AWU3 Buyer's remorse

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

I just bought a brand new AWU3 from an authorised retailer for less what Apple sells certified refurbished AWU2's - I should get it next week. I couldn't resist the temptation, since I got somewhat bored of Garmin and their BS.
I thought I knew all the limitations of AWU3 (lacklustre training functionalities, lack of HRV, measuring sleep quality based on cosmetics rather than actual health data - looping back to missing HRV, sketchy way of massaging HR data during workouts, etc) but today I've learnt that outside of exercising AWU3 measures HR only once a few minutes??? I remember reading that they do this in battery saver mode (which is still a bit sht, Garmin keeps recording HR every sec even in saver mode), but surely Apple can't be also limiting the polling frequency when the saver is off... Can someone confirm please.

 

[jz0309]

I just bought a brand new AWU3 from an authorised retailer for less what Apple sells certified refurbished AWU2's - I should get it next week. I couldn't resist the temptation, since I got somewhat bored of Garmin and their BS.
I thought I knew all the limitations of AWU3 (lacklustre training functionalities, lack of HRV, measuring sleep quality based on cosmetics rather than actual health data - looping back to missing HRV, sketchy way of massaging HR data during workouts, etc) but today I've learnt that outside of exercising AWU3 measures HR only once a few minutes??? I remember reading that they do this in battery saver mode (which is still a bit sht, Garmin keeps recording HR every sec even in saver mode), but surely Apple can't be also limiting the polling frequency when the saver is off... Can someone confirm please.

yes, it is every few minutes depending on activity during non-workout times.

Why do you need more?

 

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

yes, it is every few minutes depending on activity during non-workout times.

Why do you need more?

Having continuous HR readings unlocks many health related metrics. You can't have proper recovery and training readiness metrics without it. Not to mention stress and body battery. Also knowing how your HR reacts live to different daily routine tasks, food, drinks allows you to eliminate those that have a clear negative impact. Those are just a few things that rely on continuous HR polling and are integral to a good modern fitness device.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Having continuous HR readings unlocks many health related metrics. You can't have proper recovery and training readiness metrics without it. Not to mention stress and body battery. Also knowing how your HR reacts live to different daily routine tasks, food, drinks allows you to eliminate those that have a clear negative impact. Those are just a few things that rely on continuous HR polling and are integral to a good modern fitness device.

You can have proper recovery and training readiness using the Apple Watch. Whoever told you you have you have to have continuous HR readings, lied to you. Sounds to me like you are hung up on metrics and using the Apple bashing as an excuse.

 

[jz0309]

Having continuous HR readings unlocks many health related metrics. You can't have proper recovery and training readiness metrics without it. Not to mention stress and body battery. Also knowing how your HR reacts live to different daily routine tasks, food, drinks allows you to eliminate those that have a clear negative impact. Those are just a few things that rely on continuous HR polling and are integral to a good modern fitness device.

ok, sounds you should stick with your Garmin

 

[Adelphos33]

Having continuous HR readings unlocks many health related metrics. You can't have proper recovery and training readiness metrics without it. Not to mention stress and body battery. Also knowing how your HR reacts live to different daily routine tasks, food, drinks allows you to eliminate those that have a clear negative impact. Those are just a few things that rely on continuous HR polling and are integral to a good modern fitness device.

Looks like the Apple Watch (doesn’t matter the model - Ultra and Series are the same in this regard) isn’t the profit for you!

 

[BigMcGuire]

I was in an Apple Health study that took 2x the normal heart rate readings. It was ... murder on the battery.

In the past, Apple Watch 3 days, I used a heart rate monitor chest strap. That thing needed constant recharging especially after a 5 mile run. (Yeah that was awhile ago). But even today, a modern heart rate strap has what, 40-50 hour battery life?

Also... I'm not an expert on Garmin watches but ... last I checked ... the Fenix 8, Epix Pro, Forerunner 965/265, Instinct 2, and Venu 3 all turn off heart rate monitoring in saver mode. Doing constant heart rate monitoring would have a significant impact on the battery life, even for the perfect almighty Garmin.

 

[Snørrbjørg]

But even today, a modern heart rate strap has what, 40-50 hour battery life?

2-3-400 hours for a Garmin HRM Pro or Polar H10.

 

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

I'm not an expert on Garmin watches but ... last I checked ... the Fenix 8, Epix Pro, Forerunner 965/265, Instinct 2, and Venu 3 all turn off heart rate monitoring in saver mode. Doing constant heart rate monitoring would have a significant impact on the battery life, even for the perfect almighty Garmin.

Don't know which sources you checked against, but they're clearly wrong. Garmin takes HR reading every second continuously, even in battery saver mode (to be fair, you can disable it in saver mode if you want to push saver mode further), but even without battery saver mode the spec time between charges quoted by Garmin includes HR always ON.

 

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

Looks like the Apple Watch (doesn’t matter the model - Ultra and Series are the same in this regard) isn’t the profit for you!

Still not decided what to do with it but I assure you it will be a profit for me. The price I paid will take care of that.

 

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

You can have proper recovery and training readiness using the Apple Watch. Whoever told you you have you have to have continuous HR readings, lied to you.

You can't really, unless there's some additional data collection occurring between HR readings you'll never know which trend the taken reading fits into. Since I know how continuous HR readings work - based on years of experience with Garmin - I can tell you that having spot HR reading taken is a bit like having spot security checks at an airport, where you scan every 100th passenger and you let the other ones through willy nilly.

 

[doogm]

lack of HRV,

Huh?



This is my HRV from yesterday:

measuring sleep quality based on cosmetics rather than actual health data

Short of including an EEG somehow, everyone is guesstimating based on heart rate measures, movement, etc. FWIWm, there are third-party apps that do a better job than Apple's stock app.

but today I've learnt that outside of exercising AWU3 measures HR only once a few minutes???

That's essentially correct, though the watch does record continuous heart rate for a few minutes after a workout is ended in order to calculate heart rate recovery.

 

[hgfjhbvytjdnb]

Huh?

Yeah, possibly could have been worded more carefully as the point was not its complete lack, since it does measure it every... I mean whenever it fancies 🤪 Apple Watch seems to be a Gen Z of "fitness trackers". And now I get why Garmin are so arrogant about their approach to customers - they know Apple ain't a threat.

 

[hg.wells]

I can find one old article from Garmin in 2001 that says they monitor every second. But all of their current devices link to this article:

Accuracy | Garmin

Activity tracking and fitness metric accuracy

www.garmin.com

The optical wrist heart rate (HR) monitor for Garmin wearables is a valuable tool that can provide an accurate estimation of the user’s heart rate at any given point in time. The optical HR monitor is designed to attempt to monitor a user’s heart rate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The frequency at which heart rate is measured varies, and may depend on the level of activity of the user. When you start an activity with your Garmin optical HR device, the optical HR monitor measures more frequently. The intent is to provide the user with a more frequent and accurate heart rate reading during a given activity.

 

[cynics]

Yeah, possibly could have been worded more carefully as the point was not its complete lack, since it does measure it every... I mean whenever it fancies 🤪 Apple Watch seems to be a Gen Z of "fitness trackers". And now I get why Garmin are so arrogant about their approach to customers - they know Apple ain't a threat.

Picking your poison with this one. Both deliver partial heart rate data using a mediocre method in a poor location to the end user and both explicitly say its not to be used for as medical purposes for that reason.

During high activity both watches operate similarly constantly recording heart rate at their high frequency modes (200hz) however the Garmin refreshes the screen per second. Since BPM is the average beat per minute delivering data that fast isn't very beneficial.

During inactivity the Apple Watch will sample using its high frequency (200hz) based on movement and/or time if completely inactive to conserve battery. This is to record resting heart rates and calories burned from low activity. Gaps in data are introduced due to lack of recording.

Garmin will sample using a low frequency mode (I've read anywhere from 0.1 - 20 hz) based on activity to converse battery. This records resting heart rate and such. Gaps in the data are introduced due to lack of frequency of the sample rate.

Both have very similar results, which is a not precise but good enough heart rate for tracking trends with fitness and heart wellness.

I do feel there is good reasons to pick one watch over the other however I don't feel heart rate is one of them.

 

[xDKP]

I run 80-90 km's a week and like to track my fitness with my Apple Watch - to be honest all the "Body Battery" and "Training Readiness" sounds cool, but at the end of the day - Why do people forget to feel what their body is telling you? Do you feel like you have been hit by a bus when waiking up, maybe take it a bit easier that morning or surplus of energy usually the opposite.

To be honest, it all looks cool, but I would never cancel my tempo runs if a watch said I was supposed to feel worse than I actually feel.

On a GPS, heart rate and during-the-run data note, the Ultra is superb - can highly recommend

 

[dblissmn]

In practice I don't think the difference is as big as you make out. If I could have it all I'd have a watch that combines the software integration, wrist-back design, and smartphone support of Apple with the power management and high frequency monitoring of Garmin. Now that would be truly impressive. I think there are advantages in select areas; Garmin clearly has a big edge over Apple on HRV; I think Apple's software is able to triangulate and interpolate quite well and the background monitoring of Afib is useful. And in general it reflects the focus, Garmin more for the multisport athlete, Apple probably more for someone that needs overall health being monitored closely, and someone in between those two use cases probably could use either comfortably. A wild card, that note about wrist-back design. I think Apple has wrist fit particularly well dialed in, which helps cover for their deficiencies specifically on running -- no good having intensive analysis of HRV if the watch doesn't sit properly on your wrist. But some may choose to deal with this using a chest strap anyway, rendering the point rather moot.

It would also help if we'd take antitrust law a little more seriously. Garmin and Apple having to properly open Connect and iHealth respectively to one another would help consumers make more rational decisions.

 

[Nekronos]

I was in an Apple Health study that took 2x the normal heart rate readings. It was ... murder on the battery.

In the past, Apple Watch 3 days, I used a heart rate monitor chest strap. That thing needed constant recharging especially after a 5 mile run. (Yeah that was awhile ago). But even today, a modern heart rate strap has what, 40-50 hour battery life?

Also... I'm not an expert on Garmin watches but ... last I checked ... the Fenix 8, Epix Pro, Forerunner 965/265, Instinct 2, and Venu 3 all turn off heart rate monitoring in saver mode. Doing constant heart rate monitoring would have a significant impact on the battery life, even for the perfect almighty Garmin.

Both Garmin and apple watch restricts things like heart rate monitoring in battery saver mode - did you have a point with that? Just fyi, all Garmins have a simpler OS that focus more on power efficiency while providing both more metrics and higher reading frequency compared to apple watch.

Given even lower end Garmins have longer battery life than the apple watch ultra (particularly in workout/GPS mode)...there's really no reason to use battery saver on a Garmin unless you are doing continuous multi-day workouts in the desert/jungle and who does that? Even if you are, some Garmin models can last up to a month or longer with continuous heart rate monitoring.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Both Garmin and apple watch restricts things like heart rate monitoring in battery saver mode - did you have a point with that? Just fyi, all Garmins have a simpler OS that focus more on power efficiency while providing both more metrics and higher reading frequency compared to apple watch.

Given even lower end Garmins have longer battery life than the apple watch ultra (particularly in workout/GPS mode)...there's really no reason to use battery saver on a Garmin unless you are doing continuous multi-day workouts in the desert/jungle and who does that? Even if you are, some Garmin models can last up to a month or longer with continuous heart rate monitoring.

Agreed, my response was to the OP who was saying (and corrected me) that "Garmin keeps recording HR every sec even in saver mode" - and the OP responded to my post that you quoted with: "Don't know which sources you checked against, but they're clearly wrong. Garmin takes HR reading every second continuously, even in battery saver mode"

Would agree that saver mode on a Garmin is kinda silly especially with how long it lasts (one reason why I was very interested in buying it at one point in time - and may still someday).

But to answer your question - was just pointing out a discrepancy I saw - (that Garmin continually records HR every second in saver mode). I did some re-reading on this and it looks like even in saver mode you can turn on continuous HR - so maybe that's what the OP is referring to.


I turn off all my Apple Watch's notifications and use it as a health device first and foremost so the Garmin is something I'm very interested in.

 

[Nekronos]

Agreed, my response was to the OP who was saying (and corrected me) that "Garmin keeps recording HR every sec even in saver mode" - and the OP responded to my post that you quoted with: "Don't know which sources you checked against, but they're clearly wrong. Garmin takes HR reading every second continuously, even in battery saver mode"

So I was just saying, back when I was looking at getting a Garmin watch, I didn't see that.

Would agree that saver mode on a Garmin is kinda silly especially with how long it lasts (one reason why I was very interested in buying it at one point in time - and may still someday).

But to answer your question - was just pointing out a discrepancy I saw - (that Garmin continually records HR every second in saver mode). I did some re-reading on this and it looks like even in saver mode you can turn on continuous HR - so maybe that's what the OP is referring to.


I turn off all my Apple Watch's notifications and use it as a health device first and foremost so the Garmin is something I'm very interested in.

I gotcha, you can indeed customize the battery saver mode on Garmins to leave heart rate or other features on - I believe it defaults to leaving heart rate on.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I gotcha, you can indeed customize the battery saver mode on Garmins to leave heart rate or other features on - I believe it defaults to leaving heart rate on.

Cool - learn something new every day. Also thanks to @hgfjhbvytjdnb for the correction.

 

[grammatica]

I regret getting the Ultra because it's a big, heavy watch. The Ultra constantly slides down my wrist because of how heavy it is. Other models never did that.

 

[xDKP]

I regret getting the Ultra because it's a big, heavy watch. The Ultra constantly slides down my wrist because of how heavy it is. Other models never did that.

What strap do you use? Mine never slide anywhere but I like it to be fairly tight - no mater what kind of warch I’m wearing actually

 

[Adelphos33]

I regret getting the Ultra because it's a big, heavy watch. The Ultra constantly slides down my wrist because of how heavy it is. Other models never did that.

Apple has a solution for you - the lightweight, attractive Series 11 (or 10)