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It's been over a decade since the original Fitbit, with its step-tracking functionality, stepped onto the scene. Still, people are as obsessed with getting their steps in as ever.
Tracking your steps with a health tracker is one way to monitor your activity levels and make sure you're moving enough throughout the day. By wrapping around the wrist or finger, these devices can also serve as helpful reminders to keep activity up, thanks to pings that encourage movement or screens that display daily activity progress.
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The greater question, though, is: do these step counters actually work? The companies behind your favorite smartwatch have spent millions of dollars on research and development, honing their step counters and calorie trackers to monitor every footstep you take and log it in their operating system.
I tested the step-tracking functionality of my top three health trackers to see whether they're up to snuff. I used the Oura Ring, the Apple Watch Series 11, and the Google Pixel Watch 4 for the job.
To do this, I went to Brooklyn's Prospect Park and recorded a walking and running workout on each device simultaneously. Then, while exercising, I counted to 1,000. Once I reached 1k, I stopped the trackers. I did this twice while walking and once while running. I wore all the trackers on the same arm
Before we get into the results, I'll caveat all of this by saying that my three exercise trials, while helpful in understanding how these devices compare in a real-world setting, were nowhere near as extensive as the time and endless trials these companies have used in developing these products. This test is not nearly scientific enough to be definitive, but it's fun to compare.
It's easy to see the overall steps taken per day on an Apple Watch, but after testing these three devices, I was surprised to learn how difficult it is to see how many steps I took during my recorded workouts on the Apple Watch, specifically. Both Oura and Google readily offer this information after you've finished logging a workout. Simply tap into the details of that logged workout to find your steps.
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But Apple... not so much. I had to dig through sub-tabs of Apple's Health app -- not even the exercise app -- to get this information for my three logged exercises. This is one feature I hope Apple pays further attention to in future software updates.
| Walk | Apple Watch (steps) | Error | Google Pixel (steps) | Error | Oura (steps) | Error |
| Walk 1 | 977 | −23 | 964 | −36 | 909 | −91 |
| Walk 2 | 1091 | 91 | 1018 | 18 | 949 | −51 |
| Walk 3 | 1092 | 92 | 992 | −8 | 1013 | 13 |
| Mean error | 53.3 | 18 | −43.0 | |||
| Mean abs. error | 53.3 | 18 | 51.7* |
*Chart data calculated with help from Claude.
On the first walking trial, Oura recorded 909 steps, the Apple Watch recorded 977 steps, and the Google Pixel Watch recorded 964 steps. On the second trial (where I ran), Oura recorded 949 steps, Google Pixel recorded 1,018 steps, and Apple Watch recorded 1,091 steps. On the final walking trial, Oura recorded 1,013 steps, Apple Watch recorded 1,092, and Google Pixel recorded 992 steps.
The health tracker with the lowest mean absolute error out of these three trials is the Google Pixel Watch 4, which was on average 18 steps off per walk. Apple Watch came in second, with an average of 53.3 steps off per walk, and Oura came in last, with an average of 56.3 steps off per walk.
As I said earlier, three trials aren't enough to make any deterministic evaluations. But this quick test shows the variation in data aggregation across these three popular health-tracking devices.
The Google Pixel recorded the most accurate steps among the three devices during my trials. I have already sung the Pixel Watch 4's praises, and this quick test adds another to the list. The Oura Ring and Apple Watch are still competitive devices, and I'd still easily recommend them to iOS users and anyone uninterested in purchasing a smartwatch.
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The Oura Ring 4 is more known as a general wellness wearable with extensive sleep-tracking and illness-detection features. It's not the best choice for activity tracking, but recent advancements by Oura have improved its step- and activity-tracking algorithms.
The Apple Watch Series 11 and Google Pixel Watch 4, on the other hand, are geared more toward activity tracking, with less discreet designs for sleep tracking. I much prefer the Oura Ring 4 for sleep and the Apple Watch or Pixel Watch for exercise.
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