Skip to main content Tom's Guide Tom's Guide Search Tom's Guide View Profile Newsletters Best Picks Entertainment Nintendo Switch 2 Tariff tracker Best Mattress Wordle Today Smartwatches I walked 5,000 steps with the Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Instinct 3 — and there's a clear winner Dan Bracaglia 12 April 2025 Apple vs. Garmin, which smartwatch wins? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) Walk test results And the winner is... 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. You may like I walked 7,000 steps with the Apple Watch 10 and Garmin Forerunner 265 — and one was way more accurate Garmin Instinct 3 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Biggest differences to consider before you buy 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. (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) 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. Sign up to get the BEST of Tom's Guide direct to your inbox. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 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. AppleWatch Series 10:$399 at Best Buy The Apple Watch Series 10 boasts a bright and responsive touch screen, thin and fairly lightweight case design and more smart features than you'll know what to do with. Some of my favorites include on-wrist translations and global tide tracking. However, battery life is stubbornly just 24 hours (and that's in low-power mode). Garmin Instinct 3:$399 at Amazon The Instinct 3 is one tough cookie. Designed with outdoor adventurers in mind, it offers best-in-class battery life with optional solar charging, five physical buttons, an onboard LED flashlight, support for an enormous range of workout types, super-accurate location tracking, and loads of training and recovery tools. Smart features and third-party apps, however, are minimal. Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin instinct 3: Walk test (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) 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 Swipe to scroll horizontally Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin instinct 3 Header Cell - Column 0 Apple Watch 10 Garmin Instinct 3 4,996 steps 5,000 steps (manual count) 2.57 miles 2.66 miles (Strava) Elevation gain 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 Max heart rate Calories burned 321 calories 322 calories Battery depleted 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. (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) 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 (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) 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! More from Tom's Guide I biked 13 miles with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra — here’s the winner Apple Watch 10 vs. Pixel Watch 3: Which smartwatch wins? Under $100 smartwatch test: I walked 5,000 steps with the Amazfit Bip 5 vs Armitron Matrix — here’s the winner Today's best Apple Watch Series 10 andGarmin Instinct 3 deals $383.28View Deal ends Sun, Apr 20, 2025 $399Preorder We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Apple Watch Dan Bracaglia Social Links Navigation Senior Writer, Fitness & Wearables Dan Bracaglia is the Tom’s Guide editorial lead for all things smartwatches, fitness trackers and outdoor gear. With 15 years of experience as a consumer technology journalist testing everything from Oura Rings to instant cameras, Dan is deeply passionate about helping readers save money and make informed purchasing decisions. In the past year alone, Dan has assessed major product releases from the likes of Apple, Garmin, Google, Samsung, Polar and many others. An avid outdoor adventurer, Dan is based in the U.S. Pacific Northwest where he takes advantage of the beautiful surroundings every chance he gets. A lover of kayaking, hiking, swimming, biking, snowboarding and exploring, he also makes every effort to combine his day job with his passions. When not assessing the sleep tracking and heart rate accuracy of the latest tach gadgets, you can find him photographing Seattle’s vibrant underground music community. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. I walked 7,000 steps with the Apple Watch 10 and Garmin Forerunner 265 — and one was way more accurate Garmin Instinct 3 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Biggest differences to consider before you buy I walked 10,000 steps with Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs Amazfit T-Rex 3 —here's the winner I walked 7,000 steps with Apple Watch SE vs Amazfit Active 2 — here's the winner I wore the Garmin Fenix 8 vs. Garmin Instinct 3 for two weeks — which is better? 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