@Shuhite my top priorities are as follows:
build quality
battery life
support/future proofing
Apple has quality but a battery that will not cut it for me. Garmin always hides their newest features behind the next generation of hardware (Suunto rolls features out as long as the hardware supports it).
The milivolt handshake signal from the 2nd pin. Add in water and salt and you got yourself an etching cell. To me that’s a deal breaker for Garmin. Can’t trust it won’t fail with how I use things.
Don’t get me wrong I’m obsessed with music, go to 20+ concerts a year level of love for music but my phone is with me in all instances where I listen. Having it on the watch would be redundant in my case and wouldn’t have the ability to EQ like I could on a watch or dedicated mixer at home/office. Music off my watch would actually be a downgrade (support Lossless? FLAC?) compared to how I currently listen.
I have a Swiss army knife, can open a box and has some scissors in there as well. It’s a bad choice for back country and wouldn’t trust it. I have a purpose built fixed blade for that. Same with my Vertical.