👀 $50 off the Apple Watch Ultra: amzn.to/3SWwlYD I have no idea how long this deal will last. Snag it quick 👌

Battery anxiety is something I haven't experienced since I started wearing an instinct solar and there is no coming back from that. As simple as that.

I was AW user since Series 0. I switched from AW6 to Epix2 when Epix2 came out, and currently I can say I did the right choice. Besides from my point of view regarding the superior sport tracking features on the Epix2, the peace of mind that comes with the really long battery life is what will at least for now, keep me in the Garmin ecosystem for the years to come. Its the intended use, that makes one ecosystem better than the other, and is a completely subjective perspective. Hard to objectivelly suggest one or the other to be better …

No, Apple did not kill off Garmin. However, Garmin made the odd decision of posting a response to the Ultra targeting the differences in battery life. This feels like a self-own because Apple is not trying to directly compete with Garmin in that respective with the Ultra, but Garmin decided to draw additional attention to the Ultra with their statement. To me, this is a sign that Garmin is internally very concerned about the Ultra. Garmin's biggest issue on their wearables is their software and Apple's biggest strength on their wearables is their software. When Apple continues to build upon the Ultra line, the gap between the two will close considerably and Garmin in general is notorious for lack of meaningful innovation in their wearables. So no, Apple did not kill Garmin, but it should ring alarm bells knowing that Apple will continue to innovate while Garmin will continue to not innovate.

I sold my Apple series 7 to by a Gen 2 Epix. Looking at just my 14 days of battery life I have left and I’m so glad I sold the Apple Watch. Let alone the ANT+ feature and ability to use a chest HR monitor for even more accurate and consistent measurements.

36 hrs in stand by mode, pretty far from the real sports watches yet.... interesting new player though. Garmin, polar and coros should be aware. The winners in this competition are going to be the users

Myself and my family all use Apple products- Laptops, ipads, iphones, Airpods, APple TV, Apple Music subscription and have been for 10+ years, but the watch is just something i never got on board with. I'm also a long time Fenix owner (3, 5 and 6) and haven't really considered Apple Watch, until this announcement. BUUUUT. I dont think I'll be a convert for a number of reasons. The battery life of the Ultra isn't really earth shattering if you're a Garmin guy. My Fenix 6 is 3 years old and still gives me 9-13 days of life after a full charge, and probably closer to 3 to 5 days depending on the number of MTB rides I do and that's with HR and GPS/GLONASS running in the background. The GPS provides great accuracy and if i change data gather to every second, its even more accurate- probably at the cost of battery life, but we're talking days, not hours with Garmin. FENIX has actual buttons, built in topo map's, Compass, Alitmeter, Barometric Pressure, Waypoint, incident detection with alerting, all Body Battery things, PulseOX, HR, Incident Detection and alerting. All my data goes to Strava anyway so I don't use the Garmin Connect except to sync and update. I also extend my screen from my watch to my bike computer too. In fairness, Im probably not the target market. This may be targeted at current Apple Watch users who want a more rugged watch like a Garmin, but never considered leaving the "walled garden" of Apple. Once i can get my hands on one, I am going to give it a hard look. I do like the thought of a better display and compared to the EPIX, the Ultra is cheaper. The alerting features in case of emergency are clearly better integrated into the Apple family than Garmin's, which may work on the Wife to state my justification to get one---kinda worked with the iPhone 14 i pre-ordered. I iwll definitely check your channel to see what your impressions are. Thanks for the video.

It's worth remembering that 2 years down the line, with so many charge cycles, that 36 hours may be down to 24 hours or less for your $800 smartwatch. It sounds trivial but I felt quite relieved going from a 245 music which I had to charge after every music-enabled long run to a 955 which'll go most of the week with music and multi-band enabled. If the scuba mode works well (especially if there is reliable wireless air integration) I might be quite partial to that feature though!

Everything I use for tech is Apple…EXCEPT the watch for training. I’ve refused to upgrade from my 5th gen waiting for real battery life and a rugged chassis. Time will tell if the new design is rugged, but it should looks great. 36hrs is a good start, but I can get a week of solid workouts with my Fenix 6. No, it isn’t as handy not having cellular and being highly connected to the ecosystem like my iWatch, but as a weekly business traveler, it sucks having to charge the watch every 12 hours. Let’s hope the battery life is REAL and not just if you leave it in airplane mode.

I have been an Apple Watch user for years until recently when I started using a wahoo rival for triathlons. Even after the announcement of the ultra, I still bought a Fenix 7 solar sapphire. For my triathlons, I will never use an Apple Watch. There are too many limitations and the software updates slow the watches down over the years considerably. My series 6 I’ve had just over a year and it’s certainly slowed down in the menus since I got it. My friends use garmin and have never seen any issues with the speed of their watches and they’ve owned the same watch for 4-5 years. I think Garmin will remain king for a very long time.

"max out their money's worth for those race entry fees"🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's me! Love it! Thanks for the entertainment and as always a very solid review.

Here is the biggest problem with the Apple Watch ultra - no ant+, no broadcast heart rate, not able to plug into power meters for bikes, he still not actually monitored full day. Garmin still blows Apple away with sleep monitoring, stats you can get, the adjustable data screens, WEEKS of battery without need to charge, and whip bike packing or rides over 100 miles it’s garmin, by a mile. This watch will be VERY popular with marathoners, triathletes, some trail runners, and parents that just want a cool watch. I’ll keep my fenix7x , it delivers and the only issue I have is that the app can be more polished. The devices are top notch.

Google Android Garmin for me, but happy to see something for my Apple friends.

I just switched from a Series 3 to a Forerunner 945. I never used much of the features from the apple watch and I love the simplicity of the garmin. AW ultra isn’t even on my radar. Battery life might be better but the garmin interface is just nice

No training load or recovery type metrics, Matt. It’s a nice hardware upgrade with basically zero training software to back it up.

I currently have been using an Apple Watch series 3 for triathlon training (currently only do sprints) and have been looking to transition to Garmin because it fit more of what I was looking for. Now the Ultra is giving me something to consider since I plan to do longer races in the future. Can’t wait to see the impressions from the KZfaq community.

No, apple didn't kill Garmin at all. But looking at the new features it seems apple clearly wants to focus on endurance athletes. Now I'm interested how Garmin will react to this. Add more (smart watch) features or reduce the pricing. There is no way a FR955 has much higher production costs than a FR55.

As someone who has owned both the Apple Watch Series 7 and several Garmins I can say that they're not in the same category. I personally want a FITNESS watch with an always on display (not an amoled), a round display, I want to be able to turn off notifications and use it like a normal watch (which apple does not let you do), offline music/map storage, and a battery that you don't have to worry about charging every other day. Garmin is hands down much better in these categories for me. However, if you want a SMARTwatch the Apple Watch is obviously phenomenal and does great fitness tracking. It is just not for me for the reasons I've stated above. Garmin also provides more fitness tracking data compared to the Apple Watch and also has a great app, Garmin Connect, where you can compete with friends and people from all around the world.

First of all, your videography and editing skills continue to amaze me! Good work! Very impressive of Apple to make some significant upgrades, and look forward to when you get it in your hands and get to put it to the test. But you know, me Garmin for life! Hope you and the family are well!

Man didn't create his KZfaq to talk Apple Watch. He made it to brag about his running times. Impressive specs my friend!!

Went from AW S3 to Garmin Instinct 2. All I used my AW for was alarms, weather, basic activity tracking (just 3 rings) and, obviously, time and date. After 5 years I'd say battery life was almost the same - always had to put them on charge after ~30 hours of use. Decided to switch to Garmin because I'm not using all the "smarts" that much. The battery life improvement is insane. The rugged looks are awesome, the weight is identical. It actually constantly measures HR and can create my body profile and track all the changes. I have done couple of training sessions in them and battery barely drained. I like them a lot. The screen is not a problem for me as well. AW Ultra looks like a miniature smartphone on your wrist. To each their own :)

It takes more then a rugged watch to kill Garmin ;)

I think the Apple "Walled Garden" will prevent them from really impacting Garmin's activity metrics and stellar battery life between charges. Garmin plays nice with Android as well as IOS which makes it the better choice for more dedicated athletes. I do however really like the watch faces Apple has available.

Saphire glass and longer battery life are a very welcome new addition, but 60 hours in battery saver mode just shows how far away they actually are from the real sports watches, would have been interesting to see how much battery life they would get out of a lower res display though.

Yes, many Garmin users just died from laughing xddddd 36h on watch mode xddddddddddddddd

"Did The Apple Watch Ultra Just Kill Garmin?"... hell no!

Garmin is well established among many endurance athletes, especially among cyclists (raises hand). As you noted, I'm running a power meter, cadence meter, speed meter, and heart monitor. Those metrics and the integration into Garmin Connect/Strava/MapMy is truly important. I'm sure the Apple fanbase will flock to this for workouts and honestly I might buy one to integrate with my Apple devices (I have a Galaxy watch for my S22), but a Garmin killer? Nah.

I’m an epix 2 owner and don’t see any way I would move. Battery life is outstanding. Metrics are fantastic. Looks like a real watch not a gimmic. No contest

Thanks for changing the title- this makes a lot of sense. Still for the win Garmin until they fix the battery and stats issues.

Battery life is a big factor, I can’t do 36 hours I need at least 2 weeks of battery life. This is the fitness realm we’re talking about. Garmin has proved itself worthy of my money. Apple has a place in my heart always, if they can get there battery life down and actually embody the fitness world on their watches then yes it would spark my interest but until then, it’s Garmin.

IMO if you’re not a half/full IM distance triathlete, AWU is a great option. But if you need to be ready to charge it 2-3 times a week. For me it’s too often and because I do long activities it’s pain in the ass not to forget to charge you AW (I’ve had AW6 and Garmin 935 in the same time). Garmin also has a good connect website to analyze activities, that Apple hasn’t. So I think Apple will take 20-30% of garmin/suunto/polar customers this year, but for killing it Apple need to provide one week of battery life, that seems impossible for a next several years.

I have an EPIX 2, which I can't fault, but drawn in by the Ultra launch video and a large dose of Dopamine, I ordered one, then realised as a cyclist that a lot of the features of the Ultra would be wasted on me, so today, I cancelled my order. The EPIX battery life and screen clarity never fail to amaze me, so for now, I'll as stay a fully paid-up member of the Garmin eco-sphere. PS When I ordered my Ultra, I also ordered an iPhone 14 Pro Max and cancelled that also when I realised that iOS16 is all that I really needed. Thanks, Apple, you have saved me a few £££££'s

As a cyclist trail runner occasional climber and yogi, I been waiting for this Watch for a while. I already bought it and look forward to put it through its paces. It won’t replace my fénix for major mountain adventures, but it will replace my 945 LTE as an everyday driver.

Garmin is already solar. The only thing Apple is killing its own battery

Great early review 👍🏼 I had an Apple Watch for a few years before switching to Garmin Fenix, never looked back! I do ultra marathons and Bikepacking trips, the Fenix just nails it for battery, gps, health metrics and most importantly MAPS!! I am sure the ultra will be great for a lot of users, but doesn’t quite cut it for me 😅

Bought my son a Fenix 5S for Graduation. He didn't end up using it. My wife bought me an Apple watch (About $400), the watch only lasted 1.5 years. The Fenix 5S is still going strong. One of the first signs of the Apple watch demise was the almost exponential decay in battery life. Can't justify the cost for a limited life span. Just one consumer's opinion. I did try to take the Apple watch in to get it fixed and not worth it.

Wanted to mention that WatchOS already has stroke detection in os8. Works really well. I swim, ride and run and have been impressed with my Apple Watch Series 7’s lap and stroke detection.

The only reason I will not completely switch to the Apple Watch for triathlon tracking is the unavailability of ant+ and that is never coming because I think the ultra is so well priced compared to garmin

I'd say not. A big improvement to what the AW can do, but a) it's not comparable to Garmin and b) not everyone is an Apple fan or user.

Dude, this video was so dang good Matt! Pumped for my Ultra to show up👊

Not even close and I'm a huge apple fan. Love their products. But this is a casual sport enthusiasts dream. Garmin can do 6 day adventures, this watch can do a day trip. As far as a dive replacement for rolex's. They need to work on 300 meters, not 40 meters. I feel apple will get there someday but they are still behind.

The AW ultra is a good thing as it might help keep Garmin honest, particularly with regards to their runaway prices. That said it’s still got a long way to go before I consider swapping. Firstly it’s too big. I have skinny wrists and it would look ridiculous on me. It’s why I have a Fenix 6S, which even after 3 years still has better battery life than the Ultra. I charged mine 3 days ago and it still shows that it’s good for 15 hours of GPS activity. The other big thing is it needs more buttons, like a Fenix. I’ve used an Apple Watch and the touchscreen is garbage, sweaty hands, in the rain, going for a swim, utter trash. After that there’s software. The company that I think has most to worry about from Apple is Whoop. Apple could kill them overnight with a software update that did a recovery score (well it could except the battery on the watch that most people buy isn’t good enough). So yeah, this new model is interesting to me but there’s still a lot that needs to change before I’ll be leaving Garmin behind

I'm just going to stick with Garmin, I've been in the Garmin ecosystem a long time and their stuff just works. They have incredible support, you can call them you will speak to a person in the same country, and they will guide you through every step of the way if you want and how to make a change on your watch. And Garmin also keeps supporting their devices, long after they've been released. I have a regular Edge 1030 bike computer, and it just got an update last week, I think the 10:30 was released in something like 2016 🙂. Apple doesn't have updates for things they they released in 2016. Nothing bad against Apple, they have fantastic computers and phones, but I don't see them as a sports watch of GPS company.

This was awesome Matt! Nice preview from a triathletes perspective. I’m excited to get my hands on one of these!

I wear a Garmin Felix 7 Sapphire Solar (47mm) quite a bit. For the tough stuff, it rocks. BTW, my wrist measures 7.5”. For more day to day stuff &/or when I want to wear something smaller, I wear a 41mm Apple Watch series 8. I might try a second or third gen Apple Ultra, especially if Apple makes one in a 47mm size…

I use both Garmin forrunner 955 and AW S7. I am very interested in Ultra. Although I think Ultra might not beat Garmin now. But, I expect one Ultra can replace many Garmins one day.

I really don’t understand why they didnt just make a 2-3 day watch from the get go. People would have been sold in an instant.

The massive advantage Garmin has is in the software for serious use. The level of data collected for a large variety of different sports is incredible. Nothing close to this yet exists for the Apple Watch.

While I do think the AW Ultra is not even in the ballpark with Garmin yet, it’s a step in the right direction. The mere fact the Garmin has created an ad mocking the AW Ultra is a proof to that. Garmin has been sitting comfortably at the top of sports watches for a while and would have to work harder, competition is great.

A lot of their sales won’t come from athletes for this watch,myself being one. No matter where I travel to everyone has an Apple Watch on. It’s freakin crazy how many people have Apple watches.Apple is the leader in smartwatch segment but not the premium segment which Garmin holds.

I’ve ordered a watch ultra (will be my first Apple Watch), coming from a fenix 6 pro sapphire - I love my garmin and the fitness analytics it gives me but I spend more time wishing I had the smartwatch features and interactivity of the Apple Watch. The new os9 workout app appears much improved with heart rate zones etc so I hope I won’t miss the garmin too much! Battery life not too much of an issue for me as I don’t run further than marathon distance. I spend a lot of time in the gym and play a lot of tennis and found the general workout tracking (without gps etc) pretty ordinary on the garmin and think the Apple Watch is better in that department. I loved the design of the fenix 6 sapphire (titanium with orange band) so am quite pleased that Apple have blatantly ripped off this design with the orange accents and orange alpine loop band! 😂 I wonder what Garmin will have to say about that!

Just sold my Garmin 7x Sapphire Solar to get the ultra. Don’t get me wrong, the garmin was awesome, but I had the watch 7 series for a bit and once you have some amenities it’s hard to not miss them. Being able to leave your phone at home and still text and call. Apple Pay, email, unlock your front door…. It all comes together for an awesome experience. Now that the battery will last for an ultra marathon, which is what im getting into and why I sold the series 7 for the garmin, it sounds like it has everything I need.

I thought the Ultra was going to be a hard pass for me, until they mentioned the Scuba Diving/ Free Diving features. Once mine comes in, I'll be running the Ultra has my primary dive computer with an Oceanic Veo 4.0 as my backup in the BCD pocket. As someone who already wears an Apple Watch daily and was considering mounting my dive computer on my wrist, this seems like a crazy upgrade for certain people. The batterly life isn't spectacular, but it's still great. It'll be long enough for me to be comfortable using it to track my sleep, charging it when I eat breakfast/ work in the morning and otherwise wearing it all day. The accuracy of the compass and GPS are still to be seen, but if they're competitive with the Garmin and with other dive computers, it'll be an easy choice.

Now that looked like a wet PNW track! Props for filming on days like that. Growing up we loved to tell the visitors to the PNW that we had two seasons...winter and August.

For me I’d go with the Ultra because I need lifestyle watch with sport features , Garmin is like pure sport watch it’s not my taste

Great impressions! I’m super excited about this Apple Watch Ultra to jumpstart my hiking season. Can’t wait!

What most don’t realize is that for us recreational athletes this watch’s battery life is great. Most “serious” sports watches SUCK as a smart watch which leads to people like me who need multiple watches for multiple things. But 36hrs gives me plenty of time for regular training sessions and when out on trails more than enough to charge every other day.

Thanks for the first comment on the ultra.I’m looking forward to your review when you get the watch.For most of us who just workout regularly and spend time of the grid the convenience and the smooth integration in the Apple ecosystem is priceless.So it would be wonderful if the watch delivers all promised features specially battery life.😁

I’ve used smart watches/fitness watches for the last 15+ years since the bar in forerunner series. Apple Watch series 6 is great for daily wear/workouts- I have a cheap a a fit t-Rex for multi day hikes- the new Apple Watch appeals to me, I havn’t been able to justify a serious fitness watch for lifting, running biking or hiking. I’ll keep my series 6 until the battery life fails in a couple years- apple is hitting a niche in the market- excellent tech integration for daily use as well as upgraded fitness features.

The Apple watches target market is people who tell everyone they “hike”. Or for people who jog around the park , for anything really serious the Garmin is still the king.

The CPU is key for battery differences. Garmin has low performance (but very efficient) CPU running at 32 to 120Mhz while tracking an activity. Apple Watch has two smaller CPU cores from the iPhone 11 and they run at 1800Mhz. Different leagues of performance gives very different battery life

Great review as always Matt, however, NOPE. I am a loyal Apple user in all forms except - anything triathlon. I use Garmin for all things fitness. Nothing wrong with some competition and good on Apple for recognizing the need to step up their game, but this won't touch Garmin's offerings. They've owned the market for far too long to lose ground just because Apple has finally crafted a half decent battery at least...

Extremely helpful review (even for us “non-athlete” types)!! Thank you.

I loved the comment "maximize our monies worth for those race entry fees". I am for sure going to use that next time I have a slower than desired race. Also, good content on the Apple watch. I love training with my Apple watch, but I always default to my Garmin for race day for the reliability, battery life, and buttons! Maybe this new watch can do it all.

04:30 -- that transition tho.. 🔥🔥🔥

This the only Apple Watch I’ve been interested in since the Apple Watch was released. I’ve never owned one, due to its poor battery life. it’s definitely no Garmin, (which I do own), but I think the ultra is definitely worth having a look at.

First time viewing your channel. Nice work. I think it's funny that when something new comes along it is questioned to be a potential "killer" of some other product. There's room for both, and I think until Apple comes out with a bike computer and other accessories, Garmin will be just fine. I, for one, have hesitated moving away from Garmin (oddly the same dilemma for many Apple users) because of the ecosystem. I use a Garmin Edge on my bikes, and have had a Fenix for a while. I enjoy the swim tracking functions. That said...Garmin needs to seriously calm down with its pricing. If nothing else, I hope the impact of the AW Ultra is that Garmin will rethink their pricing tiers. I have also tried the Polar Grit X, which I liked, but found the app experience to be too clunky. At least they haven't had frequent downtime and ransomware attacks like Garmin. I look forward to checking out more of your content. Cheers!

I am a huge apple product user with a MacBook, iMac, iPad, iPods and Apple TV. I'm a ultra trail runner and currently using the Suunto 5. Always wanted an AW but even at 36 hours its not enough to even consider using it for training and races. However, I think that Apple is on the right tract and will compete with the Garmin and Suunto sport watches.

Give it time. Remember when the first iPhone came out and everyone mocked it saying that a BlackBerry is way better. Yeah. The AW is the iPhone and Garmin is the BlackBerry.

I preordered mines already can’t wait to try it out hopefully it will be a homerun for me. I’m not a “triathlete” so don’t need it to do all that but I workout regularly and enjoy backpacking regularly. Don’t disappoint me Apple 😂.

I mean, for Gamin to achieve something like Apple Watch seems likely at a rocket-science level; but for Apple Watch to improve all those new complaints, it’s not hard for them.

The battery time in days... is comparable with the one of Garmin in WEEKS. And if you have a watch for the sports functions is Epix, Fenix or 965 far superior.

The form factor of this watch, plus the fact that it's the only major lifestyle component that keeps me from completing the Apple ecosystem makes it intriguing but I just can't get over that I'd have to charge it 3-4 times between when I currently need to charge my Garmin tactix Delta. It's a major step in the direction I like, but still need a much better battery before I dive in.

The question itself is hilarious to say the least, in a polite way. A (beautiful, fully packed of features), watch with a battery life of 36 hours that pretends to be the ultimate sports watch ?? I guess at Garmin and Coros, and every other serious sportswatch maker are all shaking in fear. 😂😂😂

I like that I charge my Fenix once a week.

First time viewer and your video editing is 🔥 .. Great job!!

Appreciate the humble intro! Subbed

I did a 13.5 hour race with a 2.5 year old Apple watch 5, it lasted the whole time with battery to spare. Who’s going to use the full amount of the Apple Watch ultra short of going away for weeks at a time? That’s very much a niche segment and they can get a Garmin with bugger all other functionality for those times EDIT: my bad, I had my phone with me that day and it would’ve taken the GPS load off the watch, see other comments below. Apologies about that

My Garmin FR255 is so accurate and offers so much useful data without the need of charging every other day that I will not consider an Apple watch with a battery life of only 36 hours. My FR255 lasts easily 8 days on one charge with 3 10K runs with all GPS switched on. In addition, if you have to charge 5 times more than another watch, the battery longevity will decrease also much faster. What a deception that Apple is not able to manage this on par with the competition.

My kid has a Garmin Venu SQ Music which is not a battery champ. He watched the Appple keynote with me and when he saw the 36-hour battery time, he said (laughing) that "36 hours are 20% on my Venu SQ"... This is how much Apple killed Garmin :D

Got the ultra for the bigger screen, longer battery life, better mics, better waterproofing, action button, better gyroscope, heat sensors, and new software features. I’m Coming off a Apple Watch 7 stainless steel that I use for working out. So personally, I’m very excited for it.

Multi-Band: Try to compare it when doing a workout or when trying to run a specific pace. There comes Multi-Band in right handy, much less noise at the pace changes.

anecdote of 1: i don’t think they’ll kill garmin off yet despite garmin’s trash software, but apple did just get me to buy the ultra.

Apple Watch ultra is definitely going to be a game changer for an existing Apple Watch user myself. I pre-ordered mine today and looking forward to its brand new features and whole brand new look. Definitely something I been waiting for apple to come up with a rugged watch and now it’s finally here, super excited! Apple Watch fanboy

Got an "old" Suunto Ambit 2 Sapphire I've bought in 2014, the watch still works perfectly and can last up to a month on one single charge and about a week using it daily for sport w/GPS enabled during sessions...I'm a watch collector, I had Apple Watches at some point and finally returned to old school mechanic watches, because Apple Watches are just expandable expensive gadgets at the end of the day, and won't never serve for any more than few years, meanwhile as I mentioned it above, a good old Suunto still has much more to offer no matter it's 8 years older.

As long as the Watch does not download structured workouts from TrainingPeaks it does not kill Garmin. To me this is a must have feature. Too bad because I was kinda hoping to buy the Ultra

My Garmin Epix 2 would be perfect if I could dive with it. Scuba compatibility is the Ultra’s real innovation.

Love that Dialed kit Matt, great video!

No interest in an apple watch... and NO Apple did not kill Garmin. More competition will make Garmin even better.

In Italy the Apple watch Ultra is priced at 1000 Euros. Considering that last year I paid my Fenix 6X PRO with sapphire glass something like 550 Euro, I would not switch at all. I love the long lasting battery, because I use it as a navigator for my bike trips. I am sure I will not reach the same with an apple watch. Also, Garmin products can be easily found at lower prices compared to list price (black friday, after the holidays, before the new model is launched...). With Apple products it's not that easy. I am talking about Italy, maybe in other countries is different. So I will still be on Garmin side, despite I have an iPhone, an iPad and an iMac.

Really nice video, Matt! Looking forward to hearing what you think when you get yours. Who is going to test it in an Ironman?

with 60 hours battery...Garmin's battery...2 months😂😂😂

Nope. I am using a Garmin Tactix 7 Pro. Solar powered and Saphire glass in Titanium bezel. Never needed to worry about shortage of power. It is my 24/7 watch even when I’m sleeping. Never needed any other watch since.

I don't think special forces will be jumping out of planes into secretive places with an apple watch ultra. To begin with garmin has a reallllly good map on it. Especially on the Tactix.

Strategically the AW was always meant to be a driver of iPhone sales. The AW Ultra comes to further strengthen that strategy as it will likely make a fairly large group of Garmin+Android users seriously consider the AW+iPhone combo. More than what the AW Ultra does today I’m really interested in what it will do in 5 years from now. Apple has technological and organisational capabilities that Garmin won’t have even in 2 decades from now (including own chips) and now that they have decided to target endurance athletes the sky is the limit. If I owned Garmin shares I would be selling them, that is for sure.

I owned a Samsung, Frontier, love it, but.... then I bought a Garmin 6x Pro. I got tired of having to charge nightly. I'm a outdoor adventurer I go away off grid kayaking for up to 10 days. So I take my Garmin and track daily for 5 hours or more of paddling, just did a 6 day trip and came back with 10 days of battery. This trip I was on cell grid for 90% of it and so that was even more battery usage as I get all my notifications from my watch. My girlfriend has the last series of Apple watch, she puts on in morning and after a 4 hour paddling trip she has to charge that nights, it's gone into low battery. Here I wear my watch 24/7, she's like wow, that Garmin goes forever. Sure not a fancy touch screen, but then again she can't use here screen when droplets get on it. Heck I can dive and swim and still have a full functioning watch. Apple your light years away from Garmin!

i will probably pick one up in October, i mostly bike, and explore, it will suit my needs perfectly, and most of my devices are apple based so it'll work harmoniously with my other devices,

I own a lot of apple products as a photographer, but when it comes down to a watch, I really chose the Epix2 over an AW, which i returned after a month of use, mainly because of its poor battery life. But then the Epix2 was announced: 6 days on a bright Amoled screen! Crazy that Apple can’t do this? (Ok Garmin has no OS it seems , but who cares about that?) it tracks all my sports and body stats and that’s all that counts, and not worrying about recharging is a game changer to me!

I’ll be getting a watch for hiking and backcountry use. So battery, offline maps, and navigation with course creation edits before and during are important features. So I think it has to something other than apple.

I did the apple watch ultra pre-order as well. But mine is more for the best tech option. Currently I just have the Watch SE (poor man's version), and wanted to get an upgrade with all the bells and whistles. I started off with the cheap-o version to make sure I was actually going to use it, since I have other nice non-apple watches. And yep, it's been my daily driver all day every day since then. Another thing for me, since I'm not the super-sporty athlete (bad back, bad knees), is to just have a larger watch case with a bigger and brighter display. That's a serious plus, since as I'm getting older, my eyes aren't getting any better!