I walked 5,000 steps with the Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch 8 — here’s which was more accurate

As Tom’s Guide’s Fitness Editor, I emotion thing much than putting immoderate of nan champion fittingness trackers connected nan marketplace head-to-head. Fans of Tom’s Guide will cognize this isn’t nan first clip I’ve strapped 2 watches to my wrist and headed retired for a walk, and it astir apt won’t beryllium nan last. Next up connected nan database was nan Apple Watch Series 9 vs nan older Apple Watch Series 8 — which watch would beryllium much meticulous complete 5,000 steps? Read connected to find out. 

On nan wrist, nan Apple Watch Series 9 and nan Apple Watch Series 8 look beautiful overmuch identical, though there’s 1 large quality betwixt nan 2 watches, and that’s down nan screen. The Apple Watch 9 has Apple’s caller S9 processor and U2 ultrawide-band chip. The processor enables a beautiful neat trick: When you're wearing nan watch, you tin double-tap your scale digit and thumb to alteration definite features, specified arsenic answering and hanging up calls, motorboat widgets, and more. It should travel successful useful for those times erstwhile your different manus is different occupied, but you request to activate thing connected your Apple Watch. 

Both watches will count your steps successful nan aforesaid measurement — search your limb mobility utilizing nan built-in accelerometer, to estimate really galore steps you’ve taken. For champion results, you should let nan limb you’re wearing your watch connected to plaything people arsenic you move, arsenic good arsenic calibrating your watch to amended nan accuracy of nan estimations. 

As a reminder, nary fittingness locator will beryllium 100% meticulous erstwhile it comes to estimating nan magnitude of steps you’ve taken. Over time, your Apple Watch will usage recorded information to get a much meticulous knowing of your mean moving and stepping pace. Yet, you tin besides manually calibrate your watch, which will thief it study your stride, and truthful beryllium much meticulous erstwhile GPS is constricted aliases unavailable. Here’s much connected how to calibrate your Apple Watch.

So, what happened erstwhile I walked 5,000 steps pinch some watches? To trial whether location was immoderate quality successful really accurately nan Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch 8 counted my steps, I strapped some to my wrist and manually counted retired 5,000 steps. To debar losing count arsenic I walked, I utilized a $6.99 tally antagonistic tool from Amazon and clicked each clip I took a step. When I sewage home, I compared nan information from nan 2 watches. 

I remembered from my trial pinch nan Apple Watch 9 and nan Apple Watch Ultra 2 that whichever watch was connected to my iPhone was somewhat much accurate, truthful I connected my Apple Watch 9 to my iPhone 14, and my Apple Watch 8 to an older iPhone 11. 

I’ve learned successful nan past that Apple makes it astir intolerable to position your exact amount of steps per workout. Sure, you tin spot your daily total successful nan Fitness app, and you tin find hourly measurement information successful nan Health app, but to make things a small little confusing, I downloaded nan StepsApp Pedometer app connected some Apple Watches. 

The results

As you tin spot from nan results, nan Apple Watch 9 only missed astir 50 steps, which is beautiful meticulous for a fittingness tracker. I walked for 2.8 miles, which intends I return astir 1,600 steps per mile, truthful 49 steps isn’t each that galore astatine all. The Apple Watch 8 missed somewhat much steps, but again, not capable to origin superior concern. You tin publication what happened erstwhile I walked pinch nan Apple Watch Series 9 and nan Fitbit Charge 6 here, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile I did 5,000 steps pinch nan Apple Watch Series 8 and nan Garmin Forerunner 265. 

As I ever constitute erstwhile I complete these challenges — fittingness trackers do a batch much than conscionable search your steps, and counting steps unsocial isn’t nan champion metric erstwhile it comes to getting fitter and losing weight. That said, it’s a bully spot to start. While that nan target of 10,000 steps began arsenic a portion of marketing successful 1965 by a Japanese company that was astir to present a instrumentality called a Manpo-kei (it intends 10,000-steps meter), it is simply a useful extremity — a reappraisal of 32 studies, published successful nan International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity recovered that “10,000 steps/day is simply a reasonable target for patient adults.”

There are tons of benefits to stepping more, including losing weight, building muscle, and emotion little stressed and 10,000 steps tin beryllium an achievable extremity to thief you get healthier. Compared to immoderate of nan champion fittingness trackers connected nan market, Apple does a bully occupation of keeping you motivated pinch move reminders, and those all-important rings, which really do animate you to move more. 

If you’re looking to put successful 1 of nan champion Apple Watches, cheque retired our Apple Watch 9 review and our Apple Watch 8 review present connected Tom’s Guide. 

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