Should I keep my Apple Watch Ultra 2 or is there a better alternative for cheaper for me?

[Frieda Jones]

I bought it for pretty cheap yesterday (£650 down from £800, still brand new etc, John Lewis just had it on sale) I did kinda impulse buy it, I’ve wanted a new, better smart watch for ages since my old Fitbit died a hefty death but hadn’t decided fully yet when I bought the AWU

But I’m not at all used to spending large (for me) amounts of money on myself, and I’m a little worried to set it up (I haven’t yet) because what if I’ve made an impulsive mistake and should return it (no returns after it’s been linked to my Apple account). Is this the right watch for me and this is useless panicking or is there something better?

Reasons I got it beside the price:

 

I’m a rock climbing instructor, avid hiker, ice climber etc. my Fitbit screen was all types of smashed so the sapphire screen really appealed to me. Read some reviews from other climbers before buying and all said they’d never had a scratch on their screen no matter how many rocky crevices they jammed it in.

hiking. I am frequently up a mountain, hours from anyone, in snow, alone. The GPS call feature is great for that. I got the iPhone 15 pro earlier this year for this exact reason, but the watch has a significantly longer battery life. It’s also got great maps capability, GPS with way markers etc. I looked at Garmins, but all the ones I found with these map capabilities were significantly more expensive than the AWU2. But maybe I’m missing some options?

 

music. I use Apple Music, which isn’t supported on Garmin, so I’d have to get a different music subscription and I don’t like Spotify nor Amazon music as much.

swimming. I love wild swimming, and im currently training for a triathlon, so being able to swim with it was a big plus compared to the much cheaper Series 9 - same for the scratch resistance etc.

[Stanryder]

If you pick up the slightly older Garmin Epix 2 sapphire you can find them from £600., but also possible to find the white Pro model for around similar price: https://www.watcho.co.uk/watches/garmin/garmin-epix-pro-gen-2-51mm-sapphire-titanium-touchscreen-whitestone-watch-010-02804-11/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-63BhC9ARIsAMMTLXSluLQRdXRtK02BUpngMIibAK6RLtMw2vIUESLwFeIVFfP2NAR0AzcaAi4zEALw_wcB

White case with it's native titanium bezel may be a better option than the black dlc bezel as can buff out scratches to the native titanium which you can't with the black dlc.

[Daniel Red]

Why the hell do people still buy apple stuff? A Garmin watch is the one you are looking for.

[Luke Friend]

I like apple stuff, it always outlasts any alternatives I’ve had before plus I have an iPhone so they sync well and the Garmin equivalents are much more expensive than the AWU2 which is why I didn’t buy the options John Lewis had in store yesterday, was thinking this sub might have some knowledge on what alternatives would suit me better for a fair bit less money and for what reasons

[UselessKit]

In which ways are the garmins better?

Second hand usually comes with a much more limited warranty and is last likely to last as long as a new watch, which is what stops me buying second hand tech a lot of the time tbh, lots of people online saying they only get 2-3 years from their garmins which put me off a bit?