Garmin vs. Apple Watch Ultra: A Runner's Ultimate Guide to the London Marathon Performance Showdown
, by Unboxify, 3 min reading time
Running the TCS London Marathon: Garmin vs. Apple Watch Ultra 🏃
[Music] I'm about to run the TCS London marathon with a Garmin watch and Apple Watch Ultra. After the race, we're going to dive into all the stats. Let's see how we go!Why Run the London Marathon with Two Smartwatches? 🎯
As the Fitness and Wearables editor, testing wearables accurately is part of my job. My two gold standards are the Garmin Epix Pro and the Apple Watch Ultra. This was the first time I pitted them against each other during a marathon, and the perfect chance arose with the TCS London Marathon 2024.What Makes the London Marathon a Perfect Testing Ground? 🏅
Every London Marathon runner gets a bib with a radio frequency identification chip (RFID chip), which provides an official time and serves as a reliable metric to measure the accuracy of the smartwatches.Understanding the Data: Garmin vs. Apple Watch 📊
I meticulously analyzed GPS files and information from both smartwatches post-race. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the stats and what they tell us:General Race Statistics: Chip Time and Distances ⏱️
- **Chip Time**: 4 hours, 0 minutes, and 54 seconds. - **Garmin Recording Time**: 4 hours, 1 minute, and 4 seconds. - **Garmin Distance**: 42.8 km. - **Apple Recording Time**: 4 hours, 1 minute, and 7 seconds. - **Apple Distance**: 42.3 km. Despite slight differences in times and distances, both are remarkably close to the official timings and measures provided by the marathon's RFID chip.Average Pace and Heart Rate ❤
- **Garmin Average Pace**: 5 minutes and 38 seconds per kilometer. - **Apple Average Pace**: 5 minutes and 41 seconds per kilometer. - **Garmin Average Heart Rate**: 166 BPM. - **Apple Average Heart Rate**: 168 BPM. The minor variances are not impactful enough to skew the overall performance data significantly.Calories Burned 🍕
- **Garmin Calories Burned**: 3,050. - **Apple Calories Burned**: 2,888. While 100 calories may seem significant, it’s a minor discrepancy over a distance as long as a marathon.Deciphering the Differences in Data Analysis 🧠
**Why Does Garmin Show a Longer Distance?** Even though the Apple Watch Ultra boasts pinpoint accuracy, Garmin logged distances slightly longer, capturing more nuances such as swerving or moving around other runners. Garmin’s detailed split metrics down to milliseconds may account for this precision.Garmin’s Approach 📈
- Provides split times down to the nearest 10 milliseconds. - Records more granular distance variations, reflecting real-world running conditions.Apple Watch Ultra’s Approach 📊
- Rounds data to the nearest second for ease of interpretation. - Simplified for customer-friendly consumption, possibly omitting minor distance variations.Strava’s Role in Data Comparison 🌐
Strava processes the raw GPS data from Garmin Epix Pro with its own algorithm, leading to slight differences in the displayed metrics.Community Insights on Strava 🔍
- **Strava vs. Garmin**: Strava slightly underestimates distances compared to Garmin data. - **Algorithmic Adjustments**: Strava explained that it rounds down distances while Garmin rounds up. **Notable Differences:** - **Moving Time vs. Total Time**: Strava provides moving time, whereas Garmin reports total workout time. - **Distance Representation**: Stored in meters and displayed based on user preference, leading to minor variations.The Bottom Line: Which One to Choose? 🏆
Both the Garmin Epix Pro and Apple Watch Ultra offer precise metrics that accurately represent your running performance. For most runners, the small differences in accuracy won’t make a significant impact. Picking one over the other isn’t necessary:Blog posts
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