Applewatch or Blaze

This is truly a case where I'd talk with him and go with him so he can select the one he wants and will actually use the most. It would be a shame to spend the small fortune that any of those options cost, only to find that another choice might have been better for his particular needs and wants. Surprises are nice, but I really would tell him you want to get him one of these devices but want him to pick it out so he gets exactly what he'll use.

What does he use it for?

I have a Garmin VivoSmart. It's cool for tracking steps, calls/messages, etc. But it's basically a watch.

Next weekend is my birthday and I'm getting a Garmin Forerunner 230. It's a GPS running watch that does everything the VivoSmart does, plus tracking my runs via very accurate GPS. I'm very excited about it. :)

I'm not a fan of Apple products. Not enough features, too cumbersome to update. So that would be a no for me.

Fitbit isn't waterproof. I can shower with my Garmin. That's important to me.

Good luck!

What does he want to use it for? The blaze is the best for fitness but it only lets you do phone calls and texts through the watch. Apple does everything but sucks for fitness.

I have the blaze, the only thing the phone/text thing comes in handy for is if I am not close to my phone it tells me it is ringing or I got a text. No way in hell I could do either task while running so I really don't need more apps pushed into my watch.

They also have a million different watchbands pretty cheap on Amazon

my husband got the fitbit watch because it does what he wanted it to do as far as connecting to his iPhone for half the price of the apple watch. When and if they make a watch that is a complete replacement for his iPhone rather then just an add on he will happily pay whatever they ask.