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I'm the exact target market for this, yet I can't imagine buying one. I'm big on sports, work out regularly, mind my eating, that kind of thing. However it seem

I'm the exact target market for this, yet I can't imagine buying one. I'm big on sports, work out regularly, mind my eating, that kind of thing. However it seems absurd to have to recharge your watch every day or two (?).

askafriend 6y ago
It's not a problem at all - just go for it. They have a no questions asked 14-day return policy. I usually charge in the morning when I'm getting ready / showering and that's usually enough to last the day.
jansan 6y ago
Exactly. The battery life of a Casio F-91W is roughly seven years, without recharging at all. Or think of those tritium markers that continously glow for more than ten years. Can't they power an Apple watch on tritium?
claydavisss 6y ago
This isn't targeted at healthy people like yourself...its targeted at the massive audience of people who want to be healthy but never will be. Buying some health tech makes them feel like they are making progress.
voisin 6y ago
Feature phones have batteries that last a week or longer. Smart phones require daily charging. There are some sports-specific watches that have long battery life, but then you can’t do all the things you can with an Apple Watch, a list of which is evolving annually with new apps, features, complications, etc. It depends on what you want! Like the other commenter, I charge mine daily when having coffee in the morning and it never gets below about 40%.
- Etheryte 6y ago
  I don't really agree with the premise. I have the newer iPhone SE and I get two to three days out of a full charge, sometimes more. It's very different having to charge a device two or three times a week as opposed to daily. For me, the crux of the issue is that Apple Watch has more or less been standing still in the battery life department for years at this point, and the benefits don't outweigh the chore.
  - voisin 6y ago
    Ok, this feels a bit nitpicky. Sure, you can get multiple days out of a smart phone if there is relatively light usage but on the whole, most users charge their smart phones daily, versus most feature phone users would charge weekly.
    - edmundsauto 6y ago
      I disagree. Requiring a daily charge means I can't miss a power cycle overnight, whereas 2 day capacity means I can limp through day 2. That is a massive difference to me, and it seems to occur precisely at the worst time, when I need my phone.
Privacy846 6y ago
I can’t understand what your point is. I guess fitness aficianodas are notorious for hating to recharge their phones every night or so? (One would presume that a comment like this would generalize.)
- gnicholas 6y ago
  That's a false comparison. For decades, there have been watches (including those with many features, like calculators, stopwatches, timers, and alarms) whose batteries lasted years. Moving to a watch that has to be charged every day or two seems like a big step down in this regard. Mobile phones are completely different. Since their introduction, they have never had good battery life. The most fully-featured phones have always had batteries that lasted much less than a week. It is true that there are now feature phones that can last a long time, but these are essentially a different product than smartphones. The fact that the OP does not want to charge his watch every night or two does not mean he is unwilling to charge anything that frequently. It just means that when it comes to watches, long battery life is a core feature.
  - Privacy846 6y ago
    Nice. Now tell me how this relates to how fit they are? Because that was my main point.
drewg123 6y ago
Get a garmin. Its not as fancy, but has days to weeks of battery life between charges.
testcase_delta 6y ago
I've had an apple watch for a year, and overall it's so-so in my opinion. One thing though, the charging aspect is not an issue or annoyance at all. 10 or 15 minutes every other day and it's good to go.
- ThePowerOfFuet 6y ago
  Apple Watch most certainly requires more time on the charger than "10 or 15 minutes every other day".
spike021 6y ago
While it's water-resistant, it isn't really meant to be worn in the shower. So I just charge mine while I shower. It pretty much never dies.
koyote 6y ago
If you want something to track sports then Garmin is the way to go. Weeks long battery life and a massive amount of sports and activities monitoring features. And as a bonus it also comes with the basic 'smart' features you'd expect such as phone notifications, music and NFC payment. The Garmin ones also look much better in my opinion.
- alistairSH 6y ago
  I've gone off of Garmin products lately. My FR645 isn't particularly accurate (GPS or HR) and their software is crap (and requires an internet connection to do basic things on the watch like update watch face and other basic settings). I had an older Edge 500 (bike computer) years ago and bug reports that caused crashes and data loss went unfixed for years. Sadly, Garmin is still better than many of the alternatives. But, Wahoo recently got into the watch game (and their bicycle computers drink Garmin's milkshake) and I suspect they'll soon be on par or ahead in that market segment.
durandal1 6y ago
More space than a Nomad though.
chaostheory 6y ago
I miss the Pebble for this reason. Are there other manufacturers using e-paper screens today for watches?
abawany 6y ago
I tried an AW4 for a little bit but the daily charging and the not-always-on display really irritated me fairly shortly. It was nice but I moved back to my 4-year old Garmin soon afterwards.
wlesieutre 6y ago
I came from a Pebble and had the same complaint at first, but it's really not a big deal. I put mine on the charger in the evening after I hit my fitness goals, then put it back on later and wear it overnight. I've had mine on since yesterday evening and still have 60% battery, so it won't take long to top it up later.

askafriend 6y ago

It's not a problem at all - just go for it. They have a no questions asked 14-day return policy. I usually charge in the morning when I'm getting ready / showering and that's usually enough to last the day.

jansan 6y ago

Exactly. The battery life of a Casio F-91W is roughly seven years, without recharging at all. Or think of those tritium markers that continously glow for more than ten years. Can't they power an Apple watch on tritium?

claydavisss 6y ago

This isn't targeted at healthy people like yourself...its targeted at the massive audience of people who want to be healthy but never will be. Buying some health tech makes them feel like they are making progress.

voisin 6y ago

Feature phones have batteries that last a week or longer. Smart phones require daily charging. There are some sports-specific watches that have long battery life, but then you can’t do all the things you can with an Apple Watch, a list of which is evolving annually with new apps, features, complications, etc. It depends on what you want! Like the other commenter, I charge mine daily when having coffee in the morning and it never gets below about 40%.

Etheryte 6y ago
I don't really agree with the premise. I have the newer iPhone SE and I get two to three days out of a full charge, sometimes more. It's very different having to charge a device two or three times a week as opposed to daily. For me, the crux of the issue is that Apple Watch has more or less been standing still in the battery life department for years at this point, and the benefits don't outweigh the chore.
- voisin 6y ago
  Ok, this feels a bit nitpicky. Sure, you can get multiple days out of a smart phone if there is relatively light usage but on the whole, most users charge their smart phones daily, versus most feature phone users would charge weekly.
  - edmundsauto 6y ago
    I disagree. Requiring a daily charge means I can't miss a power cycle overnight, whereas 2 day capacity means I can limp through day 2. That is a massive difference to me, and it seems to occur precisely at the worst time, when I need my phone.

Privacy846 6y ago

I can’t understand what your point is. I guess fitness aficianodas are notorious for hating to recharge their phones every night or so? (One would presume that a comment like this would generalize.)

gnicholas 6y ago
That's a false comparison. For decades, there have been watches (including those with many features, like calculators, stopwatches, timers, and alarms) whose batteries lasted years. Moving to a watch that has to be charged every day or two seems like a big step down in this regard. Mobile phones are completely different. Since their introduction, they have never had good battery life. The most fully-featured phones have always had batteries that lasted much less than a week. It is true that there are now feature phones that can last a long time, but these are essentially a different product than smartphones. The fact that the OP does not want to charge his watch every night or two does not mean he is unwilling to charge anything that frequently. It just means that when it comes to watches, long battery life is a core feature.
- Privacy846 6y ago
  Nice. Now tell me how this relates to how fit they are? Because that was my main point.

drewg123 6y ago

Get a garmin. Its not as fancy, but has days to weeks of battery life between charges.

testcase_delta 6y ago

I've had an apple watch for a year, and overall it's so-so in my opinion. One thing though, the charging aspect is not an issue or annoyance at all. 10 or 15 minutes every other day and it's good to go.

ThePowerOfFuet 6y ago
Apple Watch most certainly requires more time on the charger than "10 or 15 minutes every other day".

spike021 6y ago

While it's water-resistant, it isn't really meant to be worn in the shower. So I just charge mine while I shower. It pretty much never dies.

koyote 6y ago

If you want something to track sports then Garmin is the way to go. Weeks long battery life and a massive amount of sports and activities monitoring features. And as a bonus it also comes with the basic 'smart' features you'd expect such as phone notifications, music and NFC payment. The Garmin ones also look much better in my opinion.

alistairSH 6y ago
I've gone off of Garmin products lately. My FR645 isn't particularly accurate (GPS or HR) and their software is crap (and requires an internet connection to do basic things on the watch like update watch face and other basic settings). I had an older Edge 500 (bike computer) years ago and bug reports that caused crashes and data loss went unfixed for years. Sadly, Garmin is still better than many of the alternatives. But, Wahoo recently got into the watch game (and their bicycle computers drink Garmin's milkshake) and I suspect they'll soon be on par or ahead in that market segment.

durandal1 6y ago

More space than a Nomad though.

chaostheory 6y ago

I miss the Pebble for this reason. Are there other manufacturers using e-paper screens today for watches?

abawany 6y ago

I tried an AW4 for a little bit but the daily charging and the not-always-on display really irritated me fairly shortly. It was nice but I moved back to my 4-year old Garmin soon afterwards.

wlesieutre 6y ago

I came from a Pebble and had the same complaint at first, but it's really not a big deal. I put mine on the charger in the evening after I hit my fitness goals, then put it back on later and wear it overnight. I've had mine on since yesterday evening and still have 60% battery, so it won't take long to top it up later.