Apple Watch series 4

So I want to first say I’m not a fanboy of any product.
I’ve been getting frustrated with how bad my 5+ titanium has been on GPS accuracy among other things. So I when out an bought a series 4 Apple Watch (GPS and LTE) and went for a run today. My 5+ was connected to GPS + GLONAS and I had a external heart rate monitor on. I used the default running app on Apple Watch. I went for a little speed run 3.5 miles and I have to say that heart accuracy has fantastic on the AW( it was always within 2 bpm ) and the pace seemed more on par of what I was thinking. When I got home, I looked at the GPS trace route for both and between the two the Apple Watch was more correct, then 5+. The 5+ had me running through houses, cars and about 40 feet away from where I was on some spots. Now they both had their “drunken” moments , but between them both at least on this run the AW was more accurate. This kinda confuses me Garmin is a GPS company and the cost is about $400 more.
One of the only drawbacks so far other than the 2 day battery life is that there isn’t as many metrics ( )as Garmin has, but I don’t really think I need them.
Has anyone here had similar experiences with other devices? I’m just getting tired of how Garmin is handling things. It seems like every time they say “fixed” it reminds me of when Jr developers say “ it works on my computer “
I do have to say that I really like the AW , but find myself still wanting to use the 5+. At least as of now.

0 pennacnp over 6 years ago

I am interested in the AW4, but have yet to purchase one. However, I do own an AW3 and very much agree with your assessment of heart rate accuracy. The AW is way more responsive than my Garmin 5x Plus in keeping up with heart rate changes while only using a wrist based sensor. However, the AW continues to have a fatal flaw - battery life.

0 bluelavender over 6 years ago

I'm not surprised. Even apple watch 3 gps and hrm accuracy beat many sport watches out there. There were gps accuracy tests done (was it by 5k runner blog?) that actually resulted in aw3 accuracy way above any garmin.

But yes.. AW battery and tie-up with ios suck for Android user like me.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

While the AW doesn't have the metrics of Garmin, you can use Strava to capture the data and get the more detailed metrics from their site, or port the data elsewhere. FWIW, I use the AW4 as my 'smart watch', my 935 as my 'sports watch. While there is some crossover, they are better used for what they are best for.

0 RickCain over 6 years ago

I also bought an AW4 with cellular and find the GPS to be much more consistent than my 5+ - AW shows straight lines where the 5+ jumps across the street and either cuts corners or over states them. Heart rate is +/- 1-2 bms which is very good. I fell in love with all the metrics with my 5+ but enjoy listening to music, podcasts and audible books (yes AW has this now) to force me to wear both.

It is too bad the AW4 runs such a closed OS that you can't even change the display while running and provides minimal states post workout. If Apple decided to use Firstbeat for health/fitness metrics all other wearables would be doomed.

0 SoftTouch over 6 years ago

I have used Apple Watch First Gen (Series 0) for the past 3-yrs, the HR is always the same as my Garmin external HRM for nearly all my workouts. Planning on getting AW Series-4 to test her GPS against my current Fenix 5X

0 bjornhellstrom over 6 years ago

I also bought an AW4 with cellular and find the GPS to be much more consistent than my 5+ - AW shows straight lines where the 5+ jumps across the street and either cuts corners or over states them. Heart rate is +/- 1-2 bms which is very good. I fell in love with all the metrics with my 5+ but enjoy listening to music, podcasts and audible books (yes AW has this now) to force me to wear both.

It is too bad the AW4 runs such a closed OS that you can't even change the display while running and provides minimal states post workout. If Apple decided to use Firstbeat for health/fitness metrics all other wearables would be doomed.

Check the Workoutdoors app - http://www.workoutdoors.net/ - it gives you the possibility to configure the activity screens like you want and makes it a closer match to Garmin.

I have both Garmin and Apple watch and have very hard time to chose between them. Apple watch is a better smartwatch but i don’t like the limited battery life and lack of buttons. I also want a screen that is always on - especially when doing laps in the pool.

i guess i will continue to swap between the Fenix and the apple watch.....

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Yep, talking about twice the price, and apart from the GPS (where are those saying "a little device can't be accurate...bla..bla") you buy a 2$ app and have much better sleep tracking...

0 PatrickNSF over 6 years ago

I did a few AW Series 4 comparisons to my Fenix 5+ Ti (before passing the AW along to my spouse) and the AW tracks were generally more consistent with what I’d run, no matter which watch was on which wrist.

Interestingly, the F5+ tracks are better when I run without the AW tracking GPS also, so I wonder if there was some interference going on.

0 Gr4z over 6 years ago

Check the Workoutdoors app - http://www.workoutdoors.net/ - it gives you the possibility to configure the activity screens like you want and makes it a closer match to Garmin.

I have both Garmin and Apple watch and have very hard time to chose between them. Apple watch is a better smartwatch but i don’t like the limited battery life and lack of buttons. I also want a screen that is always on - especially when doing laps in the pool.

i guess i will continue to swap between the Fenix and the apple watch.....

I also bought the Workoutdoors app. It’s brilliant. Customisation overload. Relatively easy to use and a great developer. Battery life is the only drawback of the AW4 otherwise it’s a great piece of kit for an amateur runner.

0 phgerin over 6 years ago

For Yoga, hearth rate tracking with a Fenix 5S plus is just completely wrong. The AppleWatch serie 4 is not perfect but so much better.