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 Michalis over 6 years ago

I own a Fenix 5. Although the Apple Watch intrigues me incredibly, a watch that you can barely run a full marathon without the battery dying is not a sport watch by any means.

0 Gr4z over 6 years ago

I think you will find the AW4 has a much improved battery life compared to previous generations.

0 jim_m_58 over 6 years ago

Even if they improved it with the aw4, it's still nowhere close to a Garmin.

0 Seren over 6 years ago

Garmin need to be careful though. Apple have closed the gap significantly. If they wanted to they could add a Trans screen, better battery and more metrics and still be half the price of a F5+. Hell, they could give a million units away for free to sink the competition.

re GPS accuracy, agree difficult to establish level of post processing but some of the comments about phone assist on here are silly..who runs with both phone and watch on them ?

0 Gr4z over 6 years ago

It’s also worth noting the HR sensor on the AW4 seems to be more accurate. Just watch some of the reviews from DesFit or TechyAgent on YouTube.

Agreed Apple is closing the gap fast. Garmin need to be aware.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

The competition s always closing. No doubt that is why Garmin releases, updates and innovates products. But then s do Apple, Suunto, Polar, Wahoo et al. Battery life of the AW4 is sufficient for some, but not for mw. That said, I have an AW4 for every day use and use my Garmin for training/racing. The watch that can do both has, IMVHO, not yet appeared on the market.

Garmin - please fix this bulletin board!

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Try working with the touchscreen of the Apple Watch when in water or rain. Also it's only rated "water resistant", not "water proof" - and 50m ("suitable for shallow water activities") instead of 100m ("suitable for diving into water, snorkeling, high-speed watersports").

0 PatrickNSF over 6 years ago

I switch back and forth between the two and that works for me for now.

I mostly wear the Fenix for running and cycling, and wear the AW as my daily watch and to track what little strength training I do. I sometimes use the AW for easy runs because the optical heart rate monitor appears to be more accurate than my Fenix.

Even when I run or race with the Fenix, I take the AW and use it as an iPod nano with LTE just so I can leave my phone behind. That worked great for me for last weekend’s marathon.

0 djwalker1260 over 6 years ago

I HAD the AW3. Big negatives for me- terrible battery life and no bezel. Charging every day for a watch is not for me. Biggest problem for me is NO bezel. The glass is exposed. That's why I HAD a AW3- I accidentally scraped my arm against the corner of the wall. Cracked the glass. The $279 replacement was not for me. So I threw it in the trash. Now I won't buy a watch without a bezel. I may get a couple of scratches on the bezel but I won't ruin the watch. Yes, you can get a protector for the AW but then it looks ugly and the battery life still stinks.

0 HeliosJim over 6 years ago

Not with the default Activity app. You either have to use Stryd app or some 3rd party app that supports it, like iSmoothRun.

But this is also true with the Fenix, right?