yeah, i've had a garmin and i've had an apple watch. both have their strong points, but the battery life of the apple watch was really just never an issue for me. it seems like it should be an obvious downsite, but it's pretty easy to get in the habit of charging it, and once it is habit its just really not an issue.
if anything, the garmin's battery life was a downside, because i wouldn't charge it daily, and then i'd go to start a bike ride and find it was at 10% battery.