The Fenix 7 is Garmin’s most advanced multisport smart watch to date, but its new training tools have been carefully designed to make them accessible to more athletes. The Apple Watch Series 8 has joined the pack of temperature-sensing wearables with a new wrist sensor of its own. This year, with the arrival of many Watches, the challenge is to know which one to choose, if any. This article presents all the features of the Garmin Fenix 7 and the Apple Watch Series 8.
| Garmin Fenix 7 | Apple Watch Series 8 | |
 | $899.99 | $369.00 |
Price and availability of the two smartwatches
The Garmin Fenix 7 series was launched on January 18, 2022 and can be acquired directly from Amazon. Prices start at €598.17 for the standard version. The launch price of the Apple Watch Series 8 is €499.
Design of the Garmin Fenix 7 vs Apple Watch Series 8
The Garmin Fenix 7 series comes in three sizes (42mm, 47mm, and 51mm), with Standard, Solar, and Sapphire Solar variants
It uses Garmin’s QuickFit bands, which detach from the case by pressing down on a plastic clip. They’re extremely easy to change, but aren’t interchangeable with older quick-release straps, which are removed by pushing a pin into the side.
It’s impressive that Garmin has managed to keep the weight consistent while dramatically increasing battery life and improving screen technology.
The design of the Apple Watch has evolved since its launch in 2015. It still has the same rectangular design with curved corners, but has slowly grown in size. The digital crown has evolved and the side button has flattened out so that it is now flush with the case. On the other hand, the side button of the Ultra is raised to be easier to use with gloves.
The screen of the Garmin Fenix 7 vs Apple Watch Series 8
The Fenix 7’s screen is still pixel memory rather than AMOLED like the Garmin Epix or Venu 2. It’s easily readable in most lights, but lacks contrast, and the use of a blue backlight rather than white means that its colors are sometimes blurred. However, that’s part of what makes the Fenix 7 so power-efficient. This is a watch that can keep going for weeks in the right conditions, and even the non-solar versions offer impressive longevity.
Apple Watch Series 8 is available in two screen sizes: 41mm and 45mm. Both screens are LTPO OLED displays, which means they’re always on while consuming little power thanks to the reduction of the display frequency from 60Hz to just 1Hz. When you raise your wrist, the screen lights up automatically. The screens are edge-to-edge, with minimal bezels, and can reach a peak brightness of 1000 nits.
You will have no trouble seeing the screen in the sun. The Apple Watch Series 8 offers an excellent display that matches what you’d expect from Apple flagships.
Which one has the best battery life?
Battery life has always been one of the selling points of Garmin sports watches, and the Fenix 7 range definitely delivers. First of all, it is important to note that the autonomy of each watch in the range depends on the size of its battery, whether or not there is a solar cell and the size of this cell.
The Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, for example, is equipped with Garmin’s Power Glass, which harvests energy throughout the day to keep the watch’s battery topped up. You’ll still need to plug the watch in occasionally, but the solar cell extends battery life considerably.
Battery life plays a bigger role now that the Apple Watch is becoming aware-to-bed device. Sleep tracking is now an integral part of WatchOS 9, and temperature tracking requires a night’s sleep to be measured. That’s a problem when the Apple Watch’s battery life is still only around a day and a half.
The watch charges fully in about an hour and a half, or up to 80% in about 45 minutes, but when are you going to recharge it? Before going to bed? In the morning, in the shower? In the office? Either way, you could go a day or more without charging it, but since the Apple Watch has its own charger, you’ll need to make sure you’re not stuck somewhere with a low battery.
Which smartwatch has the best fitness tracking
Fenix 7’s enhanced training tools help you balance work and recovery, and make the abstract concept of training load easy to understand. This is still a watch designed for serious athletes, but Garmin’s advanced features are now more accessible for those taking their training to the next level.
The Fenix 7’s heart rate monitor is extremely responsive, making it a great watch for high-intensity interval training. A colored bar at the top of the watch screen lets you see your current heart rate training zone at all times, so you can increase the effort when you want to push to the next level, and see the effects immediately.
| Garmin Fenix 7 | Apple Watch Series 8 | |
| $899.99 | $369.00 |
Once you’ve finished your activity, the Garmin Connect app tells you how your endurance has decreased and whether your effort is meeting your potential. This is another useful piece of information that lets you know if you’re pushing hard enough or holding back when you start getting tired.
Apple understood early on that health tracking was essential for a device like the Apple Watch. After all, as the company points out, this is Apple’s most personal device, something you wear next to your skin all day. So it can keep track of your wellness metrics all the time. The Apple Watch Series 8 doesn’t just do what the most common fitness trackers do, namely count your steps and extrapolate the number of calories you burn, especially during your movements or workouts. , but it goes further.
Since the first generation model in 2015, the device has had a heart rate sensor, although originally this sensor was intended to allow Apple to get the most accurate guide possible to your calories efforts. But now it does so much more. For starters, the Series 8 can discreetly track your heart rate. If it suddenly goes high or low, the watch notices and alerts you if things seem to be going wrong.
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