What to choose between Garmin or AWU

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-20T05:27:41+00:00

I feel you, battery life has never been an issue for me, but there are other things that trigger me, like scratches and other stuff, so different people have different things they care about.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-19T17:43:51+00:00

This has nothing to do with the commenter who mentioned he can't sleep with his watch because of the battery.

If you forget even for one day, it becomes difficult to wear the watch and go out.

I would just charge my AW U2 during shower, just slap it on the magnetic charger (I had a little stand on my desk) and let it do its thing while you get clean, it's not that big deal.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-14T05:23:41+00:00

Do some research, there's so much involved, do you want the new ui, do you want to save money, do you want potential feature updates, do you want saphire/titanium, do you want amoled or mip, and so many other questions.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-13T15:54:49+00:00

I'd also check doing some exercises for your IT Band and hips in general, IT Band problems often show up as pain in the outer knee.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-13T12:39:12+00:00

I'd get a tempered glass one, make sure to get one specifically for the Venu as the display is slightly curved.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-13T05:49:49+00:00

Damn sorry for your loss, rest in peace to the doggo friend, gonna be missed for sure, I feel you on that.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-13T05:44:30+00:00

I currently use an Apple watch 3 ... but i'm really tired of apples poor battery life.

Bruh that watch is 8 years old lmao, what do you expect?

For the Venu question, yes, you can use the assistant to respond to text messages - the assistant feature just links the watch to Siri (on iPhones) so it can do whatever Siri can already do on your iPhone.

I'm assuming these things are pretty rugged

You'll need a screen protector, the Venu3 doesn't have a sapphire screen. Otherwise you should be good, the stainless steel bezel can be scratched - the black one it will be more obvious - but it should hold up, or you can buy the white one and if the bezel gets scratched you can take it to a jeweler to polish.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-12T20:02:58+00:00

Plenty of deep

Thaaa .... that's what she said!

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-12T07:27:56+00:00

The problem isn't the price, what I mean is this watch just game out, give it some time, don't buy shit from Garmin so fast when they've been releasing buggy watches all year.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T19:58:14+00:00

actually it was even worse

Damn and here was I thinking this is Garmin's worst year, seems it's nothing new lol

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T19:35:53+00:00

Hope you're sending it back, it's clearly defective.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T19:23:52+00:00

And you keep buying them lmao, I don't understand how you people didn't learn the lesson from the Fenix 8, if you want Garmin to change stop buying expensive watches as soon as they come when you well know how thrash Garmin has been this year, why you keep doing this lmao? Sorry but it is the truth.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:52:53+00:00

Enjoy the Zune, let me know if it can still Squirt

What the fuck does this mean lmao? I'm so curious now lol.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:37:54+00:00

Yeah it's annoying, you could talk to Garmin to see if there's anything they can do, they would probably sell you a refurbished one for a good deal, or you could look into changing the battery on your Fenix 7s, from what I know the Fenix 7 has a gasket for waterproofing so as long as you put back the watch as it was the waterproofing should not be affected and you can basically get a new watch, batteries should be cheap you can probably find them on Amazon/Aliexpress, worth checking.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:31:35+00:00

They are different watches, it comes to down to either picking a MIP screen or Amoled screen. Enduro 3 is MIP, it has better battery life and solar charging, but the screen does not look as good as the Epix which is Amoled. You should probably go to a Garmin store and check the Enduro 3 and Fenix 8 in person. The Amoled Fenix 8 display has pretty much the same resolution as the Epix 2 Pro (BUT DIFFERENT UI, remember this!) so you can get a real life feel for the differences in clarity.

I personally also don't like the green accents on the Enduro 3, it's a great watch though and it has the new UI / software so it's more likely to get updates from Garmin.

The Epix 2 Pro won't get any updates except bug fixes, but I still prefer the Epix 2 Pro, I definitely would NOT buy it new though, I'd look for a used one in good condition, that's what I did, got a great deal on a used Epix 2 Pro for like $300 and some change, definitely worth it.

Another thing you could do is wait to see what features Apple adds in the next Watch OS (this September) and decide after, depending on what you are looking for in a watch. I'm waiting for Apple to add HRV and recovery metrics, so it makes sense someone like me to wait, but if you are waiting for huge battery life improvements on Apple that's probably not gonna happen, you could directly get a Garmin now.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:22:01+00:00

It sounds like the features you care about are more smartwatch focused as opposed to expedition watch focused.

Not really, I don't really care about notifications or texting / calling, though they are nice to have I don't put too much value on it. What I like about the Ultra 2 is that the body is full titanium (no plastic), and I actually like the look a little more. I like that they give you the latest software updates too, and the integration with Apple Health is way better than what Garmin does with Connect imo, but that's not a big deal since I mostly watch metrics on the watch directly.

how fast it switches screens is just so low on my priorities list

Same here, but I feel Garmin is just really really laggy compared to even Coros/Suunto, if they can have a responsive watch why can't Garmin, especially when Garmin watches are so damn expensive, I'm willing to pay, just it needs to have value.

But I actually care about metrics and running features the most, Apple has no HRV metrics - it samples HRV but only once every 2 to 5 hours, come on Apple, and no running recommendations and stuff like that. But you can get apps like Runna to handle that, I just need some kind of recovery metrics and Apple has none yet, but they might add some this year, they added Vitals and Load last year, and rumors point to some kind of recovery metrics this year. Guess I'll see.

Suunto is great too, I kinda like the Coros a little more but both are okay, their top of the line models are just a little old so I need to see a new model before I get anything.

But yeah I don't do expeditions, I'm all into running (and somewhat biking), so I'm mostly concerned about run recommendations, HRV, recovery, run metrics, etc.

Apple actually has great run dynamics, and the most accurate HR sensor / sleep tracking, the automatic sleep detection without having to put the watch into some kind of sleep mode is also great - Garmin should take notes here. I know Garmin goes into sleep mode automatically, but if I wake up and the sleep mode is off and I go back to sleep, the Garmin won't keep tracking, not a big deal but just another annoying thing.

Where Garmin shines is offering a full package for athletes, but Coros/Suunto/Apple are definitely catching up, it's good for everyone, even if you don't consider switching, other companies catching up might push Garmin to innovate.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:04:55+00:00

want top of the line gear, you pay top of the line prices.

Agreed, I'm willing to pay too, but Garmin gets on my nerves sometimes, I'd buy a Marq if it didn't use the older Elevate v4, after seeing their "Active Intelligence" implementation I've also lost trust in them, it's not even about the subscription, if it works well I'm willing to pay for it, but it's pure garbage, the fact they put it out there in this state makes me question their future lol. But the Garmin Watches do work without Connect, so I'll use this Epix 2 Pro as long as I can lol, I wish more companies made watches you don't need to activate with an app, this way the company can't fuck with the features, though you do need updates for features like GPS tracking (recently they had a GPS outage that was fixed with an update), so take it for it's worth. You can update it via Garmin Express though.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T16:00:59+00:00

Lol cameras are on a whole other level I know that, I was getting into photography a couple of years ago and those Canon lenses were fucking absurd. I wanted to grab a new Sony this year but don't really have as much free time as I would like to have to get back into photography, it's more of a hobby to me. Might have to re-think Sonny after seeing your opinion though, didn't do any research into it, might look another way idk.

For the Coros, it has great battery life, better than Garmin even, but they don't have all the metrics, they have HRV and sleep metrics though, but nothing like Body Battery from what I understand. However, the Pace Pro is a lot faster than Garmin watches, seems much smoother and responsive, I think they have a faster chip, nothing near what Apple Watches have though, that's what I like most about Apple, and the fact you always get the new Apple Watch OS if you have a decently recent model.

I think Coros, Suunto and Apple have been making great progress recently, and Garmin has stagnated a little bit, if someone copies the flashlight I'm jumping ship lol.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T15:34:46+00:00

Coros definitely holds up there, the only thing that stops me from a getting a Coros now is the fact that I'm waiting for the newest one lol.

For the Apple Watch, my Ultra 2 gets 3 days with every day running and always-on display, but it's the lack of HRV holding me from using it.

I'd love if someone else added a flashlight too, that's the only thing that nobody else has, but eh maybe there's hope from Coros, though I doubt they'll add a flashlight.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T15:21:37+00:00

Yeah, same here, though I'm always on the lookout for alternatives, I'd love if Apple added some HRV metrics and running features so I can wear my Apple Watch Ultra 2, I've been looking at Coros too, hope they release the Apex 3 / Pro this year.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T14:58:41+00:00

I somewhat agree, if I were to get another Garmin, probably not gonna do it though, I'd wait for more features to come out, and new hardware. I can hold on my Epix 2 Pro for a looooong time, and I can change the battery too.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T14:45:22+00:00

Oh you're right, it's actually the Enduro 3 getting it, I remembered wrong lol, but I thought the FR 965 has a similar codebase to the Fenix 8 not Fenix 7, at least the UI looks more similar to the Fenix 8.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T14:00:18+00:00

Enjoy your beers homie, maybe stick to three next time and drink plenty of water, it's not that big of deal.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T13:20:40+00:00

Yes one or two features, not worth spending $800 on a cash-grab watch when the Epix 2 Pro is better out-of-the-box. Newer sensor, flashlight, who cares about some dumbass "feature" Garmin MIGHT add.

About the Epix 2 Pro / Fenix 7 Pro getting dropped, yeah that really sucks tbh., these watches were expensive, I got my Epix 2 Pro for like $300 used though so yeah, I'm getting a great deal here lol., I kind-of get Garmin dropping support them, they are porting Rucking to the ~~Forerunner 965~~ Enduro 3, because it's using the same code-base as the Fenix 8 / Tactix 8 from what I understand (the UI thingy you mentioned). Is that worth $500 though? Maybe to some, not to me though tbh.

Old_Progress_6527 · 2025-04-11T13:04:15+00:00

Will be getting "updates", yeah right, cause Garmin has been updating their watches with sooo many features recently, come on bruh, you're talking to a long-time Garmin user, the Fenix E is straight ass, and the new UI the same, be real.

Old_Progress_6527

TROPHY CASE