I went from Garmin to the AW8 last year… to go back last month. Garmin motivates me much more to move and have a better lifestyle (sleep,…). The AW is good for calling (4G version), avoiding passwords on MacBook or certain applications. I also like Maps app, or Citymapper. But it is unable to count and display steps in real time, does not monitor heart rate and HRV continuously. No sleep score, no Body battery follow-up or equivalent. It constantly disturbs me. No mapping (WorkOutDoors does not allow you to record activity with the native application and drains the battery in 4 hours). In short, I like both for different aspects, but since you have to choose it’s Garmin for me (Fenix 7 for training and Venu 3 for the rest of the time). The needs vary according to the lifestyle.

I’ve had both and currently using the AW Ultra. As other have mentioned, garmin excels in fitness tracking but Apple is very close.

Where Apple falls short compared to Garmin is battery life. Most of apples battery life is consumed by the display (which is fantastic), background apps and connectivity.

Personally, the trade of shorter battery life for conveniences such as; calls/texting, Siri, music etc etc is worth it to me. If you are a long distance runner or anything where extended fitness/gps tracking without being able to recharge is important, then Garmin is the way to go. If you do routine workouts and are able to charge your watch daily then Apple is a very good option.

We moved from the VivioActive 4/Ss to the AWs. My wife got the 8 in SS and I got the Ultra. For us, it was like B/W to Color. So much more utility in the AWs. We both had/have iPhones so the integration is better. Also, we really appreciated being to use our AWs like phones - answer calls, answer texts, etc. So many useful features. We’re sold and you’ll never go back.

If you’re super active, the AW Ultra is awesome. For me, as I get older my vision is getting worse so the bigger 49mm screen is sooooooo helpful.

I moved from Garmin back in June from a Garmin Venu 2, to my now AWU1. I’m loving it.

One thing I missed was the incredible accuracy of the Apple Watch’s sensors. The heart rate accuracy is 2nd to none. In addition, Garmin Connect does take the cake with how well all stats are laid out, but Apple Health can offer a similar set of data, but you may need to purchase an app such as Athlytic for recovery metrics and such.

If you want to have some exercise information and goals and to see if you’re on track for steps and exercise and HRV and other trends, purchase HeartWatch. It can also monitor your HR every 5 seconds. That isn’t as detailed as Garmin watches, as theirs is every 1 seconds, but it’s close nonetheless to see a trend.

My battery lasts 3 days, typically, depending on how much I exercise. But it charges quickly. The sleep tracking is significantly better than garmin’s as well.

WorkOutDoors is going to be your best friend. It has killer maps, incredibly smooth with no lag, and can be deeply customized.

I’m actually of the opinion that I dislike when folks say apple is a good smartwatch with some fitness features. It has a ton of fitness features that’s up there with Garmin; it’s just the lack of organization of where everything is and sometimes needing to buy an extra app.

I made the move when I was gifted an Apple Watch after using every single Garmin on the Fenix series since the 2 until the 6 Pro. I only switched because I wanted the new shinny thing, but those watches were tanks, everything actually worked

I’ve got say I do miss my Fenix, the simplicity and elegance of everything on the watch, plus it looked much better, however what keeps on the Apple Watch is 2 things, the added features and the how light it is, I have the 41mm and it is so light that I almost forget I’m wearing it whilst the Fenix you knew you were wearing it, all of the tech features (specially on the cellular version) are hard to not like, but I have to Garmin was A LOT more intuitive to use than the AW, the UI just made sense and you could even use it without looking, you could map the buttons in your mind, with AW you have to pay attention, it is like a small iPhone.

I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and an epix Pro Gen 2. So both top-of-the-line offerings from each company.

I would definitely have a concrete list of things you want from the Apple Watch so you’re not disappointed. The things I appreciate about my Apple Watch that the Garmin absolutely cannot do:

• Cellular connectivity
• Siri
• Texting and calling
• Lock my front door with a touch
• Loud noise detection
• Standalone Audible app
• Apple Music

But a lot of what I use the Apple Watch for I can easily do on the Garmin: check weather, look at notifications and dismiss them, and look at my calendar.

The Apple Watch drives me nuts because the ability to monitor my training is really limited on the watch. You need the iPhone for lots of stuff: checking HRV, analyzing previous activities, etc.

Both watches can be great training aids, with an edge to the Garmin for being more cohesive and allowing more on-device sports/training functionality. Both are great smartwatches, too, with a big edge to the Apple Watch. If I had to keep only one, it would probably be the Garmin as I can live without the smart features listed above. But they’re nice to have.

I’m struggling with this very thing right now.
I have an AW8 and I just got an Epix Pro 2. Apple watch is thinner and lighter which makes it great to wear and sleep with. But battery life is terrible compared to my 42mm epix. AW has some modern conveniences that are nice but not deal breakers for me.

Sleep: Garmin is garbage. Deep and REM are tough, I get that but garmin can’t even get awake times right. If I wake up at 3am and am awake for an hour my AW nails that but garmin thinks I’m in rem or light sleep. Garmin also will still think I’m sleeping even after I turn on sleep mode and am out having coffee on the couch. AW never does this. Considering garmin gives a “score” for quality of sleep and it can’t accurately measure that is a bit questionable. That score goes in to training readiness so it really makes me question it’s accuracy there.
AW seems spot on in sleep.

Stress: This is actually really nice on garmin and seems very accurate. Apple does not have this natively but third party apps can bring this somewhat.

Garmin looks so much better though. Looks like a normal watch and I made a custom Starfield watchface which I love. AW can’t even compare in that. Every AW face I have I always wish I could tweak or take an element from another face and use it but youre stuck with apples way or the highway.

If you go apple check out Superset Health. Launches early next year and is in beta now. https://www.supersethealth.com/?ref_id=EJ58S0ZTV

I use an Apple Watch all day, and a Garmin device (in addition to the Apple Watch) to track all my workouts. Generally I use an Apple Watch as my smartwatch and main health and fitness tracker, and a Garmin device as my main workout and performance tracker. I choose this devices because I think that each one is the best in its category.

1. No body battery I have third-party apps, but they are not the real substitute.
2. I forgot how seamless it was that Garmin watch already includes all Garmin bells and whistles. You have to download or purchase their apps to get the most out of the Apple Watch.
3. I used to see my stress levels in the Garmin and I had to purchase a yearly subscription to try and mimic this on the Apple Watch.

I made the switch a year and a half ago. I’ve been using Garmin since the forerunner 101. I use Apple to track everything but long runs and skiing when I put my Fenix on.

As I’m sure you’ve heard it comes down to this: Apple does all the smart stuff and daily stuff better. Workout tech at this point is pretty good. Garmin does the workouts way better but lacks real smart capabilities. I wanted the ability to leave my phone at home and run while being reachable and I wanted easy music connection to Apple Music.

Everything you’ve heard about Apple Watch battery is true. It’s lame. After 18 months on my series 7 the battery is at 83%. If you do the Apple Watch get the ultra. Constantly charging the aw is a drag.

If you are a runner, I can’t imagine going from garmin to Apple Watch. Software stuff aside, buttons are superior, apples wheel is PITA to use while running, even changing music volume is a chore.

But if you don’t run, then Apple Watch is better

I had garmin watches and still using Garmin (Edge, cycling computers) along my Apple Watch Ultra.

For you combining from Garmin, what you will miss is the out of the box data analysis which Garmin Connect does. It’s not a matter of data, data is there, only the Apple health app is mysterious.

I would suggest picking up some third party apps such as

Athlytic (https://www.athlyticapp.com/) Heart Analyser (https://9to5mac.com/2023/04/18/heart-analyzer-apple-watch-iphone/)

That being said, the Apple Watch is galaxies above Garmin in nearly all aspects… especially apps, usability, integration, the list is endless.

Personally, I would say if you’re not hiking away for weeks with no access to power and really needing your watch, or a triathlete, go directly to Apple Watch.

Tracking workouts on Ultra is a failure imo. Ergonomy sucks. I need to constantly think about workarounds to avoid accidental button press. Wristbands and additional Spigen case helps, but it happens quite often. It’s so annoing that I’m thinking to keep my Epix 2 along with Ultra.

I still use Garmin Connect with my AWU. I track my walks/runs with WorkOutDoors and then use RunGap to upload it to Garmin. I have some of the other apps mentioned too.

I came from Garmin and the Apple Watch is great. The workout tracking is excellent and unless you’re a serious athlete or training for a triathlon, it gives you more than enough data with the built in workout app, and you can also use third party apps like Strava or WorkOutDoors (or use HealthFit to sync)

I never really used the Body Battery or the stress monitoring, both of which I found somewhat gimmicky and I was sceptical of the science behind them (especially the body battery).

And of course the non-fitness smart watch features are no comparison, Apple Watch by a mile

Battery life took some getting used to but you can get into a routine to charge it every day and it’s fine. In some ways better than having to keep track of the battery to decide when to charge it