Editor-DN
I believe in wearable technology from the beginning. Before smartwatches were really mainstream, I used Fitbit trackers to track activity, check the time, and see notifications. I was one of the first to buy a watch in 2015 when the first Apple Watch was announced. That says a lot because the first Apple Watch Sport was terrible. Since then, I’ve owned a ton of top smartwatches, including the Apple Watch, Pixel Watch, Galaxy Watch, and Garmin models.
But recently, I reviewed the most expensive smartwatch ever to wear on my wrist. It’s the Garmin Enduro 3, a durable wearable with a retail price of $900. When I test products during the fall release cycle, I’m usually excited when I’m finished and can go back to my preferred everyday carry. For smartwatches, that usually means dressing up my Apple Watch Ultra or Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.
This time was different. I couldn’t stop wearing the Garmin Enduro 3, and frankly, I haven’t thought about going back to the Apple Watch Ultra or the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. In fact, I don’t even know where my Apple Watch Ultra is right now – despite wearing it religiously for two years before trying the Garmin Watch.
We’re approaching the Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts, where smartwatches — including Garmin’s — are going on sale. That’s why if you’re itching to make a change, next week might be the best time to do it. Here’s why I’ve rounded up these smartwatches, and why you should too.
No more compromises.
It’s true that the Garmin Enduro 3 costs more than the Apple Watch Ultra or the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (and their newer models, for that matter). However, it’s also true that the Enduro 3 is better in a few key ways, starting with battery life. Garmin advertises the Enduro 3 as offering potentially “unlimited” battery life thanks to its solar charging capabilities, but in smartwatch mode, you can get up to three months of battery life on a single charge. A more realistic figure is probably a month of battery life, which I simulated in real-world use.
Compare that to the latest Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the difference is staggering. I’m lucky to get a day or two of battery life on my Ultra with normal use, sleep tracking, and activity tracking. The Garmin Enduro 3 helps me forget about charging, and it completely changed the way I use a smartwatch. When the battery runs low, I still have a few days of power left. All I have to do is remember to charge it for a few hours each of those few days, and I’m good to go for another month.
In practice, this results in tangible benefits. I went on an international trip last month, and I didn’t bring a Garmin charger with me. The Enduro 3 was half charged when I left and had a week’s worth of battery left when I returned. On vacation, where remembering to bring all the right chargers can be a hassle, the Garmin was like a breath of fresh air.
Of course, this is nothing new for Garmin watches. The Enduro 3 is the longest-lasting smartwatch in the company’s lineup, but all great Garmin watches have solid battery life. The eye-opening part of using the Garmin Enduro 3 was discovering that you don’t have to give up features to get this level of outstanding battery life. I’ve used older Vivoactive models, and more recently, the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. These watches also had great battery life, but lacked in terms of feature set.
The Garmin Enduro 3 doesn’t compromise in the same ways. It has lots of useful, tactile buttons — plus a responsive touchscreen. There are a handful of GPS bands supported, and a long list of sensors including barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor. In terms of health sensors, you get heart rate monitor, pulse ox monitor, thermometer and ECG.
Add all this together with Garmin’s insightful software, and the Enduro 3 was a far more useful fitness and health device than Apple or Samsung’s smartwatches. With the Apple Watch, it feels like Apple wants me. Looks good About my fitness and health. Your goal is to close the activity rings in a way that actually reminds you of checking off a daily to-do list rather than focusing on fitness progress. While WatchOS 11 is indeed better at recognizing rest days, the emphasis on rest and recovery still doesn’t match Garmin’s.
Again, this results in tangible lifestyle benefits. The Garmin Enduro 3 recorded absolutely atrocious sleep and body battery scores in the days before coming down with a severe sinus infection. It knew I was sick before I did and recommended I stop training. Likewise, when I’m sore and tired after a hard workout the day before, Garmin’s Training Readiness Store confirms what my body is telling me—assuring me to rest without feeling guilty. Spend the day.
Meanwhile, my Apple Watch sits in a drawer somewhere, beeping every hour to remind me to get up and walk.
One of the reasons I love using the Garmin Enduro 3 isn’t because the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch has gotten worse. This is what I changed as a user. I have no interest in using my smartwatch like a phone strapped to my wrist. I want a watch that tells time reliably, has long battery life, and has great fitness tracking capabilities and insights. Garmin watches are fantastic for this. Purely as a smartwatch, I’d recommend getting an Apple Watch or a Galaxy Watch.
But for me, I’ve discovered that there’s value in wearing a smartwatch that’s a little understated. Be careful.
Wait, you’re saying I should pay $900 for a smartwatch?
I know what you’re probably thinking. Sure, the Enduro 3 is great, but it’s probably too expensive to be worth it. It’s expensive—I wouldn’t blame you if you’re not ready to pay $900 for a smartwatch—however, it’s also worth it.
When you look at what came before and after the Garmin Enduro 3, the price proposition starts to make sense. The watch’s predecessor was the Enduro 2, which cost $1,100. Garmin added a ton of software features and hardware improvements to the Enduro 3, making it the company’s longest-lasting watch to date while simultaneously slashing the sticker price by $200.
Additionally, the Enduro 3 is quietly a better value than the Garmin Fenix 8. In our review, we found that the Fenix 8 was overpriced. Insanely, the Enduro 3 can do a lot of what the Fenix 8 can do, being lighter, cheaper, and featuring an innovative solar screen with longer battery life and more surface area for charging. Unless you need diving features or a speaker and microphone, the Enduro 3 is a better value — and maybe, depending on your use case — better watch than the Fenix 8.
Consider these two watches for comparison, and the $900 Enduro 3 suddenly looks like a great deal. Couple that with the fact that the Garmin Enduro 3 may very well go on sale during the Black Friday sales, which are already underway, and it seems like a great time to upgrade to a Garmin watch.
Good news for budget shoppers. Many of the things I mentioned in this review apply to a ton of other Garmin watches, available at a fraction of the price of the Enduro 3. The Instinct 2 Solar is a great option for those who can forego the touchscreen and most smartwatch features in favor of long battery life and excellent activity tracking. The Vivoactive and Forerunner lineups are less versatile than the Enduro 3, but they still have great watches with week-plus battery life at lower prices.
I’m betting at least a few Garmin watches will be on sale on Black Friday. We’ve already seen killer deals on brand offerings covering Prime Day, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday could offer even more price cuts. If you’re like me and ready to ditch your Apple or Galaxy watch for a Garmin, you should keep an eye out for Black Friday deals on Garmin smartwatches. We may even luckily see new models like the Enduro 3 and Fenix 8 drop in price a lot.
My new favorite smartwatch
Don’t let the price fool you — the Garmin Enduro 3 is a great value, packing tons of features and battery life into a relatively light form factor.
