Garmin vivoactive 4S Silver
Score: 82/100
Apple Watch Series 9
Score: 82/100Rankings
The Garmin vivoactive 4S is a compact 40 mm GPS smartwatch with a sunlight-visible MIP display, extensive health metrics, and up to seven days of battery life. Its low-resolution display and limited GPS-plus-music runtime may disappoint power users. It's perfect for users with smaller wrists who value long battery life and robust fitness tracking.
The Apple Watch Series 9 GPS 41 mm offers a dazzling 2000-nit always-on OLED display, advanced health sensors including ECG and blood-oxygen, and seamless iPhone integration. Its battery lasts only about 18 hours, requiring daily charging, and it lacks cellular connectivity in the GPS-only model. Best suited for iPhone users seeking premium health features and safety tools.
| Attribute | | |
|---|---|---|
168 hoursbest | 18 hours | |
27.9 mmbest | — | |
| ↓ lower better | 36.3 g | 31.9 gbest |
— | 64 GBbest |
Click an attribute name to sort · Green = best, red = worst (relative to this comparison)
| Attribute | | |
|---|---|---|
Build & Design(1) | ||
Weight (g) | 36.3 g | 31.9 g |
Battery & Power(1) | ||
Battery Life (hours) | 168 hours | 18 hours |
Display(2) | ||
Display Resolution | 218x218 | 352x430 |
Display Type | MIP | OLED |
Products in the top-left offer the best value (high score, low price).
Professional reviewers and editors view the vivoactive 4S as a versatile, smaller-wrist-friendly alternative to the larger vivoactive 4, applauding its proportional sizing, solid battery life, swim rating, music capability, and extensive health metrics, while noting the trade-off of a less vibrant MIP display and the omission of advanced navigation and power-meter features.
Everyday users commonly praise the watch's lightweight comfort, music storage for phone-free workouts, and accurate health tracking, but they frequently mention the small screen's readability challenges, the lack of a full-color display, and the limited GPS-plus-music battery life as recurring drawbacks.
Professional reviewers commend the Series 9 for its dramatically brighter display, faster S9 processor, and new Precision Finding, calling it an essential companion for health-focused users, while noting it is an incremental rather than revolutionary update with unchanged battery life and no cellular option.
Everyday users love the watch's seamless iPhone sync, accurate fitness and health tracking, and bright screen for outdoor use, but many lament the need for daily charging and occasional band-fit issues on smaller wrists.
