The Apple Watch Series 10 and Garmin Instinct 3 are two of the best smartwatch models you can buy today. Though they're designed to appeal to seemingly very different sets of customers, they each start at $399 and offer ample fitness and wellness tech and tools.
For example, both models come standard with onboard GPS for location tracking and altimeters for monitoring elevation changes. You also get fairly comprehensive post-workout reports from either model, with details on pace, heart rate, calories burned, distance covered and more.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Instinct 3
Of course, there are numerous distinctions between the Apple Watch Series 10 and Garmin Instinct 3.
The Instinct 3 is a battery-life beast with a rugged and sporty design that's built to take whatever you throw at it. A reasonably bright AMOLED screen — protected by a metal bezel — is paired with five physical buttons. It also offers 100 meters of water resistance and sports a super-handy LED flashlight at the top of the case.
However, smart features and communication tools are virtually non-existent, unlike the Apple Watch Series 10, which is jam-packed with awesome/useful native apps and has access to many more via the Apple app store.
While the latest Apple Watch offers a sleeker overall design than the Instinct 3 and a higher-quality (touch-sensitive) display, battery life only lasts for about 24 hours per charge.
The Instinct 3, meanwhile, can go for up to 24 days if you opt for the AMOLED version. Or, if you instead get the Instinct 3 Solar edition — which sports a less impressive MIPS display — the watch can technically last forever with enough sunlight.
Differences aside, either one of these watches should serve you well when it comes to keeping tabs on basic workouts, sleep quality and overall well-being. However, only one can win our walk-test showdown. Read on to find out which model, the Apple Watch 10 or Garmin Instinct 3 takes home the gold.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin instinct 3: Walk test
To find out which is the more accurate fitness tracker, the Apple Watch Series 10 or Garmin Instinct 3, I tossed one on either wrist and embarked on my (near) daily walk around Seattle, Washington.
For this test, I wore the Garmin Instinct 3 on my right wrist and the Apple Watch 10 on my left. Using my handy-dandy manual tally counter to note every hundred steps, I wandered around my sleepy neighborhood, basking in the occasional burst of sunlight that broke through the stubbornly overcast sky.
Intent on including as much elevation gain as possible, I made my way up and down the steepest hills I could find while. Once I hit my intended step count, I stopped tracking on both devices and inspected my results, shown below. As always, in addition to a manual count, I ran Strava on my iPhone as a control for distance, pace and elevation gain.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin instinct 3: Walk test results
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Apple Watch 10 | Garmin Instinct 3 | Control |
|---|---|---|---|
Step count | 4,910 steps | 4,996 steps | 5,000 steps (manual count) |
Distance | 2.57 miles | 2.58 miles | 2.66 miles (Strava) |
Elevation gain | 378 feet | 383 feet | 373 feet (Strava) |
Average pace | 18 mins 51 secs per mile | 17 mins 35 secs per mile | 17 mins 5 secs per mile (Strava) |
Average heart rate | 127 bpm | 128 bpm | n/a |
Max heart rate | 167 bpm | 168 bpm | n/a |
Calories burned | 321 calories | 322 calories | n/a |
Battery depleted | 5% | 0% | n/a |
Before diving into each metric, it's worth acknowledging how similar the results between these two devices and Strava are across the board. However, with a step count total that's just 4 steps shy of my actual step count, Garmin is the clear winner over Apple in this showdown.
That said, Apple's tally is within 90 steps of the actual total which is still an impressive result (and well within a reasonable margin of error). Strava, by the way, noted my step count total as 5,002.
Interestingly, Strava recorded a slightly further distance than Apple and Garmin, which were essentially a match in their measurements. Elevation gain data is also refreshingly similar between both models and Strava. Pace data has some discrepancies, though.
Strava almost always reports a faster pace than the smartwatches I test. And that's once again the case here. This is due to Strava ignoring momentary pauses, like when you're waiting at a crosswalk for the light to change or you take a moment to tie your shoe. Put another way, Strava only calculates pace based on your time spent moving.
Garmin, on the other hand, provides both an average pace and an average moving pace, the latter of which is reported above. However, Garmin's average pace for my walk, 19 mins and 01 sec per mile, is much closer to Apple's pace measure. On the flip side, the Instinct 3's moving pace is more similar to Strava's calculation.
Personally, I find moving pace to be a more valuable metric and a more accurate reflection of one's effort during a workout. So, here's hoping Apple considered adding such a measure with the release of watchOS 12 later this year.
Finally, heart data and calories burned are a near-match between the two wearables. And, as expected, the Apple Watch 10 ate more battery during the endeavor than the Garmin, which seemingly used none.
Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin instinct 3: Winner
In this showdown between one of the best Apple Watch and one of the best Garmin watches, Olathe Kansas claims victory over Cupertino, California. But don't feel too bad for Tim Cook and Co. because the Apple Watch still put up impressively accurate numbers. They just weren't quite as good as Garmin's.
Ultimately, both the Garmin Instinct 3 and Apple Watch Series 10 are great choices for your fitness-tracking needs, and I wouldn't hesitate to grab either before embarking on my next workout, whether outdoors or in the gym.
Which smartwatches would you like to see me test next in a step count comparison? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, get those steps in!
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