I walked 3,000 steps with my Apple Watch, Google Pixel, and Oura Ring - this tracker was most accurate

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways 

• I tracked my steps with 3 wellness trackers. 
• This included the Apple Watch, Google Pixel Watch, and Oura Ring. 
• Of the 3 trials, the Pixel Watch was the astir accurate. 

It's been implicit a decennary since the archetypal Fitbit, with its step-tracking functionality, stepped onto the scene. Still, radical are arsenic obsessed with getting their steps successful arsenic ever. 

Tracking your steps with a wellness tracker is 1 mode to show your enactment levels and marque definite you're moving capable passim the day. By wrapping astir the wrist oregon finger, these devices tin besides service arsenic adjuvant reminders to support enactment up, acknowledgment to pings that promote question oregon screens that show regular enactment progress. 

Also: The champion smartwatches of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

The greater question, though, is: bash these measurement counters really work? The companies down your favourite smartwatch person spent millions of dollars connected probe and development, honing their measurement counters and calorie trackers to show each footstep you instrumentality and log it successful their operating system. 

My 3,000-step experiment

I tested the step-tracking functionality of my apical 3 wellness trackers to spot whether they're up to snuff. I utilized the Oura Ring, the Apple Watch Series 11, and the Google Pixel Watch 4 for the job. 

To bash this, I went to Brooklyn's Prospect Park and recorded a walking and moving workout connected each instrumentality simultaneously. Then, portion exercising, I counted to 1,000. Once I reached 1k, I stopped the trackers. I did this doubly portion walking and erstwhile portion running. I wore each the trackers connected the aforesaid arm 

Before we get into the results, I'll caveat each of this by saying that my 3 workout trials, portion adjuvant successful knowing however these devices comparison successful a real-world setting, were obscurity adjacent arsenic extended arsenic the clip and endless trials these companies person utilized successful processing these products. This trial is not astir technological capable to beryllium definitive, but it's amusive to compare.  

How to find step-tracking connected each device 

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

It's casual to spot the wide steps taken per time connected an Apple Watch, but aft investigating these 3 devices, I was amazed to larn however hard it is to spot however galore steps I took during my recorded workouts connected the Apple Watch, specifically. Both Oura and Google readily connection this accusation aft you've finished logging a workout. Simply pat into the details of that logged workout to find your steps. 

Also: Are AI wellness manager subscriptions a scam? My verdict aft investigating Fitbit's for a month

But Apple... not truthful much. I had to excavation done sub-tabs of Apple's Health app -- not adjacent the workout app -- to get this accusation for my 3 logged exercises. This is 1 diagnostic I anticipation Apple pays further attraction to successful aboriginal bundle updates. 

The results

*Chart information calculated with assistance from Claude. 

On the archetypal walking trial, Oura recorded 909 steps, the Apple Watch recorded 977 steps, and the Google Pixel Watch recorded 964 steps. On the 2nd proceedings (where I ran), Oura recorded 949 steps, Google Pixel recorded 1,018 steps, and Apple Watch recorded 1,091 steps. On the last walking trial, Oura recorded 1,013 steps, Apple Watch recorded 1,092, and Google Pixel recorded 992 steps. 

The wellness tracker with the lowest mean implicit mistake retired of these 3 trials is the Google Pixel Watch 4, which was connected mean 18 steps disconnected per walk. Apple Watch came successful second, with an mean of 53.3 steps disconnected per walk, and Oura came successful last, with an mean of 56.3 steps disconnected per walk.

As I said earlier, 3 trials aren't capable to marque immoderate deterministic evaluations. But this speedy trial shows the saltation successful information aggregation crossed these 3 fashionable health-tracking devices. 

Writer's verdict

The Google Pixel recorded the astir close steps among the 3 devices during my trials. I person already sung the Pixel Watch 4's praises, and this speedy trial adds different to the list. The Oura Ring and Apple Watch are inactive competitory devices, and I'd inactive easy urge them to iOS users and anyone uninterested successful purchasing a smartwatch. 

Also: I recovered 4 tech gadgets that really helped maine slumber amended (and ditch the alarm)

The Oura Ring 4 is much known arsenic a wide wellness wearable with extended sleep-tracking and illness-detection features. It's not the champion prime for enactment tracking, but caller advancements by Oura person improved its step- and activity-tracking algorithms. 

The Apple Watch Series 11 and Google Pixel Watch 4, connected the different hand, are geared much toward enactment tracking, with little discreet designs for slumber tracking. I overmuch similar the Oura Ring 4 for slumber and the Apple Watch oregon Pixel Watch for exercise.