My Apple Watchs daily charging habit put me off smartwatches this Prime Day Garmin deal has pulled me back in

Date:
Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:20:30 +0000

Description:
I'd given up on smartwatches, but an Amazon Prime Day deal has tempted me
back into getting one again.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter An Amazon Prime Day deal on Garmins Vivoactive 6 for 169 (was 225.62) has tempted me to jump back into
the smartwatch arena after a bad experience with an Apple Watch caused me to abandon smartwatches entirely.

Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

I dont run or jog and Im not overly obsessed with statistics about how well I slept and how many steps Ive taken today, but I think its time I got a smartwatch again.

My colleague Matt Evans first brought the Garmin Vivoactive 5 for 117 (was 174.99) to my attention with the great price hed found it for as part of Amazon Prime Day .

But after researching the Vivoactive range for a little while I decided I actually wanted the Garmin Vivoactive 6 (currently on our best Garmin watches list) and the chance of saving 25% was too tempting I was sold. Today's best Garmin Vivoactive 6 deals Save 25% Garmin Vivoactive 6 Pebble Grey: was
225.62 now 169 at Amazon To get this great price on the Garmin Vvoactive 6 with 42mm GPS smartwatch, AMOLED touchscreen, all-day health monitoring, fitness features, advanced sleep coaching, Music and more, you have to choose the pebble grey model. View Deal Save 33% Garmin Vivoactive 5: was 209.99 now 141.55 at Amazon The Garmin Vivoactive 5 GPS smartwatch has a superb price cut, with a massive 33% off thanks to Amazon Prime Day. View Deal Slave to technology Its not that I hated my Apple Watch, I just couldnt 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.

The main thing that attracted me to the Garmin was that its got an 11-day battery life. Why hasnt 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.

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 from a family member.

Its the same with payments 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. Ive got more and more curious about what kind of sleep quality Im getting, and even
if its just counting my steps all day. I miss having all those stats at my fingertips. Body Battery Score There is a Garmin subscription service called Garmin Connect+ that has AI and coaching features I dont want or need, but youre not required to join it to get any of the watchs features to work. All the health and fitness features remain gloriously subscription-free.

In fact, the only downside I can see with the Garmin is to do with transferring music to it. Ive got a subscription to Apple Music , not Spotify , and you need Amazon Music 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.

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.

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.

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. Save 21% Apple
Watch Series 11: was 399 now 317 at Amazon This Apple Watch Series 11 has a Jet Black Aluminium Case with Black Sport Band, Sleep Score, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display and more. You can get a great 21% off thanks to Amazon Prime Day. View Deal More Prime Day deals in the UK Amazon Prime : get a 30-day free trial Amazon Devices : Fire, Ring & Blink from 13.99 Amazon
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