29 comments

  • pandemicsyn 11 hours ago
    > "UNA is currently a non-submersible device due to its innovative modular design. So, swimming is not something we offer as an activity, nor do we advise it. UNA is IPX5 rated, which means it is splash & showerproof to a high degree."

    If I had a dollar for every time some project that was ipx5 rated failed after getting caught in the rain one too many times...I'd have enough to buy another Garmin Fenix.

    • bamboozled 15 minutes ago
      Apple Watch owner , always been indestructible, especially the ultra
      • TylerE 10 minutes ago
        1st gen is 1P7X, and 2nd gen and later are certified to depths of at least 50m.

        Way beyond IP5X.

    • whynotmaybe 5 hours ago
      Cue to younger me that discovered the difference between water resistant and water proof when I found out that my "7 melodies electronic watch" didn't survive after a few minutes in the swimming pool.

      Will the UNA hint us with a little bit of fog on the window?

    • PunchyHamster 8 hours ago
      Yeah that's a non-starter, I don't ever wanna worry about that in a watch. And putting "designed for lifetime" next to it is just hilarious, where are you gonna trek with no water, from bathroom to kitchen ?
      • cromka 6 hours ago
        Those are not exclusive statements — as long as parts are available for a lifetime
        • jerlam 5 hours ago
          There are zero spare parts available on their website.

          If repairability is one of their selling points, not having spare parts immediately available is a big misstep.

    • peterleiser 1 hour ago
      Yeah, and drop your iPhone, in a ruggedized case, into 3 inches of bath water for 5 seconds from a height of one foot and then realize apple's IP68 claim is laughable.
      • bendews 46 minutes ago
        I take photos underwater (<2m) with my iphones all the time, all the way back to the iphone 6, never had any issues.
      • bamboozled 14 minutes ago
        Dropped my iPhone in the toilet , never skipped a beat after that.
      • mplewis 17 minutes ago
        What? I have never had an issue with this with my iPhone.
    • quickthrowman 6 hours ago
      I would not buy a watch rated less than IP68/IPX-8, annd ideally it would be much more water resistant. Apple Ultra watches are rated to 100m of water which is well beyond that.

      The watch I am wearing right now is a steel automatic that would have an IP69 rating as it’s rated to 150 meters of water depth.

      • peterleiser 47 minutes ago
        The only IP ratings that I trust are on dive computers and dive computer watches (but I've read mixed results about Apple Watch Ultras for diving). The Garmin Descent Mk3i dive computer and smart watch is a solid performer.
  • lobster2342 8 hours ago
    I just finished swimming, tracked by a Garmin Forerunner 910x which I bought back in 2015 and I have been constantly using since. Wrist band replaced once each side. Battery lifetime still amazing, even with longer bike rides and GPS. Data can be analyzed locally. Uptime since I bought it: almost 100%.

    Amazing peace of Hardware.

    Also their algorithms are cool. If the watch tells me to rest more than 24 hours, I know, I will be tired the next day.

    The two features that I miss are built in heartrate monitor and temperature sensor. I payed around 500€ back then. Over the years I use this watch, the price became very reasonable.

    • NBJack 5 hours ago
      Honestly, Garmin watches are amazing. Going from a watch I had to charge daily (Samsung Gear line) to one I charge about 3 times a month feels incredibly liberating, particularly for travel. _And_ it feels almost as slim and light as my old Pebble Time Round.
      • peterleiser 23 minutes ago
        I agree completely! Our Garmin Descent Mk3i dive computer smart watches are the best watches I've ever seen. They just work. You can charge it for an hour or so and it's good for 25 days. I hated having to charge previous watches every day. It has a double-tap light on/off feature with a very bright LED, four light levels, and a red light mode. It automatically starts tracking my dives and is rated to 200 meters. It can also do diver-to-diver messaging, air tank tracking, and group tracking using subwave sonar. And it has all the normal pulse ox, heart rate tracking, step tracking, sleep tracking, and smartwatch stuff. Just don't enable the one touch kill-switch ;-). Apparently it's a feature for military divers to erase their data (but sounds like a marketing gimmick).
      • cyberax 3 hours ago
        Pebble Time 2 is available again! I bought one.

        It doesn't have all the Garmin features, but it's free and I don't have to worry about it's software getting redesigned.

    • DANmode 49 minutes ago
      Are these algos local, as well?
    • sandworm101 1 hour ago
      As a former very very fast swimmer, i never found a watch that worked. The ones with the features were to heavy/draggy. So i always bought dirt cheap ones that i could leave at one end of the lane. Cheap ironmans. They got stepped on every day. People would apologise and i would throw the watch across the deck to show how much i did not care about scratches. Try this: put your watch on your other wrist. The weight/drag difference will be dramatic.
    • the_real_cher 8 hours ago
      i have a fenix solar, i charge it once a month.

      it has an insane number of features

  • VoidWhisperer 2 hours ago
    Part of the selling point of a smartwatch, atleast in my opinion, is its ability to run apps that aren't developed by the manufacturer - for example, ones that help me be able to see my blood sugar from my CGM on my watch. They have a whole section of their site for developers, but I can't seem to find a link to any kind of store, even though they specifically say developers should register on their portal
  • lrae 10 hours ago
    Some good points were already brought up in the comments (IP5X, USB C charging), but I have the feeling that it's also just not a good fitness tracker/smartwatch.

    I see a single unboxing of the watch from three weeks ago on Youtube and zero reviews on YT or websites. Just posts based on their PR release that it's available now. (Though some clearly already shipped.)

    Thus, it's unfortunately very likely that the product is also not good at its main purpose, tracking activities, workouts and health. If it would only even come somewhat close to the performance of all the competitor smartwatches/trackers, they'd be louder about that part.

    • LeifCarrotson 2 hours ago
      There are only about 400 units in existence, and they just started shipping June 30:

      https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unawatch/meet-una-the-m...

      so it's been out for less than a month. That's why you've seen zero reviews on websites, it's an indie Kickstarter. They don't have the marketing budget of a big wearables brand.

      It has a GPS, IMU, and heart rate sensor: That's enough, obviously, to track activities, workouts, and health which their competitors do with the exact same set of sensors. It remains to be seen how accurate those are, or how well the manufacturer and community can develop useful algorithms to turn raw sensor data into activity logs and actionable health insights, but step 1 is to release an MVP to get people wearing the watch and logging data, and step 2 is to use the data to improve the algorithms.

  • slibhb 11 hours ago
    > Can I swim with UNA?

    > UNA is currently a non-submersible device due to its innovative modular design. So, swimming is not something we offer as an activity, nor do we advise it. UNA is IPX5 rated, which means it is splash & showerproof to a high degree.

    • pockybum522 10 hours ago
      Damn. But hopefully they improve on that. I would absolutely be considering one if this wasn't the case
      • parl_match 7 hours ago
        that's the thing about these "open" devices, there's always one "would absolutely be considering" use case that they never meet. makes it real easy to not buy one ;)
    • jhoechtl 8 hours ago
      So it will never last a lifetime.
  • Melatonic 9 hours ago
    I like this a lot. USB-C is obviously not ideal for a super durable plug but with the right cap (sounds like they use a rubber insert?) it could be great. Especially since it would allow direct data access.

    What might be cool for a version 2:

    1. Custom hardshell "door" to cover the USB-C port. Something that cannot fall off the watch. The port itself could be well sealed like a phone and then have this additional layer of physical protection.

    2. Wireless charging of some type (or even add pogo pin as well). Would be nice to top up charge without having to expose the USB-C and probably increase the plug life. Does this require a glass back? Because obviously that would not be ideal in a watch.

    3. Better waterproofing. I dont personally use my Garmin for swimming often but would be nice to not have to worry about it.

    Anybody know about the battery life in real world use?

  • arnejenssen 10 hours ago
    For me the value of Garmin (Forerunner) is their proprietary algorithm for calculating Stress Level from HRV. It is the basis for the Body Battery measure. I find it useful to see how food and activity affects my stress levels.

    I guess it would be possible to reverse engineer a similar stress level calculation. Perhaps AI-powered?

    • scheme271 9 hours ago
      I'm not sure the body battery/stress measures are that great. Garmin is infamous for having an awful sleep algo and it still has a lot of trouble detecting naps. It doesn't bode well for being able to get stress data. I think it's good for generally determining high stress vs low stress and when you've overdone exercise recently but probably not much more.
      • rolisz 9 hours ago
        Body battery is amazing. I had long COVID/ME/CFS, and looking at the body battery when waking up was an outstanding predictor of how my day was going to be. When I hit 5% body battery, I was really feeling horrible.
        • throwaway270925 6 hours ago
          Interesting. What did you have to do to "charge" the body battery tough? And how does the garmin keep track of that?
          • mikestew 5 hours ago
            Naps and rest “charge”, and yes, Garmin keeps track of that.

            Not that I put a whole lot of weight in those data personally.

        • catigula 8 hours ago
          It's just a collation of sleep-end RHR/HRV. It's completely trivial and many manufacturers do this correctly; both are extremely reliable predictors of recovery metrics.

          Garmin has absolutely shitty sleep tracking but it doesn't matter; any wearable more or less nowadays can get static heart rate correct, leading to more or less accurate recovery metrics.

          "Collect every paper you can find on RHR/HRV/etc. recovery metrics. Develop an algorithm for predicting recovery score per day based on the research" as a prompt to a Codex or Claude agent can probably get you 98-100% of the way there.

          Edit: As a proof of concept, I had ChatGPT Pro 5.6 write the algorithm with my Fitbit data. Looks great.

    • TekMol 9 hours ago
      If the algorithm is proprietary, how do you know it is calculating something meaningful?
      • LeifCarrotson 1 hour ago
        It matches my lived experience.

        My body battery and stress often starts declining for no apparent reason and then 12-24 hours later I feel the symptoms of an illness. Similarly, when in a tough training block, HRV is a great tool to gauge how hard I ought to be able to go: I've tried to push through and just do a tough workout anyways when it's out of range, but failed to complete the workout in good form, or felt superficially crappy but had good training readiness according to the watch and was able to do better than expected.

        The same holds true in the other direction, I don't log into Connect or scroll through the multitudinous widgets of data often enough to really keep tabs on this stuff, and when I get sick or feel good or bomb a workout or succeed at a workout when I felt off, the metrics consistently back up the actual results.

        Personally, I've been thinking about jumping ship to a Coros Apex 4 if my battered Fenix 6 ever gives up the ghost - Garmin's prices are insane these days. At $270, this is cheap enough in comparison to a $1200 Fenix 8 Pro to take the chance. I could buy this and a $480 Apex 4, and then decide I didn't like either of them and go back to a used Forerunner 955, before spending as much as a new top-end Garmin.

    • ck2 9 hours ago
      HRV from optical is garbage-in garbage-out

      and post-2020 Garmin has totally lost their way with development/algorithms

    • kilroy123 9 hours ago
      Yes, and the sleep tracking that adds or subtracts. While not super accurate, it's good enough for me.
  • 1970-01-01 6 hours ago
    How is USB a feature?? Everything done via USB-C can be and should be entirely wireless for a watch.

    >Gone are the days of brand specific charging cables.

    Returned are the days of worn-out, broken ports and searching for another charging cable.

    • tomhow 6 hours ago
      Charging? It likely adds a lot of cost and complexity to add mag-charging if you’re not Apple or Samsung. Does Garmin even have it yet? (Edit: only on a small number of models at the premium end of their range.)

      So it’s an important differentiator from Garmin, which uses a proprietary connector for its charging cable, that is easy to lose/break and expensive to replace (from personal experience with a 2022 Epix).

      • LeifCarrotson 1 hour ago
        I love the Garmin pogo chargers. I've got a few of their $3 puck cables scattered about my home, car, and office, a USB-C to Garmin adapter in my keychain and backpacking kit, and someone recently made a neat little portable battery that I wore under my strap in an ultra to recharge mid-activity.

        Yeah, if you only use the stock Garmin cable (why isn't it at least right-angle?!) it kinda sucks, but there are lots of products that do it really well:

        https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5L632HM

        https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4F71WQC

        https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N18DX6Y

        I would much rather these totally waterproof surface-level pads that put the spring pogo pins in the cable than give up internal device volume to a USB receptacle or magnetic charging coils.

      • m463 4 hours ago
        garmin cable thing became non-issue as cheap garmin cables came out.
      • 1970-01-01 6 hours ago
        When the port pins break and you have no way to recharge it until a new USB port arrives, yes.
  • deivid 6 hours ago
    Love the idea, but I can't handle the big screens on these smart watches. To me it feels like having a fisher price toy on my wrist. Hopefully a more open alternative to Withings will emerge
    • LeifCarrotson 1 hour ago
      This is a comparatively small one: 40.25mm diameter screen, 14.4mm thick, at 50g.

      My Fenix 6 Pro has a 47mm face, is 14.7mm thick, and weighs 80g (but as a Fenix that's the stainless bezel one, the plastic bezel watches are closer to 50g).

    • handedness 5 hours ago
      Agreed. And beyond the size, MIP > OLED all day long for me. I'm sad to see it falling out of favor on flagship devices.
    • m463 4 hours ago
      I thought the same thing. Then gradually got slightly larger watches when I upgraded fenix 6 -> 7 -> 8. (also lcd->lcd->amoled) Now I don't notice.
  • jhoechtl 8 hours ago
    Is there any good watch outside doing GPS for position and time, minus all the body survzeilance things?
    • m463 4 hours ago
      I have garmin as it doesn't require any sort of connection or activation to function out-of-the-box.

      Just put it on your wrist.

      You CAN decide to use garmin-connect for apps/updates or pair it with your phone, but I never have and I'm fine.

      Apple watch and others require activation.

    • RedShift1 7 hours ago
      I have an Amazfit Balance 2 and it does GPS just as well as any other smartwatch and you can turn off all the body surveillance.
    • Schiendelman 6 hours ago
      Apple Watch is great for that, and you can turn off whatever you don't like.
  • vmurthy 6 hours ago
    EUR 240 if someone’s pondering the cost-benefit equation ..

    https://unawatch.com/products/una-watch

  • iancarroll 10 hours ago
    I've wasted so much money on vendor charging cables in the past 10 years while traveling or moving that I would probably buy this just for the USB-C port, assuming it is actually splash proof.

    I wonder what HR sensor they use. Samsung apparently has an average error of 7% which is pretty bad, so I wonder if this would be worse. [0]

    [0] https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/i-ran-30-miles-testing-5-sm...

  • mikestew 10 hours ago
    I really want to like this watch. Price is certainly right, and it does all of the things I'd want out of a Garmin or Apple Watch Ultra. But what problem does this solve for me? In the Apple Watch use case, a replaceable battery would be nice. But in contrast to Garmin, I've never replaced a Garmin because the battery wouldn't hold charge anymore. I've never broken a screen (if one has a habit of that, Garmin and Apple make watches with raised bezels). I just hold on to the Garmin for six or seven years, by which time it's so beat to hell that it's time for a new watch anyway. But I'm wondering if the subtle message isn't aimed at Apple and not Garmin.

    USB-C charging would be awesome, instead of Garmin's proprietary plug and a cable that's made from spider silk. I'd prefer, though, wireless charging like Apple. Never once have I pulled an Apple Watch off a charger and said, "WTF? Why didn't it charge?" Garmin, OTOH...

    I'm no triathlete, but the "no swimming" kinda puts a damper on my enthusiasm as well.

    I wish them well, I love the idea even if I probably won't buy one.

    • throwway120385 10 hours ago
      USB-C would suck. Part of the purpose of that proprietary plug is that it's very water resistant and very durable. Imagine getting mud or coarse sand in your USB plug and not being able to charge anymore.
    • PaulHoule 10 hours ago
      The charging situation with Garmin is terrible, enough that when Venu quits charging I might go for the Apple Watch or anything that takes a charge...
      • mikestew 9 hours ago
        And it's always been terrible, as long as I've been using Garmin watches (their bike computers seem to charge fine, mainly because they use whatever the standard USB plug is at the time). I remember the 410 had some suckass plug that didn't work well. I think it was the 610 with that gawd awful clip. And the 9xx series continues to use that delicate snowflake plug that has to plug in juuuuust right, maybe wiggle the cable a little, otherwise no 5 hour Sunday run for you.

        Whereas I throw my Apple Watch in the general vicinity of the magnetic charger, it locks into place, and charges just fine, 100% of the time. Fine, don't use induction like Apple, use two exposed, flush pins and a magnet like my Coros armband HR monitor, because that works 100% of the time, too.

    • weakfish 10 hours ago
      For me, I want an open API I can pull my data from. Last I checked, you have to be a business to use Garmin's API.

      Apple certainly doesn't let you.

      My goal is to have a cron that runs on my homelab that pulls my health data into a DB I own, from various sources, and visualize it in Grafana.

      • mikestew 9 hours ago
        Apple certainly doesn't let you.

        There are several apps[0] off the top of my head that pull data from Apple's HealthKit. Apple even has a framework for it: HealthKit. That said, I've never written to that API myself, but it observational evidence indicates that you can pull data from Apple just fine. The app I use to pull data off Apple and ship to Strava says as much.

        [0] RunGap and HealthFit

      • asats 10 hours ago
        you can use https://github.com/cyberjunky/python-garminconnect to pull your data from garmin, I've been using it daily with no issues
      • deivid 6 hours ago
        Depending on what data you want, you can try Withings watches. I'm currently reversing the protocol and it mostly works.
      • rich_sasha 10 hours ago
        Polar has an API where you can get more or less anything out. That bit is fine - sadly you can't put things in (like virtual cycling, or any activities not recorded on the Polar).
  • nosrepa 5 hours ago
    The 14 month warranty is eons compared to pebble's.
  • hackingonempty 10 hours ago
    This is cool because we need more open competition for the app/identity locked ecosystems of sports related electronics like gps watches, bike computers, and action cams. I hate how none of the major brand ones will work without at least signing up for an account and most wont work at all without the manufacturers app.
  • jerlam 10 hours ago
    Any "open ecosystem" product needs to be a competitive product out of the box, otherwise it's just a development toy. Developers aren't going to enhance your product to fill in all the gaps unless there are customers, and preferably paying ones.
  • pimlottc 10 hours ago
    They hardly even mention the software, but isn't that half the value of Garmin devices?
    • belval 7 hours ago
      More than half imo, my Forerunner 265S is pretty much a full-blown coach that fits on my wrist. It adapts training to my sleep (such a great feature when you've just had a baby) keeps track of load, low aerobic, high aerobic, etc...

      It's been a fragile piece of hardware, I am on my 3rd one in as many years (always replaced under warranty though), but I still probably wouldn't switch to anything else. When it breaks out of warranty I'll just buy another one.

  • SketchySeaBeast 11 hours ago
    I do like the idea of USB-C, the garmin's power plug is nothing but annoying. It's really just a matter of battery life and what sort of software integration it has. Although, it's hard to beat the Garmin ecosystem.
    • briffle 11 hours ago
      I think battery life is the most important. My Garmin Instinct 2 goes about 3.5 weeks between charging (the older non-OLED screen). It has solar, so I usually go over a month.

      But a watch, something people will wear swimming, sweaty, in the rain, etc, is something that should ideally follow the wireless charging standards, and not have a plug taking up space, and being a spot for leaks...

  • exabrial 10 hours ago
    If it has a flashlight and is beyond waterproof, I would maybe consider it.

    My Garmin Epix watch is practically bullet proof. I've dove with it in open ocean. I've jet skied with it. I rock climb with it. It's surived 108miles of Unbound (the race) in mud, sun, sweat. I've water rafted with it. I've swam in crappy lakes, streams and jumped off cliffs. Hottubs? also no problem.

    Zero chance a iWatch would ever survive these conditions.

    Oh and despite all of this, the screen has not scratched, not even a little. Plus it has 5-10 days of battery life... and did I mention I always have a flashlight on me?

    • mikestew 9 hours ago
      Zero chance a iWatch would ever survive these conditions.

      Mine survives such things just fine.

      My Garmin Epix watch is practically bullet proof.

      And your Epix cost about twice as much as the Una watch does.

    • notesinthefield 10 hours ago
      > the screen has not scratched

      I believe this the least!

      • lrae 9 hours ago
        Same. Both have plenty of scratches here.

        I also don't see why an Apple Watch wouldn't survive all those mentioned things. Pretty sure I did all those things with an Apple Watch on, except for the specific 108 mile gravel race. But I don't see why it would fail that.

        And both might absolutely scratch while climbing, and if you're unlucky and hit it in the wrong spot, also crack.

        That said, if I were an athlete in any of those categories and did it all the time, I'd still absolutely choose a Garmin.

        • gwill 9 hours ago
          the sapphire screens are incredibly resilient. mine looks brand new and is several years old. tested against plenty of bouldering
          • lrae 9 hours ago
            They are, they still scratch though (just google e.g. Fenix 7 Sapphire scratches). It's also not on all models. I guess part of it is also just layers on top of it scratching and not the sapphire itself.

            But, Apple Watch Ultras and also Titanium models since Series 6? ship with Sapphire crystal too.

      • gwill 9 hours ago
        i have one too with a sapphire screen (fenix 7). the watch is beaten up but the screen looks brand new. really phenomenal watches.
  • branon 11 hours ago
    And I just bought a Garmin Forerunner 55, too. I'm still within the return period, will have to consider this...
  • cuu508 10 hours ago
    Specs don't make it clear if it supports BLE sensors (HR strap, power meter,... ).
    • jerlam 10 hours ago
      One of the tiles on the buy page says "HR BAND SUPPORT Connect compatible BLE chest straps". But one single connection type doesn't compare to Garmin's list of supported ANT and BLE accessories.
      • TMWNN 9 hours ago
        I have an Amazfit Balance, and previously several Amazfit Bips. I really like being able to use my watch as a BLE heartrate monitor with iSmoothRun on iPhone. I gather that being able to do so is not typical for smartwatches.
  • znpy 7 hours ago
    Nice, this might be the right thread to ask a question i have had on my mind for a while: is there a watch that can track some biological metrics (heart rate, steps, sleep data etc) but allowing my to pull data off it without using some proprietary platform? Basically i want to store my data in my own database.

    Might this be it?

    • codethief 3 hours ago
      Seconding this request!
  • hxbdbdb 10 hours ago
    USB-C really does not make sense for such a device. It's significantly too bulky and is hard to get water proof
    • SketchySeaBeast 10 hours ago
      Is it hard to get waterpoof, considering that every modern smart phone is both usb-c and waterproof? Important to note that this watch doesn't claim to be waterproof.
      • aleph_minus_one 9 hours ago
        > considering that every modern smart phone is both usb-c and waterproof?

        I doubt that modern smart phones are waterproof. Who would trust use their smartphone while showering or being in a bathtube (including submerging the smartphone a few centimeters into the water)?

        • TylerE 5 minutes ago
          I use my iphone in the shower all the time. Zero issues.
        • vel0city 6 hours ago
          Tons of people trust having their phones while taking a bath or near a swimming pool. I've sometimes clean my phones off by washing them in the sink when they get exceptionally dirty after the kids have been messing with it. I regularly have mine near the pool, and have taken some work meetings while in the pool before. Why not? The featurelist says its waterproof.

          I remember when the iPhone 7 had just come out (the first waterproof iPhone), a friend bought one and then went on a cruise. On a shore excursion he was at the docks and saw some cool fish. He dunked his phone in the water to take some cool photos. Everyone looked at him like he was a mad man, dunking his iPhone in the water just to take some pictures.

        • lightedman 8 hours ago
          I dive in the ocean regularly with my Kyocera DuraForce Pro. I take underwater photos and videos with it. It works just fine.
  • tamimio 4 hours ago
    The problem isn’t “one screw to change a battery”, the issue is parts cost, if they are expensive, it defeats the purpose. The other day I wanted to buy a new small container for the air freshener I have, and I found the container only is sold in packs and far more expensive than buying the freshener with one container, so I bought a new device instead with one container.

    Also, any watch right now should be waterproof, it won’t survive otherwise.

  • yread 10 hours ago
    2.5MB RAM, FreeRTOS!
  • FpUser 7 hours ago
    >"non-submersible" - this right away excludes it from even considering for my use.
  • cyberax 8 hours ago
    Why is it round?!? WHY?

    Round watches are bad. A circle is the worst shape for watches. Good watches are not round. Roundness is an anti-feature.

    Really. Just use a rounded rectangle shape. It will end up _smaller_.

  • gbil 10 hours ago
    The title is misleading at least, to compete with garmin you need the similar offering, with swimming/waterproofing being the huge outliar here but also the ecosystem and like it or not features like the notifications.

    Very valiant first effort for sure but after 6 years with a Garmin Fenix still holding 90% of its battery (and being able to replace it), I'm not their potential customer.

    • tomhow 8 hours ago
      We removed "Garmin" from the title and used some representative language from the site.
    • Melatonic 9 hours ago
      I would say the big outlier is the battery life (for Garmin). Theres other options for waterproof stuff and a lot dont need something good enough for swimming. Of course its a huge plus.
    • catigula 8 hours ago
      All of that stuff is the norm in the industry. There isn't anything remarkable about it.
    • TMWNN 9 hours ago
      > but after 6 years with a Garmin Fenix still holding 90% of its battery (and being able to replace it), I'm not their potential customer.

      What kind of battery life did you have when you bought it, and how long is it now?

      Does Garmin still upgrade the firmware?

      • gbil 1 hour ago
        Talking about a 6s pro and got at the beginning around 10 days without much GPS enabled exercise, after 6 years I get about 9 days!

        Good thing with the Fenix line is that you stop the updates which I did a year in so I don't really care about them, but I do think they stopped firmware updates for the 6series about a year ago.

      • jerlam 8 hours ago
        Garmin doesn't really upgrade the firmware after the next model release.

        But you'd be a fool to believe a hardware startup would do so anyway.

      • sgarman 8 hours ago
        I have a 7S and it still gets updates regularly.
    • mikae1 9 hours ago
      Can you analyze the data your watch and body generates locally using FOSS without uploading it all to surveillance capitalists? That'd be the true alternative.
      • aleph_minus_one 9 hours ago
        > without uploading it all to surveillance capitalists

        I by now often see the term "surveillance capitalists"/"surveillance capitalism" on HN.

        While it is a great thing to fight surveillance organizations, don't forget that communist countries had/have (for the latter: People's Republic of China) much worse surveillance in place.

  • tmgldn 6 hours ago
    Windows only for dev SDK simulator - not too sure many devs rockin Windows in 2026!