Har funderat på vilket enhet som är mer exakt — Apple Watch Series 10 eller Garmin Forerunner 265 — när det gäller att räkna dina steg? Upptäck svaret när jag jämför båda genom att manuellt räkna mina steg efter att ha burit varje klocka. Fortsätt läsa för att se vilken som ger mer precisa resultat.

Jag har testat och jämfört smartklockor i flera år, med början i hur de räknar dina steg. När du ställer in populära modeller som de bästa Apple Watch eller topp Garmin-enheter, kommer du att bli ombedd att ange din längd och vikt för att hjälpa till att kalibrera kaloriförbrukningen. Men för stegräkning förlitar sig båda klockorna huvudsakligen på att upptäcka svingen av din arm.

Varje armvift tolkas som två steg. Det spelar ingen roll om du bär klockan på din dominanta eller icke-dominanta hand; den inbyggda accelerometern mäter kroppens rörelser oavsett.

Under mina tester märkte jag att när jag knuffade min son i hans barnvagn ibland missade Apple Watch vissa steg, eftersom den inte alltid kände igen promenaden. För att säkerställa en rättvis jämförelse lämnade jag min bebis och barnvagn hemma. Jag bar Apple Watch Series 10 på vänster handled och Garmin Forerunner 265 på höger handled, vilket gav en rättvis test av båda enheternas stegräkning.

I walked 7,000 steps with the Apple Watch 10 and Garmin Forerunner 265 — here’s which was more accurate

For this test, I did several different walks. The first two walks were in the city, as I walked between different meetings in London. I wasn’t in a particularly built-up area of the city, but I still wanted to see how the watches compared in a busy urban setting.

For the third walk, I headed out for a hike with the dog to my local woods. Again, I wasn’t particularly remote, but I walked for two miles in a wooded area.

I’ve done enough of these challenges to know I’m not very good at counting to large numbers in my head, so I dug out my trusty clicker counter. Every step I took, I clicked. When I got home, I downloaded all the data. I used the StepsApp on my Apple Watch, as Apple still doesn’t let you see the step count of your walk, just your overall step count from the day, and I wanted more accurate numbers.

Here are the results:

As you can see from the data, the Garmin Forerunner 265 was only 86 steps out of the manual recording, whereas the Apple Watch 10 missed 465 steps.

Of course, to truly test the accuracy of the two watches, you’d need to do a lot more testing on a much bigger scale, but I was impressed at how pretty much spot-on the Forerunner 265 was.

That’s not to say the Apple Watch 10 isn’t accurate. The average person takes 2,000 steps in a mile, so 465 steps isn’t a huge amount. Interestingly, for the third walk, my Apple Watch recorded the distance as 2.02 miles, whereas my Garmin recorded 2 miles exactly. Again, we’re talking about very small differences here.

It’s also worth noting that both these watches do a lot more than count your steps. The Apple Watch 10 is the best smartwatch on the market and is like having your iPhone on your wrist. The Garmin Forerunner 265, by comparison, doesn’t have as many smartwatch features but is designed to accurately track your marathon training, making it one of the best running watches on the market.

Finally, while counting steps isn’t always the best metric to focus on when it comes to getting in shape and losing weight, it’s a good place to start. A review of 32 studies, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that “10,000 steps/day is a reasonable target for healthy adults.”

Adding more steps to your day might be as simple as jumping off the subway a stop sooner and walking some of your commute, or investing in one of the best walking pad treadmills to walk as you work.

Walking can help you lose weight, build muscle, and feel less stressed, however you track your steps. Don’t believe me? Here’s what 30 minutesof walking each day can do for your body.