Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
The Apple Watch SE is the blueprint for what most people expect from a smartwatch: a clean design, deep smartphone integration, and enough wellness tracking features to stay reasonably healthy. At a reduced price compared to the brand’s flagship lineup, the SE is also accessible. However, with the launch of the Vivoactive 6, Garmin seems to be stepping up to the plate with a potential competitor.
After testing both watches side by side, it’s clear Garmin isn’t trying to beat Apple at its own game. It’s playing a different one. And for anyone serious about fitness, it might be a tempting prospect.
Do you prefer the Garmin Vivoactive 6 or Apple Watch SE? 9 votes Garmin Vivoactive 6 100 % Apple Watch SE 0 %
At a glance, these watches tell different stories. The Apple Watch SE wears like a piece of jewelry. It’s minimalist, rounded, and familiar. Despite its robust tracking suite, I tend to set it with watch faces that emphasize aesthetics more than stats, so the daily impression is less sporty and more covert-tech (or as covert as a smartwatch can be). It’s also so ubiquitous that it doesn’t say much about my fitness regimen; you’re as likely to see an Apple Watch on an exec as you are on a power-walking mom.
Where the Apple Watch SE shoots the gap between tech and refinement, the Vivoactive 6 is unapologetically built for sport.
In other words, I’m just as comfortable wearing the SE to a dinner party as I am on a treadmill. The Vivoactive 6, by contrast, feels unapologetically purposeful. Its rounded, sport-first build and physical buttons are made for the gym (or the trail), and while I think it’s a good-looking watch, it’s not quite as upscale as Apple’s offerings. It’s a fitness tracker first and foremost.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Yet, despite the fact that the SE fits more scenarios, the Garmin stays on my wrist longer thanks to its fantastic battery life. As is often the case with Garmin watches, longevity is a strong point of the Vivoactive 6. The Apple Watch SE requires a daily top-up, lasting just over 24 hours between charges. The Vivoactive 6 easily lasted me five days per charge. That kind of endurance means I don’t have to think about charging it before a hike or a morning workout, and I can take it on overnight adventures without packing a cable.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
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