Currently have an old Apple Watch. Maybe like 3 or 4… battery life is making it nearly unusable.

Don't really use it for anything other than tracking fitness, so was thinking about getting a more fitness centric watch.

Currently training for a hunt in az in Dec… do weight training 3x/wk, run/hiked/ruck 3x/wk. Also play golf but don't currently use my watch for gps or anything.

I want to be able to track hr, calories, sleep (I know no wearable is going to be super accurate here) distance run/hiked, elevation gained, and "stress".

What do yall recommend?
Looking at
Apple Watch SE
Garmin Instinct 2
Garmin instinct 3 Solar

What do yall think? Leaning toward a Garmin type over Apple Watch. Welcome any other recs as well. Thanks

It's not on your list (so I'm upholding the time-honored message board policy of giving you information you didn't want), but I have the Apple Watch Ultra 2, for which I give an at-best lukewarm recommendation. It can do all th4 fitness tracking and everything, but it's really chunky even on my relatively large wrists. Full charge lasts a couple of days for me, and I don't feel like it does much for me that my previous Apple Watch didn't.

Thanks. I have small wrists (my "dress" watch is 36mm), so I never looked at the ultra


Also, if you could pet Cassie for me I'd really appreciate it

Give the Garmin Venu a look

I have the Garmin Venu. This is probably the best all- around smart watch out there that looks more like a real watch and less of a smart watch or super sporty watch.

It does everything you want it to and with 7 day battery life. Apple Watch battery life is simply a deal killer these days and unacceptable. (I also own an Apple Watch and a Garmin Fenix 5).

The Venu is superior to the Apple Watch in almost every way. The Fenix is probably overkill for what you need. When I went to replace my Fenix 5 (which still works just fine I just wanted a more visible screen) I realized I would be paying a few hundred extra for features I would never use so went with Venu instead.

Would the venu be durable enough to wear on a western hunt? That's the o ly thing that worries me. On the other hand, ive worn my Apple Watch doing all sorts of stuff so I guess as long as it's as durable as a series 3 AW I should be fine.

Also think the instinct would be huge on my wrist

Done. Do the same for Chester, please.

Pets deployed, gratitude expressed

wcb said:

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Give the Garmin Venu a look

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Thanks for this. Just pulled the trigger on a Venu 3 during the Father's Day sale

Great watch, excellent value

tandy miller said:

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Would the venu be durable enough to wear on a western hunt? That's the o ly thing that worries me. On the other hand, ive worn my Apple Watch doing all sorts of stuff so I guess as long as it's as durable as a series 3 AW I should be fine.

Also think the instinct would be huge on my wrist

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Should be fine. I dove hunted in my Venu.

I like my Garmin Venu 3s. It doesn't have all the built-in daily suggested workouts like my husband's Forerunner 265 but I like the features and look - suits all of my needs. I like that it's just a little dressier/less rugged in appearance.

Figured I'd bump this thread....

My Forerunner 945 is now 6 years old.....

The new Garmin Venu X1 seems like a pretty solid watch. Any thoughts on it? Have a 4 and 1 year old. So not planning on any more triathlons in the near future or else I'd go with the Forerunner again.

I think the X1 has a pretty short battery life, closer to that of an Apple Watch than most garmins. Other than that i dont know anything about it

htxag09 said:

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Figured I'd bump this thread....

My Forerunner 945 is now 6 years old.....

The new Garmin Venu X1 seems like a pretty solid watch. Any thoughts on it? Have a 4 and 1 year old. So not planning on any more triathlons in the near future or else I'd go with the Forerunner again.

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Apple Ultra but with 8 day battery life so if you want the bigger form factor with more sports metrics then it's a no brainer over the Apple Ultra.

First I'd heard of the X1. If you like to nerd out on this stuff...

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/06/garmin-venu-x1-details-hands-everything.html

Personally the Venu 3 would still be my pick.

Still very happy with my Venu3….If I had to do it over would get the same thing

htxag09 said:

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Figured I'd bump this thread....

My Forerunner 945 is now 6 years old.....

The new Garmin Venu X1 seems like a pretty solid watch. Any thoughts on it? Have a 4 and 1 year old. So not planning on any more triathlons in the near future or else I'd go with the Forerunner again.

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So I said the Venu would be by pick - but if you're coming from a 945 I would give the 965 a look. The 970 is latest gen but priced too high for me. You can probably find a really good deal on the 965. It does everything I need and is built for the multisport athlete. Incredible watch that truly feels like it has a coach built in.

Garmin Fenix or Instinct with the Saphire glass. The Saphire holds up 10X better. I have broken a solar.

Edit... looks like i was late in posting.

JeremiahJohnson said:

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Garmin Fenix or Instinct with the Saphire glass. The Saphire holds up 10X better. I have broken a solar.

Edit... looks like i was late in posting.

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Holy **** the Garmin Fenix is now $1,200?!

My Fenix 5 was $500 in 2018.

Huge Garmin fan here... had the original big orange one

Currently on a MARQ 2 and just ordered a complementary Mk3i for diving

Im loving my Samsung fit 3. Got it fir less than 50 bucks and has been so amazing with battery life. If I dont monitor sleep 02 then im looking at maybe using 5 percent daily

I know two folks with smaller wrists. One wears a Suunto 9 Peak Pro and the other wears a Garmin forerunner 165.

A PSA for any of you still shopping for a fitness smart watch: the Suunto Race S, already considered a bargain at $350, is on sale now for Amazon Prime Days for $279. I was close to pulling the trigger on the Venu 3 after reading this thread and doing the research, but the Suunto was too good a deal to pass up. I just ordered mine.

How smart of a watch do you need?

No recommendations for anything from Fitbit?

I've enjoyed the Versa 6 but it's definitely not smart. It's been accurate for most of my tracking needs and a good size. But I prefer to have something more simple.

Almost a week into an Apple Watch and liking its functionality so far. Only odd thing is I have noticed random tingling/discomfort in the area where my forearm meets my wrist on the arm that I wear the watch. Anyone else experienced something similar? I'm not wearing the watch tightly - it actually has the ability to slide on my wrist 1-2" in either direction.