When I cycle outdoors, I use a Garmin 1040 with a chest strap and power meter. I don’t plan to change that regardless of what smart watch I get. I currently have an Apple Watch Series 7. I am interested in potentially getting a different smartwatch for a few reasons:
I mostly just use fitness apps and some other very basic apps like alarm or timer.
I could use the watch as an extended display for the head unit.
The battery life on the Apple Watch is terrible. I don’t track my sleep because I charge it overnight. I could get by with charging during the day at some point but I have never been able to get in a good routine that works for that. Thus I would prefer a watch that only needs charging every couple weeks or so.
My understanding is that other watches are better for things like HRV and VO2 Max are more accurate with other brands.
So, is it worth considering getting a different brand smart watch for these reasons? If so, what watch is best for cyclists? I am not concerned about budget.
I love my Garmin Fenix 7X Solar. I charge it about once a month. Usually just have one or 2 data fields showing when I ride. Like total elevation gain, or whatever interests me most that day
Just a FYI, your series 7 battery is probably cooked at this point hence that terrible battery life. Also, the series 10 charges from nearly dead to nearly full in about 20 minutes. I have a charger in my bathroom, I put my watch on it when I shower and I’ve never been remotely close to having a dead battery on the series 10. It just charges so much faster than the older watches.
I went for the vivioactive 5 as I wanted better battery life and everything I need bikewise is with my 1030. The only thing to get the 11d battery life you need to have it set to the default setting which switches the amoled screen off when you’re not touching or looking at it; thats fine by me. You do get 4days with the ‘always on mode’ but Id rather charge and forget. It was also good value and might be better value soon with the vivoactive 6 coming out.
Garmin Enduro, Fenix 7 Solar or Fenix 8 Solar is what I‘d consider if you want to charge once every two to three weeks. This will depend heavily upon how many workouts you do on it. I wouldn’t get it just to have an extended display though or as secondary device to complement your headunit. 1040 is large enough and for all those other metrics… meh, not worth it imho. Besides, if you have a power meter and HR strap the 1040 will give you VO2 max and other training related stats.
The higher up in the garmin range you go, the more you’ll be duplicating some feature with the 1040 however if you do any hiking, running or other outdoor sports like that, it’s well worth it. I have the Epix Pro and it’s simply the best, most feature rich device I have. Mapping is excellent, battery gets 27d (51mm) Long time Apple fan btw.
Oh and the flash light… use it multiple times a day every single day. Thought it was kinda meh before owning one, now I wouldn’t go back ever.
+1 for the LED of the newer Fenix, Epix and Enduro watches. If you get one of those, there are QuickFit Garmin quarter turn mounts for 2-3$ on aliexpress:
Or you recognize the best device functionality and use the Garmin Edge for riding and don’t use the Apple Watch (or other smart watch) to do the same. If you can ride and look at your watch and get the data you need, do a watch, but if you are (old) and need a bigger screen, use an Edge like the 1040. It does everything you would want to do, and connects with practically everything. I mean, even if I was sold on the watch as a bike computer, I’d still use an Edge device for mapping and other functions that I wouldn’t want to have to be distracted trying to watch a watch and find out where to go. To me, in a ‘old age’, I value not being distracted by a watch being used as a cycling computer. Leverage the tool made for the purpose.
If you switch from Apple to Garmin be prepared to always be told your training is unproductive and your recovery is 4.5 years. But maybe you know that from your head unit already
This doesn’t exactly answer your question but I’ve been down this rabbit hole recently so I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned:
all the gadgets are just best guesses at your HRV and VO2. So while they may be in the ballpark the numbers can be totally skewed anyway and you’ll never really know. And if your performance is improving and your somewhat-abitrary VO2 from a gadget is or isn’t changing does it matter? Garmin measures your HRV all night to give you a readiness score. So this means if you train late, eat late, are hot overnight, your HRV will be low because the score is an avg, not some sort of 5 min max HRV. I listened to an expert in the HRV wearable world and his suggestion was to just buy his device/app (which measures for 5 min in the AM) OR download an app and throw on a HR strap each morning to get a 3-5 minute measurement. This also saves you from having the bluetooth/wifi on your body all night via a watch if you want to put on a tinfoil hat and consider that might be bad for you. Elite HRV is a free app I use to measure a 3 min HRV each morning. As an alternative for VO2…? Go to a lab I guess
The sleep from these devices is also really just a best guess - so while having an algorithm consistently take its best guess in the same way might provide some useful data - at the end of the day believing the specific sleep data from a watch (measuring HRV via the wrist) really isn’t telling you the correct data about your sleep. And are you prepared to make changes based on that data anyway? Like if it says you slept bad (but you feel rested, or vice versa) would you actually act on it?
what apps are you using? are they available anywhere else?
do you get cranky if you don’t like the data your watch gives, even if it is wrong? For example, on my garmin watch if I forgot to set my watch to exercise mode (because I was just wearing my watch for a bike ride, for example) and it recorded 3 hours of a really high heart rate (that was recorded on my garmin edge) my watch doesn’t “know” I worked out - it just thinks I was SUPER STRESSED for 3 hours. And my “stress” score for the day will be 100% higher than normal. So even though I knew if wasn’t right, it always bugs me having “bad” data in weekly/monthly avgs.
I have solved all of these issues by knowing what is best for sleep: not eating late, not drinking, trying to not be overheated, taking magnesium and doing them. If I wake up and feel rested I assume I slept well. If I’m tired the next day I try to go to bed earlier I take my HRV using a chest strap I keep in my nightstand using Elite HRV each morning. Shockingly there is so much less variation than I got from my Garmin watch. Not sure which measurement is “wrong” and I’ll never know.
I find a step counter highly motivating. So I got a non-app pedometer watch advertised for elderly people off amazon for $30 and use that to make sure I get 10k+ steps per day.
I use the Garmin watch and the headset. I use the watch for heart rate as I really hate chest straps. It also serves as a backup in case something happens with the headset and does my livetracking.
I’m a triathlete and I love not having to run with my phone, therefore I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2. The trade off is that I charge it every second evening around dinner time. Being able to stream music, receive messages and call someone in an emergency (without having my phone with me) outweighs the shorter battery life.
I’m also deep in the Garmin Ecosystem. I have a 1050, Vector 3 pedals, Varia, Neo trainer. My last watch was a Fenix 6.
There’s no need to lock yourself into a single ecosystem. I personally use intervals.icu as my aggregate and have the flexibility of switching between different bike computers and watches. I also make use of TP with my coach. Variety is the spice of life as they say.
It also serves as a backup in case something happens with the headset and does my livetracking.
This is key IMO. I actually forgot my head unit for an event (not a race, more a ride event) - and I was able to load the route on my Fenix 7X. It buzzed when I needed to turn - and saved my butt when I got dropped from the group.
A coworker gave me an older Forerunner and since I already use a 1040 with all your same sensors it seems like a natural extension of that and keeps my data in the same system. I also use intervals.icu for most things but I do like the sleep scores and having all my cycling data on my wrist as well. The HR readings on the bike are absolute trash but as a daily wearable that tracks my steps and health I think it’s good. I specifically didn’t want an Apple Watch since I didn’t want yet another phone on my wrist and at least the Garmin seems more fitness focused
I went through the same search a few months ago. I ended up getting a Garmin Instinct 2, and it’s been perfect for me.
I wanted something that could complement my Edge 840. I never used any of the smart features on my AW, so I was okay to not have on-watch texting or music or Garmin pay. I also wanted to disconnect from my phone more, so having less smart features was a plus for me. What I wanted was the Garmin metrics - training status, readiness, etc.
I was happy with the price point and the 28 day battery life is amazing. I’ve noticed that the HR seems to be less accurate than the AW, but if I’m running/cycling I’ll wear a chest strap. Otherwise it doesn’t matter too much.
I have an Apple Watch Ultra, and I do use it for some secondary metrics when I ride sometimes. I chimed in here because I ride a mix of ecosystems, and its been a bit of a hassle. I have Garmin smart lights, Wahoo head, Favero power meters, Polar HRM, and a Garmin wheelspeed sensor on one bike. It all works, but it could work better.
IMHO, you cant do better than a Fenix, Instinct, or ForeRunner. BUT, just for what its worth, I get two to three days out of my Ultra, pretty much regardless of how I use it, and as someone said above, it charges almost fully in twenty minutes.
I will likely give my son the Ultra, and switch to a Fenix myself, for the aforementioned ecosystems reasons, but I really like the Ultra platform.
