171–180 of 229 posts
How can they call 36 hours of battery life "long"? The $799 version Garmin Fenix 7 solar (which they seem to be targeting) has an 18-22 days of battery life.
18 hours is all day… 36 is long
Still no Apple Watch for ladies... They're all enormous!
Are folks wanting something the size of a jacket button?
Apple is missing the mark in this segment. Their competitors: Garmin, coros all offer weeks of battery life with tradeoffs people in this segment happily make. I get 20 days of battery life on my coros pace 2. Charging a apple watch every night or two would not be acceptable.
Agreed. I'm a competitive runner and nobody in that community is showing up to interval workouts with an Apple watch. I don't see this watch changing that, especially when better battery life and tracking (which is all the road/track running segment really cares about) can be had at a fraction of the cost with Garmin or Coros. The ultra/hiking community will run into problems with the 36 hour battery life, especially…
> I really have a hard time seeing who this watch is for.
I would say basically anyone who likes their Apple Watch (and there are a lot of us out there), is comfortable with the size and aesthetic, and has $800 to blow on a smart watch.
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> Apple Watch is significantly more accurate than a Garmin or other handheld 'portable' GPS unit. Any source on that - because I really doubt it.
It should be, it has wifi/cellular/map assistance and is paired with a phone with L5 GPS.
How can they call 36 hours of battery life "long"? The $799 version Garmin Fenix 7 solar (which they seem to be targeting) has an 18-22 days of battery life.
I totally agree with you as well. I currently have a Garmin Fenix 6 pro and it lasts around 14 days. 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. The irony is that AirPods have a really great battery life (especially the carrying case) despite the small form factor, and are my go-to for long runs.
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The latest Garmin devices have much longer battery life with equivalent functionality, and can extend battery life with solar charging. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/854515
It doesn’t look like they can make phone calls or auto-call 911 after a crash (absent a working phone).
Personally that device never interested me because:
1) if I can rely on cell phone signal, I’m likely doing a quick and simple hike where I don’t have to worry about draining my cell phone battery in the first place, or
2) if I can’t rely on cell phone signal (much more likely), which is especially likely in the US wilderness, then if I’m doing something precarious in a remote setting I’ll have to bring a beacon and satellite communicator anyway. Like an InReach Mini.
The fact that Garmin is releasing even higher end watches without cell phone connectivity likely indicates there’s not a lot of people buying nearly $1k fitness watches finding that functionality compelling.
Obviously people doing this are likely too narrow a segment for Apple. Like, why would Apple care that I’m not buying their watch? I was just engaged by their headline marketing for this watch until I saw the specs.
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What is the value of having 18 days of battery on a device like this? To me there are diminishing returns pretty quickly when it comes to battery life. I agree, there is a lot of value if you are able to hit 72-96 hours and you can go away for a weekend without worrying about charging, but 18 days seems like a waste. Are people really regularly away from their chargers for that long? At that point, I would much rathe…
I recently returned from week long road trip, and while my wife would plug in and charge her Apple Watch every single night, I kept wearing my Pebble without a thought at all -- didn't even pack a charger. Granted, it does have fewer features, but how good are all those whiz-bangs if the battery is dead?
I've been using a Skagen Jorn Hybrid smartwatch for the last few years. No digital display, but the time/date are set via bluetooth, and it has phone call notification, which is mostly what I want. I don't need to read emails or SMSs on my wrist. 6 months of battery life from a replaceable coin cell.
Honestly though, this is the first apple watch to appeal to me. Proper waterproofing, ruggedness, long enough battery life to go away for a weekend without a charger, always on screen. It's almost getting back to where Pebble was - they just need to stretch that battery a bit more with an ultra-low power mode. The cost is fairly high considering the functions I want though, so I'll need to use it in person before I put any money down. I do occasionally scuba dive too, so the dive functionality is actually fairly appealing as I don't own a dive computer any more.
What I am the most excited about is the dive computer feature! "along with recreational scuba diving to 40 meters with the new Oceanic+ app." I was looking at $1,000 Garmin watches and was really not excited at buying one.
I ordered and cancelled the order right after I read the fine lines of the 3rd party and subscription requirement of the app.
I guess I would go back to a better, dedicated dive computer at this price point then.
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It should be, it has wifi/cellular/map assistance and is paired with a phone with L5 GPS.
I have a 10-30 seconds fix with like 10m accuracy with my watch (fenix 6 pro) only.
A-GPS doesn’t need to wait for a fix to be pretty accurate though, which is nice.
I can see a rugged, smartwatch with tactile buttons and a bigger crown being useful in a lot of construction applications, but I don't think most construction workers or contractors are rocking iphones and $799 smart watches.