{"id":509793,"date":"2026-06-25T03:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T03:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/509793\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T03:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T03:19:11","slug":"my-apple-watchs-daily-charging-habit-put-me-off-smartwatches-this-prime-day-garmin-deal-has-pulled-me-back-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/509793\/","title":{"rendered":"My Apple Watch\u2019s daily charging habit put me off smartwatches \u2014 this Prime Day Garmin deal has pulled me back in"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Amazon Prime Day<\/a> deal on Garmin\u2019s Vivoactive 6 for <\/a>\u00a3169 (was \u00a3225.62)<\/a> has tempted me to jump back into the smartwatch arena after a bad experience with an Apple Watch<\/a> caused me to abandon smartwatches entirely.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t run or jog and I\u2019m not overly obsessed with statistics about how well I slept and how many steps I\u2019ve taken today, but I think it\u2019s time I got a smartwatch again.<\/p>\n

My colleague Matt Evans first brought the Garmin Vivoactive 5 for \u00a3117 (was \u00a3174.99)<\/a> to my attention with the great price he\u2019d found it for as part of Amazon Prime Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But after researching the Vivoactive range for a little while I decided I actually wanted the Garmin<\/a> Vivoactive 6 (currently on our best Garmin watches<\/a> list) and the chance of saving 25% was too tempting \u2014 I was sold.<\/p>\n

Today’s best Garmin Vivoactive 6 dealsSlave to technology<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I hated my Apple Watch, I just couldn\u2019t be bothered to keep charging it every day. I actually started to resent the watch because it was forcing me into this daily ritual of caring for it that felt like I was a slave to technology, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

The main thing that attracted me to the Garmin was that it\u2019s got an 11-day battery life. Why hasn\u2019t Apple made something that will last that long on a single charge? Yes, I know that you can do more with an Apple Watch, but I rarely used the voice control features.<\/p>\n

I have definitely missed some aspects of not having a smartwatch. For example, notifications on my wrist are a lot easier to deal with than having to fish my phone out of my jeans pocket to see the latest Whatsapp<\/a> from a family member.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same with payments \u2014 having the device on my wrist would make it a lot easier to pay for things when my hands are full. And finally, general health tracking, including sleep tracking, would be nice to get back into. I\u2019ve got more and more curious about what kind of sleep quality I\u2019m getting, and even if it\u2019s just counting my steps all day. I miss having all those stats at my fingertips.<\/p>\n

Body Battery Score<\/p>\n

There is a Garmin subscription service called Garmin Connect+ that has AI and coaching features I don\u2019t want or need, but you\u2019re not required to join it to get any of the watch\u2019s features to work. All the health and fitness features remain gloriously subscription-free.<\/p>\n

In fact, the only downside I can see with the Garmin is to do with transferring music to it. I\u2019ve got a subscription to Apple Music<\/a>, not Spotify<\/a>, and you need Amazon Music<\/a> or Spotify Premium to transfer music to a Garmin. (You can transfer MP3 files you’ve purchased, of course), but if I eventually get back into jogging I might have to be content with podcasts if I want to leave my phone behind.<\/p>\n

I’m looking forward to getting to play with a smartwatch again, and to seeing whether Garmin’s much-praised Body Battery score really is as useful as its fans claim. But mostly, I’m curious to find out whether a smartwatch has finally become something I actually want to wear every day.<\/p>\n

The irony is that the feature that brought me back isn’t AI, advanced health tracking, or even fitness coaching. It’s battery life. After years of increasingly clever gadgets demanding more of my attention, the thing that finally tempted me back was a watch that promises to stay out of the way for nearly two weeks at a time.<\/p>\n

If the Vivoactive 6 can manage that while quietly handling my notifications, music, payments, and the occasional sleep report, then it might just convince me that smartwatches were worth another chance after all.<\/p>\n

More Prime Day deals in the UK<\/p>\n

\n

\"Google\n<\/p>\n

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