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The Garmin Epix Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are two of the best sports watches on the market, and two of Run Tester Nick’s favourites, so he wore both for his marathon training block for the London Marathon 2024. After wearing both for the last four months, Nick goes through the pros and cons he’s spotted with each watch when you’re training hard for a marathon.

The blue nylon band on the Garmin is from eBay:

Check out our full reviews of both watches:

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Review From 4 Runners:
Garmin Epix Pro Review From 3 Runners:

JUMP STRAIGHT IN:

00:00​​​​ – Intro
00:09 – Design & Ket Stats
02:00 – The Run Test
02:58 – Battery Life
04:06 – GPS Accuracy
05:28 – HR Accuracy
06:25 – Training Analysis
08:33 – Sports Tracking
10:29 – Design
11:25 – Activity & Sleep Tracking
13;06 – Smart Features
14:26 – Navigation Features
15:36 – London Marathon 2024
13:53 – Verdict

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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick in this video I'm going to be Comparing the Garmin epics Pro and the Apple watch Ultra 2 now I just ran the London Marathon last weekend using both Watches and indeed I used them for the Bulk of my marathon training over the Past four months or so one of each R Throughout that time occasionally I take One off to review another watch briefly But in general I've been using these Watches for 4 months and then on race Day just to really see how they feel Longterm I think these are two of my Favorite sports watches on the market I Want to see what really cropped up in Terms of pros and cons to each over the Course of a long period of marathon [Music] Training so start by running through Some of the design differences between The watch with the Apple watch Ultra You've got a 49mm watch it just comes in One size the Epic Pro comes in three Sizes there the smaller 42 mm the Standard epic Pro is 47 mm and the Largest model is the epex pro 51 mm Which is what I tested over the last 4 Months although I have also used the 47 Mm watch the Epic Pro is the more Expensive watch the standard model Starts at £830 or $900 the price goes All the way up to £1,100 or dollar for the pricey models

Where you get things like Sapphire Screens and titanium bodies the Apple Watch is £800 or $800 just one price for The Apple watch Ultra 2 the cheaper Standard models uses steel for the bezel And case and has a gorilla grass screen And then the sappire titanium models Have sapphire crystal screens and Titanium bezels and case backs and are a Fair bit lighter as a result I was Testing a titanium watch for the Epic Pro contrast the Apple just comes with a Titanium bezel and you have a sapphire Crystal display there's no choice Between materials or anything like that And it's actually 95% recycled Titanium With the epics you've got an AMOLED Touchcreen and the displays are range From 1.2 in to 1.4 in on the largest Model here and then with the Apple watch You've got a 1.9 in retina OLED display So both obviously have Optical heart Rate sensors and both of them are Actually capable of taking an ECG Although with gin that's a feature Restrict to those in the US at the Moment another little difference in the Design is that the Epic pro has a Flashlight on it which you do not get Obviously with the Apple watch though You can put it into a kind of torch mode Where it will use the screen to light up Your area around you you have a five Button design on the Epic Pro which is

Gin's classic setup with the Apple watch Ultra you've got three buttons including The action button and then a digital Dial as well to help you navigate the Menus both watches have multiband GPS And high water resistance rating it's 10 ATM on the Epic Pro and it's wr100 for The Apple watch Ultra 2 with the Garmin You can connect external sensors via Both entt Plus and Bluetooth with the Apple watch Ultra it's only via Bluetooth so that's for things like Chest wraps and cycling power sensors And then you've got a compass a Barometric altimeter and a pulse Oximeter on both It's going to be a slightly different Run test here to what we normally do in These which is quite a methodical look For all the key areas I'm going to touch On everything important things like GPS And all that but I do think these are Both really excellent watches both have Been excellent for me during the course Of this marathon training I think they Both do really good job so what really I'm going to go through is the Differences and the observations that Came up for me across those different Areas and things that stood out as being Important to me over the course of Marathon training that would affect Which one I would buy or use again for a Marathon training block so we might as

Well start with battery life because Obviously this is a big thing that g Offers that you do not get with the Apple watch Ultra 2 the Apple watch Ultra 2 does last two days quite Reliably and that it will include a long Run on both days I found but if you are Going to start listening to music from The watch in those runs then that will Bring the battery life quite a lot and It is just a much bigger deal the Battery life on the Apple watch it's Something you have to think about quite A lot there was one trip away during Marathon training where I going away With my family and a couple of kids lots To think about and I thought I'm not Going to bother to take the Apple watch Because I don't want to have to take Another charger and think about that Every two days whereas the Garin epics Pro you are going to get really long Battery life so with the 51 mm watch in Particular it goes over a week very Reliably even though I was running over 120k a week I would have no problems About charging this watch once a week And it would often go up towards 10 days With the screen always on that is and Then if you do want more battery you can Turn the screen to raise to awakened It's going to extend that to several Weeks that's obviously with the largest Epic Pro 51 mm which does have a big

Step up in battery on the smaller models But even with the 47 mm watch I'd get Four or five days and it's just one less Thing to think about regularly than the Apple watch you do have to charge it Quite a lot you have to think about that With the sleep tracking as well and it Is an annoyance and it is a reg Annoyance you can get into a rhythm with It I'm not saying it's the end of the World having to charge every 2 days but It's certainly something that comes up a Lot compared to the gar GPS on both Watches I think has been really good I'd Say across the course of my testing my Overall impression is that I rely on the Garment a bit more I think it's a little Bit more accurate for a lot of the kind Of runs I do in marathan training so I'm Doing a session on the road rather than The track I'll often go to a loop Somewhere where I can get a nice flat You know decent K or mile long Loop Where I can run fast without annoying People and I think the Garment GPS in That kind of situation is particularly a Little bit better than the apples a bit More reliable for steady pacing and not Cutting corners or overdoing loops and That kind of thing it's not a big deal But I did notice that I saw that I Actually did a park run on a looped Course I got slightly better distance Accuracy from the Garmin than the Apple

If you go into City centers it's a lot Closer and actually it's been a bit hit And miss which one has been better for Me I've done two City Center races During this Marathon block including the London Marathon itself in one the London Landmarks half marathon the Garmin did Outperform the apple when I got to a Really twisty section amongst high Buildings I was actually surprised how Well the Garmin did in that situation Not perfect but it was notably better Than and the Apple watch but then the London marathon when I hit Canary Warf The worst part of the course of GPS the Apple watch Ultra did outperform the Gin Epics Pro in that section although in Other parts of the race I think the Garmin just outdid the Apple so it's Overall very close I'd say for the most Part I probably give it to the Garmin But if you're someone who runs regularly In big cities both of them are still Going to struggle at various points did One race on open roads out in the Countryside and both of them were Absolutely excellent like beeping within Seconds of each other and really giving Me very good pacing information so the GPS overall is good but I just slightly Give it to the Garmin I think on overall Accuracy comes to heart rate actually Also I think the Garment just edges this With the new uh Elevate sensor you have

On the version of the Epic Pro which Also came out with the Phoenix Pro Overall I think it's probably proved Just that little bit more reliable Actually during the London Marathon I Didn't run with a chest STP at all and The Garmin epics Pro was pretty good Throughout the race gave me what I would Say is the correct reading for nearly All of the race whereas the Apple watch Didn't it was too high early on and Wasn't really something I could rely on I think actually in the race of times I Looked at the Garmin and it was quite Useful to know the heart information and Believe it to be accurate a lot of the Testing I did put on a chest trap Because neither watch is infallible and Testing then during the long British Winter when it's hard to get a good read From what to call heart rate sensors and Neither of them were reliable enough to Use I'd say to guide sessions or to put Info into any kind of training analysis You get on the Garmin in particular so Probably overall it'll be a bit of a tie Because we both watch odd pair and External heart rate Center to get more Accurate information in but when I Haven't been doing that during this Marathon block think the garmin's being A little bit more reliable but yeah I Wouldn't trust either without an External strap link to them which is

Obviously easier on the Garmin because You can link via both Bluetooth and ENT Plus one big area I did notice a lot of Difference between two watches Throughout the testing was training Analysis and I mentioned at the start Occasionally I'd have to take one of These watches off to uh put another one On cuz I was doing a review of that Watch and in that case it would always Be the Apple watch Ultra because you Don't have to wear this all the time It's actually quite a nice thing in a Way you can frame it as a positive like You can take this off put it back on it Doesn't matter whereas at the Garmin There's a lot of data that's building up Over time in the background your overall Training load things like your endurance Score and all that and it does give you Quite an interesting wealth of data you Can dive into and you know that is Something that you just don't get at all With the Apple watch I'll come on to Some of the third party apps available In a minute but with G you get things Like the training RA in this thing which Do think if you're going to wear it for A long block of training you can start To get a little bit of info from that That is quite useful it's not based Entirely on accurate information because Things like sleep tracking isn't always Very good on the watch or something like

That but do think you can use it as a Nice way of spotting Trends in your Overall kind of tiredness and fatigue Over block of training and there are Some interesting extra stats on the Garment like the endurance score I Mentioned I did notice that Rising Especially in the early part of my Marathon training when I was really Ramping up the volume and doing a lot of Hard workouts and and then actually it Start to come down again towards the end Of my Marathon block there's more hor on Here if you want to dive into data about Your training and over the course of a Big block like I did when I was doing High mileage weeks I did like to go in And see all that data presented in Colorful grass via Garin like it was Interesting it's not something that I Would set my stool by or guide my Training with that often you know I've Got a coach and I've got a training plan I'm using but there was lots of Interesting data there you just don't Get any of that on the Apple watch the Third party Market can fill this in a Little bit something like training today I tested during uh my Marathon block This time and it uses your heart rate Variability readings when you're still And gives you a you know kind of rating Out of 10 of how ready you are just Seemed quite hit and miss to me and

That's I think mostly the hardware on The watch which isn't going to take hard At variability readings as often as the Gin watch especially through the night And then you do run into the problem of Can you wear the Apple watch Ultra at Night because I'd often use that as a Time to charge it so it be ready for the Next day and then that again will make It harder for it to get reliable Indication of the overall state of your Body so this a certain area where the Garmin watch is more accurate and more Useful even down to things like VT Max I Could see my Trend over time of it Increasing throughout marathon training I will say though the Garmin race Predictor is still terrible it massively Um underestimates my marathon time my Half marathon time despite running those Times with the watch and overestimates Fast I am at 5K at any given time so That's something you're not missing out On with the Apple watch so a couple Little things did come up for me when it Comes to sports tracking I think you get More customization of data screens and Stats with the Epic Pro and I think it's Easier to set up exactly how I like it You got a lot more of that with apple Since a couple of years ago they updated The software on the watch and it's Certainly fine but slightly prefer still The way the grid you get presenting your

Stats on the gar I think it's a bit Easier to read at a glance than the kind Of list of stats you get on Apple watch A bigger thing is and this might be Quite a Nick thing I'll be to know if Other people have noticed this or care About this basically I use lap Pace or Split Pace as Apple calls it to Pace a Lot of my runs I'll often go and do say A progression run where I do 5K at Certain Pace 5K at certain pace and I'm Using the lap pace for each individual Kilometer or mile to kind of guide my Pacing in that block and with garment is Fine like it just it all seems fine it Works it's intuitive it's right it gets The pace right and averages it right Across the lap Apple does it weirdly and It doesn't help me so I at the start of Every individual K the pace is very slow So say I'm doing 10K at 330 perk pace I Would run the first K you know hit 330 On the watch and then I'd start the next K and my split pace for that K would be Too high even though I'd basically had Kept my Pace the same evenly it would be Like you know 405 PK and by the end of The K it's worked its way down to match What basically what I'm getting from the Garmin but actually using it to Pace is Very difficult because you're too slow At the start of the kilometers you start Speeding up a bit unnaturally and you End up you know surging and stuff like

That which is not how I want to use it To paste that session so like I said This is this might just be a big bug Bear of mine don't people noticed it but I don't like the way that Apple does Split past or it might just be wrong It's not doing it correctly in my mind And the way gin does it makes it a lot Easier to paste workouts that's just Something I've noticed regularly every Time every single week because I do use That metric to Pace a lot of workouts And a lot of runs and it's just easier To do it with Garmin and it's the same Actually with segment Pace on the Apple Watch if you take a manual segment Starts off the pace very slow and and Then gradually comes down to the PACE You have been running the whole time I Think so anyway any insights into that If anyone else has noticed that I'd love To know because yeah it just drives me a Little bit mad and I can't work out What's going on couple of design things I noticed throughout the time testing The watch the Apple watch does feel a Bit smaller and lighter on the wrist There actually not that big a difference In the size they are both quite big Watches but the ultra certainly seems a Bit more comfortable to wear although The button has more of a tendency to Catch things no matter which way around I wore it sometimes if I bent my arm in

A certain way I would more likely to set Off the buttons on the Apple watch than I was the Garmin not a big problem Though the flashlight has been very Useful on the Epic Pro I'll say that and I think it's different to how most People will use it so if you are an Adventurous person going out and stuff Like that and you need a general light Around camp or you're outside in the Dark a lot it's a really good light to Have but for my use it's been used every Single night a couple of times to go up And downstairs and basically tend to a Crying baby throughout the time during Marathon training and has been very Useful I will say that it is a good Little extra light it's a nice thing to Have on the watch I wouldn't buy the Epic spray myself for that use because I'm just going up and downstairs but if You are someone who needs an extra light Regularly because you're outside in the Dark a lot it's a very nice extra Feature you have here compared to the Kind of torch setting on the Apple watch Activity and sleep tracking is an area That the Apple watch is a lot better at Especially activity tracking the way the Apple watch does that everyday activity Tracking is much more engaging and it Seems more accurate than the Garment as Well the step counts and stuff like that And the active calories burnt during the

Day have always been better on the Apple Watch for me I also found that the Calorie counts in the Garment aren't Very useful I think they set the base Amount at 2,000 calories and then you Get active calories on top of that and I Just don't think that's right for me I Don't think my base metabolic rate is 200,000 calories I don't know but it Just feels like if I went on the calorie Counts alone on the Garmin I would end Up under fueling during Marathon blocks So I actually don't tend to go by Accounts on watches I used to eat loads And loads of food but I do think the Apple watch has be much more accurate on That and that can be quite important During a long marathon training block if You are doing high mileage if you're Seeing a big number on your wrist an Accurate big number that lots of Calories you've burnt you will hopefully Fuel accordingly and make sure you're Not losing weight whereas do think the G Underplays that slightly uh in a way That I can't seem to change I can't seem To change that Basse setting on the Watch and the Garmin sleep tracking has More detail and it feeds into Interesting stats like training R they Do a lot more with the data it's Collecting at night but I don't think The Garment seat tracking is always that Accurate I think it has a tendency to

Record periods where I'm awake either in The middle of the night or at the start And end of the night I'm just lying in Bed or watching TV and being quite still It will record that as light sleep and Artificially inflate my overall sleep Time as a result also something just Missed when I would go up and downstairs To attend to a baby which it should be Spotting really that's not very good it Will still have that logged as light Sleep so when I did wear the Apple watch To track my sleep at night it did give Me what I thought was a very accurate Picture of my night's rest just with Quite a simple sleep stage as graph and The overall time of sleep the problem With the Apple watch is obviously if you Are wearing it at night you're not Charging it at night and then you have To think of a time to charge it in the Day it does charge very quickly but it's Just an extra thing to think about so Smarts is an area where the Apple watch Certainly still has the edge as you'd Expect from a full-fledged Smartwatch You got a massive App Store there to Extend the features on the watch and Simply don't get that from the Garmin Connect iQ app store there are some Useful smarts on the Epic Pro and the Music is done pretty well on Garmin if You have a Spotify premium account or Diesel or Amazon music but again

Everything's a bit easier to do on the Apple watch and something that has been Very notable for me during this Marathon Cycle is every supermarket in the UK you Now have to have a a membership card to Get the the discounts like everyone you Know you only get the reductions in Price on certain Goods if you have a Loyalty card which is abhorrent and Should be banned because data collection Exercise but the Apple watch makes it Very easy to store all those cards on Your wrist so my C card my Tesco card my S card it's all on the watch and that is Be very useful like day in day out to Make sure I'm not missing out on the Actual price the food and other things I'm buying should be at those Supermarkets who now just day to I'm not Going to get into this I'm not going Into this but basically it's very Annoying and the Apple watch uh makes it A lot easier to deal with all those Stupid cards you know need obviously Then there's loads of other smart things About it like plane tickets train Tickets even just going through the tube With that you know very easily Contactless payments it's it is a better Smart watch for sure Garmin I think Still needs to really ramp up the amount Of watch faces they have and actually The amount of straps they have this is a Third party strap I got off eBay which

Is quite nice I think Garmin could do a Lot more to make nice straps available For itself direct to increase how Customizable the watch feels obviously With the Apple watch Ultra there's a Massive array of Apple straps and third Party straps out there that are all Pretty quite nice quick World on Navigation I do think this is an area Where Garmin just does it really really Well everything is done natively you can Create roots on the Fly the maps are Really clear the roots are really clear It's just a brilliant feature on Gins With extra features like CLE Pro as well Which looks at the climbs and the sents In your route like I've gone on a few Trips away during this time and it's Always been very easy to load up the Garment app make a quick route on there Send it to the watch and just head out And then run around a new place without Any fears of getting lost with the Apple Watch the native stuff doesn't really do This yet I think it will be something That probably will come in the next Couple of years there are certainly apps Though to sort this for you things like Workout doors or foot path both very Good running apps that have maps and With foot path getting really good turn By turn directions as well so you can Solve it with a watch and as I mentioned Before like there's no real reason to

Stay exclusively with the Apple workout App when you're using this watch you can Very easily go from a different app Every day because there's no Centralization of all that data into one Place that offers training analysis with The Apple watch so there is that freedom To just use a different app to suit the Needs you have on that day like uace is A very good racing app where you can you Know manually correct distance and then You can use foot paths when you do need Maps and that is a nice thing about the Apple watch but it is easier just to use The native stuff on the Garmin like Again day in day out it's one less thing To think about it's just very easy to Use and just works really well so yeah Navigation is certainly a big strong Suit for Garmin and then we might as Well have a quick chat about the London Marathon we have a full race fit up Where I talk about the watches as well But the setup I had for each watch was With the Garmin I put on the distance And time Target so I could see how far Ahead I was of my Target and get a Predicted time I was going to finish I Was aiming for a 227 and indeed run a 227 and with the Garmin I was manually Splitting every 2K because my goal Pace Was around 330k so 7 minutes for every 2K split split I knew the GPS was going To be dodgy at times and I just manually

Split to get pce of mind that was Roughly around there throughout the race With the Apple watch I put on the Pacer Mode and again set up the same time Target and that gives you a little Indicator of how far ahead of the time You are the Apple watch had an Absolutely S standing day on accuracy Like I don't know if the distance was Corrected or something because I'd set The distance goal but the distance came Up as 42.2k it had pretty much the exact Time ahead of my goal I was at the end i R a 22734 and I'd put 22759 as my thing and I had like you know 30 odd seconds ahead Of time Target so it was really good Like both of them went a bit D in Canary Warf and with the Apple I still had the Automatic lap splits coming in I could Tell some were wrong some were right but Then by the end of the race it really Felt like I was getting that bars on my Watch as I was passing the markers it Was really very good for pacing and I Could look down and I wasn't using split Pace during the race because of my Previous concerns I talked about I was Basically just using that time ahead or Behind and the automatic laps and the Apple which is very good garm was pretty Good as well the overall distance is a Bit long but you expect that with the Marathon every I was using the lap Pace

On the Garin within those 2K splits to Roughly make sure I was running around 330 pet pace and I could tell it was Being a little bit generous in the pace Each time and you could just adjust by a Second or so but definitely could use The Garment to Pace my race which is What I did especially in the first half When I was trying to make sure I didn't Go out too quick OB in the second half The race you just kind of you know all Bets are off you're just running as hard As you can but the Garment I think was Very useful on the day as well so both Of them were quite impressive in the London Marathon like I said earlier the Heart rate on the Garmin was actually Very good the GPS looked slightly better The trace on the Garmin when it came to Canary but the Apple certainly was very Accurate as well and the Pacer mode in It was probably more useful than the Equivalent Pacer mode on the Garmin Because of the overall distance being Very accurate at the [Music] End lot of information there I checked a Lot of information there I just Basically want to throw out loads of Things that I had noticed and maybe some Of them will resonate with you more than Others and that will really help you Make a decision if you are picking Between these watches like there's some

Things there that I thought were little Annoyances that were very big annoyances For you that might mean you would very Much be swayed to one watch or the other Some of the biggest things obviously are Things like battery life on the Apple Watch not being very good but the smart Watch features on the watch being very Good they are both very good within an Activity in terms of the tracking you Get in terms of the overall accuracy and That kind of thing and G you get a whole Lot more stuff after the activity like The training analysis and you do get Better navigation tools on here even Though you can cover those quite well With third party apps on the Apple watch My old decision the watch I would stick With after all that time training would Be the Garmin lot of it comes down to That pacing thing I was talking about But in general it's just the more easy To use sports watch as someone who is Quite busy now with family and that kind Of thing the bach life is also a really Big factor for me just being able to put It on my wrist leave it there and not Have to worry about charging it for a Week or so also think it's a really Attractive watch nowadays the Garman I Do like the way it looks I like the Watch face even though there could be More of them I like the band The Apple Watch Ultra is a better looking watch I

Think but I don't know it's not that Good looking a watch like the original The actual series watch I think is the Best looking Apple watch but it doesn't Have dual band GPS or anything like that And doesn't have the lap button so Overall I would stick to the Garmin Myself I think it is a fantastic watch Epics Pro but you are going to have to Pay a whole load more for it so you've Got to really value I think some of the Extra features you get on it to make it Worth the Play Over the Apple watch Ultra which is a very good day-to-day Sports watch for sure and a very Accurate one all around as Well Okie doie that was a lot of talking About these two watches hopefully some Of you found it quite useful please do Like and subscribe ring the little bell We'll see you next time