The best smartwatches around collect an incredible amount of data while sitting on our wrist, but can they compete with more specialist hardware options like, say, a Polar H10 chest strap?
According to Rob ter Horst, a data scientist and YouTube creator, the answer is yes. In fact, in a new study he’s conducted, he’s put the Apple Watch Ultra 2 top of the list for accuracy in a variety of workout types, even beating out the Whoop MG.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 is more accurate than its rivals, according to an expert
In his testing, ter Horst tracked heart rate data for an indoor running workout, with the chest strap being used as a control measurement to compare a series of wearables to.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 deviated just 3% from the Polar H10, while the Garmin Forerunner 570 and Fenix 7 deviated 7% and 9% respectively.
And yet, the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s variance was deemed too minor to even count, even matching up more closely than the Whoop MG (which stands for ‘Medical Grade’). The Whoop deviated by 6%.
Outdoor running and cycling workouts were also tested, and the results paint a similar picture with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 syncing up almost perfectly with the Polar H10, while the Garmin Forerunner 570 and Whoop MG deviated 12% and 15% respectively.
According to ter Horst’s testing, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is around 73% accurate for tracking REM and deep sleep, and 86.5% accurate for light sleep tracking when compared to data from a Hypnodyne ZMax, which is very impressive.
That means it’s more accurate than even an Oura Gen 4 ring, as well as many of its other rivals.
