jflann90 wrote:
I bought the Ultra Watch 3 not too long ago, to replace my Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, but when I realized how quickly the battery life drained I had to return it....Is there a point where Apple will deliver a battery life in days and not hours? Ideally would love weeks, like my Garmin, but if we could get to 3 / 4 days of battery life, I will shower you in cash for that model of watch.
Do we know if this is something in development or on the product roadmap? I feel like I have been waiting for this since 2020 when I bought my first smart watch, which was the Garmin S62 and again, that delivered 10 days of battery life, whilst also tracking a whole range of fitness data points and of course was great for golf.
There are detailed smart watch product ratings and comparison information at Consumers Reports. They are an independent entity that has its own testing labs and also relies on product experience questionnaires from thousands of users.
So I looked up their ratings and buying guide for smart watches. The Apple Watches are consistently at the top of the ratings. The ratings cover ~ two dozen criteria, including many features, battery life, build quality, scratch test, water resistance, performance (e.g. heart rate, step count and other metrics accuracy).
There are dozens of smart watches evaluated, including Apple, Samsung, Android, Garmin and other. Including your Garmin fenix. The Apple Series 11 and Ultra watches as measured by CR had 2-3 days battery life, while the Garmin fenix was ~ 10 days. The Garmin fenix had an overall lower score than the Apple Watch due to more features in the Apple Watch such as Messaging, Calling, email, etc.
So the consumer can pick the product that best suits their needs. The integration of the Apple Watch with computer and phone functions is far better; this comes at a cost of shorter battery life.
I have a Series 11, which has shorter battery life than the Ultra. But mine charges usually to 80% and then holds (not charging to 100% is to preserve battery longevity) and at the end of the day it might be down to 60%, including one or two workouts that last 1-2 hours each. I charge it for several minutes while in the shower and it goes back to 80% (or 100% if I change the setting). When I first purchased this watch I was worried a little about how the battery would do, but it turns out to be a non-issue for me in actual use.
So over the course of an active day, mine seems to lose less than 30% of its charge, which is far better battery capability than I expected from a Series 11. The watch is nearly 1 year old and shows 100% of original capacity still. One day I must have accidentally activated "low power mode" and for that one day it only lost 15% over the full day.
I use Garmin devices also, I like them, I use a Garmin bike computer for my cycling.
If you need 10 days of battery life, an Apple Watch might not be the best match for your needs, but if lasting 2-3 days is acceptable, it has a plethora of features. I can make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages and email on my Apple Watch, without the iPhone nearby. It can also measure ECG and afib, which I don't really need, but someday I might. It has the Find My function built in. My wife uses that to "track" me sometimes when my bike rides take longer than expected and she wants to make sure something hasn't happened.
My daughter likes her Fitbit watch, which lasts about 10 days on a battery charge.
The Garmin fenix is also very expensive, about $1,000 ... for a watch. Yikes.
You should select the product that has the features you most want and need.
