Apple Watch worth it?

willsreb

Hi all, I’m debating about purchasing an Apple Watch, mainly for fitness purposes. What is your experience, how has your watch benefitted your fitness (if at all?)

Just to note: the reason I ask of Apple Watch is because I own all Apple products including air pods - so my thought is that I will get multiple uses out of an Apple Watch (as opposed to a Fitbit or similar.)

I appreciate your input on this

okiewoman510

I find mine incredibly motivating! I work to make sure I close all 3 rings every day. I also like the monthly challenge that changes so you are pushing to do something different each month.

dhiammarath

I love my watch. I use it for all kinds of things besides fitness. I try to close my rings as much as possible and I've found I enjoy the fitness aspect of it. I used to wear Fitbits and I don't miss my Fitbit really. So it's worked for me!

cloudsongs

I use a Fitbit and it’s pretty useful but if you’re the type of person who likes all their technology connected, an Apple Watch might be more beneficial for you. You can text people back and save notes for yourself on the go

AnvilHead

(tl;dr warning - skip to the last paragraph if you have a short attention span)

I wore an Apple Watch every day for a year before switching to a Garmin device. Whether or not it will have any benefit to your fitness depends upon whether or not you're motivated by having daily goals to reach tracked/dictated to you by a device. Some find it highly motivating, others don't like it and find no benefit to it (I'm in the former category, so I find fitness trackers both motivating and beneficial).

Pros and cons:

Pro:
- Apple Watch is well integrated into the Apple ecosystem and has a lot of highly useful functions outside of fitness.

- Excellent quality, well made watch. Among the best on the market in that regard.

- The newer versions are waterproof (actually "water resistant", but you can get them wet).

- It tracks a variety of exercises.


Con:
- Apple's Workout app is sorely lacking in data/metrics compared to something like Garmin's app/interface. It's also only accessible through the app on your watch or phone, no web-based interface. This is the one place I feel that Apple is really dropping the ball as far as fitness goes. I'm a big Apple fan and own a lot of their products (desktop, laptops, iPads, iPhones, iPods), but can't stand how limited their Workout app is.

- Battery life sucks. I had to charge mine every night. My Garmin will go 1-2 weeks between charges, being worn 24/7.

- Like any other workout tracker/HRM, the algorithms used to calculate calorie burn are based upon steady state cardio exercise. The further your chosen exercise deviates from that, the further off the calorie burn figures will be (this is a limitation of any/all fitness trackers, not just the Apple Watch).

- I don't like their "rings" system of fitness tracking; I prefer the more conventional type based upon steps and activity/intensity minutes. YMMV on this one.


Overall, I think of it this way: I consider the Apple Watch to be a great smart watch with decent activity/workout capabilities. I consider the Garmin I use now to be a great activity/workout watch with decent smart watch capabilities. Which of those two things is more important to you will help guide your purchase decision.

tfield98

Like others said, it’s somewhat of a personal subjective decision since there no clearly dominating Watch.

That being said, I love my Apple Watch. I swim several miles and walk many miles a week and my watch logs them all wonderfully.

cebreisch

I have a Fitbit Versa, and my husband and one of my doctors have Apple watches. I got the Versa because my Fitbit One wore out, and I wanted to stick with the Fitbit app due to data it shows. But have always wondered if the data on the Apple Watch wouldn’t suffice in some way or show the same data.

I know my husband and the one doctor LOVE their Apple Watches....my husband said he always wanted a “dick Tracy” phone/watch! LOL

The hardest part for me is that I haven’t worn a watch in at least 24 years (at least since I’ve been married) - so getting used to wearing it on my wrist has been a real challenge, particularly when it’s so FREAKING HOT outside.

flagrantavidity

As a person who has owned two fitbits and an Apple Watch - I like the Apple Watch better.

The Apple Watch 3 will get about 36 hours of battery life. This is with notifications on, making a couple of calls, tracking a workout for an hour. The thing it does lack is tracking your sleep - but your iPhone has the “bedtime” setting in the clock app to guesstimate hours slept.

Using the Health and Activity apps are pretty nice and detailed. Allow access to other apps to record your nutrition, you can also record activity, mindfulness, and sleep as well as integrate health records if your Dr. supports it.

The Apple interface is pretty nice, somethings are a little hard to find in settings, health data, but once you learn where everything is it isn’t bad.

The “worst” thing about Apple Watch is battery life, you will want to charge it every night - like you already do with your phone. The next issue is intigration with MFP itself. MFP doesn’t seem to play nice with Apple Watch, for example you will notice that your calories for steps will go to 0 the second you log an exercise/activity.

(I like the nylon band over the rubber one - sweat makes the rubber one slippery and I founs myself taking the watch off to dry the sweat, I don’t do that with the nylon one. I buy off brand replacement bands from Amazon since Apple bands can get spendy)

MelanieCN77

It's wonderful. If you like and use Apple products you will do well with it. It has and continues to be an amazing tool for me that guides my active choices.

willsreb

Thank you so much for your comments everyone! So helpful. My mind is made up

HawkPNP

AnvilHead wrote: »

(tl;dr warning - skip to the last paragraph if you have a short attention span)

I wore an Apple Watch every day for a year before switching to a Garmin device. Whether or not it will have any benefit to your fitness depends upon whether or not you're motivated by having daily goals to reach tracked/dictated to you by a device. Some find it highly motivating, others don't like it and find no benefit to it (I'm in the former category, so I find fitness trackers both motivating and beneficial).

Pros and cons:

Pro:
- Apple Watch is well integrated into the Apple ecosystem and has a lot of highly useful functions outside of fitness.

- Excellent quality, well made watch. Among the best on the market in that regard.

- The newer versions are waterproof (actually "water resistant", but you can get them wet).

- It tracks a variety of exercises.


Con:
- Apple's Workout app is sorely lacking in data/metrics compared to something like Garmin's app/interface. It's also only accessible through the app on your watch or phone, no web-based interface. This is the one place I feel that Apple is really dropping the ball as far as fitness goes. I'm a big Apple fan and own a lot of their products (desktop, laptops, iPads, iPhones, iPods), but can't stand how limited their Workout app is.

- Battery life sucks. I had to charge mine every night. My Garmin will go 1-2 weeks between charges, being worn 24/7.

- Like any other workout tracker/HRM, the algorithms used to calculate calorie burn are based upon steady state cardio exercise. The further your chosen exercise deviates from that, the further off the calorie burn figures will be (this is a limitation of any/all fitness trackers, not just the Apple Watch).

- I don't like their "rings" system of fitness tracking; I prefer the more conventional type based upon steps and activity/intensity minutes. YMMV on this one.


Overall, I think of it this way: I consider the Apple Watch to be a great smart watch with decent activity/workout capabilities. I consider the Garmin I use now to be a great activity/workout watch with decent smart watch capabilities. Which of those two things is more important to you will help guide your purchase decision.

All of the above — I loved my Apple Watch when I just started working out (for the first few years). I am now waiting for my new Garmin to arrive because I need more data on my workouts and such. I think it just depends on what you want.

If you want more of a smart watch, Apple is great. If you want more towards a fitness watch, then go for something like a Garmin.

stanmann571

Another one chiming in to say that if you want a fitness watch with smart features get a Garmin.

If you want a smart watch with fitness features get an Apple.

It really depends on what you want from it. For most people, the Garmin eco system is smart enough, and integrated enough into Apple. If you're not one of those people then you'll probably want an apple watch.

steveko89

I think defining "fitness activities" important. I really like my apple watch, have worn it daily since I got it. However, I overwhelming use it with the following priorities:
- 80% Watch
- 5% Notifications, watch-face complications
- 5% activity reminders, fitness-related actions (closing rings, etc.)
- 2.5% adjusting volume/skipping tracks while mowing the grass
- 2.5% pace data/music control on the off chance I go for a run outside.

I don't like to wear it when I lift, I don't trust the calorie burn from it or any other HRM, I've found a method of calculating TDEE that works well for me so I don't need it from a calorie-equation standpoint. I've also probably turned off the majority of notifications. It reminds me to stand up at least once per hour, calendar appointments, and buzzes for texts and phone calls... that's it.

As others have said, it's a well-made device that integrates well with the apple-verse. Since getting it in April of 2016, I have worn mine daily 95+% and it's been more durable than I expected; there's only one very small blemish on the bottom of the body, near the band (Gen 1 Sport model).