Alternatives to Apple Watch for iPhone Users

[Squink]

My wife has an Apple Watch Series 3 paired with her iPhone and she likes what it can do, but she doesn't like the square face design and would prefer a circular watch. I've had a look at a few reviews which are more or less unanimous when they say the Apple Watch is the best wearable, but it's not exactly clear to me why that is. As far as I can tell, my wife checks her text messages and looks at the fitness stuff (on a completely amateur level) and not much else. Maybe I'm not understanding some of the more in-depth facilities or maybe they don't exist.

Is there an alternative, round-faced watch that has a screen size suitable for a smaller wrist? Some of the fitness watches like those made by Garmin have a bewildering range, with each more expensive version having a slightly better range of features, until it becomes tiring trying to figure it all out.

It's her birthday soon and she'll likely end up with the Watch Series 5 if there's nothing else to tempt her.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

Garmin make some seriously good watches but depends what she wants. If she is active then there is no better than a garmin forerunner 245. Most people at my running club are now switching to them!

Fitbit have a wealth of issues from battery,desyncing, GPS not working etc...that I no longer recommend them. They have turned into slow buggy POS which is disappointing.

Apple watches are a good middle of the road watch. Not particular excellent at a lot of things but they do pack in the features.

 

[Martynt74]

I'd have been more tempted by the Vivoactive 3, especially the music version which allows you to use Spotify on it. It also features Garmin Pay so keeps a lot more of the "smart" features over the Forerunner.

The apple watch comes into it's own if you want to start using the watch more as an extension of the phone. I use mine to set reminders and alarms using siri, or to check emails or answer calls if my phone is upstairs and i won't get to it intime. If she doesn't use those features then then yeah, most watches will suit and the Garmin Vivoactive 3 will be great (if it's not too big).

Are you thinking of a surprise or something she knows about? Might be worth asking her what she actually uses it for, maybe phrase it that you want one but don't know if you'll see the benefit. If she starts raving about all the extra features then you know she'll want more of a smart watch with some fitness elements to it.

Maybe look at the Galaxy Watch, that seems to get good reviews and will keep most of the Apple Watch features. I'm just not sure how well it'll interface with the iphone.

 

[Squink]

Thanks guys. This isn't to be a surprise gift - I'll no doubt do the research and recommend what I think is the best one. The trouble is, it only takes one tiny missing feature if she buys a non-Apple watch and all of a sudden she'll resent the watch for the duration of ownership. A couple of years ago she wanted a change from iOS and got a Galaxy S8 and within a few weeks didn't like it 'because the apps looked different'. That's fair enough, everyone has their reasons, but I think it means anything other than an Apple Watch will end up left in the drawer, as much as I'd prefer to pay less money for a watch that is probably just as good.

Those two Garmins look smart, the trouble being they are pretty big unless you happy to have them like that. Do they both pick up texts and emails? The spec pages aren't clear. Maybe I'll tell her she needs to go back to Android if she wants a round-faced watch

 

[HoneyBadger]

Check the Sunnto Spartan. I like mine.

 

[bazzabear]

I have an Amazfit Stratos which I'm pretty pleased with.

I suspect it's nowhere close to a genuine Apple watch though.

 

[Squink]

I got my wife a Nike Apple Watch series 5 with cellular which popped up with a price glitch that didn’t have VAT included.

Cheers for the responses

 

[Combat Fighter]

Garmin make some seriously good watches but depends what she wants. If she is active then there is no better than a garmin forerunner 245. Most people at my running club are now switching to them!

Fitbit have a wealth of issues from battery,desyncing, GPS not working etc...that I no longer recommend them. They have turned into slow buggy POS which is disappointing.

Apple watches are a good middle of the road watch. Not particular excellent at a lot of things but they do pack in the features.

I love my Fenix 6 titanium, battery life and features are amazing. It looks very nice as well with its rugged design. Makes the Apple Watch look like a kids toy.