For me GPS is a must-have. I want the tracking of my walks/rides.
Looking at the Garmin specs, the two-week battery life is sans-GPS. With GPS enabled the battery life is the same as the Apple Watch.
Looking at the Garmin specs, the two-week battery life is sans-GPS. With GPS enabled the battery life is the same as the Apple Watch.
There are quite a few settings that you can tweak as well, depending on the model of watch. My Descent has most things turned on during the day, but switches most off automatically using a power-save mode configured to match the "sleep" time on my phone. I think if it's set to minimum power usage, it's closer to a couple months. (Estimated battery time is typically shown in the watch face.)
Apple said their GOAL was 18 hours (mixed usage). Good grief.
It really introduced me to a new level of battery anxiety. I'm extremely satisfied with my garmin which lasts a week+ per charge.
Apple Watch lasts hours with active GPS tracking while Garmin will last for a day (or even several days when in so-called Expedition mode).
Nothing from Apple comes close to Garmin's battery life at same usage.
Although the two are not directly comparable of course, when is more of a fitness watch, the other is a general smart watch with fitness functionality.