Apple Watch vs Garmin (Don't Waste Your Money)
Summary
TLDRIn this video, a professional triathlete shares insights on using the Apple Watch and Garmin for fitness tracking. They discuss ease of workout tracking, data visibility, and daily use, highlighting the physical buttons and intuitive interface of Garmin, and the versatility and app connectivity of Apple Watch. The video also covers battery life, heart rate monitoring, and syncing with training platforms, ultimately advising serious athletes to opt for Garmin and recreational athletes to consider the Apple Watch for its smart features.
Takeaways
- 🏃♂️ The speaker has been using both Apple Watch and Garmin for training and activity tracking, highlighting the pros and cons of each.
- 🕰️ Starting a workout is easier on the Garmin due to its immediate GPS search and clear start signal, while the Apple Watch requires a countdown which can be imprecise.
- 📱 The Apple Watch has a more versatile design, suitable for both sporty and casual wear, unlike the Garmin which is more specialized for athletes.
- 🔘 The speaker prefers the physical buttons on the Garmin, but likes the square, edge-to-edge screen of the Apple Watch.
- 🛠 Both watches offer customization during workouts, but the Apple Watch's use of 'segments' instead of 'laps' is a point of contention.
- 🔄 Garmin and Apple Watches can sync with training platforms like TrainingPeaks, but the Apple Watch offers more third-party app integrations.
- 💪 The Apple Watch is better for strength training due to its ability to connect with external apps for real-time tracking.
- 🔋 Garmin watches generally have better battery life, suitable for long training sessions and not requiring daily charging.
- ❤️ The speaker feels that Garmin watches give off a 'special vibe' associated with serious athletes, which the Apple Watch lacks.
- 📊 Both watches provide in-depth analysis of training status, sleep, and recovery, but the Apple Watch allows for more specific app usage.
- 💓 Heart rate monitoring is not considered accurate on either watch by the speaker, who prefers to use an external heart rate monitor.
Q & A
What are the main criteria the speaker considers when evaluating the Apple Watch and Garmin for running and training?
-The speaker prioritizes ease of starting a workout, lapping the workout, viewing necessary data during a workout, reviewing data post-workout, and daily usability.
How does the speaker describe the process of starting a workout on the Garmin watch?
-The speaker presses the start button, selects the desired workout from favorites, and waits for the GPS to find a signal before starting the workout, accompanied by a sound and vibration.
What is the speaker's main complaint about starting a workout on the Apple Watch?
-The speaker dislikes the countdown feature on the Apple Watch, which prevents precise timing and can affect the accuracy of intervals during workouts.
How does the speaker feel about the physical buttons on the Garmin watch compared to the Apple Watch?
-The speaker prefers the physical buttons on the Garmin watch, stating that they feel better to use.
What customization options are available during workouts on both the Apple Watch and Garmin?
-Both watches offer the ability to set up custom screens with multiple data points and are highly customizable once the workout has started.
What is the speaker's opinion on the Apple Watch's term for 'laps' during workouts?
-The speaker dislikes the term 'segments' used by the Apple Watch for what they believe should be called 'lap times'.
How does the speaker utilize external apps on the Apple Watch for strength training?
-The speaker uses an app called 'Strong' to sync strength training data from the watch to the phone in real time without needing to carry the phone.
What is the speaker's preference regarding the review of workout data after a session on both watches?
-The speaker prefers reviewing data directly on the Garmin watch due to its ease and immediate accessibility, rather than through the Apple Watch or phone.
How does the speaker compare the battery life of the Garmin watch to the Apple Watch Series 9?
-The speaker finds the Garmin watch to have a significantly longer battery life, lasting about a week with daily use and training, compared to the Apple Watch Series 9, which lasts about 24 hours.
What does the speaker suggest for heart rate monitoring when using these watches?
-The speaker suggests using an external heart rate monitor, such as the Polar OH1, for more accurate readings, as they find neither watch to be accurate on the wrist.
What final recommendation does the speaker give regarding the choice between the Garmin and Apple Watch for athletes?
-The speaker recommends the Garmin for serious athletes focused on fitness goals due to its intuitive design and data presentation. For recreational athletes who want an extension of their phone with workout capabilities, the speaker suggests the Apple Watch.
Outlines
🏃♂️ Comparison of Apple Watch and Garmin for Athletes
The speaker, a professional triathlete, shares their experience using both the Apple Watch and Garmin for various activities like running, strength training, and daily tracking. They highlight the importance of ease of use, workout initiation, data visibility during workouts, and post-workout data review. The speaker prefers the Garmin for its straightforward workout tracking and the sense of community it represents among athletes, while appreciating the Apple Watch's versatility and screen design. They also discuss the customization options and the integration of external apps on the Apple Watch, which is a key advantage over Garmin.
🔋 Battery Life and Usability Insights for Fitness Trackers
This paragraph delves into the practical aspects of using the Apple Watch and Garmin from a software and hardware perspective. The speaker mentions the ease of pausing, lapping, and segmenting workouts on both devices, expressing a preference for Garmin's one-button approach over the Apple Watch's double-tap method. The review of workout data post-exercise is also discussed, with a preference for Garmin's direct watch access. The paragraph also covers the in-depth analysis provided by both devices' apps, the importance of battery life for long-duration athletes, and the speaker's personal choice for external heart rate monitors over wrist-based readings.
📱 Final Recommendations for Choosing a Fitness Watch
The speaker concludes by offering advice on choosing between the Apple Watch and Garmin based on the user's needs. They suggest Garmin for serious athletes seeking a dedicated fitness watch, and Apple Watch for recreational athletes who desire a device that also functions as a phone extension. The speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing how to structure training to maximize the benefits of either watch and hints at providing further guidance in a separate video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Apple Watch
💡Garmin
💡Workout Tracking
💡Daily Driver
💡Custom Routes
💡GPS
💡Battery Life
💡Heart Rate Monitoring
💡Smartwatch
💡Strength Training
💡User Interface
Highlights
Switching between Apple Watch and Garmin for running, strength training, and daily activity tracking.
Apple and Garmin are two major players in the smartwatch market.
Ease of starting a workout and reviewing data are key factors for the user.
Garmin's straightforward workout start with GPS search and clear sound/vibration feedback.
Apple Watch's countdown before workout start is a source of frustration for precise timing.
Custom training plans and import options available on both watches.
Preferability of Apple Watch's screen design and versatility.
Garmin's physical buttons provide a better user experience.
Customizability of workout screens on both Apple Watch and Garmin.
Apple Watch's use of 'segments' instead of 'laps' is disliked.
Apple Watch's strength in external app connectivity for real-time tracking.
Garmin's intuitive software for workout pausing and lapping.
Reviewing workout data is more convenient on Garmin directly from the watch.
Apple Watch offers more specific apps for various purposes.
Battery life comparison, favoring Garmin for ultra marathons and extended use.
Heart rate monitoring accuracy is not reliable on either watch; external monitors recommended.
Both watches sync easily with training platforms like Strava.
Final recommendation based on user's training intensity and app preferences.
Transcripts
for the past year I've been switching
between my Apple watch and my gin as my
daily driver for running strength
training and daily activity tracking and
there are a lot of things that I like
and some things that I absolutely hate
about both of them so I made this video
because I want you to avoid the
expensive mistake that I made I've
trained around 30 hours per week for
more than 15 years as a pro triathlete
and I've been through more watches than
I can count and apple and gin are two of
the biggest players in the game though
these watches have a ton of gimmicks the
most important things in my opinion is
how easy it is to start the workout to
lap the workout to see the data you
actually need to see during a workout
and then of course how easy is it to
actually review your data once you're
done with your workout and then of
course how does it fair in daily use now
I'm not going to compare specific
watches but more the overall experience
so first of all can you easily track
your workouts on the Garment you just
press on the start button and then you
get straight to your workout in the top
I have my favorites and then I just
press the start button at the thing I
want to track and it will start
searching for GPS When the GPS has been
found I can start the workout and it
gives off this nice sound and vibration
that I can clearly feel and hear even
when I'm running with headphones on the
Apple watch I press the crown button
then navigate to the workouts app and
then choose my workout if you have the
ultra it will start to search for GPS
but with the series it will just start a
countdown now I really hate hate this
because the fact that when I'm at the
start line and I want to track my time I
have to wait 3 2 1 so I can't time it
precisely it just annoys the freak out
of me I know it might only be a couple
of seconds but it makes my time less
precise and my intervals less precise
which really messes with my head also on
the Apple watch there are no sound or
vibrations so you have to check the
watch to see if you actually started the
workout on both watches you can set up
custom routes custom training plans and
even import training from something like
training Peaks now from a hardware
perspective I really like the screen on
the Apple watch I like that it's square
and it goes from edge to edge and I feel
like I can use it in any situation
wearing a Garin on the other hand gets
you into the special Club of people when
I was a proor athlete everyone would
wear a garment in training in
competition at work and when you saw
someone with a high-end garment you just
knew they are going training later and
to be honest I just think they give off
a special Vibe like yeah I'm training
the Apple watch does not do that in the
same way I feel like it's more versatile
if I want to I can make it look sporty
but if I want to go out and get all my
activity tracking without displaying to
the world that yeah I'm Into Fitness
then I can do that as well maybe it's
just me I do prefer the physical buttons
on the gum though they just feel better
now during your workouts both of these
are very customizable once you've
started your workout on both the Apple
watch and the Garmin you can pretty much
set it up how you want you have multiple
different different screens you can flip
through on the Fly and there are ton of
different data points you could put in
each one thing I hate about the Apple
watch though is that they call laps for
segments I mean what is that all about
come on Apple it's called a lap time not
a segment time so the way I like to set
my screens is that I have my current lap
time my current lap distance my current
pace and my current heart rate unless
I'm working on something specific like
Cadence then I don't look at any other
data until I get home this allows me to
just stay focused on the workout and the
work that needs to be done so in Daily
training I don't really use multiple
screen setups both watches can sync with
training Peaks so you can just import
your training straight from there now if
you also like to do strength training
one of the advantages of the Apple watch
in my opinion is the fact that you can
have external apps connected straight to
your watch that means that you can sync
your strength training from an app to
your phone in real time now I like to
use an app called strong and I think
it's really nice that I can just open
the app on the Apple watch I don't need
to carry my phone with me and then I can
track everything the workout is already
there and when I go home I can see
exactly what I did on my phone actually
I think that external apps are one of
the key points of the Apple watch over
the Garment I use mine for my meditation
app and as a daily caffeine tracker
daily you can also track reps and
strength training on the G Watch but it
just doesn't have all the external apps
that the Apple watch has you have to go
into the gam Connect app and then set it
up from there but I just think it's so
much easier to have an app you really
love and then just have that on the
watch but yeah personal preference now
from a software perspective I prefer
doing anything else than strength
training on my Garin watch I just feel
like it's more intuitive and it shows
you exactly what you want when you want
it for example if you want to pause your
training on the Apple Watch series you
have to use two fingers like this now
that is just extremely annoying when
you're out there pushing yourself and
you need to take a Precision thatat Time
then you need two fingers and I've had
multiple times where I just missed it by
a couple of seconds on the G you just
push one button you get the nice
vibration and sound and you know that
you just pause to stop your watch and
the same thing goes for lapping or
segmenting on the Garment watch you just
push the lap button and boom vibration
sound all is good now on the Apple watch
you have to do a double tap on the
screen and it's just really annoying
when it's raining or when you're
sweating sometimes it just does not pick
it up and I don't know why they have to
charge so much for the Ultra to get the
lap button when you could just assign
one of the buttons that is already there
as a dedicated lap button once you are
in your workout yeah I really hate that
now when it comes to reviewing your data
after your workout on the Gin you can
just press up find your latest workout
and then you can review all the
essential data like hard rate lap times
pace and so on on the Apple watch you
need to either review it just as the
workout ends or you need to open the
fitness app on your phone find your
workout and then review the data because
I prefer to check out my data on the
watch often when I'm in the shower after
my training it's just so much easier to
do on the Garment now of course gin also
allows you to check out everything you
want on the Gin Connect app or online
but being able to do it straight from
the watch is just one of my favorite
features which brings us to the app
experience both the Apple watch and the
g will give you in-depth analysis of
your training status your sleep your V2
Max score and your stress score but on
the Apple watch you have more options
because you can get specific apps for
specific purposes so for example I have
an app called Auto sleep for tracking my
sleep and an app called athletic for
tracking my recovery both watches will
give you all the data you need and a
bunch of data you didn't even know you
needed so you are pretty much covered
either way so let's talk battery life if
you are doing Ultra marathons I will not
recommend the Apple Watch series you
should at least get an Apple Watch Ultra
but with Gan you can choose pretty much
every watch and you will have no issues
generally speaking I can get about a
week's worth of battery out of my gin
with daily use and about 1 to 3 hours of
training every day and with the Apple
Watch series 9 I can only get about 24
hours of battery and doing workouts
drain the battery a lot more than on the
Garment however both watches will do
more than fine for most people if you
train and compete in less than 5 hours
then you are going to have no issues
even with the Apple Watch series but if
you need it for anything more then I
would go with the Garment it's also nice
that with the Garment you can just go
about your day you don't have to worry
about charging all the time with the
Apple watch you have to have some sort
of routine where you get it charged up
every single day and some of the newer
garments could last for up to 21 days
which is just insane now let's talk
about heart rate monitoring now I don't
find any of these watches to be accurate
on my wrist so I pair them up with an
external heart rate monitor now I used
to wear a chest monitor called The Polar
h10 which is like the gold standard but
I just feel like I get some rashes on my
chest so I switched it up to a polar oh1
which is a biceps wrap and I feel like I
get the same data and it's just so much
nicer to wear and let's be honest you
also look kind of cool reparing an
external heart rate monitor even though
it's not the same brand is no issues
whatsoever over Bluetooth on both the
Garment and the Apple watch soon as I
start my workout it's paired up and I'm
good to go now if you're looking for
data on heart rate accuracy I would
recommend that you check out the
Quantified scientist here on YouTube he
does some very cool experiments he even
found that the Apple watch is actually
one of the best heart rate monitors on
the wrist but it's just still lacking
behind external heart rate monitors at
least the best ones out there now both
of these watches easily sync to the
social training platform sta so if
you're going segment hunting then you
are fine either way now on the Apple
watch you can actually download the SAA
app and start the workout straight from
there if that's more your thing so here
are my final thoughts when my friends
ask me what to get this is what I say to
them if you are a serious athlete and
want a fitness watch to help track your
training then get the Garment if you are
more of a recreational athlete and want
something that's an extension of your
phone but also can help you with your
workouts then get the Apple watch gmen
is just specifically designed to help
people with fitness goals and it shows
it gives you all the data that you want
when you want it and it's just designed
in a way that you can feel that it's an
athlete who has designed this watch if
you mostly use it for strength training
and want to have access to all the
external apps and use it as sort of an
extension of your phone then get the
Apple watch it's an amazing watch this
is where I made a huge mistake even
though now that I bought the Apple watch
I use it daily because I think it's an
amazing Smartwatch it's just not ready
to replace my gin as my training partner
and maybe it's not supposed to but none
of these watches will work for you
unless you know how to structure your
training to get the most out of your
time and I'll teach you exactly how to
do that in this video right here
[Music]
Посмотреть больше похожих видео
Apple Watch vs Garmin for Runners - Don't Waste Your Money!
Apple Watch Ultra vs Garmin epix Pro Gen 2 (Don't Buy, Until You Watch This)
Garmin Forerunner 165 /// An Unbiased In-depth Review
Huawei Watch Fit 3: Almost an Apple Watch (Scientific Review)
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review | Is it Ultra Enough
I Tested Apple Watch's Calorie Burn (vs Sports Lab)
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)