For the past few years I was using my Apple Watch Series 4 pretty much every day. I’m a sucker for an Apple product. However, as I started training for the London Marathon, I was having a few problems. I had in my head the Apple vs Garmin question, and knew sooner or later I’d need to invest.
I found that my Apple watch’s battery would drop off when it was raining and/or cold. This lost me a couple of impressive, difficult recorded runs! As my runs started increasing in length, I thought it would be time to try a more dedicated watch for sport!
After a bit of reading and checking deals, I went for the Garmin Forerunner 735XT. Not the newest watches on the block, but it provides a good comparison point with Apple.
Since getting the Garmin I went through a period of solely wearing that over my Apple watch. With the release of the Series 7 from Apple I took the plunge and upgraded my 4. That now gives us a good opportunity to compare. An ageing Garmin sport watch vs Apple’s latest smartwatch. Which is best?
Cost
Winner: Garmin
For reference, we can also compare here my Series 4 Apple Watch before upgrading. This one I bought on contract with EE back in October 2018. It was £29 per month for 2 years, taking me to a grand total of £696. Fast forward to 2021 when I bought the Series 7, again on contract with EE. Like the Series 4 which was new at the time, Apple’s latest watch I picked up for £30 per month. On a 2 year contract this is setting me back £720. That is quite a lot of money, but this isn’t just a watch.
I went for the GPS + 4G version, meaning I can leave my phone at home and still receive notifications. It has unlimited data on the watch itself too, which makes life easier! Having bought into the Apple-verse, for me, the price isn’t really a factor. There’s also just a GPS option available, which works the same as long as it’s in range of your phone. It will still record workouts without needing your phone, and these can be picked up now for less than £200.
In comparison, my Garmin was bought online at Wiggle for £200. This came as part of a bundle with a HR-Run chest heart rate monitor. The watch alone currently retails for £300 but shopping around can find it cheaper, as it’s not the latest model. Bundles are a great way of getting Garmin add-ons which, if you’re serious about training, can enhance your metric tracking.
For price alone, if you’re looking to buy one of these just as a sports watch, then the Garmin wins. It definitely trumps a contract that can add up to quite a bit! If you want something a bit more connected to the Apple-verse, and are less concerned by price, then maybe a Series 7 (or older) could be more suitable.
Features – Sports
Winner: Apple?
The Apple watch has it’s own Workouts app which has everything from running, cycling and swimming through to rowing, football, yoga and even martial arts. For the normal run, ride and swim I use Strava to log everything. Unfortunately, the Strava app on the Apple Watch doesn’t support swimming. For that, I use the Workouts app which syncs workouts directly to Strava. With the data package, I can leave my phone at home when I workout. When they connect later, my activity automatically uploads to Strava.
The Garmin is a dedicated multisports watch. All activities can be automatically uploaded to Strava and are really quick to. However, Strava aside, Garmin’s Connect app, which is the central hub for all Garmin activity, is fantastic. It records all of your activities, be it hike, run, swim, ski, cycle or strength workouts, and keeps a calendar of your training. Another great feature with the Garmin is that after each activity, your watch gives you a recommended recovery period in order to ensure you are fit to go the next time out!
In terms of features, the ability to run third party apps on the Apple Watch edges it to victory. Being able to use an app for a workout, which automatically syncs with Health and Workouts, makes Apple more feature-rich. I was surprised at this verdict in the Apple vs Garmin argument though, as Garmin is the dedicated sports watch!
Everything Else
The Apple Watch is a full smartwatch that, as I said earlier, pretty much provides a phone on your wrist. With the data option, if your phones runs out of battery, you can still communicate from your watch. Most of the apps on your phone can also be linked to your watch. This means you can have access to apps such as banking, timers/stopwatches, yoga, headspace and even your music.
Within the Garmin Connect app, you can see your daily stats in depth. This includes calorie expenditure, sleep, steps and all your training metrics such as lactate threshold and VO2 max. When I first started using my Garmin, I was unaware of half the information it recorded! Over time this has been fed into providing great insights and helping my training. Whilst not as compatible with my iPhone as the Apple Watch (unsurprisingly) the Garmin still displays notifications and calls from your phone, when connected via Bluetooth.
To truly compare these two, I took them both out with me for a few different exercises.
Cycling
Winner: Garmin
Being completely honest, there aren’t any major differences in terms of what you get from the watch while cycling. I took them out on a ride and they both recorded the same distance (0.02 mile more on the Garmin). They recorded the same metrics, though on scrutiny in the apps afterwards, the Garmin goes into a little more detail. It records the Aerobic Training Effect and gives you a recommended recovery period afterwards. This helps massively with planning your full training routine.
I also have a Garmin Edge 530, specifically for cycling, and this is even better. I ordered the full performance bundle which comes with added sensors, and it picks up your cadence and more.
But away from bike computers, the two watches are very similar in terms of cycling performance. Garmin just nicks it though on the added training metrics and recovery recommendation.
Walking/Hiking
Winner: Apple/Garmin
This dual winner totally depends on the level of walk/hike you want. I took both watches out on a just over 2 mile walk, so not into hike territory there! Both watches accurately recorded my time and distance (albeit 0.04 miles less on the Garmin) and gave nice little pace updates at each mile.
The differences come in ways similar to that which we’ve seen earlier in this post. If you subscribe to Apple’s new Fitness Plus you have access to this cool feature called Time to Walk. It’s pretty much a podcast with a celebrity or sportsperson. They give a bit of motivational talking (while on a walk themselves) and play a few songs of their choosing. They also ping photos periodically to your watch for what they’re talking about, which really creates a nice way to have a 40 minute walk.
Garmin, on the other hand, doesn’t have the fancy added features. It comes into its own when you start clocking up the miles. For example, I used it for recording a hike up and around Snowdon for last week’s blog post. The battery life, GPS tracking and accuracy really makes the difference! When charging opportunities aren’t readily available, a long day hiking is made easier knowing your watch is unlikely to die!
Running
Winner: Garmin
Like cycling, both look like they record the same metrics on the surface. I didn’t bother taking photos of the watches, as you know what they look like now (see cycling). I took them for a just shy of 5 mile run, which was a little ‘interval’ workout. I’m not at my fittest at the moment, but the weather was nice so I went for 20:00 jog, 2:00 walk, 15:00 jog, 1:30 walk and then a 5:00 fast run to finish. The paces that both watches recorded were pretty much identical. Interestingly enough, the Garmin got to the first mile slightly before the Apple, though they hit mile 2 bang on the same time. By miles 3 and 4, the Garmin had again pipped Apple to it. I’m not sure why that happened, but overall the Garmin picked up a slightly longer distance.
Come the end of the run, the differences of the two watches really came to the front. The first difference, instantly. As I hit ‘end workout’, the Garmin told me straight away my recommended recovery period, which as I mentioned before is really useful for training planning. Going into the app to see the breakdown of the workout, you get such a plethora of information with the Garmin. Your standard metrics are there, such as pace, speed and elevation, but you also get your training effect and running dynamics. Whilst knowing your average cadence may be irrelevant to some, for others it can really help hone your training. You also get graphs to display your information over the duration of the workout. It truly is a sports watch!
In comparison, the Apple workouts app gives you a very basic overview of workout details. You get the same map, pace, elevation, heart rate and cadence, but not to the depths as with the Garmin Connect app.
Overall here, purely due to the enhanced metrics recorded and the slightly greater distance accuracy, the Garmin comes out trumps!
Strength Workout
Winner: Apple
As I mentioned back at the start of this post, a perk of Apple is being able to run third party apps. Seeing as I would normally use GymBook to record my strength training, I thought it only fair to put the comparison in here. Some might argue that I should’ve just used Apple’s workout app, but I want this post to showcase the full capability of both watches!
Garmin records the workout like most others, with the ability for you to add reps/sets through Garmin Connect afterwards. Where the Apple Watch trumps it is through the use of third party apps, as you can record the reps as you go along, with pre-set programmes or even adding more in along the way!
Battery
Winner: Garmin
Finally, I wanted to test out the battery life on both watches. I set them both up so they were fully charged, starting at 10:15am. They both went on to opposite wrists and the test began.
I didn’t record any activity, just so it was as fair as possible. However, when I woke up in the morning, it was clear that the sleep tracking on the Apple takes so much more power than tracking the Garmin!
My original plan was to see them both out to see when each battery dies. Before 2pm the following day (less than 28 hours) the Garmin had hardly taken a dent to its battery. On the other hand, my Apple watch was down to 14%. I called the test here as there wasn’t much point carrying on! A clear winner here, and it’s certainly what I expected!
Out of interest, I left the Garmin beside my bed to see how it faired over another 48 hours. It was still over half charged. Obviously recording activity will drain battery, but it goes to show the sheer gulf in performance here! If I was answering Apple vs Garmin on what you could use away from a charger overnight, there would be no competition!
Verdict
If you go category vs category, the Garmin comes out as the winner, taking 5 crowns compared to Apple’s 3. Surely that answers the Apple vs Garmin debate?
However, if you ignore everything written up to this point, which one to choose totally depends on what you want! If you’re invested in the Apple universe and want something to seamlessly connect in with the rest of your gear, use as an extension of your phone when you’re out and also record a host of workouts, then look into the Apple Watch.
If you want a more dedicated fitness tracker, with longer battery life and a whole host of training metrics, then I highly recommend the Garmin 735XT. Alternatively, Garmin’s higher range products such as the Fenix range, combine the Garmin sport focus with smartwatch connectivity.
If you can, then take both! I now wear my Apple Watch daily and to track sleep with their improved Health App. I then use my Garmin for when I need the longer battery life. For example, on longer runs, hikes and cycling. It’s also useful when I’m tracking more in-depth metrics in training. Whenever that is…