Final weekend, I strapped on 5 health smartwatches, drove to Mount Diablo State Park in California, and hiked about 2,100 ft to the summit. Why? To resolve which smartwatch model — Apple, COROS, Garmin, Polar, or Samsung — was most correct for monitoring elevation.
Most high-end smartwatches sport a barometric altimeter to evaluate your elevation acquire throughout out of doors exercises. Altimeters use air strain adjustments to calculate elevation adjustments in coordination with GPS knowledge. However some are extra correct than others, and most manufacturers do not allow you to calibrate your beginning place manually.
I’ve wished to check this for a while, ever since my experiment final yr once I wore six smartwatches for six,000 steps to see which got here closest to the actual quantity. Since then, I’ve additionally executed a number of multi-watch GPS accuracy assessments for critiques, however these have all been two-dimensional assessments: I’ve by no means identified how correct my watch is when it tells me I’ve climbed X ft or Y flights of stairs.
For my check, I selected three watches I’ve already reviewed — the COROS PACE 3, Garmin Forerunner 965, and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Basic — together with two I am presently reviewing, the Apple Watch Extremely 2 and Polar Vantage V3.
Apologies to the hikers with favourite manufacturers I did not convey alongside; my arms, skinny as they’re, solely have a lot room. Charging and becoming on 5 watches was greater than sufficient to handle, and so they received me loads of aspect glances on the path because it was.
Plus, a few of my favourite wearables (just like the Fitbit Cost 6) haven’t got altimeters in any respect, which means they can not be trusted for elevation knowledge, other than GPS estimates.
Fortunately, you possibly can simply check your individual smartwatch’s accuracy if you’d like!
Merely select a hike on a website like Alltrails, such because the Mount Diablo through Summit Path hike, and observe the minimal and most elevation, together with complete elevation acquire. Then, hike it your self and evaluate your watch’s outcomes to the fact.
The desk beneath reveals the outcomes of my smartwatch elevation accuracy check:
| Gadget identify | Beginning elevation | Max elevation | Complete elevation acquire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual GPS knowledge (AllTrails) | 1,770 ft | 3,849 ft | 2,139 ft |
| Apple Watch Extremely 2 | 1,779 ft | 3,873 ft | 2,147 ft |
| COROS PACE 3 | 1,736 ft | 3,825 ft | 2,231 ft |
| Garmin Forerunner 965 | 1,761 ft | 3,841 ft | 2,231 ft |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Basic | 1,509 ft | 3,606 ft | 2,026 ft |
Be aware: You probably seen a lacking knowledge row. That is as a result of someday on the best way down Mt. Diablo, my Polar Vantage V3 crashed, displaying an infinite loop of the Polar emblem, then manufacturing facility reset itself after I received dwelling. The Polar subreddit reveals people have had related points up to now.
Fortunately, I snapped a photograph close to the height displaying my elevation (3,729 ft) and complete acquire (2,018 ft) on the time. Add one other 100 ft or so of climbing, and the Vantage V3 was most likely fairly near what my different watches confirmed; I simply can’t give actual knowledge, particularly with out the beginning elevation. I am actually dissatisfied that this glitch tousled my check!
Figuring out the ‘greatest’ smartwatch altimeter
We’ve got three metrics to assist choose which smartwatch is greatest for elevation accuracy. Let’s begin with minimal elevation, which is the preliminary auto-calibrated consequence the smartwatch makes if you begin a exercise.
Garmin and Apple miraculously tied right here, each 9 ft off. COROS was 34 ft quick, or 25 worse than Garmin, however that is nothing in comparison with Samsung’s consequence, which fell 261 ft quick.
Trying subsequent at max elevation, Garmin fell eight ft in need of the official summit quantity. Principally, regardless that Garmin was off by a couple of yards every time, the hole between the minimal and most (2,080 ft) was simply one foot totally different from the official knowledge (2,079 ft).
COROS’ max consequence, 3,825 ft, was 24 ft quick; once more, although, if you happen to have a look at the whole distinction (2,089 ft), that is simply 10 ft off the satellite tv for pc knowledge, which most hikers will fortunately settle for.
Apple’s max-elevation knowledge had me floating about 24 ft above Mt. Diablo, and its complete distinction (2,094) is 15 ft above. Contemplating all of the smarts you get with an Apple Watch Extremely 2 in comparison with most health smartwatches, that is a minor discrepancy that watchOS followers most likely will not thoughts.
You would additionally name the Galaxy Watch 6 Basic’s complete elevation distinction (2,097 ft) completely respectable, however the max elevation was simply as absurdly in need of the mark because the minimal elevation. Samsung had an Alti-Barometer app on the Galaxy Retailer that will have mounted this, but it surely was designed for Tizen OS and does not work correctly with Put on OS.
Lastly, we will have a look at complete elevation acquire, which (to make clear) is totally different from the subtracted sums above since you acquire further elevation each time the path goes up and down.
At first look, the Apple Watch Extremely 2 crushed this metric, solely overreporting by eight ft. The issue is that I did go up and down the steps on the summit a few instances, in addition to took some aspect paths with mini-hills that added pointless ups and downs.
So regardless that the Garmin Forerunner 965 and COROS PACE 3 each measured an additional 92 ft of climbing, I ponder if my precise consequence was someplace in between these two and the Extremely 2. The truth that they each had the very same consequence was one other shock.
The advantage of the most recent Garmin Forerunner watches, the PACE 3, and the Apple Watch Extremely 2 is that all of them have dual-band GPS monitoring. If the mountain you are climbing is obstructing the road of sight to the closest GPS satellite tv for pc, they’ll use one other satellite tv for pc to calibrate your place. And since watches use GPS to enhance altimeter outcomes, which means you are very more likely to get one thing shut to an correct consequence.
When you’re utilizing a GPS-only watch just like the Galaxy Watch 6 Basic, your elevation outcomes may find yourself extra of a crapshoot regardless of the built-in altimeter. The unsuitable beginning elevation could not matter from a sensible standpoint, however the truth that it underreported my elevation acquire by at the very least 100 ft is much less forgivable.
I am hoping that Samsung will repair its health points in 2024 and that the Galaxy Watch 7 Professional is extra reliable. Within the meantime, although, I am actually proud of how Garmin, COROS, and Apple carried out in my check. Garmin received for particular elevation numbers, Apple received (perhaps) for elevation acquire, and COROS got here shut on each counts.
Somewhat than rooting for one clear winner, I would like as many manufacturers as attainable to present you correct outcomes so hikers and cyclists have a wealth of selections.
If you are presently on the hunt for a brand new smartwatch, bike laptop, or handheld GPS, my suggestion is that you do not take it with no consideration that an altimeter within the specs sheet is a certain signal of reliability. Maintain your receipt, take your new be careful on the path ASAP, and just remember to get outcomes which might be moderately correct.
