Last weekend, I strapped on five fitness smartwatches, drove to Mount Diablo State Park in California, and hiked about 2,100 feet to the summit. Why? To decide which smartwatch brand — Apple, COROS, Garmin, Polar, or Samsung — was most accurate for tracking elevation.
Most high-end smartwatches sport a barometric altimeter to judge your elevation gain during outdoor workouts. Altimeters use air pressure changes to calculate elevation changes in coordination with GPS data. But some are more accurate than others, and most brands don't let you calibrate your starting position manually.
