Ever wondered whether Apple or Garmin is more accurate when it comes to counting your steps? After putting the two brands head to head at the London Marathon, I turned my attention to finding out more about the step-counting capabilities of both watches. To find out more, I strapped the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Garmin Forerunner 265 to my wrist, and manually counted my steps to see how the two watches compared. One was a lot more accurate than the other — read on to find out which took the crown.
Let’s start by taking a look at how the best fitness trackers on the market count your steps. Both the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Garmin Forerunner 265 track how many steps you’ve taken by using an internal accelerometer, which measures the swing of your arm. Each swing counts for two steps. It doesn’t matter whether you wear your watch on your dominant or non-dominant hand, or whether you’re walking with your hands in your pockets, or holding something, the accelerometer should still measure your body’s movement.
