💾 Archived View for finn.lesueur.nz › posts › exit-interview-apple-watch-series-2 › index.gmi captured on 2023-07-22 at 16:35:27. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-06-14)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Welcome to my Gemini capsule. I am a Science and Physics teacher from Christchurch, New Zealand who writes code in his spare time, but would really rather be outside doing almost any type of sport! 🏔 🏃♂️ 🎿 🛶 🚴♂️ 🧗 🧘♂️
Prior to buying the Apple Watch I had not really worn a watch daily for a long time, so it was quite the revelation. Being able to control my music, podcasts, see the weather, record sport activities, and see my calendar events was quite amazing. I used the watch daily for almost everything, including hitting the shutter button for my phone camera (cool!).
In 2019 I signed up for Coast to Coast, a multisport event that takes you 243km across New Zealand, and eagerly started training. This is where the Apple Watch fell down for me.
1. The battery life was abysmal. It would barely get through one day, let alone if I went for a 2hr run! I would end up charging it twice a day, at least.
2. The HR monitoring wasn't the most accurate. This was important because I did most of my training via HR zones.
3. The GPS wasn't very reliable. When I looked at the GPS tracks later they were often zig-zagy and would occasionally lose connection for a period of time.
4. The casing and screen weren't the most resiliant and would easy scratch.
The race was going to take me at least 14hrs and I was doing 10hrs+ training a week, so I started to look around. In end the the Garmin Fēnix 6 won me over with its 30hrs+ GPS recording battery life, and well-renowned durability and solid HR monitor.
I have definitely missed the smartwatch features in the intervening three years, but I have been ultimately pleased with the Garmin.
---------------