So, after using it for about a month:
I like it as a daily wearable. It apples better than Garmin.
As a workout watch, it’s miles worse than Garmin. It only connects to two external devices, though it’s relatively easy to pair and unpair, and that only through an third-party app, not the Apple Workout app. The buttons are too easy to press by mistake, which has never happened to me during a workout with any of the three Garmin wearables I’ve had. The touchscreen of course is always getting set off accidentally.
The Garmins of course pair infinitely and reliably. I can’t remember the last time I went on a ride and it didn’t pick up all the devices from the bike I happened to be on, no unpairing and re-pairing necessary. Cadence, radar, powermeter, HRM, lights, electronic shifting, footpod – the whole zoo. Everything except the GoPros (come on, GoPro, why can’t I have radar- and D-fly activated cameras?).
I think I’ve had maybe one or two activities where it just worked for the whole activity and didn’t get fouled up by something else, or it didn’t read the powermeter even though I it’s literally the only thing paired, or even Apple just deciding that because I’m going 5 mph up a 12% grade that it should stop the third-party workout app to ask if I’m having a walking workout.
Indoors, there appears to be no way to calibrate the device, so any kind of treadmill or elliptical workout is just worthless except for elapsed time and heart rate.
To be fair, Garmin has only gotten this right recently with ‘calibrate and save’.
You can do a lot with software, but I don’t see how Apple is going to fix this with an update. The buttons and touchscreen are kinda baked-in. Maybe the functionality will get better with updates, but if my sleeve keeps fouling up a workout, how is Apple going to fix that?