Garmin Epix (Gen 2) vs Withings ScanWatch 2

🗓️ Release Year

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): 2022

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: 2023



🏃 Activity

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is a high-performance multisport GPS smartwatch designed for serious athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, featuring a stunning AMOLED display. It offers comprehensive activity tracking, including steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with personalized daily goals. Its extensive activity profiles and advanced performance metrics are tailored for a wide range of sports and adventures, providing detailed insights into every workout.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a sophisticated hybrid smartwatch designed to seamlessly blend medical-grade health monitoring with elegant design and activity tracking. It accurately records steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes, providing insights into your daily movement alongside advanced health metrics. Its activity tracking supports various sports with a focus on overall wellness and fitness trends.



❤️ Health Monitoring

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced physiological metrics including VO2 max estimation, performance condition, and training status. It also tracks respiration rate, Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation, and offers detailed sleep analysis, delivering critical health and recovery data essential for optimizing training and overall well-being.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: This device is a powerful health monitor, featuring continuous heart rate tracking, SpO2 measurement for blood oxygen levels, and an impressive ability to take on-demand ECG readings to detect signs of atrial fibrillation. A key feature is its ability to track body temperature variations and perform a respiratory scan during the night, offering comprehensive health insights from the wrist.



🔋 Battery Life

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) offers up to 16 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours with continuous GPS tracking. While the vibrant AMOLED display impacts battery life compared to MIP displays, it still provides sufficient duration for multi-day activities and extensive training.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 boasts an exceptional battery life of up to 30 days on a single charge. This significantly longer duration compared to traditional smartwatches ensures uninterrupted health monitoring and activity tracking, making it ideal for users who prioritize longevity and consistent data collection.



😴 Sleep Tracking

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Advanced sleep monitoring on the Epix (Gen 2) tracks detailed sleep stages and utilizes the Pulse Ox sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing recovery quality and informing training decisions, especially important for athletes managing demanding training loads.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Advanced sleep tracking on the ScanWatch 2 provides detailed analysis of sleep stages (light, deep, and REM), sleep duration, and sleep quality. It incorporates SpO2 and body temperature data collected during the night to offer deeper insights into respiratory health during sleep and overall recovery, contributing to informed decisions about rest and training.



📍 GPS Tracking

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Equipped with advanced built-in GPS capabilities, the Epix (Gen 2) provides highly accurate outdoor activity tracking and navigation without requiring a paired smartphone. It supports multiple satellite systems and offers detailed preloaded mapping features, essential for exploring remote areas and navigating complex routes.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 does not have built-in GPS. It relies on a connected GPS feature, utilizing the GPS from a paired compatible smartphone to accurately track outdoor activities like walking and running, providing pace and distance data when your phone is with you.



🏋️ Workout Modes

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) supports an extensive range of multisport and individual workout modes, including running, biking, swimming, hiking, trail running, skiing, strength training, and more. Its customizable profiles and extensive real-time data screens provide comprehensive metrics for performance analysis across diverse activities.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 supports multiple workout modes for tracking various physical activities such as walking, running, cycling, and swimming. It displays essential real-time statistics on the small digital display, offering a blend of analog watch style and digital tracking functionality.



💫 Exercise Recognition

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring seamless recording of basic movements within the overall activity log, even during varied training days.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The device includes automatic exercise recognition for common activities like walking and running, ensuring that these basic movements are captured in your activity log without requiring manual initiation, contributing to a complete record of daily physical activity.



🍎 Compatibility

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth to the Withings (formerly Health Mate) app for seamless data synchronization and comprehensive health analysis.



📲 App Support

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central to the Epix (Gen 2) experience, providing in-depth analysis of all tracked data, performance metrics, training insights, and recovery recommendations. The app allows for creating and syncing detailed training plans, courses, and customizing device settings.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Synchronization with the comprehensive Withings app is central to the ScanWatch 2 experience, providing a detailed dashboard for reviewing all collected health data, including ECG waveforms, SpO2 trends, temperature variations, and activity logs. The app offers insights and personalized coaching to help users understand their health metrics and make informed decisions.



💡 Smart Features

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Beyond its primary focus on sports and outdoor performance, the Epix (Gen 2) includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and on-device music storage with support for streaming services, offering convenience during training and daily use.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Beyond its primary focus on health monitoring and traditional watch design, the ScanWatch 2 provides essential smart notifications for calls, texts, and app alerts on its integrated digital display. It maintains a minimalist approach to smart features, prioritizing health functions.



💦 Water Resistance

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): With a robust water resistance rating of 100 meters (10 ATM), the Epix (Gen 2) is engineered to withstand swimming, showering, and various water activities, making it suitable for serious water sports and providing durability in wet environments.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: With a water resistance rating of 50 meters (5 ATM), the ScanWatch 2 is suitable for swimming and showering, making it a durable companion for everyday wear and various water activities without concern for damage.



⌚ Display Quality

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a stunning AMOLED display with high resolution, offering vibrant colors, deep blacks, and exceptional brightness. This touchscreen display provides excellent readability in various lighting conditions, including direct sunlight, enhancing the visual experience for mapping and data review.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 features a traditional analog watch face with a small integrated grayscale OLED display. This digital screen is discreetly placed and provides clear, readable information for notifications, health metrics, and activity data when needed, balancing classic aesthetics with digital functionality.



👌 Ease of Use

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device offers a dual interface with reliable buttons and a responsive touchscreen, providing flexible and easy navigation through menus, data screens, and mapping features during both activities and daily use. The user interface is designed for intuitive operation and quick access to critical information.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The device offers a user-friendly interface controlled primarily through the crown and a physical button, complemented by the integrated digital display for navigating options and viewing data. The intuitive design and seamless syncing with the Withings app make managing health data straightforward.



✨ Design and Comfort

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a premium and durable design with a high-quality titanium bezel and stainless steel or DLC coating, built to withstand extreme conditions while maintaining a comfortable fit for all-day wear and extended outdoor use. The design balances robust construction with aesthetic appeal.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 features an elegant and comfortable design, closely resembling a traditional wristwatch with analog hands. It is made from premium materials and is designed for comfortable all-day and all-night wear, allowing for continuous health monitoring without the appearance of a bulky smartwatch.



🩸 SpO2 Monitoring

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for on-demand spot checks and continuous monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels, particularly valuable for acclimatization at altitude, monitoring sleep quality, and assessing overall physiological status during demanding activities.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: An integrated SpO2 sensor is a key health feature, allowing for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels on demand and during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing respiratory health and contributes to the device's advanced sleep analysis.



💖 ECG Functionality

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): It is important to note that the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: A significant health capability of the ScanWatch 2 is its ability to take on-demand Electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. This allows users to check for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) and share the results with healthcare professionals, offering valuable heart health monitoring.



🧘 Stress Tracking

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress and promote mental well-being alongside physical training and recovery.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: While not providing a specific "stress score," the ScanWatch 2 contributes to understanding stress through its continuous monitoring of heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep patterns, providing data within the app that can help users identify stress triggers and their impact on physiological state.



🩹 Recovery Tracking

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device provides advanced recovery insights, including a daily readiness score, recovery time advisor, training status, and training load focus, offering detailed guidance to help athletes understand their recovery needs and optimize their training schedule to prevent overtraining and improve performance.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Recovery insights are provided through the Withings app based on analyzed sleep patterns, heart rate variability (HRV), and potentially body temperature data collected during the night. This helps users understand their body's readiness for activity and optimize rest and recovery periods.



💳 Subscription

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Epix (Gen 2) are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced training analysis, providing comprehensive value for a premium device.

2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: No subscription is required to access the core health features and data tracked by the ScanWatch 2, including ECG and SpO2 readings, through the Withings app. Premium features or deeper insights may be offered through optional services in the future, but essential functionality is free.



🏷️️ Price

1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): $999.99

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2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: $299.00

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