this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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Garmin watches look amazing. I just wish they had more smartwatch capabilities. I'd love complications on the watch face, and I feel like I should be able to start the assistant with a hotword.
I'm not sure if the Google Watch can do the latter.
On the other side of things. I'm super happy that garmin watches don't have more smartwatch capabilities. Their laser focus on sports wearable is what keeps them massively competitive there and keeps me on weeks of battery life instead of hours of battery life
I totally understand that. They look perfect for their target market.
As far as I know, they're the only wearable that does realtime stroke/length tracking for swimming, which is really cool. If I was more serious about exercise, that'd be the perfect ~~excuse~~ reason to buy one.
That’s exactly why I have my Garmin Descent.
It’s a dive computer, with basic smart watch features like notifications and general health tracking which are the only ones I need.
I happily paid 1k for it.
I've got an OG Garmin vivoactive. Besides the naming bullshit of this being vivoactive and there now being a "vivoactive 1", it's great. It's a sidegrade to thebpebble, which I never thought I'd find. So now I just swap between this and the pebble when the mood suits me.
Love Garmin smartwatches.
I've been wondering what to get when my beloved Pebble dies. Good to know!
Check out the pebble communities online though, even the subreddit. There's new batteries you can get, and guides to repair. Barring that, there's always someone looking for even dead pebbles.
I'm leaning this direction because I don't really use any smart features in my watch. Just my fitness shit.
Any recommendations on Garmin watches for a guy who likes to bike/bike but not crazy sports level enthusiast?
Whichever one you like the look of and is cheap. Garmin watches are just divided into styling and features. If you don't need specific features you can just get the cheapest one that fits your styling.
I started out with a vivomove because I liked the hybrid look (real watch hands) and only needed basic health stuff. Did notifications which is all I really care about for smart stuff.
There's plenty of watch faces with cool shit on them in the store, same as with Google
And having had watches that do respond to "hey Google" they were super iffy and inconsistent. Buttons are easier to avoid frustration, which the Garmin has.
As far as "smartwatch capabilities" I haven't missed anything from my Wear watch. I certainly don't miss charging it every day or having it die by 5pm because I actually used it
I'm charging my Garmin this morning. Haven't charged it since Sunday.. a week ago Sunday
Buttons on smart watches are a must. I really appreciated them on my Pebble.
The Venu has 3. Forerunner 5. I use both (buttons and screens, not both devices)
What kind of smart watch doesn't have complications? Does it at least have sleep tracking?
Fitbits. AFAIU, Garmins don't.
My Garmin most certainly has sleep tracking
I was referring to complications.
I'm lost - what is a complication? From my initial Google, it does seem like my Garmin can add additional things to the face but I'm still kind of unclear as to what a complication is. For reference I have heart rate, step count, mileage, body battery and weather on my vivoactive3 face.
From https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.google/products/wear-os/5-ways-to-personalize/amp/
Basically, I'd like to know if I have unread messages by looking at my watch. My Fitbit can't do that. AFAIU, Garmins can't, but I could be wrong.
They should be customizable by third party developers, but I think I'd be happy just knowing about SMS, Gmail, and maybe upcoming appointments.
EDIT: also the high/low temperature for the day. It's helpful for choosing kids clothes for the day.
I'm confident that mail and sms show up as the notification icon, but they're bundled so they all look like one "notification" on the watch face. Not sure on the calendar side - I specifically block a bunch of app pushes to my watch because my phone is mostly a distraction when I work, so I don't like my watch buzzing for every little thing.
I do get high/low temp on the face, which is very handy. Plus it's always on (LCD, not OLED) - not as pretty as some, but 5 plus day battery life.
That's awesome! I'll have to take a look!
The temperature thing would be so handy.
Garmin has all that.
Maybe for something like a notification you can just see how many there are and tap into it to see different types. But they're there
Having the battery last about 10x longer makes that minor inconvenience worth it
Thanks for the clarification. your response was ambiguous given the opposing questions in the former comment