Garmin Reacts To Apple Watch Ultra: 'We Measure Battery Life In Months. Not Hours.' (macrumors.com) 71
Garmin has reacted to Apple's new rugged Apple Watch Ultra, saying in a tweet following the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch event that it measures battery life in "months" and "not hours," promoting its latest Enduro 2 watch for athletes. MacRumors reports: While the Apple Watch Ultra has the longest battery life of any Apple Watch to date, with Apple promising up to 36 hours of normal use and up to 60 hours with watchOS 9's new Low Power Mode setting and other optimizations, the Enduro 2 can last significantly longer depending on usage scenarios. Despite Garmin's claim that it measures battery life in months, the company actually advertises the Enduro 2 as having "up to 150 hours of battery life in GPS mode with solar charging" and "up to 34 days of battery life in smartwatch mode." The Enduro 2 has a 1.4-inch solar-powered display, compared to the nearly 2-inch display on the Apple Watch Ultra that can reach a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, the brightest ever in an Apple Watch. Battery life seems to be the main point of contention, based on comments from Hacker News and Reddit. "As someone who is into trail running and backpacking, a 36 hour battery life is untenable, and charging it every night seems like a pain," writes user lukeinator42.
"The real irony of the charge-at-night model is that you miss the single biggest source of error in human life: lack of sleep," adds killjoywashere. "Accurate sleep measurement is, on a day-to-day basis, far more valuable than many of the features advertised on this system."
"The real irony of the charge-at-night model is that you miss the single biggest source of error in human life: lack of sleep," adds killjoywashere. "Accurate sleep measurement is, on a day-to-day basis, far more valuable than many of the features advertised on this system."
It is easy to charge Apple Watch during day (Score:3, Informative)
Re: It is easy to charge Apple Watch during day (Score:2)
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"Wearing a watch while sleeping disrupts my sleep."
LOL
"Heavy and constricted."
LOL
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LOL
Everyone has different opinions and values. Clearly yours are diametrically opposed to the parent, but that doesn't make their opinion less true from the viewpoint of their cohort.
That said, I wear my smartwatch to bed, charge it in the morning while I'm getting ready for the day, and it works fine for me. The sleep data I get now is way better than I was getting before (which was zero).
To each their own.
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> Easy enough to charge while in shower or while watching a baseball game.
And lose valuable heart rate metrics about users showering and watching baseball games??? lol.
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And lose valuable heart rate metrics about users showering and watching baseball games??? lol.
What is really important is that I need to wear the watch so that Apple can call 911 for me when my heart stops after I die of boredom watching baseball.
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Your failure to understand does not mean that the point is invalid.
You can easily otherwise wear a watch at night, and often even in the shower.... or especially while sitting and watching TV. The fact that the watch might happen to do more to supposedly justify needing more power is irrelevant to people who didn't need to do any of the extra things that the smartwatch might do because their smart phone already does like 99% of it anyways.
If you don't understand how the inconvenience might be a dea
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"Apple Watch has general computing functions"
Garmin has general computing functions.
"the Garmin is a specialized device that can only do the few tasks it is programmed with."
the Apple Watch is a specialized device that can only do the few tasks it is programmed with.
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Months? Bah. Amateurs. (Score:5, Insightful)
My Citizen Eco-Drive has been in continuous use since somewhere around 2004, if memory serves, and I have never once needed to charge it or replace the battery. Mind you, the only thing it does is what a watch is supposed to do — tell time — but still....
Re:Months? Bah. Amateurs. (Score:4, Funny)
Mind you, the only thing it does is what a watch is supposed to do — tell time — but still....
I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Re:Months? Bah. Amateurs. (Score:4, Interesting)
My Citizen Eco-Drive has been in continuous use since somewhere around 2004, if memory serves, and I have never once needed to charge it or replace the battery.
My Casio solar has been going a lot longer than that.
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Likewise the Casio Waveceptor I purchased in 2009 - still on its original battery. It sets itself every day from WWV.
Would be nice if I could get a different strap for it, but the attachment is non-standard.
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Likewise the Casio Waveceptor I purchased in 2009 - still on its original battery. It sets itself every day from WWV.
Same with the Citizen I mentioned.
Would be nice if I could get a different strap for it, but the attachment is non-standard.
I'm on about my eighth or tenth watch band, so I'm glad that's not the case for the Citizen. :-D
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I've got a Waveceptor with digibank back in the late 90s. It's on its third battery or so, and maybe the 5th band. Though, the last time the only band that the store had was one of those closed bands where the metal part clips over itself to shrink to fit.
It's worked well - the bit of the band that broke
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My Citizen Eco-Drive has been in continuous use since somewhere around 2004, if memory serves, and I have never once needed to charge it or replace the battery. Mind you, the only thing it does is what a watch is supposed to do — tell time — but still....
2004?
They don't make things like they used to [livescience.com].
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I have one of those, but it's utterly broken. It doesn't get a GPS fix, it refused to measure my heartrate or my steps. What am I doing wrong? I mean yours is clearly a smart device since you're posting about it in a thread about smart watches, so I can only conclude that you have a magic one that does more than tell the time...
Or if you don't then consider your post off topic since literally no one here is talking about a device which only tells time.
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I have a Xiaomi Mi Band 6, and it gets 3-4 weeks battery life while also providing useful information like step counting and heat rate monitoring. Sleep monitoring is good too.
I consider that a reasonable trade off. I only take it off every few weeks for a quick charge, so the hassle is minimal. It can do stuff like vibrate on incoming calls, but I don't use that feature.
Does the Apple Watch add anything that makes it worth charging every day? They hyped up fall detection, but the people most likely to bene
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In 2022 this is like saying the only thing a phone needs to do is make calls. Smart watches have significantly changed the lives of everyone I know with one, including me. I was a doubter until I got one.
I bought my parents Apple watches a few years ago and it not only changed their lives but it further improved mine.
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Yeah, and phones used to be for making calls. Now my phone app isn't even on any of the screens, I go into the catalogue to get to it because the thing we call a phone isn't just for that anymore.
With my watch, I check the weather, track my sleep and get alerted about meetings and appointments that are coming up. I pay for my groceries and sometimes send short texts.
If all you need to do is check the time, mechanical watches are beautiful pieces of art that you can wear on your wrist. Absolutely more power
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My Citizen Eco-Drive does need to eb charged... that's what the solar cell face does.
It also weights almost 3x an Apple Watch Ultra.
Sleep Monitoring?! (Score:2)
To be marginally useful for sleep monitoring a smart watch would need about 10x the accelerometer, pulse, and ppO2 data resolution that is recorded with an apple watch at night. Most sleep apps I have tried can't even differentiate between getting up and going to the bathroom and "restful sleep" or "restless sleep."
I would love to see a multi-function consumer device that can pull it off reliably, but I'm not going to hold my breath. (Or maybe I do... but my watch sure as hell won't tell me!)
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Garmin battery life (Score:3)
My Garmin Venu sq lasts about four days between charges.
It does a lot more than an old school watch with a battery lasting years.
The battery life is really intrusive to my life.
I use it to monitor my health, heart, sleep, activity, etc
no good if you loose 1/4 day out of 4 days
it has to improve into the future so the charge lasts months at least.
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My Garmin Fenix 6X lasts about three weeks on a charge heart rate mode, which includes accelerometer, Bluetooth client and transflective watch function. Using the SpO2 sensor doubles the drain (it can be set for off, sleep only, or all day). Using a GPS-enabled or Bluetooth host mode sucks a lot of power, too. Still, I get more than a week using it in heart rate mode plus an hour each day of GPS exercise with Bluetooth host mode.
At another end of "fitness watch", Garmin's kid-oriented watches can last a
For $CDN1500, I'll Pay More and Get a Real Watch (Score:3)
I can get a self winding watch for $2500 and never have to worry about charging or winding. And it will actually look good and still tell time.
Re: For $CDN1500, I'll Pay More and Get a Real Wat (Score:2)
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By "look good", you mean it looks like a 1970s reject from a Soviet factory. Expensive mechanical watches always look like something you got from a gumball machine. You can tell how expensive they were by just how terrible they look. It's fashionable amongst old rich people with more money than taste.
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So you can't afford one. Stop whining and lashing out at others because of it.
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I can get a self winding watch for $2500 and never have to worry about charging or winding. And it will actually look good and still tell time.
It will require service however.
Re:Check your patents Garmin (Score:4, Funny)
sure, real irony and the "charge at night model" (Score:2)
"The real irony of the charge-at-night model is that you miss the single biggest source of error in human life: lack of sleep," adds killjoywashere. "Accurate sleep measurement is, on a day-to-day basis, far more valuable than many of the features advertised on this system."
What horseshit. And WTF is the "charge-at-night model"? Charge when it needs charging.
How does charging a watch at night cause "lack of sleep" to be "missed"? If you have to measure not to miss it, then do you really miss it? Who give
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How does charging a watch at night cause "lack of sleep" to be "missed"?
Sleep monitoring is an important part of these devices.
btw you should calm down. Rage will blind you.
Seiko 5 Automatic Movement. Too broke 4 Garmin (Score:1)
Re: Seiko 5 Automatic Movement. Too broke 4 Garmin (Score:2)
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Apple Watch Ultra is Apirational, Not Practical (Score:1)
I measure my time outdoors in hours not days. (Score:3)
I understand there are outdoorsy people who disappear into the woods for weeks, probably have a secret hut and secret forest family of green blooded elves. If they use technology at all on these adventures, they might want the garmin.
But I'm going to bet if you're the kind of person who owns or wants to own an Apple Watch, makes the six figure salary that gets you the kind of disposable income that affords you a wholly unnecessary device like a watch, then your outdoor time is probably limited to day trips or maybe a weekend spent camping, probably with or near an RV or at least car to charge from. The boss wants you back in at your desk in the morning, and they don't pay you for the side-elves, etc.
Garmin may be missing the point here.
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Garmin may be missing the point here.
No I think Apple may be missing the point. They are the ones positioning the watch as the ultimate device for the outdoorsy person and are rightfully being called out for it.
Why buy a rugged apple watch when you can get a normal one, and a fit for purpose device as well.
Re: I measure my time outdoors in hours not days. (Score:2)
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As a pretty outdoorsy person, the watch is definitely appealing to me. Though as a cycling outdoorsy person, what I want is a watch that can communicate over ANT+ so it can sync to the power meter on my bike. For now, I have to stick to a small GPS bike computer for that.
That said, my series 6 has come mountain biking with me plenty, and it has indeed held up pretty well. But a bigger screen for my aging eyes and some chunkier buttons would definitely work for me.
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You can get a Xiaomi Mi Band for 25 bucks, so 1/10th the price of an entry level Apple Watch. It only needs to be charged every few weeks. It's waterproof, monitors heart rate, step count, SpO2, can do notifications and alarms etc. For walking/running it uses your phone's GPS receiver.
What makes it worth spending 10x as much on an Apple Watch that you have to charge up every day?
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I understand there are outdoorsy people who disappear into the woods for weeks, probably have a secret hut and secret forest family of green blooded elves. If they use technology at all on these adventures, they might want the garmin.
But I'm going to bet if you're the kind of person who owns or wants to own an Apple Watch, makes the six figure salary that gets you the kind of disposable income that affords you a wholly unnecessary device like a watch, then your outdoor time is probably limited to day trips or maybe a weekend spent camping, probably with or near an RV or at least car to charge from. The boss wants you back in at your desk in the morning, and they don't pay you for the side-elves, etc.
Garmin may be missing the point here.
The average salary of a triathlete is over $100k. They swim, then bike, then run. The shortest is a sprint and takes the average person (lots of people, not just competitive athletes do these) about 3 hours to complete. An Olympic distance is a 800 m swim, 25-30 mile bike ride, and a 10k run. A typical Apple watch will not last long enough for this distance for non-competitive triathletes. There are longer distances, 1/2 ironman and the full ironman (2m swim, 100 mile bike, and ends with a 26.2 mile ma
wait, wut? (Score:2)
"Accurate sleep measurement is, on a day-to-day basis, far more valuable than many of the features advertised on this system."
Who MEASURES their sleep?
Seriously, we pretty much all have a built in monitor to determine whether we are getting enough sleep. Whether we feel like shit the next day.
And even then, who can meticulously control how much they sleep? "I only slept 540 mins last night, I shall sleep 552 minutes tonight, and see how I feel!"
Hint: if an alarm is waking you up, you need more sleep.
Re: wait, wut? (Score:2)
Because collecting data on why your sleep is disrupted, and how long you are in each state for, and when, allows you to improve your sleep situation. I use a Huawei watch. 2 operational weeks at full power between charges, and still charges within an hour entirely second Friday night. And has been shown to be more accurate than Apple watch in medical sensing. Truth is Apple watches are just a fancy extra screen for Apple fanboys.
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Lots of people measure sleep metrics: https://ouraring.com/ [ouraring.com]
It can tell you health problems before you realize it. Oura is able to detect covid early in people which can save lives (although due to the temperature monitoring more than the sleep monitoring).
Garmin needs to fix their UI and software (Score:3)
The Blackberry and Palm guys thought this way too.
I already know people who've switched mostly to Apple Watch from Garmin except for marathons.
Once Apple gets in that market, Garmin will have a tough time.
Re:Garmin needs to fix their UI and software (Score:4, Insightful)
The Blackberry and Palm guys thought this way too.
I already know people who've switched mostly to Apple Watch from Garmin except for marathons.
Once Apple gets in that market, Garmin will have a tough time.
Well the one thing that will probably keep me using Garmin is I don't use an iPhone and it sound like they won't even let you pair the watch with an Android [androidauthority.com].
As long as that's the case Garmin seems to be the best smartwatch for Android users.
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The company that makes flight decks for commercial aircraft [garmin.com], where well-managed and effective display of relevant information is literally life-or-death, needs to "fix their UI"?
...can I buy some pot from you?
Garmins aren't smartwatches, they're connected watches. They display notifications, allow pre-set responses, and control your music, that's about it. That's all incidental to their purpose, to track and manage physical activity. Every "app", a tracker for a specific activity, allows you to cus
Re: Garmin needs to fix their UI and software (Score:2)
Talking about watches, not commercial aircraft.
Can I buy some goalpostshiftium from you?
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I didn't change any goalposts. As I said, what you, and Apple, misunderstand is that Garmins are not smartwatches. They are not meant to manage your emails/texts, or be a Dick-Tracy-style wrist chat machine, or display fireworks when you meet a goal, or whatever is is the Apple Watch does.
Garmin watches are purpose-built equipment, the same as their flight decks. They are very sophisticated hardware (the specs on new Garmins make Apple look crap) that's designed for a specific purpose, tracking and managing
Let it breathe (Score:2)
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Someone please mod parent up "Informative" (my mod points ran out yesterday.)
I'm interested in the watch for blood sugar monitoring, -particularly at night- when I often have low sugar episodes. 1/2 hour in the morning (checking email :-) ) and in the evening (reading before bed) is a very useful pattern for me.
Withings (Score:2)
I've been using the Withings watches for years now. I regularly get 30 days or more on one charge. They have a regular analog watch face, so they rarely have to light up the display.
My only complaint has been the glass face, which I manage to break periodically. But the price is low enough that you can afford to replace the watch once in a while.
I use to sleep well, but now ... (Score:3)
My watch told me I was not sleeping properly. I kept awake at night worrying and checking my watch every hour to see if I had got better. Then the display went blank and I realised I was dead!
Why is Apple selling more? (Score:3)
Garmin is nervous... (Score:1)
Overblown. (Score:1)
36 Hours? (Score:2)
36 hours is a joke! I admit to bias as I will not buy anything whose market position (10% of the global market?) can be traced to legal shenanigans and shady business practices.
When I got my current FitBit (Charge4) a couple of years ago, it lasted 8 or 9 days between charges. Now that has dropped to 7, I think it is showing its age. When it does not last 6, I suppose I may have to replace it - that is 4 times what the Apple watch does. I do not go camping so I could charge it in the evening. If I am on a
Garmin the App Master (Score:1)