Apple Watch vs Garmin Watch: Which Used Smartwatch is Better?

Both Apple and Garmin have released multiple smartwatch models over the past few years. We’re not going to discuss any model in particular, but we are going to help you decide which brand is better for you: Garmin or Apple. Both of these brands make smartwatches for very different purposes, and depending on what you need from a smartwatch, that will decide which of these used smartwatches is better for you.

Whether you buy a used Apple Watch Series 2 or the more recent Series 5, you’re going to realize that the watch integrates and works perfectly with an iPhone. Notifications, texts, all that fun stuff. And it’s done in a way that’s slick and easy. Newer versions of the Apple Watch (Series 2 and newer) come equipped with an onboard GPS, but with anything before that you’re going to need to bring your iPhone along to measure your distance on runs or bike rides. Some newer versions of the Apple Watch also come with the ability to use LTE.

Ok, so first let’s just say that no Garmin Watch will be quite as smooth or integrate quite as nicely with iOS as the Apple Watch. Don’t expect a company that specializes in GPS systems to beat Apple in their own game. But when it comes to software, the one advantage of Garmin watches is that they're also able to work with Android. I’m an Android fan and have been wishing for many years that the Apple Watch would come to support Google’s operating system, but alas, that’s something that’s probably never going to happen.

But the major way reason why somebody would buy a used Garmin watch over any of the offerings from Apple is because they are serious about fitness. Garmin watches give more fitness stats, and are able to track your health/workouts with greater accuracy and give more relevant data.

And one more feature that gives used Garmin watches an edge over their Apple counterparts: they have sleep trackers. This is partially thanks to their longer battery life (Garmin watches usually come with a battery life of over a week, while most Apple Watches will only last for a full day). Thanks to this longer battery life, Garmin has designed their smartwatches to stay on your body for a longer period of time, and were therefore able to build a sleep tracker into their wearables. Apple just integrated sleep tracking into their watches with Watch OS7, but it still isn't on par with Garmin's.

This all depends on what you want from your smartwatch. If you want a smartwatch to really track your fitness and health, a used Garmin Watch is probably the better choice. But if you want something that helps you check your notifications, pick up calls, and check your calendar without taking your iPhone out of your pocket, you should check out the refurbished Apple Watch deals on Backmarket.com :D