I walked 5,500 steps with the Apple Watch 12 vs Garmin Venu 4 — and the winner was nearly too close to call

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide) I walked 5,500 steps with the new Apple Watch Series 12 on my left wrist and the Garmin Venu 4 on my right wrist (Okay, it was 5,520 steps) to determine which is the better fitness tracker.Two of the best smartwatches in 2026, the Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, though the 46mm 5G+GPS model I'm testing is $549, the same cost as the Garmin Venu 4. More importantly, both devices are equipped with their respective brand's latest heart rate tracking tech, along with onboard GPS and barometric altimeters for elevation tracking.So, which of these two popular, capable devices came out on top in this fitness tracking accuracy showdown between the Apple Watch Series 12 and Garmin Venu 4? See for yourself below, along with my five biggest takeaways. I've also declared a winner at the very end.I walked 5,000 steps with the Apple Watch 12 vs Garmin Venu 4 (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)As noted above, I wore the Apple Watch on my left wrist and the Garmin on my right during this ~50-minute walk around hilly Seattle, Washington. As a control, I manually counted my steps, recording every 100 with a click of a tally counter, and logged the walk in the Strava app on my iPhone 16 Plus. Swipe to scroll horizontally Header Cell - Column 0 Apple Watch 12 Garmin Venu 4 Control Steps 5,531 steps 5,518 steps 5,520 steps Distance 2.91 miles 2.89 miles 2.95 miles Climb 448 feet 417 feet 410 feet Average moving pace 17 mins 29 secs per mile 17 mins 10 secs per mile 16 mins 56 secs per mile Average heart rate 131 bpm 131 bpm n/a Max heart rate 160 bpm 160 bpm n/a Calories burned 417 total calories 355 total calories n/a Battery usage 1% 4% n/a 1. Both wearables logged my steps and distance with impressive accuracy (Image credit: Future)Strava logged the exact same number of total steps taken as my manual count: 5,520, a tally that both the Apple Watch 12 and Garmin Venu each came ridiculously close to matching as well.Apple ended up overcounting by just 11 steps while Garmin undercounted by only two steps. Distance data is also impressively close to the control, with the Apple Watch being just a bit more spot-on than Garmin.2. Apple was generous with climb data (Image credit: Future)I've come to expect my Apple Watch to be on the generous side when it comes to logging climb data, whether strolling around the city or hiking a mountain. That said, despite my expectations for this consistent inconsistency, the best Apple Watches still tend to be in the ballpark at logging uphill efforts, just, perhaps, the furthest corner of the upper deck.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.That's the case here; Apple seemingly tacked an extra 38 feet of climb onto my walk compared to Strava, which is both forgivable and certainly better than undercounting my ascent by 38 feet.3. Heart rate data is a perfect match (Image credit: Future)The Garmin Venu 4 sports the brand's latest Elevate V5 heart rate sensor, and the Apple Watch Series 12 — along with the Apple Watch Ultra 4 — uses Apple's newest, most powerful holistic sensor arrays.Latest tech or not, Apple and Garmin are two brands I've come to trust when it comes to accurately logging heart rate. This is to say, I expected the Series 12 and Venu 4 to produce pretty similar HR data for my walk. Instead, they noted the exact same average and max, a rare, encouraging outcome!4. The Venu 4 used a lot more battery than the Series 12Garmin Venu 4 burned through four times the battery of the Apple Watch Series 12. Garmin watches may have a reputation for outlasting their Apple rivals, but during this roughly 50-minute outdoor workout, the Garmin Venu 4 burned through four times the battery of the Apple Watch Series 12.5. Both smartwatches did well, but Garmin wins overall (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)Ultimately, both watches performed extremely well in this fitness tracking showdown between the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Garmin Venu 4, but a winner must be declared, darn it.While the Apple Watch Series 12 was closer distance-wise, the Garmin Venu 4 was slightly more precise at tracking steps, and comfortably closer to the control with regard to climb and pace data.I am, of course, splitting hairs here. The big takeaway is that both the Garmin Venu 4 and Apple Watch Series 12 are both excellent, reliable options if you want a sleek, modern smartwatch to keep tabs on your outdoor workouts. That said, for the uphill-obsessed, the Series 12 just may be the bigger ego booster.Which smartwatch did you expect to win this head-to-head? Let me know in the poll below. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. More from Tom's GuideI’m a smartwatch reviewer: This is the new Apple Watch 12 feature I’m most excited forApple just killed one of my favorite Apple Watch features with the launch of watchOS 27I’ve tested over 100 fitness trackers head-to-head — 3 workout stats I trust the least 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.