Garmin takes on Apple Watch with OLED-based Venu, Marvel wearables

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 29
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    gatorguy said:
    Anyone else ready for a round Apple Watch?
    No way. Why would I want to give up usable screen area? My watch is for rendering data, not a shell for the swinging arms of a mechanical clock. 
    You don't have to buy the round one if they make it. Just continue with the square. Choices are OK. 
    Except if it's a choice that someone else besides Apple comes up with. Then it's just stupid. Until Apple makes it, then it's brilliant. 
    macguiCarnage
  • Reply 22 of 29
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    Anyone else ready for a round Apple Watch?
    I am. I like the elegance of a rectangular shape, but unless you get an Hermès version, there are no elegant watch faces for the proletariat. We're left to eat cake.

    There are so many round smartwatches already that Apple may never give us one until they can put some kind of uber spin on it. But I sure wish they'd give us one.
  • Reply 23 of 29
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Lol. I thought it said these were made to compete? At virtually the same price as the Apple Watch, what’s the benefit? I don’t see it doing anything to differentiate itself really unless you’re a total fitness nut.

    You must not be paying very close attention. These are stainless steel. The Apple Watch in stainless steel starts at $700. For the same build materials these are much cheaper.
  • Reply 24 of 29
    I'm surprised by this.   Garmin has always targeted serious exercisers / athletes rather than general purpose smart watches.  And, as such, they have been consistently valued by those athletes as superior to the Apple Watch -- and that superiority rested on three main things:
    -- Better software for tracking exercise
    -- Active buttons that are (easily) used to control the exercise trackers -- say to start and stop it during track workouts
    -- Superior battery life -- mostly due to not having to deal with the power requirements of an OLED display.

    And, one of the main complaints by those serious athletes against the Apple watch has been that it's battery can't last through a long race such as a 4 hour marathon.

    Garmin is claiming 6 hours -- but I wonder how they got there with an OLED display?   Could it be the 1/2" thick watch let them drop a bigger battery in?

    It will be interesting to see where they are going with this:   Is it meant as a general addition to their line of exercise trackers or are they trying to break into the generalized smart watch market?   Either way, it is likely to be mostly a niche product, but nevertheless, a worthy and capable competitor.
  • Reply 25 of 29
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    I'm surprised by this.   Garmin has always targeted serious exercisers / athletes rather than general purpose smart watches.  And, as such, they have been consistently valued by those athletes as superior to the Apple Watch -- and that superiority rested on three main things:
    -- Better software for tracking exercise
    -- Active buttons that are (easily) used to control the exercise trackers -- say to start and stop it during track workouts
    -- Superior battery life -- mostly due to not having to deal with the power requirements of an OLED display.

    And, one of the main complaints by those serious athletes against the Apple watch has been that it's battery can't last through a long race such as a 4 hour marathon.

    Garmin is claiming 6 hours -- but I wonder how they got there with an OLED display?   Could it be the 1/2" thick watch let them drop a bigger battery in?

    It will be interesting to see where they are going with this:   Is it meant as a general addition to their line of exercise trackers or are they trying to break into the generalized smart watch market?   Either way, it is likely to be mostly a niche product, but nevertheless, a worthy and capable competitor.
    Garmin still is targeting serious athletes both with this watch and their other lines. You note a few points. I'll address them and add others.

    Better software...here is just a few of the items added via software to this watch that will be a continuation of the Vivoactive 3 line and with also be shared with Vivoactive 4 lines which is also launched at the same time as this watch but without the OLED screen.

    – Added hydration tracking to manually track liquid intake with widget and app
    – Added Estimated Sweat Loss post-workout
    – Added Respiration Rate for all-day and sleep metrics (and certain workout types)
    – Added Breathwork Exercises (way different than simple breathing stress features)
    – Added Workout Animation functionality: For Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Pilates
    – Added new Yoga and Pilates Built-in workouts: Includes step by step animations
    – Added ability to design Yoga workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step pose animations
    – Added ability to design Pilates workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step animations
    – Added PulseOx for 24×7 blood oxygen tracking
    – Revamped health stat widget akin to latest Fenix/Forerunner models

    That is on top of all the regular sports it tracks and all of this also works via the Garmin Connect website and app on your iPhone.

    Active Buttons...while it comes with a touch screen it also has two hardware buttons. Top right allows you to start and stop an activity and bottom right is the lap button. The chief complaint on the Apple Watch is there is no easy way to hit a lap button or advance training, etc during an activity.

    Superior Battery Life.....Garmin has added music but it seems to really hurt their battery life. If you just use GPS tracking then you get 20 hours of tracking. So it will be able to get through that marathon just fine.

    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 26 of 29
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    trumptman said:
    I'm surprised by this.   Garmin has always targeted serious exercisers / athletes rather than general purpose smart watches.  And, as such, they have been consistently valued by those athletes as superior to the Apple Watch -- and that superiority rested on three main things:
    -- Better software for tracking exercise
    -- Active buttons that are (easily) used to control the exercise trackers -- say to start and stop it during track workouts
    -- Superior battery life -- mostly due to not having to deal with the power requirements of an OLED display.

    And, one of the main complaints by those serious athletes against the Apple watch has been that it's battery can't last through a long race such as a 4 hour marathon.

    Garmin is claiming 6 hours -- but I wonder how they got there with an OLED display?   Could it be the 1/2" thick watch let them drop a bigger battery in?

    It will be interesting to see where they are going with this:   Is it meant as a general addition to their line of exercise trackers or are they trying to break into the generalized smart watch market?   Either way, it is likely to be mostly a niche product, but nevertheless, a worthy and capable competitor.
    Garmin still is targeting serious athletes both with this watch and their other lines. You note a few points. I'll address them and add others.

    Better software...here is just a few of the items added via software to this watch that will be a continuation of the Vivoactive 3 line and with also be shared with Vivoactive 4 lines which is also launched at the same time as this watch but without the OLED screen.

    – Added hydration tracking to manually track liquid intake with widget and app
    – Added Estimated Sweat Loss post-workout
    – Added Respiration Rate for all-day and sleep metrics (and certain workout types)
    – Added Breathwork Exercises (way different than simple breathing stress features)
    – Added Workout Animation functionality: For Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Pilates
    – Added new Yoga and Pilates Built-in workouts: Includes step by step animations
    – Added ability to design Yoga workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step pose animations
    – Added ability to design Pilates workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step animations
    – Added PulseOx for 24×7 blood oxygen tracking
    – Revamped health stat widget akin to latest Fenix/Forerunner models

    That is on top of all the regular sports it tracks and all of this also works via the Garmin Connect website and app on your iPhone.

    Active Buttons...while it comes with a touch screen it also has two hardware buttons. Top right allows you to start and stop an activity and bottom right is the lap button. The chief complaint on the Apple Watch is there is no easy way to hit a lap button or advance training, etc during an activity.

    Superior Battery Life.....Garmin has added music but it seems to really hurt their battery life. If you just use GPS tracking then you get 20 hours of tracking. So it will be able to get through that marathon just fine.

    Excellent summary!
    What bothers me is that, except for the battery life and (possibly) the buttons, Apple could and, in my opinion, should be doing all of that.   Instead, they provide a very nice but very basic exercise tracker.   Then for the most part, it is up to you to find a more fully functional app if you want more.   For myself, I use iCardio for its heart rate analysis -- which is almost totally lacking in the Apple Watch and the Health App.

    It seems to me that Apple has relied too much on medical personnel who really do not understand serious exercise.   They tend to be more focused on the "150 minutes of moderate exercise each week" mantra.
    edited September 2019
  • Reply 27 of 29
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    trumptman said:
    I'm surprised by this.   Garmin has always targeted serious exercisers / athletes rather than general purpose smart watches.  And, as such, they have been consistently valued by those athletes as superior to the Apple Watch -- and that superiority rested on three main things:
    -- Better software for tracking exercise
    -- Active buttons that are (easily) used to control the exercise trackers -- say to start and stop it during track workouts
    -- Superior battery life -- mostly due to not having to deal with the power requirements of an OLED display.

    And, one of the main complaints by those serious athletes against the Apple watch has been that it's battery can't last through a long race such as a 4 hour marathon.

    Garmin is claiming 6 hours -- but I wonder how they got there with an OLED display?   Could it be the 1/2" thick watch let them drop a bigger battery in?

    It will be interesting to see where they are going with this:   Is it meant as a general addition to their line of exercise trackers or are they trying to break into the generalized smart watch market?   Either way, it is likely to be mostly a niche product, but nevertheless, a worthy and capable competitor.
    Garmin still is targeting serious athletes both with this watch and their other lines. You note a few points. I'll address them and add others.

    Better software...here is just a few of the items added via software to this watch that will be a continuation of the Vivoactive 3 line and with also be shared with Vivoactive 4 lines which is also launched at the same time as this watch but without the OLED screen.

    – Added hydration tracking to manually track liquid intake with widget and app
    – Added Estimated Sweat Loss post-workout
    – Added Respiration Rate for all-day and sleep metrics (and certain workout types)
    – Added Breathwork Exercises (way different than simple breathing stress features)
    – Added Workout Animation functionality: For Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Pilates
    – Added new Yoga and Pilates Built-in workouts: Includes step by step animations
    – Added ability to design Yoga workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step pose animations
    – Added ability to design Pilates workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step animations
    – Added PulseOx for 24×7 blood oxygen tracking
    – Revamped health stat widget akin to latest Fenix/Forerunner models

    That is on top of all the regular sports it tracks and all of this also works via the Garmin Connect website and app on your iPhone.

    Active Buttons...while it comes with a touch screen it also has two hardware buttons. Top right allows you to start and stop an activity and bottom right is the lap button. The chief complaint on the Apple Watch is there is no easy way to hit a lap button or advance training, etc during an activity.

    Superior Battery Life.....Garmin has added music but it seems to really hurt their battery life. If you just use GPS tracking then you get 20 hours of tracking. So it will be able to get through that marathon just fine.

    Excellent summary!
    What bothers me is that, except for the battery life and (possibly) the buttons, Apple could and, in my opinion, should be doing all of that.   Instead, they provide a very nice but very basic exercise tracker.   Then for the most part, it is up to you to find a more fully functional app if you want more.   For myself, I use iCardio for its heart rate analysis -- which is almost totally lacking in the Apple Watch and the Health App.

    It seems to me that Apple has relied too much on medical personnel who really do not understand serious exercise.   They tend to be more focused on the "150 minutes of moderate exercise each week" mantra.

    Thanks. I stole a chunk of it from DCRainmaker but also would love to give Apple my money here as I have in so many other areas. The only areas where Apple gets beat for me is watches (Garmin) and books (Amazon Kindle). I haven't subscribed to any services yet. I need Apple to organize all the workout and fitness info into something as good as Garmin Connect and likewise fix sleep tracking, battery life, etc. They have some leads in cellular connectivity, etc that they haven't exploited well enough. Other leads they are letting slip in the quest to get people to buy services. It should still be pretty fast and easy to put podcasts and locally stored music onto the Apple Watch. Right now it feels like a kludge. 
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 28 of 29
    trumptman said:
    trumptman said:
    I'm surprised by this.   Garmin has always targeted serious exercisers / athletes rather than general purpose smart watches.  And, as such, they have been consistently valued by those athletes as superior to the Apple Watch -- and that superiority rested on three main things:
    -- Better software for tracking exercise
    -- Active buttons that are (easily) used to control the exercise trackers -- say to start and stop it during track workouts
    -- Superior battery life -- mostly due to not having to deal with the power requirements of an OLED display.

    And, one of the main complaints by those serious athletes against the Apple watch has been that it's battery can't last through a long race such as a 4 hour marathon.

    Garmin is claiming 6 hours -- but I wonder how they got there with an OLED display?   Could it be the 1/2" thick watch let them drop a bigger battery in?

    It will be interesting to see where they are going with this:   Is it meant as a general addition to their line of exercise trackers or are they trying to break into the generalized smart watch market?   Either way, it is likely to be mostly a niche product, but nevertheless, a worthy and capable competitor.
    Garmin still is targeting serious athletes both with this watch and their other lines. You note a few points. I'll address them and add others.

    Better software...here is just a few of the items added via software to this watch that will be a continuation of the Vivoactive 3 line and with also be shared with Vivoactive 4 lines which is also launched at the same time as this watch but without the OLED screen.

    – Added hydration tracking to manually track liquid intake with widget and app
    – Added Estimated Sweat Loss post-workout
    – Added Respiration Rate for all-day and sleep metrics (and certain workout types)
    – Added Breathwork Exercises (way different than simple breathing stress features)
    – Added Workout Animation functionality: For Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Pilates
    – Added new Yoga and Pilates Built-in workouts: Includes step by step animations
    – Added ability to design Yoga workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step pose animations
    – Added ability to design Pilates workouts in Garmin Connect: Complete with step by step animations
    – Added PulseOx for 24×7 blood oxygen tracking
    – Revamped health stat widget akin to latest Fenix/Forerunner models

    That is on top of all the regular sports it tracks and all of this also works via the Garmin Connect website and app on your iPhone.

    Active Buttons...while it comes with a touch screen it also has two hardware buttons. Top right allows you to start and stop an activity and bottom right is the lap button. The chief complaint on the Apple Watch is there is no easy way to hit a lap button or advance training, etc during an activity.

    Superior Battery Life.....Garmin has added music but it seems to really hurt their battery life. If you just use GPS tracking then you get 20 hours of tracking. So it will be able to get through that marathon just fine.

    Excellent summary!
    What bothers me is that, except for the battery life and (possibly) the buttons, Apple could and, in my opinion, should be doing all of that.   Instead, they provide a very nice but very basic exercise tracker.   Then for the most part, it is up to you to find a more fully functional app if you want more.   For myself, I use iCardio for its heart rate analysis -- which is almost totally lacking in the Apple Watch and the Health App.

    It seems to me that Apple has relied too much on medical personnel who really do not understand serious exercise.   They tend to be more focused on the "150 minutes of moderate exercise each week" mantra.

    Thanks. I stole a chunk of it from DCRainmaker but also would love to give Apple my money here as I have in so many other areas. The only areas where Apple gets beat for me is watches (Garmin) and books (Amazon Kindle). I haven't subscribed to any services yet. I need Apple to organize all the workout and fitness info into something as good as Garmin Connect and likewise fix sleep tracking, battery life, etc. They have some leads in cellular connectivity, etc that they haven't exploited well enough. Other leads they are letting slip in the quest to get people to buy services. It should still be pretty fast and easy to put podcasts and locally stored music onto the Apple Watch. Right now it feels like a kludge. 
    Most runners I know share your opinion.   In fact, I am one of a very few who use an Apple Watch.   For me, the other stuff it does compensates for its lack of exercise tracking abilities -- and using a 3rd party app I get what I need.
    trumptman
  • Reply 29 of 29
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    Lol. I thought it said these were made to compete? At virtually the same price as the Apple Watch, what’s the benefit? I don’t see it doing anything to differentiate itself really unless you’re a total fitness nut.
    Always on display, battery life, physical buttons, round face, OS agnostic. You don't need to be a total fitness nut to buy Garmin, perhaps just slightly more interested in fitness than casual level.

    That didn't age well....
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