I walked 5,000 steps with the Apple Watch 12 vs Garmin Forerunner 170 — and the winner was nearly too close to call

I conducted a 5,000-step walking workout with an Apple Watch Series 12 on my left wrist and a Garmin Forerunner 170 Music on my right wrist to determine which smartwatch excels as a fitness tracker. The Apple Watch Series 12 is a feature-rich smartwatch, while the Garmin Forerunner 170 is a budget-friendly running watch. Both smartwatches offer similar features such as heart rate, GPS, and elevation tracking, along with touch-sensitive displays and sleek designs.

The Apple Watch supports more apps and features, but the Forerunner provides better tools for runners.

During the test, both watches came very close to the actual step count, with the Apple Watch 12 undercounting by 11 steps and the Garmin Forerunner 170 overcounting by 6 steps. Both devices also matched the distance covered, and their readings were less than a tenth of a mile away from a control. However, the Apple Watch slightly underperformed in terms of climb data, while the Garmin Forerunner 170 was more accurate.

Unlike Garmin, the Apple Watch Series 12 did not offer an average moving pace metric, making the Garmin Forerunner's data more useful in this regard. Both watches recorded identical average and maximum heart rate during the workout, indicating that the heart rate tracking was accurate on both wrists. Interestingly, the Apple Watch Series 12 exhibited better battery usage during this test, while the Garmin Forerunner 170 required more battery power for continuous GPS and heart rate tracking.

However, the Apple Watch Series 12 had better overall fitness tracking performance in this test, with a more accurate step count and climb total compared to the Garmin Forerunner 170.