[nja]

Another reason I'm so incensed that Google bought Fitbit. Every Fitbit I had prior to the Google acquisition worked extremely well and had battery life in the 5-7-day range. My favorite was the Sense which was basically a full (but svelte) smartwatch + full fitness tracker.

Now: just overpriced crappy Google hardware that lasts 12 hours because of AI and who knows what else they shoved on there.

And nobody else makes anything close to what Fitbit made...

[microtonal]

Garmin smart watches are great. They last for days or weeks depending on the model. E.g. my Fenix 8 AMOLED lasts 7 days with the always-on-display on or 14 days with raise-to-wake for the screen. The MIP solar versions can last 3-4 weeks with their screen always on (depending on how much sunshine).

The more expensive models have map support. And the maps are not Google/Apple Maps, which are crappy for hiking/cycling, but they are full offline openstreetmap-based topo maps. And the best thing is you can install your own maps and there is a large community making custom maps for mountainbiking, horseback riding, cycling, hiking, etc. For instance, on my Fenix I use Garmin's TopoActive maps, along with a community overlay that adds the Dutch cycling network.

Also, if you care about privacy and do not want to use Garmin's apps to sync with your phone, you can either connect the watch and copy the data to your computer, or you can use GadgetBridge to sync with your phone (GadgetBridge is open source).

Another really cool feature is that you can control almost all models fully with buttons (except models like Venu X1), which is extremely handy when you are e.g. cycling. Or when it is cold or raining.