Click to ENLARGE. ‘Pixel Watch 3’ images have watermarks of their owners.
Despite all the trouble I had with ‘Google‘, for 2 FULL YEARS, on my 2021 Volvo XC60, I am still a sucker for all things Google. More than a decade of conditioning. I insist on using Chrome & Google Search.
I will only buy/use Google Pixel phones — & as some of you know I get the latest Pixel, each year, just ahead of Christmas so I can start using it on January 1.
I want to be all Pixel — phone & watch.
‘Wear OS 5’ and the software looks promising.
It is just the look of the Pixel Watch 3.
Looks like a toy. Jewelry. I don’t think it will look good on my extremely tanned wrist.
To say I am BLOODY annoyed would be the understatement of the year. I am beside myself. I am totally & utterly DISGUSTED with bloody Garmin.
This is a $1,000 watch. I don’t buy cheap watches because I want ‘the best’.
This is the last straw. I have been a good & loyal Garmin customer for 7 years. But, it has always been an uneasy, stressful relationship.
Yes, the Epix 2 is by far, by far, the MOST reliable Garmin I have owned (& I have owned about 12 Garmins). I do LIKE the Epix 2. But, I can’t have it losing steps.
That is really ALL I want it to do … accurately count my steps. IF it won’t do that, I might as well by a CHEAP WATCH. No difference. They will both be bad at counting my steps.
So, that is my dilema. As I write this I am ON (bloody) HOLD with Garmin.
WOW. And I to think I had become cynical of ‘Garmin‘ — though I have been a very loyal & GOOD Garmin customer, non-stop, for 6-years. I also used to be a Garmin shareholder, but sold all of my shares a few years ago {at a fairly decent gain both in terms of options & price appreciation}.
From what I see these NEW PRO features will be available via a FUTURE software update post-August 2023. I can wait. None of these features are major. Fairly good chance that I will NEVER use them — or even check them out! Though I like having the capability, I, rarely if ever, use MAPS on my watch anymore. I invariably have my phone handy when I need maps & the phone gives me a larger, more detailed picture.
But, I am glad & grateful that Garmin, for a rare change, is looking after their existing base.
I had & still have NO plans to get a Epix PRO.
There were really NO compelling features. I don’t want a bigger watch. The current one is Goldilocks. PLUS, I JUST HATE the hassle of setting up new Garmin watches, especially because I use CUSTOMIZED activity screens with customized data fields.
This scenario is perfect for I. I get the few features that intrigued I without having to get a new watch. Life is GOOD. Thank YOU, Garmin.
The $999.99 ‘Epix Gen 2‘ Sapphire Black Titanium that only leaves my wrist when I charge it for 30-minutes each day while I shower.
Click to ENLARGE. The TOP-END Garmin Epix Gen 2 currently on my wrist.
I have been an AVIDLY loyal ‘Garmin‘ customer since 2017. I have invariably sported a top-end Garmin. I have never skimped when it came to costs & my Garmin smartwatches. So, when Garmin pulls this kind of exploitative stunt I feel betrayed. Yes, I fully appreciate that creating detailed, accurate & value-added maps is hugely expensive. But, so are the HIGH END Garmin watches — & these maps only work on the high end watches. That is why I feel queasy. Just feel like Garmin is squeezing us TWICE — once when we pay the premium price it asks & THEN by coming up with these OPTIONAL subscription plans.
Well, I am NOT going to SUBSCRIBE — on principle. Plus, I don’t really use the maps on my watch. Screen is too small! I like having maps on my wrist, but rarely EVER use them, other than as a source of amusement. IF I am truly out & about I, these days, invariably have my Google Pixel phone with Google maps.
So that is where we stand when it comes to these maps.
Glad to see that I am NOT alone in saying that this is ‘not cricket‘. Will be interesting to see if we get more folks complaining.
I own & wear, 23.4×7, a much more expensive ($999.99) ‘Epix Gen 2‘ Sapphire Black Titanium. See below. That is my tanned wrist.
Click to ENLARGE. The TOP-END Garmin Epix Gen 2 currently on my wrist.
The ‘Venu 2 PLUS‘ is a NOTHING watch! When it came out a year ago ALL it offered above what was on the ‘Venu 2’ was voice-commands. I didn’t need voice-commands. So, I didn’t get one. Instead, I kept my Venu 2 as a backup & bought the high-end Epix Gen 2. I like my Epix Gen 2. It is feature rich, robust & looks good.
But this decision by Garmin irks me. Kick in the teeth for US their loyal high-end customers.
I am sure that they will be FORCED to add the ECG capability to the Epix 2 & ‘Fenix 7’. They should have done it FIRST. Their most expensive, high-end watches (not counting the ridiculous MARQ range (& before you accuse me of ‘sour grapes’, I did OWN a MARQ & ended up trading it in for a Fenix 6!)
I have waited so long for this from ‘Garmin’ that I have, by now, kind of lost interest. Plus, I don’t really need it — at least for now.
When Garmin failed to deliver I messed around with a couple of ‘handheld’ ECG/EKG monitors. They were CUTE but made me realize that they were kind of gimmicky. Fun the first few times but the novelty soon wears OFF IF your heart is in reasonable good shape. That is the key.
Click to ENLARGE. The TOP-END Garmin Epix Gen 2 currently on my wrist.
It will be interesting to see IF Garmin will make this a SOFTWARE UPDATE to its HIGH-END watches or whether it will use it as an excuse to tempt us to buy a new iteration of watches.
I currently have a ‘Epix Gen 2‘ — which is UP THERE. I like it. It does everything I want & a lot more. I am NOT sure I will part with it just to get one with ECG. Let’s wait & see. I will, of course, keep you posted.
Yes, indubitably, IF I had not ‘recently’ (like 2-months ago) upgraded to a ‘Garmin’ ‘Epix Gen 2‘ watch, & was still wearing my ‘old’ Garmin ‘Venu 2‘, I might have felt more compelled to try out the Pixel watch. But, I retired the Venu 2 because I really needed more navigational tools on my wrist given my incessant ambling in the wilds of the ‘Bold Coast‘. And that is where the Pixel 2 falls short of my expectations.
Yes, with the Pixel I will have Google Maps on my wrist. That would be neat. But, what about all the other navigational widgets & APPs I have on the Garmin?
Plus, the Pixel does NOT have Multi Band Dual Frequency GPS for better-than-average GPS accuracy. Plus I have already read some reviews that CLAIM that GPS on the Pixel watch is below par on accuracy! Yikes. But, this needs confirmation.
Yes, it is TRUE that the Titanium, Sapphire Expix 2 I have costs 2.8 times that of the Pixel. So, it is not really fair to compare the two. It is not even an apples to oranges comparison; more like apples to pineapples.
As I said at the start, IF I was still wearing a Venu 2 I would have been more receptive to the Pixel. But, that is NOT the case. I can’t go backwards. Yes, I did go from an Garmin Fenix 6 to the Venu BUT that was because I am a sucker for AMOLED displays. The Epix 2 does have a lovely AMOLED. That was THE deciding factor.
So, that is where I am. I would have liked to have got a Pixel watch. I am a BIG Google fan — &, moreover, a Google shareholder. I will get a ‘Pixel 7 Pro’ for Christmas though my latest Pixel 6 Pro would only be 6 months old at that point. But, over the last few years treating myself to a new Pixel phone every Christmas has become a tradition. It would have been neat to have the matching watch. Well, that is unlikely to happen.
But, I will keep you posted on what I find about the Pixel watch as it gets more widely used.
Much cheaper alternatives at Amazon. ALL they lack is ‘integration’ with ‘Garmin Connect’.
Some of them do provide an APP. So, yes, you can store or SHARE (e.g., e-mail) that data electronically.
Click to ENLARGE. The TOP-END Garmin Epix Gen 2 currently on my wrist.
Click to ENLARGE. The 22 smartwatches I have owned & worn since June 2017. Note most have been Garmins & mainly Fenix models
This is very much a damp squib on the part of Garmin. While others are adding blood pressure monitoring & EKG functions to their smartwatches, Garmin has the audacity to announce this. I am not impressed & am glad that I am no longer a Garmin shareholder (having been one for many, many years).
It is hard to justify when its ONLY redeeming factor is that it will send your bp data directly to the Garmin Connect APP so that you can keep track of it along with your other fitness-related data. Yes, that has appeal BUT not at this rip-off price. Bar the camera APP, Garmin Connect is easily the most used APP on my phone. But, I would feel exploited if I spent $150 to get this.
While I fully understand that others might have different needs, I don’t have any pressing reason to have my BP data on Garmin Connect. OK, confession time. I no longer measure my BP on a regular basis (though there were times in the past when I did so). Yes, for now, I also don’t need to keep a record of my BP — THOUGH my excellent $30 wrist-cuff BP monitor does have a built-in memory function. IF push comes to shove, I will admit that I would feel most at ease IF I just recorded my BP on a notebook.
Well, enough said. You get my point. $150 is just a crazy, outlandish, EXPLOITATIVE price for this. Garmin is NOT ‘playing the white man’!
I am positive that ‘Steve Jobs’ would never have allowed such an UGLY product to be released. Square watches tend to be ugly.
In marked contrast, high-end Garmin watches, like the Venu 2, the Forerunners, Fenix & Epix 2, ooze class. They have presence. They have pizzazz. So, I am not in the slightest bit concerned that the Ultra will cut into the sales of Garmins (not that I own Garmin shares anymore).
Plus, there is also the matter of battery life, something that Garmin has already pointed out. See top image.
Click to ENLARGE. The 22 smartwatches I have owned & worn since June 2017. Note most have been Garmins & mainly Fenix models
I said I doubt whether I would get a ‘Fenix 7’ & that indeed did prove to be the case.
The Epix Gen 2 was different; it has an AMOLED screen & I am a sucker for AMOLED screens. That is one of the reasons I finally decided to get an Epix 2.
I had been wearing my Venu 2, daily, only taking it off for charging, for 493 days. 1.35 year. That is a LONGTIME for me to wear the same smartwatch. The longest I had gone previously was 254 days with my Fenix 6 Titanium. I had worn the Venu 2 for nearly twice as long.
What I really missed on the Venu 2 was MAPS. I like to to have maps on my watch.
Plus, I don’t like to fall too far behind on Garmin technology.
I sold my Fenix 6 Titanium, to ‘BuyBackWorld‘ in July, to justify getting the Epix 2.
You will notice from the top two images that I am using the SAME WATCHFACE (‘Logos’) on the Epix as I had on the Venu 2! Yep, new watch, 2.5x the price BUT the same watchface. I really looked BUT I couldn’t find another that so met my needs. I will do a separate post, soon, as to that watchface. It is brilliant. It packs a LOT of data into that screen — & I love that.
So far, so good with the Epix. Some small changes when it comes to starting/stopping ACTIVITIES but no big deal. Just different.
Yes, the Epix 2 feels like a more substantial watch — which it is & which it has to be. It collects more data — especially with activities. That is good, though I really don’t need all of that.
But, I am glad I got it. I like it. The HUGE question is going to be what I will do when ‘Google’ finally gets around to announcing the long, long, long awaited ‘Pixel watch’. I always said I would get one. I am Pixel all the way. Crazy enough the one thing that will stop me will be the lack of a watchface with as MUCH DATA as I now have with Logos! That is crazy. There are some real nice ‘Wear OS‘ watchfaces BUT they never have enough datafields!
