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Epix2 vs Apple Watch 7, is it worth the extra cost?

8489768
over 3 years ago

I’m considering two watches, the Apple Watch Series 7 or the epix 2. I am mainly interested in the fitness aspects for tracking mountain biking (segment split times in strava), hiking and other outdoor sports. Outside of these I need to track weather and general wellness/recovery metrics. I live in the mountains so have a habit of burning out through over-exercise. I’m not too concerned about battery life as I don’t tend to go for more than 6-8 hours at a time and rarely need maps due to my familiarity with the area. 

My main concern is 1) the cost it’s almost twice that of the Apple and 2) the size of the Epix seems quite large and I am more used to smaller watches to wear them 24/7 and 3) the accuracy of OHR seems lacking relative to the two. 

on one hand the epix feels more appropriate for my use cases. But the apple is a lot cheaper and could be backed up with AppleCare in case I break it. 

Appreciate this forum is probably a bit Garmin biased but wondered if other people have gone through a similar decision process. I plan to own the Watch for 2-3 years before upgrading again. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    The AW is not a sports watch at all. I wouldn't consider it to be even competitive with much, much lower end Garmins. The main reason is the physical hardware. It is entirely dependent on the touch screen, which is a disaster during activities. You can do a few things with the physical buttons, but it's not easy.

    You also have to use third party apps for everything on the AW because the native apps are incredibly limited. There are some pretty good third party apps, but it makes the experience more fragmented. Your daily health data ends up in the Apple ecosystem, while your sports are getting pushed to (probably) Strava. With Garmin you have your sports and health data all on Garmin Connect, and the two interact. Your body battery, for instance, reflects your all day heart rate data AND your workouts.

    Also, Garmin has a lot more advanced metrics through Firstbeat. Now, I think there are fair arguments to be made that Firstbeat is a gimmick and that daily health metrics aren't really that important. (In my experience, the people who care the most about these metrics are the tech nerds, not the hardcore athletes.)

    On the other hand, the AW can absolutely do everything you NEED it to do, and it's awfully affordable. The reason I sold my Apple Watch 6 a few months after buying it was that I was actually pretty disappointed in its other functionality. I wanted to listen to audible books (doable on Garmin, but only with workarounds), but it took hours to send a book from my phone to the watch, and it never synced my place reliably, so I was always scanning around to find where I was. I also got the LTE version so I could leave my phone behind, but so many apps aren't programmed to use the watch's own LTE connection; if you aren't connected to the phone, the apps just won't work. Also, there is no way to do livetracking, like you can do with Garmin's LTE implementation. 

    If you're concerned about the price and the size of the Epix, I think the solution is pretty clear: Get a Fenix 6s. It's almost the same watch as the Epix, minus the pretty screen. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to JRMiler

    Got the 7s :) (well, it’s in transit somewhere)

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to JRMiler

    Dear I very much agree to your statements and would like to add some of my observations:
    Yes, AW is not a sports watch, has a too short battery life and the experience with Apps is fragmented. BUT: on all my Fenix watches (3,4,5,6) the base for all calculations was/is wrong. What use is a body battery when heart rate is wrong most of the time. You have a universe of great KPIs which is based on a faulty foundation. Well - yes - if you believe in it you will find a lot of ways to feel that it is correct. But it is not (if you are not using a proper heart rate strap in addition). 
    I tested a lot of Garmin watches versus diverse AW (1, 3, 5, 7)watches and heart-rate straps (and Suunto and Polar watches - yes, I waste a lot of money for buying fitness stuff as I try to find the optimal tool).
    The AW meeasurement of heart rate is so much more correct! 
    In AW there are Apps like: Pillow (great sleep assessment), Athlytic (HRV-based "body battery" - yes not a super "complicated" real body battery - but pretty correllated with your fitness), HealthFit to synchonize...
    Using those is fragmented (like you so nicely stated) but it is much better and more correct than the Garmin Voodoo body battery.
    Still I ordered the Epix 2 as this is a proper watch with a proper size and a much better battery time. Also the "all in one place" is nice.
    I hope that the new sensor is at least "quite" on a level with the AW sensor/software setup. I will test it side by side as soon as the Epix arrives. And also compare the HRV values ...

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I've had a bunch of AW's including 2 tries at the AW7 45mm, but always have Garmins as my primary fitness watches. Currently running a Fenix 5 and a VA3 but licking my chops a bit over the F7/Epix. Bottom line I returned my latest AW7 today because it just doesn't cut it as an enthusiast's fitness watch...don't get me wrong it's an incredible piece of technology, but it needs add-on apps to get the most out of the fitness side, plus it's far more fragile than the Garmin. That and the terrible battery life etc, plus I have years of records hosted at Garmin Connect and data transfer just works. You can save to GC with AW too but again you need aftermarket apps and it's still clunky.

    At the end of the day what most people say is true, you need to decide if you want a great smartwatch that does some fitness (AW), or a great fitness watch that does some smarts (Garmin). I hate wrist notifications so that's easy for me.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to alphasportstv

    Update: Just ordered an Epix today to give it a try, frankly unconvinced it's worth double a Fenix 6 Pro but will give it a shot!

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to DC

    I think my key frustration lies in the very short list of banks that support Garmin Pay in the UK. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to DC

    I just opened a separate current account with Starling Bank and transfer some money across to use with Garmin Pay. I may move my full account to them once I’d used it a bit more. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Fozzee1970

    That's definitely a good work around. Thanks

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to alphasportstv

    It’s definitely not worth double but I still paid it! 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to DC
    DC said:
    the very short list of banks that support Garmin Pay in the UK

    Try finding a bank in New Zealand that supports Garmin Pay!