Smartwatch Capabilities of Apple Watch Ultra vs Garmin

Question

What is the comparison of the smartwatch functions between the Apple Watch Ultra and the Garmin watch?

Answer 1

There’s no doubt that the Garmin watch can perform certain smart functions gained to it from its GPS, but it simply does not feel the same as the seamless integration of the Apple watch. The Apple watch has far more smart capabilities including Apple Pay, LTE service, and Siri that can function offline. Many people consider the Apple watch to be an obvious choice by comparison to the Garmin watch explaining that the features like Calendar and Weather are only basic with no opportunities for expansion.

Comments

Great content as always! I was a Garmin guy after Fitbit and I truly miss the Garmin as an everyday watch. However, I started wearing hearing aids a little over a year ago and they are MFI and the app that I can control them with is on my iPhone. I bought an AWU to remotely control them w/o having to reach into my pocket 5 times a day. Garmin does not play nice with Apple…

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I also have both and mainly use my Garmin Forerunner 965 80% of the time. Like someone stated when i have my Garmin on i know i cant respond to texts but can see them and that's good for me. but on t he other side with the apple watch its just so convenient to do things. for me id say Garmin.

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The routing on the Garmin seems pretty awesome, as it should be.  But the rest seems obsessive. I like that my Apple Watch does All Trails and pays for things, changes my music, and I can answer my texts.  So I guess I’m more the everyday life guy, who likes that it works while I hike, too.

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Garmin all the way, best sport watch ever. I disabled all the smart notifications because they are annoying as f.

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I love your content Hiking guy. But to those that seem to think Garmin users want their Garmin to be more like Apple, you really need to stop! Only Apple lovers want their Garmin to work like an Apple which would be inferior. I use both a Pixel for personal use and an iPhone for work, plus I'm tech support for my wife's Apple watch, so I'm intimately familiar with these ecosystems. The thought of my Garmin watch becoming something akin to Apple is not a happy thought.

Plus Garmin Connect is light years ahead of Apple Health. You need 3rd party apps on the Apple to get close. Also forget about golf on your AW as it's a garbage user experience requiring a 3rd party app, whereas all the courses are built right into the Garmin with nothing to download or buy.