that as someone who cursed for 2 months at how shitty the Apple Watch 2 was.

running182 wrote:

So what you’re saying is that Apple doesn’t have a mechanism like any other gps watch that says you’re good to go gps wise or a percentage left. On my series three I would just hit start and go. So if I used my series three right and just wait 30seconds to a minute before starting then it would be accurate like Garmin?

I’m wondering though how does the gps start so would I just hit the reset button after a minute I forget how does it actually start looking for gps?

This is what Apple has said is the case. Check out iSmoothRun and/or RunKeeper, both of which have the traditional "Garmin"-style of showing you whether or not you have a solid GPS lock.

The way the Watch gives you smooth GPS for the beginning of your runs is using any wifi/cellular networks you're connected to (the same way your browser finds your location) and, if there's nothing, using your phone's GPS and (as far as I know) if that fails, just estimating based on the accelerometer and backfilling.

Stick with garmin. Apple is not ready for real running yet.

Apple Watch + Stryd footpod + bluetooth HRM (I use Tickr FIT armband) = perfect combination of everything.

best set up wrote:

Apple Watch + Stryd footpod + bluetooth HRM (I use Tickr FIT armband) = perfect combination of everything.

Hobby jogger detected.

OP, the answer is no. Unless you plan on doing a lot of communication from your wrist, I would pick up a 645. If you absolutely have to have An apple watch you might want to get a cheap GPS watch for running.

I'm a coach of a 42 student athlete NCAA team, and none of them like Apple watches for running. All the ones that tried the Apple watch for running and even general use thought it was a terrible idea.

Based off that, I vote NO on the Apple watch.

erik wrote:

... FWIW, I ran a 5k this weekend and it was within 0.015 miles accuraacy. Good enough for me.

...

So many details, but the most important, what was your time?

I just upgraded a Watch 3 to a Watch 4. I run with a guy who uses a Garmin. Over a 90 -100 minute hilly trail run (approximately 10 miles) the Watch 3 was consistently .5 mile under the distance of the Garmin. With the Watch 4, the variance is more like .05.

I’m doing a series of tests of AppleWatch 3 vs 4. The one below covered 10 laps each of a 1.62 mile forest trail. There’s not much difference between those 2 watches in terms of accuracy or precision (precision is the measure of spread—standard deviation—of the 10 trials). Other test results coming soon...

https://i0.wp.com/www.runningotaku.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mt-Tabor-4-Device-Test.png

You can double tap anywhere on the screen to record a lap/split, no need to hit a specific button or area

Does the double tap to take a split work with gloves on?

Also, what is the battery life like for running while listening to something through bluetooth headphones on for the Apple Watch 4? Is it enough that I'd be able to do a 2 hour run, then wear the watch the rest of the day if I charge it every night like my phone?

Double tapping with gloves on is very tough, but you can buy one of several apps for a few dollars and take lap splits with gloves on by simultaneously double tapping the crown + side button.

The battery will last for at least 9 hours with GPS plus music streaming turned on...at least for the non-LTE version. I can easily do a 2.5 hour run and still have over 30% battery life at 10pm.

I got a series four it’s trash the gps blows on it and the hrm is inaccurate

RunningOtaku wrote:

Double tapping with gloves on is very tough, but you can buy one of several apps for a few dollars and take lap splits with gloves on by simultaneously double tapping the crown + side button.

The battery will last for at least 9 hours with GPS plus music streaming turned on...at least for the non-LTE version. I can easily do a 2.5 hour run and still have over 30% battery life at 10pm.

Which app allows splits with the 2 button press? I agree, the double-tapping, even without gloves or when standing, is damn near impossible. Just a horrible mechanism. Would love to try the button-press instead.

There's a decent review here, as well: