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Comment by discomrobertul8 | Hacker News Reader

> Software teams at apple really need to get their act together.

WatchOS 26 has rendered my Apple Watch almost useless. It's gone from lasting a whole day including 2 cycling 'workouts' for my commute and the occasional lunch time run (or gym session before work) to now being at 40% battery by the time I make my mid-morning coffee and dead before I get home.

I don't use most of the 'smart' features anyway - I'm mostly using the fitness features - so I'll probably switch to a Garmin at some point.

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> I don't use most of the 'smart' features anyway - I'm mostly using the fitness features - so I'll probably switch to a Garmin at some point.

If that's your use case, I can absolutely recommend getting one. I have a Forerunner 745 and it works great for workouts alongside some smart functions like NFC payments, quick-replies to texts, etc. The battery lasts for days as well, which you can't really beat.

> The battery lasts for days as well, which you can't really beat.

The Garmin Instinct 2X's (and 3) battery lasts for 40 days in smartwatch mode, not counting the solar charging.

The Instinct is an "outdoor watch" with a monochrome display, but it has most features the Forerunners have.

Also it has a proper builtin flashlight which is surprisingly useful. Amazing watch, especially if you get a comfortable aftermarket strap e.g. from Hemsut.

Dropping in to add that the Venu 4 is an amazing watch as well. Battery says it'll last 14 days. With Pulse Ox enabled at Sleep, it drops to 11, but I'm happy with the tradeoff. Workouts like running for half an hour drop it even more, but comparing it to an Apple Watch, it's no match. It has a flashlight as well and looks like a normal smartwatch instead of rugged. All in all, if you care more about health features rather than watch<->phone connectivity, a Garmin is worth it.

For the sake of completeness, I would also mention:

- Suunto (20 to 30 days in smartwatch mode for the Verticals, optional solar charging, flashlight on the Vertical 2)

- Coros (2 to 3 weeks depending on the model), no flashlight

- Withings (30 days, looks like a regular watch)

Coros is good for how long they support their watches, and the fact that they don't restrict features in lesser models. Suunto is great for route planning. Polar is renowned for its training metrics (sleep, recovery etc.) but only fetches a week in smartwatch mode.

Have you tried restarting your watch? I noticed heavily increased battery drain after the update too, until I restarted the watch and everything turned normal again.

If you want to try something cheap, try the Amazfit BIP 6 watch. It costs around 1/4 of Apple watch, has most but not all of the same sensors (can't do ECG). It has far too many configuration options for my taste, but it does mean you can make it look like Apple like with Apple watch like battery life or configure it to last well over 3 weeks on a single charge. TL;DR: software is kinda clunky, but the hardware works well, and it's focus is on fitness.

I'll echo this, I've been buying these for my wife since the original Bip, and the battery life alone is more than worth it. She wears hers nearly daily.

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