What happens when extreme adventure meets everyday health tracking—who wins? Here’s a closer look at Garmin and Apple to see which one stands out.

Apple and Garmin dropped the latest versions of their top smartwatches. Garmin’s fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED stands out with a screen brighter than any other watch and features that keep you connected even off the grid. Apple’s Ultra 3 pushes the limits too, offering health tools that make a real difference in daily life. In this Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs. Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED guide, we break down design, display, features, battery, and price so you can pick the right watch for you.

The price gap between the Apple and Garmin watches is huge. Are the extra perks on the expensive model worth it? Let’s find out.

Design

The fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED comes in at 17.5 mm thick and weighs 68 grams (2.4 oz). What caught my eye is that Garmin skipped the smaller 43 mm and 47 mm cases. Instead, the MicroLED version only shows up with a darker titanium bezel at 51 mm. That’s tough luck for anyone with slimmer wrists who still wants all the safety tools and strong connectivity.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 sticks to a single size, too, at 49 mm. You can pick natural or black titanium, and Apple adds a fresh lineup of bands. The Trail Loop gets reflective yarn along its edges, and both the Ocean Band and Alpine Loop show off new shades. Hermès even joins in with 2 new En Mer band colors plus a Scub’H Diving band made of rubber with a titanium buckle.

Design-wise, the fēnix 8 and fēnix 8 Pro look nearly the same. The Pro has a red accent on the start button and a louder speaker, but that’s about it.

The fēnix 8 Pro feels built for extremes. It’s dive-rated, fitted with leakproof buttons, a sensor guard, and a tough lens under a titanium bezel. Garmin even tested it to US military standards for heat, shock, and water.

Apple gives the Ultra 3 its own edge in durability. It can handle 100 m (328 ft) of water, so swimming, snorkeling, scuba, and fast water sports are all fair game. Apple also makes the Ultra 3 repairable, something Garmin skips. Garmin says there’s no demand for spare parts, but I always point out that swapping components instead of tossing a full device makes more sense for the planet.

Display

The fēnix 8 Pro grabs attention with its MicroLED display. It combines extreme brightness with the per-pixel sharpness you usually see on OLED screens. Over 400,000 tiny LEDs push up to 4,500 nits, making the 1.4-inch screen vibrant and easy to read, even in direct sunlight.

Apple takes a different approach with the Watch Ultra 3. It uses LTPO3 and wide-angle OLEDs to deliver the biggest, brightest Apple Watch screen yet, reaching 3,000 nits at an angle.

The LTPO3 display trims the borders by 24%, giving more active screen space without changing the case size. The wide-angle OLEDs make each pixel shine at wider angles, so you can check the watch quickly with no squinting or adjustments.

So does the fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED win when it comes to brightness? In raw numbers, yes, absolutely. But the full picture is more nuanced. Many Apple Watch Ultra users notice a slight “gap” between the titanium case and the sapphire crystal in direct sunlight. You can’t feel it with your finger, but it’s visible. Here, the fēnix 8 Pro’s higher brightness might give it an edge. Still, the Watch Ultra 3 has tricks you can use, like adjusting the angle on your wrist, to improve visibility in tough lighting.

Features

The fēnix 8 Pro goes wherever you do, offering Garmin’s full suite of performance, navigation, health, and connectivity tools. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 covers health, fitness, safety, and connection while switching between a sports watch, a stylish smartwatch, and a complete health companion. Both start strong, but the details reveal even more.

Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED: Health

The Garmin fēnix 8 Pro keeps track of your body, sleep, energy, and even helps you plan your day and night for better performance and recovery. Here’s a closer look at what it can do:

• Morning Report – Start your day with a full snapshot of sleep, training, HRV, weather, and more.
• Evening Report – Check your sleep need, tomorrow’s workout, weather, and events before bed to plan ahead.
• HRV Status – Understand your recovery, health, and training performance while you sleep.
• Wrist-Based Heart Rate – Tracks your heart rate during activities so you can see how hard your body works.
• Garmin ECG App – Reads the electrical signals of your heart and checks for irregular rhythms like AFib.
• Pulse Ox Sensor – Monitors blood oxygen levels during the day or night and tracks how your body adjusts to altitude.

Apple Watch Ultra 3: Health

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 takes health tracking beyond the basics with apps like ECG and Vitals, giving you a full picture of your body. Its hypertension notifications stand out, helping you spot potential signs of high blood pressure. That’s a big deal since hypertension drives heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease, and impacts around 1.3 billion adults worldwide.

You can also track sleep and monitor key health metrics while you rest, like heart rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and breathing. The Apple watch can highlight potential sleep apnea, keeping your nights as informative as your days.

When it comes to the sheer number of health tools, Garmin still has the upper hand. But Apple’s hypertension alerts give it a clear advantage in catching serious issues early. If you want a full health picture with Garmin, you can pair it with the Index BPM to track blood pressure and sync everything into Garmin Connect. That way, you get a complete overview without missing a beat.

Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED: Fitness

Think of the Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED as your ultimate fitness sidekick. It keeps tabs on your workouts, helps you push limits, and even gives you smart suggestions to get better every day. Here are the features that I love:

• Training Status – Check how your training is going. See if you’re hitting your peak, making progress, or pushing too hard.
• Performance Metrics – Track advanced stats like VO2 max, training load, and more to get a clear picture of your performance.
• Endurance Score – Understand how your workouts impact your stamina and see how you handle longer efforts over time.
• Hill Score – Measure your uphill running strength and track improvement using VO2 max and training history.
• Daily Suggested Workouts – See a full week of suggested workouts that update after every run or ride, helping you stay on track.

Apple Watch Ultra 3: Fitness

With watchOS 26, Apple Watch Ultra 3 offers you Workout Buddy, a fresh fitness experience powered by Apple Intelligence. It studies your workout data and fitness history to give real-time spoken motivation during your session. It draws on heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal milestones, and more. Garmin has something similar, but it doesn’t talk to you. With Garmin Coach, you can train for a race, hit a milestone, or boost your fitness using plans for running, triathlon, cycling, or strength.

Apple also leans on “the most accurate GPS in a sports watch” and a simple, user-friendly interface. The Workout app has a new layout that makes it easier to customize sessions with Workout Views, custom workouts, Pacer, Race Route, and more.

And yes, there’s some truth to Apple’s GPS claim. Rob ter Horst, a data scientist at the University of Vienna, tested the watchOS 26 beta on an Apple Watch Ultra 2. He compared it against historic heart rate data from trackers like Whoop MG and several Garmin models, using the Polar H10 chest strap as the gold standard. Apple’s premium watch came out on top, outperforming almost every other modern fitness tracker in heart rate accuracy.

Connectivity

The Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED hooks straight into Garmin’s 24/7 emergency response center through its satellite link. Thanks to inReach® tech, you can call from your wrist, send a quick message, share your location, or hit SOS if things go wrong. It also brings training features, detailed maps, and even a flashlight to keep you moving once the sun dips.

Apple Watch Ultra 3 also keeps you connected off the grid. You can text emergency services, check in with family, and share your location without needing cell coverage.

Here’s the big difference. Apple gives you 2 years of satellite service free of charge. Emergency SOS works without a cellular plan, but if you have one, you can also send messages and share your spot through Find My. By contrast, Garmin requires an inReach subscription that starts at $7.99 each month. For years, Garmin set the bar for satellite reliability, but Apple just stepped onto the same trail and turned this into a real competition.

Battery life

Garmin’s fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED packs serious endurance with up to 10 days in smartwatch mode. It runs on an LTE-M network that sips power instead of draining it, so you can stay out longer without worrying about your watch dying. That’s perfect for long hikes or a full day on the slopes.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 focuses on a balance of performance and endurance. Its LTPO3 display, 5G modem, and bigger battery keep it running strong. You’ll see up to 42 hours on a normal day, and Low Power Mode stretches that to 72 hours. For outdoor sessions, it handles 20 hours of nonstop GPS and heart rate tracking in Low Power Mode. If you’re short on time, just 15 minutes on the charger gives you 12 hours of use.

Price and availability

You can grab the Apple Watch Ultra 3 for $799 when preorders open on September 19. On the other hand, the Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED comes in at $1,999.99, and it’s already up for purchase.

Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs. Garmin fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED: Verdict

I’ve to give the crown for the best sports and adventure watch to Garmin—the fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED feels like the most ambitious sports watch I’ve ever seen. That MicroLED screen makes every glance outdoors crystal clear, and the battery life easily crushes Apple’s. The build screams rugged, like it’s begging to get dropped, dunked, and dragged through mud.

Apple still makes a strong case with the Ultra 3, especially with its health alerts, cleaner design, and repairability. If I had to choose, I’d lean Garmin for adventure, but Apple nails the everyday balance—and it saves you a staggering $1,200.99.