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Updated August 2026: this comparison now walks through the criteria that actually decide a smartwatch purchase — starting with the phone in your pocket — and prices out five years of real ownership cost for Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit, including subscriptions, battery service, and bands.
Most smartwatch shopping starts backwards. People compare battery life, fitness features, and app libraries before they ever check the one setting that quietly eliminates two out of three options: which phone is in their pocket. An iPhone owner debating Apple Watch versus Garmin is really debating two very different things, because only one of them will pair with their phone at all. Settle the phone question first, and the rest of the decision gets a lot smaller — and a lot more honest, once you price in what each watch actually costs to own for five years, not just to buy.
Short answer: the Apple Watch Series 11 only works with an iPhone, so that single fact settles the decision for a large share of shoppers before any other criterion matters. For everyone else, Garmin’s Forerunner line asks the least ongoing money over five years since its Connect+ subscription is optional, while Fitbit’s Charge 6 is the cheapest watch to buy but the most expensive to fully use, since its richer health insights sit behind a required-feeling Premium subscription.
The criteria that actually decide this purchase
Before scoring anything, it helps to know what actually separates these three watches once you own one for years rather than weeks. We focus on five criteria: which phones each watch works with, whether it requires an ongoing subscription to unlock its full feature set, how the brand handles battery service as the device ages, what bands and accessories cost, and what all of that adds up to over a five-year ownership window.
Criterion 1: phone compatibility
Apple Watch requires an iPhone; it has never supported Android and there is no indication that will change. Garmin and Fitbit both support iPhone and Android. This alone removes Apple Watch from consideration for any Android owner, and removes the “why not just get Garmin or Fitbit” debate for a committed iPhone owner who wants deep phone integration.
Criterion 2: what’s locked behind a subscription
This is where the three brands diverge sharply, and it is the criterion most shoppers skip entirely at checkout.
Criterion 3: battery service as the watch ages
A smartwatch battery degrades with charge cycles like any lithium battery. What a brand does about that after the warranty ends matters more than most buyers realize until it happens to them.
Criterion 4: bands and accessories
All three support third-party and official bands, but how much you are likely to spend on them over time differs with how often each ecosystem changes lug/connector designs and how aggressively the brand markets its own band lineup.
Criterion 5: the five-year total
Add the previous four criteria together with real, current prices and you get a genuinely different picture than the sticker price on the box — which is the point of scoring these watches this way instead of by spec sheet.
Scoring Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit against those criteria
Apple Watch Series 11 ($399, per Apple’s current pricing) scores highest on integration and lowest on subscription pressure. Nothing about its core functionality — notifications, workouts, payments, health tracking — requires a subscription; Apple Fitness+ exists but is genuinely optional. Where it costs money is battery service: Apple charges a flat $99 for an out-of-warranty battery replacement, according to Apple’s own published out-of-warranty service pricing. Official Apple Sport Bands list at $49, per Apple’s own list pricing (frequently discounted, but that is the baseline).
Garmin’s Forerunner 165 ($249.99, per Garmin’s own newsroom pricing announcement) scores best on optional ongoing cost. Garmin Connect+ — a newer subscription layer with AI-driven insights and extra training tools — costs $6.99/month or $69.99/year, according to Garmin’s own press release, but the watch’s core GPS, training, and health-tracking features work fully without it. That makes Garmin the only one of the three where the subscription is a genuine add-on rather than something you feel pressured into for basic functionality.
Fitbit’s Charge 6 ($159.95, per Google’s official Fitbit store pricing) scores lowest on sticker price and highest on subscription pressure. Since the 2026 rebrand to Google Health Premium, the subscription costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year — up from $79.99/year, the first price increase since the service launched in 2020, according to pricing tracker TrackerVS. A meaningful share of Fitbit’s more detailed sleep and health-insight features sit behind that subscription, which is why Fitbit’s low buy-in price does not tell the whole cost story. Fitbit also does not offer an official battery-replacement service the way Apple does; community and support guidance on Fitbit’s own help forums points toward a full device replacement once a battery degrades, rather than a paid service repair.
Five-year ownership cost, worked out
Here is the actual math, built from the sourced prices above. We show two scenarios per watch where relevant: a minimal path (no optional subscription, one battery service instead of a full replacement) and a fuller path (subscription carried the whole five years, or a full device replacement where the brand offers no battery service).
| Line item | Apple Watch Series 11 | Garmin Forerunner 165 | Fitbit Charge 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device purchase | $399 | $249.99 | $159.95 |
| 5-year subscription (if carried all 5 years) | $0 (none required) | $349.95 (Connect+, optional, $69.99/yr × 5) | $499.95 (Premium, effectively needed for full features, $99.99/yr × 5) |
| Battery / replacement path | $99 one-time official battery service (vs. $399 for a full new unit) | Long multi-day battery life reduces replacement pressure; no official flat-fee service found | No official battery service; a full device replacement (~$159.95) is the typical path |
| One extra/replacement band | $49 (official Sport Band list price) | Not separately priced here (no verified official figure sourced) | Not separately priced here (no verified official figure sourced) |
| 5-year total, minimal path | $547 ($399 + $99 service + $49 band) | $249.99 (device only, no subscription) | $319.90 (device + one replacement, no subscription) |
| 5-year total, fuller path | $798 (two full devices instead of battery service) | $599.94 (device + 5 years of Connect+) | $819.85 (device + one replacement + 5 years of Premium) |
Prices are approximate, current as of publication, and change frequently — confirm the latest price with the retailer before buying.
The arithmetic tells a story the sticker prices hide: Fitbit is the cheapest watch to buy but can end up the most expensive to own fully over five years, once the subscription most owners actually want is factored in. Garmin is the only one of the three where opting out of the subscription still leaves you with a fully functional watch, which makes its minimal-path number the most genuinely “optional-extras-free” of the three.
How we compared
Every price and subscription figure above was verified live this session directly against each brand’s own pricing pages or press releases, or against pricing trackers and outlets that cite those official sources, and named in the text where used. We did not estimate or round prices for the ownership-cost table beyond stating clearly which line items lack a verified official figure. Health features are described in general terms and are not medical advice. For more on how we build comparisons like this, see our editorial standards. If you’re building out a connected home around your new watch, our smart thermostat comparison and smart bulb comparison use the same sourced-cost approach, or browse the wider Tech & Electronics section.
Prices are approximate, current as of publication, and change frequently — confirm the latest price with the retailer before buying.
Frequently asked questions
Does it matter which phone I have if I want an Apple Watch?
Yes, absolutely. Apple Watch only pairs with an iPhone and has no Android support at all. If you use an Android phone, Apple Watch is not an option regardless of any other feature you like about it.
Is Garmin Connect+ worth paying for?
It depends on whether you want its added AI-driven insights and extra training tools; Garmin’s core GPS, activity, and training features work fully without it, at $6.99/month or $69.99/year according to Garmin’s own pricing. That makes it a genuine optional upgrade rather than something you need for the watch to function.
Do I really need Fitbit Premium?
Not for basic step and heart-rate tracking, but a meaningful share of Fitbit’s deeper sleep and health-insight features sit behind the subscription, now priced at $9.99/month or $99.99/year following its 2026 increase and rebrand to Google Health Premium. Decide based on which specific features you actually want before assuming the base price is the real cost.
What happens when my Apple Watch battery wears out?
Apple offers an official out-of-warranty battery replacement service priced at a flat $99, which is typically far cheaper than buying a new watch outright. This gives Apple Watch owners a clear, priced repair path that Fitbit currently does not offer.
Which watch is cheapest over five years?
If you skip every optional subscription and only pay for the device (plus, for Apple, one battery service instead of a replacement), Garmin’s Forerunner 165 comes in lowest at roughly $249.99. But if you count the subscription most owners actually want, the ranking changes, so match the comparison to how you’d actually use the watch rather than the sticker price alone.
Bottom line
Start with your phone, because it removes an option before price ever enters the conversation. From there, decide how you feel about ongoing subscriptions: Apple Watch asks for none but has the highest buy-in, Garmin’s subscription is genuinely optional, and Fitbit’s low price tag hides a subscription that a lot of owners end up wanting. Run the five-year math for your own habits rather than trusting the box price, and the right smartwatch becomes a lot clearer than the spec sheet makes it look.
