I walked 8,000 steps with the Garmin Vivoactive 6 and Apple Watch Series 10 to find out which one is the more accurate fitness tracker.
While both are modern and capable devices with impressive fitness and wellness tools, only one can be declared the winner of this showdown. Will it be the Apple Watch 10, our current pick for best smartwatch available in 2025, or the more cost-conscious newcomer, Garmin Vivoactive 6? Find out below.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Vivoactive 6
The best Garmin watch models have distinct advantages over the best Apple Watch models, though Apple’s wearables enjoy some edges of their own over the competition. And that’s certainly evident when we compare the Vivoactive 6 to the Series 10.
For example, the Garmin tracks more activities than the Apple Watch and provides more advanced training and recovery tools. However, the Apple Watch offers a far greater selection of smart features, native apps and third-party apps thanks to the massive Apple app store.
On the flip side, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 blows the Apple Watch 10 out of the water for battery life, lasting up to 11 days per charge compared to 18-24 hours for the Apple Watch.
However, when tracking walks, runs and hikes, both devices provide similar post-workout reports with insights into your average and max heart rate, total distance covered, average pace, calories burned and elevation gained. You also get comparable post-run/walk route maps of your endeavors.
The Apple Watch 10 costs $100 more than the $299 Vivoactive 6. Does that extra cash buy you any workout-tracking advantages over the Garmin? Possibly. Only the Apple Watch 10 has an onboard altimeter for precise elevation data. The Vivoactive 6 relies solely on its GPS data.
Will this lack of comparable tech put the Vivoactive 6 at a disadvantage in this walk-test showdown? There’s only one way to find out. Read on.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Vivoactive 6: Walk test
Taking advantage of an outrageously gorgeous spring day here in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, I embarked on an urban adventure full of (literal) twists and turns with a device mounted on either wrist. (This, along with my baggy Adam Sandler-esque ballin’ shorts, made me look like the absolute coolest guy around).
The Garmin adorned my left wrist and the Apple Watch sat on my right. To keep an accurate tally of my progress, I manually counted each step taken until I hit 100, at which point I clicked my old-school manual tally counter and began again at one.
To further ensure accuracy for my manual count (the control), my left foot only took odd-numbered steps, and my right foot only made even-numbered ones. As always, for an additional control to measure distance, elevation and pace data, I ran Strava on my trusty iPhone 12 Mini.
After 8,000 steps — and several instances of nearly getting lost while meandering through new neighborhoods — I concluded tracking on both devices and inspected the results.
So, which smartwatch came out on top, the Apple Watch 10 or the Garmin Vivoactive 6? The results and my analysis are just below.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Vivoactive 6: Walk test results
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Apple Watch 10 |
Garmin Vivoactive 6 |
Control |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Step count |
7,991 steps |
8,120 steps |
8,000 steps (manual count) |
|
Distance |
4.14 miles |
4.11 miles |
4.45 miles |
|
Elevation gain |
530 feet |
488 feet |
502 feet |
|
Average pace |
19 mins 19 secs per mile |
18 mins 19 secs per mile |
17 mins 8 secs per mile |
|
Average heart rate |
122 bpm |
122 bpm |
n/a |
|
Max heart rate |
156 bpm |
157 bpm |
n/a |
|
Total calories burned |
616 calories |
503 calories |
n/a |
|
Battery depleted |
10% |
11% |
n/a |
With a step-count total that’s only nine steps shy of my actual total, the Apple Watch Series 10 proved more accurate than the Garmin Vivoactive 6, which overcounted by a still respectable 120 steps.
Meanwhile, Strava calculated 8,020 total steps taken but notably measured my total distance as one-third a mile further than the wearables.
I was expecting the Apple Watch’s elevation data to be a match with Strava and Garmin’s to be way off, but clearly, that’s not the case. Assuming Strava is correct, the Apple Watch overmeasured my climb by 28 feet while the Garmin undermeasured by 14 feet, besting its pricier competitor.
Pace data is seemingly all over the place, but I’m here to help make sense of it.
For average pace, Strava only tracks your moving time which almost always results in a quicker metric than the smartwatches I’m testing. Garmin, meanwhile, provides both an average moving pace and an average overall pace, the former of which is recorded above.
Apple appears to only be generating average-pace data, which I don’t find as useful as moving pace. For what it’s worth, Garmin measured my average (non-moving) pace for the walk at 19 minutes and 36 seconds per mile, which is similar to Apple’s metric. I just wish that Apple provided both like Garmin.
Heart rate data is a near match, which is always reassuring, while the Apple Watch concluded that I burned roughly 100 calories more than the Garmin did.
The Vivoactive 6 burned slightly more battery during my 1 hour and 20-minute walk, but, there’s a caveat. The Apple Watch started at 100% while the Garmin started at 25%. (This is because I’m currently reviewing the latter.)
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Vivoactive 6: Winner
While the Garmin Instinct 3 administered a shellacking (not really) to Apple Watch 10 in the last step-count comparison, Apple comes out on top this time around. Of course, the Instinct 3 is the same price as the Series 10, $399, or, $100 more than Vivoactive 6.
More importantly, when it comes to tracking basic workouts, you really can’t go wrong with either the Apple Watch 10 or Garmin Vivoactive 6. Despite some variations in their post-effort metrics for this comparison, both devices generated impressive enough results that fall well within a reasonable margin for error.
Put another way, I’d trust either to keep tabs on my daily workout, monitor my progress toward fitness goals and generate accurate insights into my sleep quality. (This is perhaps why our best smartwatch buying guide is stacked with options from both Apple and Garmin).
Which smartwatches or fitness trackers would you like me to test head-to-head next? Let me know in the comments below.
