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Ultra has better battery life, most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping, so it’s easy to charge at night like you do with a phone anyway. It also enables y

Ultra has better battery life, most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping, so it’s easy to charge at night like you do with a phone anyway. It also enables you to do almost everything essential in terms of communication without a phone if you want to leave it. Garmin watches do not.

dkdbejwi383 2y ago
> most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping, so it’s easy to charge at night like you do with a phone anyway for me at least, the silent alarm so as to not disturb my partner is a huge part of the value in a smart watch.
- Marsymars 2y ago
  I bought a Fitbit Inspire 3 several years ago for <$100 for this feature alone. Works great for that.
KeplerBoy 2y ago
I thought the sleep tracking and resting heart rate tracking is one of the most important features of a smartwatch. pretty sure most garmin users wear them at night for these reasons.
- LandR 2y ago
  I always thought resting heart rate while sleeping was a pointless metric ? YOu can have a resting heart rate while sleeping in the 30s, yet your real resting heart rate in the 60s. I don't need a watch to tell me if I was sleeping or not, I was there, I know if I was sleeping... I also don't see the point if it telling me if I got enough sleep or not. Again, I know if I didn't get enough sleep as I'm tired... I also don't think it's sleep tracker is accurate, I've had my garmin tell me I have taken naps when I hadn't. I was just lying on the sofa watching a film and didn't get up for an hour or so. That doesn't mean I'm asleep.
  - KeplerBoy 2y ago
    I guess most metrics are pointless if looked at in absolute terms and isolation, but trends might still be interesting.
  - The_Colonel 2y ago
    You remember when you fell asleep? I don't. Watch tracks how often you wake up, how long you spend in the deep sleep, etc. A lot of value is in the long term trends. One bad night doesn't mean much but if our sleep quality is trending down over weeks, it's a sign you should change something.
    - iamacyborg 2y ago
      > You remember when you fell asleep? I don't. Watch tracks how often you wake up, how long you spend in the deep sleep, etc. Anecdotally, this is very inaccurate for me.
      - LandR 2y ago
        Yeah, plenty times I've got up during the night multiple times, sometimes out of bed entirely wand walking about and the watch hasn't realised this at all. Similarly I've been in bed, awake, reading, unable to sleep and the watch has thought I was sleeping.
    - LandR 2y ago
      If I'm watching a film, yes... I know if I've fallen asleep and missed half of it!
  - kadoban 2y ago
    Sleeping heart rate is useful because it gives you a good "resting" value. Resting heart rate will tell you if you're getting sick, before you have any real symptoms.
    - doix 2y ago
      Yeah, I first learned that from the "HOW TO SKATE A 10K" ebook[0] that was posted here[1] a while ago. He talks about how he tracked heart rate to figure out when he was going to get sick. I then started looking back at my historical garmin data, pretty much everytime I was sick, my HRV would drop a few days before. I then started monitoring my HRV closer and taking it easy whenever it dropped. Anecdotal data from one person here, but I found that I get sick less and when I do get sick, it's usually not as bad. [0] https://www.howtoskate.se/ https://www.howtoskate.se/ [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30320639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30320639
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  Also, the flashlight and silent alarm are superb features. I use the clock too if I wake up.
- ghaff 2y ago
  I had a review copy of a separate sleep monitor band that you slept on top of from a company that I think Apple bought. Basically I thought it was mostly an interesting curiosity and (possibly) a reasonable first diagnostic step if you suspect you have sleep issues. However, for me, the results looked reasonable most nights and for those nights when I didn't sleep well for whatever reason, I mostly knew that was the case without the device results.
- 827a 2y ago
  [dead]
cassianoleal 2y ago
The Ultra is the most bizarre in the lineup. It's marketed at extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc. For that demographic, battery life of less than at least a week is a non-starter, not to mention 100% button navigation as opposed to touchscreen + dial. Those are really hard to operate whilst wearing thick gloves.
- wil421 2y ago
  Garmin makes solar powered watches for adventures types in the back country. The Ultra is probably good for scuba diving since you aren’t doing it for so long.
- mcintyre1994 2y ago
  I know the Ultra has an extra button, but I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch). That was what finally pushed me away from Apple Watch, and the marketing of the Ultra is quite funny if it doesn't solve it.
  - jagermo 2y ago
    plus, no support for ANT+ is a dealbreaker.
    - nradov 2y ago
      ANT+ appears to be dying and Garmin has started moving away from it. Although I'm sure they'll still support it for several more product generations. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-for-ant-wireless.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-...
      - thirdsun 2y ago
        ANT+ is still very much present in the cycling world and likely won't go anywhere. While most sensors and devices will also support bluetooth it seems to be a much more fragile and problematic connection. From my own experience I'd always opt for ANT+.
hunter-gatherer 2y ago
> most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping Eh, what? When watches were just watches, most everyone wore there watch while sleeping. On that note, my brother and I were talking about these smart watches the other day and I expressed how having a gshock is nice because with my use I seem to get about 7 years of battery life, so my watch is always on. Whereas people with smart watches has (as he put it) significant time blind-spots. But he made a comment at one point and basically said something like "It's not a watch. It is a fitness device that has a clock in it". I think that is a good point. As a watch, all these actually perform rather poorly. But as fitness/GPS/communication devices they perform well.
- sanswork 2y ago
  My watch charges for the 15 minutes each day that I'm in the shower and getting ready. I'm not missing out on huge tracks of time.
- grujicd 2y ago
  What do you mean it performs poorly as a watch? Smartwatches sync time, change time zone as you travel, automatically apply DST. It's actually better watch than classic watch.
hedora 2y ago
My non-ultra gets at least 28 hours, and over 48 in low power mode. I leave it in airplane mode (this leaves bluetooth on, so it doesn’t impact functionality when my phone is nearby) and disabled the always on screen. I agree about the questionable value proposition though. A $35 Amazfit band is surprisingly competitive with it, and has much better battery life.

dkdbejwi383 2y ago

> most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping, so it’s easy to charge at night like you do with a phone anyway for me at least, the silent alarm so as to not disturb my partner is a huge part of the value in a smart watch.

Marsymars 2y ago
I bought a Fitbit Inspire 3 several years ago for <$100 for this feature alone. Works great for that.

KeplerBoy 2y ago

I thought the sleep tracking and resting heart rate tracking is one of the most important features of a smartwatch. pretty sure most garmin users wear them at night for these reasons.

LandR 2y ago
I always thought resting heart rate while sleeping was a pointless metric ? YOu can have a resting heart rate while sleeping in the 30s, yet your real resting heart rate in the 60s. I don't need a watch to tell me if I was sleeping or not, I was there, I know if I was sleeping... I also don't see the point if it telling me if I got enough sleep or not. Again, I know if I didn't get enough sleep as I'm tired... I also don't think it's sleep tracker is accurate, I've had my garmin tell me I have taken naps when I hadn't. I was just lying on the sofa watching a film and didn't get up for an hour or so. That doesn't mean I'm asleep.
- KeplerBoy 2y ago
  I guess most metrics are pointless if looked at in absolute terms and isolation, but trends might still be interesting.
- The_Colonel 2y ago
  You remember when you fell asleep? I don't. Watch tracks how often you wake up, how long you spend in the deep sleep, etc. A lot of value is in the long term trends. One bad night doesn't mean much but if our sleep quality is trending down over weeks, it's a sign you should change something.
  - iamacyborg 2y ago
    > You remember when you fell asleep? I don't. Watch tracks how often you wake up, how long you spend in the deep sleep, etc. Anecdotally, this is very inaccurate for me.
    - LandR 2y ago
      Yeah, plenty times I've got up during the night multiple times, sometimes out of bed entirely wand walking about and the watch hasn't realised this at all. Similarly I've been in bed, awake, reading, unable to sleep and the watch has thought I was sleeping.
  - LandR 2y ago
    If I'm watching a film, yes... I know if I've fallen asleep and missed half of it!
- kadoban 2y ago
  Sleeping heart rate is useful because it gives you a good "resting" value. Resting heart rate will tell you if you're getting sick, before you have any real symptoms.
  - doix 2y ago
    Yeah, I first learned that from the "HOW TO SKATE A 10K" ebook[0] that was posted here[1] a while ago. He talks about how he tracked heart rate to figure out when he was going to get sick. I then started looking back at my historical garmin data, pretty much everytime I was sick, my HRV would drop a few days before. I then started monitoring my HRV closer and taking it easy whenever it dropped. Anecdotal data from one person here, but I found that I get sick less and when I do get sick, it's usually not as bad. [0] https://www.howtoskate.se/ https://www.howtoskate.se/ [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30320639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30320639
The_Colonel 2y ago
Also, the flashlight and silent alarm are superb features. I use the clock too if I wake up.
ghaff 2y ago
I had a review copy of a separate sleep monitor band that you slept on top of from a company that I think Apple bought. Basically I thought it was mostly an interesting curiosity and (possibly) a reasonable first diagnostic step if you suspect you have sleep issues. However, for me, the results looked reasonable most nights and for those nights when I didn't sleep well for whatever reason, I mostly knew that was the case without the device results.
827a 2y ago
[dead]

cassianoleal 2y ago

The Ultra is the most bizarre in the lineup. It's marketed at extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc. For that demographic, battery life of less than at least a week is a non-starter, not to mention 100% button navigation as opposed to touchscreen + dial. Those are really hard to operate whilst wearing thick gloves.

wil421 2y ago
Garmin makes solar powered watches for adventures types in the back country. The Ultra is probably good for scuba diving since you aren’t doing it for so long.
mcintyre1994 2y ago
I know the Ultra has an extra button, but I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch). That was what finally pushed me away from Apple Watch, and the marketing of the Ultra is quite funny if it doesn't solve it.
- jagermo 2y ago
  plus, no support for ANT+ is a dealbreaker.
  - nradov 2y ago
    ANT+ appears to be dying and Garmin has started moving away from it. Although I'm sure they'll still support it for several more product generations. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-for-ant-wireless.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-...
    - thirdsun 2y ago
      ANT+ is still very much present in the cycling world and likely won't go anywhere. While most sensors and devices will also support bluetooth it seems to be a much more fragile and problematic connection. From my own experience I'd always opt for ANT+.

hunter-gatherer 2y ago

> most people don’t wear a watch while sleeping Eh, what? When watches were just watches, most everyone wore there watch while sleeping. On that note, my brother and I were talking about these smart watches the other day and I expressed how having a gshock is nice because with my use I seem to get about 7 years of battery life, so my watch is always on. Whereas people with smart watches has (as he put it) significant time blind-spots. But he made a comment at one point and basically said something like "It's not a watch. It is a fitness device that has a clock in it". I think that is a good point. As a watch, all these actually perform rather poorly. But as fitness/GPS/communication devices they perform well.

sanswork 2y ago
My watch charges for the 15 minutes each day that I'm in the shower and getting ready. I'm not missing out on huge tracks of time.
grujicd 2y ago
What do you mean it performs poorly as a watch? Smartwatches sync time, change time zone as you travel, automatically apply DST. It's actually better watch than classic watch.

hedora 2y ago

My non-ultra gets at least 28 hours, and over 48 in low power mode. I leave it in airplane mode (this leaves bluetooth on, so it doesn’t impact functionality when my phone is nearby) and disabled the always on screen. I agree about the questionable value proposition though. A $35 Amazfit band is surprisingly competitive with it, and has much better battery life.