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by nradov 1385 days ago
The latest Garmin devices have much longer battery life with equivalent functionality, and can extend battery life with solar charging.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/854515

2 comments

It doesn’t look like they can make phone calls or auto-call 911 after a crash (absent a working phone).
I know they came out with an LTE-enabled Forerunner 945 late in its cycle. I don’t know if they’ll add similar functionality to other models, but that’s one watch with that feature.

Personally that device never interested me because:

1) if I can rely on cell phone signal, I’m likely doing a quick and simple hike where I don’t have to worry about draining my cell phone battery in the first place, or

2) if I can’t rely on cell phone signal (much more likely), which is especially likely in the US wilderness, then if I’m doing something precarious in a remote setting I’ll have to bring a beacon and satellite communicator anyway. Like an InReach Mini.

The fact that Garmin is releasing even higher end watches without cell phone connectivity likely indicates there’s not a lot of people buying nearly $1k fitness watches finding that functionality compelling.

Obviously people doing this are likely too narrow a segment for Apple. Like, why would Apple care that I’m not buying their watch? I was just engaged by their headline marketing for this watch until I saw the specs.

> equivalent functionality

Does it make phone calls?