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Smart watches. Let's talk about em.

Zero One Actual said:
Oops…Always interesting to see and be reminded about what these devices are doing and recording.

www.theguardian.com

Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases

Data about exercise routes shared online by soldiers can be used to pinpoint overseas facilities
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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To be fair that’s an app not a device. You can control settings of what is shared on the app so I don’t think that’s really an apples to apples comparison but understand your point. You likely already carry a device that is capable of far more than some of us would like it to be but we choose to use it anyway. A watch isn’t adding to the privacy issue. We have a trade off for the “free” or low cost things and it’s our info. I don’t choose to only use a landline and talk to people only from my home and I accept that Apple knows I spend too much money in the classifieds here as a trade off.
 
Love my Apple Watch for timers/alarms, quick look at texts, and compass. i use the 24 hour sundial face that shows daylight. Set alarm for legal shooting time end, and it vibrates. Tap the upper right, you have a compass. Watch is always silenced. Hunting or notI dropped my phone once dragging a deer, and had go back the next day to find it….if i would have paid to have my watch on it’s own cell plan, i could have easily found it in the dark, called my wife, etc.so that’s another benefit. (This is still a step too far for me, even after this experience, cell bill is already nuts) I had a real compass in my pocket, but it was handy getting out that night just following the heading on my watch in the dark. (No phone, no OnX, lol). If you run the watch like i do, (not on it’s own cell plan), compass still works, but it loses all communication as soon as it’s more than about 20 ft from the phone. Also like the peace of mind of the fall function, but hope i never need it.
 
I also have an Apple Watch and like it. I use the timers, compass and weather quite a bit. I like the text aspect as I work in an environment where I can’t access my phone all the time.
Having said that I’ll be switching to a garmin or something else shortly. The two things I don’t like about the Apple Watch is the battery life and the durability of it. Even occasional usage drains the battery quickly and I go through covers almost weekly and I’m not really rough on my phone. I don’t need the extra apps that work with the phone and I don’t need to see pictures on my watch. I’d rather have the durability of a garmin and when I do go that route I’ll be going solar.
 
Anyone try the alpha gear series? Or the Amazon T-Rex ones? Some say gps feature. But can't see any images? For what I would do, just being able back track would be all I'm interested in, or quickly going to a location with out pulling my phone out.
 
GCTerpfan said:
I have a Garmin Instinct. I track my hikes, exercise etc. and pay attention to the quality of sleep I’m getting but, the main reason I like it is it keeps me from pulling my phone out of my pocket at every notification. A quick glance at my watch and I know wether it’s a message or a call I need to worry about now or one of the other hundreds of vibrations my phone makes each day that I can worry about later.

You can also mark waypoints, has a track back feature and a ton of other useful stuff but the thing that sets this watch apart from others I’ve had is the battery life. Other watches have to be charged daily or at best every couple of days. The instinct can go 2-3 weeks depending on use.
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Love mine too for all the above reasons. I got it on sale otherwise i couldnt afford it. I still haven't learned all the ins and outs of the watch. But it's rugged and I don't have to charge it every day.
 
I have the Garmin Instinct tactical solar and it’s the bees knees, I researched GPS capable “smart” watches for a while before pulling the trigger. I’ve worn Gshocks most of my life and at 3 years old this Garmin is equal in durability so far. The best way to describe it is it’s like whoop, Fitbit, and gshock had a baby with Garmin. Biggest things I was looking for was steps,heart rate and sleep tracking along with awesome gps capability. The reason for the instinct bc on the higher tier Garmin (fenix) they have more things it can do but it’s like the fact it’s trying to do all those things it’s suffers in some departments compared to the instinct. GPS was a big one for me for my lifestyle. I’m eyeballing the crossover instinct solar tactical it’s the same same just a traditional clock face with OLeD display under it. I loved my Fitbit and gshocks but I wanted something to do both, and I debated between Garmin and SUUNTO for a year plus before I pulled the trigger and I’m glad I went with Garmin. Just my .02
 
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MattMan81 said:
Anyone try the alpha gear series? Or the Amazon T-Rex ones? Some say gps feature. But can't see any images? For what I would do, just being able back track would be all I'm interested in, or quickly going to a location with out pulling my phone out.
Click to expand...
Any update on what you ended up with?
Why?
How you like it?
What don't you like?
 
Thanks, I'm on the fence myself. Just got back into running again, so I can see some advantages.
 
I'm looking at a Garmin now. Having a hard time convincing myself I don't need it.
 
I've been so on the fence to buy a Garmin myself. Mostly because I do a lot of running and everyone I run with has one.

However - I've keep coming back to my existing Apple Watch and reminding myself that moving to Garmin I would lose Siri, unlocking my Mac without a password, and likely some other seamless integrations.

I was looking at the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro or the Epix. If either of them would let me drop an OnX waypoint via the watch I'd bite the bullet and buy it despite my other objections. Best I can tell I'd have to drop a waypoint in Garmin and then try to move it to OnX later.
 
I'm looking at the instinct also. Might think about it for a couple weeks before I buy.
 
Picked up an Instinct 2 on sale....no solar charging as I didn't see a big benefit since I try to stay out of the sun. Easy setup. So far it seems like a solid purchase. I was most interested in basic backtracking capability, sleep info, heart rate, o2, etc.
 
Garmin Instinct Solar user here. I love it and would recommend it without reservation. I'm strongly considering going to the new Instinct Solar 2x for the massively upgraded solar capabilities.
 
Exhumis said:
I also have an Apple Watch and like it. I use the timers, compass and weather quite a bit. I like the text aspect as I work in an environment where I can’t access my phone all the time.
Having said that I’ll be switching to a garmin or something else shortly. The two things I don’t like about the Apple Watch is the battery life and the durability of it. Even occasional usage drains the battery quickly and I go through covers almost weekly and I’m not really rough on my phone. I don’t need the extra apps that work with the phone and I don’t need to see pictures on my watch. I’d rather have the durability of a garmin and when I do go that route I’ll be going solar.
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So - as I mentioned earlier in this thread I am an Apple Watch user. recently my watch started crashing when trying to save a workout after a long run, even though it had 50% battery. That bothered me a bit since I'm doing a lot of long runs in my training and I don't want to lose the data. So I bought the Garmin Forerunner 965.

I really like the Garmin watch face and data while in a workout and I really like the physical buttons to use during a workout. However, it's driving me crazy that despite me getting notifications on the Garmin - they are not "rich notifications" meaning I can't see images or interact with them at all. Also - loading music, podcasts and syncing them is a royal pain with Garmin. Perhaps I'm too used to the Apple ecosystem and having a smart watch more than a fitness watch.

So I'm going to order the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and try that. Luckily the Garmin has a 60 full money back refund policy. Apple's is only 14 days. So I figure, worst case scenario I have 14 days to decide if I hate the Ultra 2. If that happens - I'll go back to a regular Apple Watch to wear all day and a cheap Garmin to use for workouts.

Anyway - just quoted you to see if you did end up buying a Garmin and if you liked it or not.
 
GreginPA said:
So - as I mentioned earlier in this thread I am an Apple Watch user. recently my watch started crashing when trying to save a workout after a long run, even though it had 50% battery. That bothered me a bit since I'm doing a lot of long runs in my training and I don't want to lose the data. So I bought the Garmin Forerunner 965.

I really like the Garmin watch face and data while in a workout and I really like the physical buttons to use during a workout. However, it's driving me crazy that despite me getting notifications on the Garmin - they are not "rich notifications" meaning I can't see images or interact with them at all. Also - loading music, podcasts and syncing them is a royal pain with Garmin. Perhaps I'm too used to the Apple ecosystem and having a smart watch more than a fitness watch.

So I'm going to order the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and try that. Luckily the Garmin has a 60 full money back refund policy. Apple's is only 14 days. So I figure, worst case scenario I have 14 days to decide if I hate the Ultra 2. If that happens - I'll go back to a regular Apple Watch to wear all day and a cheap Garmin to use for workouts.

Anyway - just quoted you to see if you did end up buying a Garmin and if you liked it or not.
Click to expand...
lol weeeel I haven’t swtiched to a garmin just yet. Mine started freaking out and lasting about 2 hours until it was fully dead. Trying to get apple to replace an Apple Watch with a defective battery is impossible, they won’t do it. So it finally died completely and they replaced it with a new watch darn it so I decided to stick it out another year. I found a watch face that suits my needs and prolly will switch at some point.
 
GCTerpfan said:
I have a Garmin Instinct. I track my hikes, exercise etc. and pay attention to the quality of sleep I’m getting but, the main reason I like it is it keeps me from pulling my phone out of my pocket at every notification. A quick glance at my watch and I know wether it’s a message or a call I need to worry about now or one of the other hundreds of vibrations my phone makes each day that I can worry about later.

You can also mark waypoints, has a track back feature and a ton of other useful stuff but the thing that sets this watch apart from others I’ve had is the battery life. Other watches have to be charged daily or at best every couple of days. The instinct can go 2-3 weeks depending on use.
Click to expand...


Have had mine for three plus years.

Replaced band once.

Sleep exercise hunting utility smart features, in mostly that order of priority.

I’m currently around .20 cents a day for what appears to me to be far more value than .20 cents a day
 
Still like my apple one but I admit having all apple products probably plays into that as well as the fact that I can charge it at my desk when I know I’m not going to move for awhile so battery life isn’t a concern.

We haven’t discussed it a lot as far as I remember but I think that if apps I use the most in the woods such as OnX go to a watch Apple will be the first they program towards. They’ve hinted at upgrades to watches in emails and surveys.
 
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