This RU-vid channel is Mayur's attempts to vlog about his daily interests: Endurance, engineering, discipline, philosophy, humility, health, and other fine things in life. Mayur is primarily a whole food plant based engineering manager, pursuing ultra endurance activities as a hobby. This channel is a window into a part of this life.
I bought the Garmin Tactix 7 Pro after seriously considering the Ultra. Many of the cooler (independent) features require the purchase of another cell phone line if you want to leave your phone at home while out with the watch. I’d rather go without the additional line and feature. Also, and this has been a thorn in my oatmeal since the iPhone 3 (when I came over from Blackberry - a far superior smart phone when it comes to emails and texts) and that is the INTENTIONALLY shitty battery life. It’s got to be intentional - how else could it be the worst ever when battery tech has skyrocketed in the last 15 years. And don’t get me started on Apple “faux” apps that don’t do what they say they will at least not without in app purchases or third party apps that cost extra. The diving app is strictly for sport divers that do not come close to pushing sport diving depth boundaries and here again is a scary battery short coming that could short-circuit your dive trip if your charge isn’t topped off. I could go on and on but the Mayur hit upon alot of the concerns I had and why I chose the Garmin.
no matter how hard to try to strength my calves, i always get knee pain after a 5km race and takes 3 days to fully recover,any idea why my knee pains after race, as in when i try to squat and bend my knees post run
Thank you. A very smart review. The ultra is my first Apple Watch. I think it’s the first watch Apple has made that can begin to compete with Garmin. For anyone running a 5k-marathon, it’s an excellent watch. Beyond that, a Garmin may be preferred. I love the ultra and highly recommend it. But I’m keeping my Fenix 5 for races/hikes that demand longer battery life. You, sir, should have more subscribers.
hi brother, nice video, are u wearing fenix 7 or 7x, im confused on what to pick, i have 16cm wrist size, i guess u are also 16cm right, in australia, we dont get to try original ones on, i like 7x, but concerned about the weight and size when i use it for sleep, ur inputs pls
Mine is a 7. I'd tried a dummy Fenix 6 in a store and found it's the same size so I was comfortable getting the 7. I have pretty small wrists but keep in mind the 7X has more battery and a flashlight (if that helps you overcome the heft).
@@mayurdhaka580 thanks brother, do u wear fenix 7 all day, also for sleep, i plan to do that to use it all day, planning to get the sapphire edition white one, dos the weight become unformattable for sleep etc, or a nylon band would help
@@ajayg9077 I wear the watch all the time, weight is never a problem. I didn't like the Garmin nylon bands because they felt too synthetic (as opposed to the Apple Watch ones). I will be posting a review of the Fenix 7 too, stay tuned...
@@ajayg9077 I can't speak for your needs but personally, I would have waited to try the 7X because I REALLY love the extra battery and the flashlight is something I use very often. I would be willing to put up with some heft there. (Not that I regret the 7 standard, it's the perfect size, for me)
Smartwatches like Garmin, Casio, Suunto and Coros brings something different which Apple or Samsung doesn't. But why people prefer Apple/Samsung over Garmin or so....? Is there really major differences among these smartwatches....? Can you pick some of the features which are available on Garmin and lacks in Apple and vice versa...? And which is the best buy according to you among these....?
As a smartwatch the Apple Watch is better. Notifications, apps, tie in with the iPhone is better. As a sportswarch (training feedback, metrics, recovery etc) the Garmin is better.
@@mayurdhaka580 Thanks for your insights but Apple also provide you the data(approx) about your workouts, etc. And an average or normal person doesn't focus on 100's of workout modes and primarily focuses on few of them. Apart from workouts i don't think Garmin/Gshock/Suunto are good enough and also they are expensive too.... Ok, can you suggest me one out of these Garmin/Gshock/Suunto...? I want to purchase one only to get an experience. My budget is around 60-70k only....?
Great review of two of the most popular brands. It was great to hear your real life experience as I own a fenix but the ultra is getting a lot of attention. Kudos from Belize.
Am a IPhone 13 user now unable to decide on Apple or Garmin I do run and cycle regularly but not ultra marathoner but am a recreational runner would you suggest Garmin 255 music Vs Apple 8
If using a smartwatch and those features matter to you, get and Apple Watch. It can easily suffice for recreational running. If you hate charging things though, and you want suggestions and further metrics for your runs, go for the Garmin.
I love that Garmin Instinct Solar. Such a great device and it's extremely accurate based on my testing. And of course the Fenix is amazing as well. Heads up the Apple Watch Ultra has 3 buttons and the scroll wheel. But I do think it's interesting that Apple is interested in this market place. Great video Mayur!
I was going to order the ultra but when i compared it to the Fenix 7 solar cost wise the Fenix is much cheaper considering also the battery life for days. This video also confirms and support my decision.
I just ordered the Apple Watch Ultra. I was going to get a Garmin, but the Apple Watch just offers so much more for every day life and it perfectly compliments my iPhone. I’m not part of the extraordinary tiny niche of ultra marathon runners. The most time I’ll ever need for any sport is well under 12hrs. Garmin had quite a hold over the “adventure” watch segment. But Apple is about to take roughly 40% of that away from them, now that they offer iPhone users something similar. That’s what Apple does. That’s what they did to Tile when they launched AirTags. Their strategists in the marketing department are on top of their game.
I sold my bullshit Garmin Fenix 7x sapphire solar, sure the battery was good, but unless it was pulled tight up on my arm, the heart rate would not measure correctly. I swallowed that pill for a while, to pull it up tight while out on my runs, but then I hated the thought that it would be measuring my heart rate inaccurately all the other moments I didn’t have it pulled up tight. This combined with music being crap, not being able to pay cause Garmin doesn’t have my bank in their line up of banks, the fact that the bezel scratch very easily and many other small annoyances, I sold it off for slick. I went back to my Apple watch series 3, which I thought was a better choice, it will still record my runs swims, walks just fine and I do use a Garmin cycling computer to record my rides. I think the Ultra is going to be great for a lot of people, but probably not the people they actually advertise it for. Who the hell would bring this on a multi day expedition for example, this is some kind of a cruel joke.
If you want the best heart rate you should use a chest strap like ones from Decathlon, Garmin, etc. Most wrist based sensors are unreliable during movement.
I agree, get a chest strap for the accuracy, the Garmin is wildly inaccurate during runs otherwise, unless you pull the watch tight up on your arm, but who wants to restrict their blood flow that way anyway.
Sorry, the correct answer is the Apple Watch gives far superior hr accuracy! It’s very near a chest strap. Check out DC rainmaker, the quantified scientist, des for etc. all unbiased and it blows the Garmin away with hr accuracy. That’s the fundamental issue with Garmin (I’m a Garmin user who is considering the ultra), the hr on a Garmin is too unrealisable… then all your metrics are off…. Rendering the Garmin much more useless- at least hr and training metrics wise
Apple watches are very accurate when it comes to the heart rate monitoring. I've used the Apple watch and compared it with chest strap several times, and it is quite accurate you can almost do without a chest strap for most training sessions
The Ultra does NOT have a "much larger display" compared to series 8 or the other watches. Apple and most manufacturers quote the CASE size. Your own video includes specs from the page that says "49mm Case". The screen is only a few pixels larger and in renders doesn't display any more. Good vid with great information and perspective.
You are right, the case size has gone up but the display is only 7% bigger. Probably just accounted for in scaling the software up a bit. Thanks for the correction.
Excellent, wise video! You look deeper than others I’ve see! Like when we are in the anaerobic zone, we don’t need the fancy extras. I have a Garmin Fenix used with Garmin app and Strava. Ultra might be tempting if they had better battery life as you pointed out and a better eco system like Garmin. Thanks!
Garmin having a better eco system? Are you talking about the IQ store or Garmin’s other physical products? There is no point in having the extra 25 days battery if the watch doesn’t measure your hr correctly unless your watch is pulled up tight on your arm.
"Those iPhones without real keyboard are useless. I would never change my trusty Blackberry with real keys, not in a thousand years!" "Who in the world would buy a phone with one day battery life when with my Nokia I'm having an entire week?". Watching this video I had a déià-vu 😂
That analogy was definitely on my mind when I made the video but i think there's more to it-Ultra offers little (battery and ruggedness) more than what the regular Apple Watch offers. And for those things, these watches are orders of magnitude better (at least for better). For the sake of this whole market, I hope I'm wrong and the Ultra is stiff competition with the others. Cheers!
Genuinely useful insights. Thanks very much. I’m an iPhone user and had been planning an Apple Watch purchase when the Ultra was announced. Ordered it right away. My daily watch has been a 22 yr old Citizen EcoDrive that just never stops so it’ll be very interesting how I deal with near daily charging. One reason Garmin et al. might benefit from the Ultra is the free advertising. I didn’t even know Garmin had high end smart watches previously.
Appreciate your kind words and glad I could help. That Citizen sounds very tempting if it lasted you so long. Hope you enjoy your new Apple Watch Ultra. Also, yes, I agree Garmin may get free advertising by being associated to the Ultra for people who don't know of Garmin.
I’m exactly in the same situation. I didn’t know Garmin had high end watches. I just bought the Ultra, now looking at the Fenix 7, it looks like a better watch for extreem sport activity. But real life tests need to discover that. But battery live from the Garmin, is from another planet. I just wonder why that is? Apple has been a world leader of customized chip design, they should be apple to make a watch more efficient. What is a bit disturbing on the Garmin, is the heart Rate accuracy. There is a physician on RU-vid that test the accuracy of smart watches heart rate and the Apple Watch is way more accurate then most watches, also comparing to the Garmin Fenix.
@@TheVorst interesting. In some ways the revelation that Garmin has good quality watches that connect to an iPhone AND have good battery opens up interesting use cases and market opportunities. I’m personally less interested in the high end features than in simply getting notified on the watch of calls and (some) texts AND really good battery life. Thinking even a lower end Garmin might provide that.
Not sure why this is for others (I have seen people stick to their watches for many years too--Goggins, Nick Bare, etc.) but for me it's because I'm really into watches (and tech).
I think there are people that run ultra marathons, and there are people that would love to, but honestly never will. I am part of that last group and I think we deserve a watch like the ultra so we at least look like we do. Lol, it's not a know, it's the new reality. People that are not pro have fancier gear than pro's in every sector these day. I have seen people start youtube with $4000 cameras and $2000 lenses and $3000 computers that have never done video before!!
Very astute point! This is why I mention in the video that the Ultra is just a premium Apple Watch--tailored to users who are already sold on the idea of an Apple Watch and want "more" which could mean different things to different people. PS: Shooting this video with a <$1K camera setup. 😃
@@mayurdhaka580 TWIT this week in tech video minute ~28-29 hammers my point home!! Leo bought the Ultra of course, he says. It's so funny. Many non extreme sportpeople are going to buy that watch
You are of course 100% right. But at the same time this is the first salvo for dominance in the above $500 sports watch market that current is held by Garmin. People can argue it of course, but the Apple Watch Ultra is a great looking new titanium sport watch, that begins to chip away at the horrible battery life and lack of in depth sport tracking that Apple Watch once suffered from. For example, the Ultra (and WatchOS 9) brings a huge number of new running metrics including on wrist running power and a full suite of running dynamics that serious runners have asked for. Now the Ultra certainly can handle any marathon easily, something that is far more common than ultra-running or even Half or full Ironman Triathlons where it might still struggle for slower athletes. Because Apple Watch is arguably the finest *smart* watch on the market, and because so many of Garmin's customers are Apple users (look at your iPad and new Studio Display) you can make a case it is just a matter of time until a combination of software updates and improved battery life in the coming years create an Apple Watch Ultra Series 2 or 3 that suddenly can't be ignored because perhaps it has Garmin Epix 2 like battery life or similar. It's a matter of time because suddenly Apple has turned its attention to Garmin's market and their ability to bridge the gap to Garmin is far easier for it to do in time, than the likelihood Garmin can produce the smartwatch capability Apple Watch already is known for.
Super thoughtful comment! I agree with you that the future would be very interesting as the Ultra improves. I just hope it improves fast enough to catch up with Garmin on their strengths.
Nice video. I’ve been using Apple Watch for 4 years, moving to Felix 7. Two days into the Fenix 7, I realized how much I miss the voice command capability for Apple which you mentioned, especially the alarms. Do you know of a way to set alarms on an iPhone that will trigger an alert on the Fenix? Thanks.
Alarms are special cases on the iPhone and so won't show as a "notification" on the Fenix. The best you can do is download an alarm app from the app Store and use that so it shows on the Fenix but even then it's just going to be a notification (no persistence until you dismiss).
You can set up a hot key with multiple alarms. For example, my bottom right hand button on a long press automatically goes to alarms. Then I have about 5 preset alarms. My left bottom button is set for a long press to make timers come up.
