Hi all,
I’d like your opinion on whether I should upgrade my apple watch. I have a series 4 which is not holding battery charge anymore, at least not for very long. I’m considering getting a refurbished SE, which combined with a gift card and trading in my AW 4 should bring down the price quite a bit. My uncertainty is…
I don’t use it on the bike, neither on TrainerRoad nor outside
I do use it for sleeping but truth is, if I don’t sleep well I already know it, I don’t need the AW to tell me
Resting heart rate, which would be interesting data, seems to be flawed (e.g. I received a warning for it dropping below 40, let’s say 38, but then the resting rate for that night is 45: WTF?), and I’m wondering what else is like that
I don’t run - I do hike though, and it is nice to have the watch and maybe combine that heartrate data with overall training.
I don’t do much with it on the “smart” side of things (e.g. replying to texts, taking calls, etc.).
TL:DR - I use its fitness info, but to an extent, I use its “smart” features, but to an extent. Would I be better served by another watch / fitness watch / smart watch?
my kids gave me a AW8 for my birthday, upgrading from an AW4. Mainly use it for smartwatch features. Started tracking all-day HRV / sleep, and feeding that info to a ‘readiness for training’ app, out of curiosity. Thought about a Garmin but the ones I’m interested in are a lot bigger. Happy with the upgrade, but its clearly a nice to have.
I had a series 1 that died. I went for six months or so without an iWatch and then finally upgraded to an SE last year. I turn off most of the smart features but I like it for walks, HR while running and recording to Strava, and the 30 second skip on podcasts.
I see you don’t run, but in case you do it anyway (or other non-bike endurance workouts) I can recommend WorkOutDoors. It turns you Apple Watch into a more useful sport watch.
I can also recommend Athlytic, an app that will give you a training readiness score etc based on resting heart rate and HRV.
I bought one mainly for the health data and to go for a ride without a physical phone. As a phone the watch works well and i like having one less item in the back of my shirt. The heart rate mirrors my wahoo heart rate monitor which was a nice surprise.The sleep function provides a good focus.
Over all I’m pleased with the purchase and um considering upgrading to the ultra for longer battery life.
Series 8 here. I use a Withings Sleep Sensor and only wear my watch when I’m awake.
For me it has nothing to do with Cycling, however I do use the Indoor Cycling when I use TrainerRoad as right now they still do not export to Apple Health.
I enjoy that it tracks things without me having to even think about it, thus it will always be with me and I look forward to the next version through the Apple Upgrade Program.
My secret love is the ability to find my iPhone from the quick launch apps within the Watch!
My secret love is the ability to find my iPhone from the quick launch apps within the Watch!
After a couple months with an Apple Watch myself, if I’m being entirely honest, this is probably the most impactful feature for me. My screen time hasn’t decreased but my lost phone couch cushion-digging time is down significantly!
I have an AW2, and have been contemplating an upgrade. I use many of the smart features, which has been the reason I haven’t jumped to a Garmin - which I believe have superior battery life (helps on hikes).
For now I’m strongly leaning toward staying in the Apple eco-system because of the way I use my watch, but if you don’t use the smart features, a Garmin or other fitness device is probably more practical.
I wouldn’t fret to much about this… I’ve gotten these <40 readings on my AW4 many times as well, but my stated RHR in the morning is always higher by several BPM’s when i’ve looked at it after getting this message. I suspect based on things i’ve read in the past that the “stated” RHR in the health app is an average.
If you dig into it and look at your hour by hour stats in the health app, your BPM likely fluctuates over the course of the night… tossing and turning and all that… mine does.
I went from Fenix to AW, and it’s working well for me, main reason I got it was as I am T1 diabetic, I can see my blood sugars on it, but I use the smart watch features all the time, from Timers, HR , Recording strength workouts, Apple Fitness, reminders, HRV tracking (have it graphed out in intervals,icu) for which I am running serveral apps, it works really well for me
However not sold on the looks and crave a Fenix 7 now you can get them for a reasonable price, keep putting them in the basket to buy and then weight up the pros and cons and bail out,
I’m in the UK and got mine free through Vitality (work life insurance)
If you want an Apple Watch alternative, I recently purchased the Garmin Venu 2 Plus. It’s 90% an Apple Watch and doesn’t have any features that I miss (previous Apple Watch user). It also has the find your phone function. Additionally, it has much better Fitness and training aspects if you care about those things. Also the battery life is 8 days!
Not bad… I’m gonna do some research on it. Are premium features worth having? I’m thinking not, but would like your feedback since you were an AW user.
