Garmin versus Fitbit

[mango37]

I have been using Fitbit to record distance and borrowed a Garmin 10 Forerunner from my daughter. My Fitbit today recorded nearly 7km but Garmin showed only 3.2 miles. Does anyone know why there is such a difference between both trackers please?

[SlowLoris]

It depends on which Fitbit you are using. The Garmin has GPS. That will be more accurate than just counting steps.

[Beastie_MCCXIX Graduate10]

Hey, when I had my fitbit I worked out it was wildly inaccurate, even when linked to my phone GPS. I ended up getting a garmin with GPS built in as my runs would be either too short or too long and I couldn't base my training on it.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Using your Fitbit you would have to be quite accurate entering your stride length. Because garmin uses gps it can accurately measure your distance then from that it will calculate back for your stride length. Looking back at a few of my runs garmin calculated my stride length as varying between 0.79 and 0.9 on any given run, your stride length would naturally vary depending on the terrain. You could look at the data your daughter's garmin generated on your run to see what it says your average stride length is and compare that to what you have entered on your fitbit. Happy running 🤗

[Hidden]

The others have already said so, Garmin uses a GPS. Now I have to say though, always make sure your Garmin has locked onto a GPS before starting the activity. I did not do so in the past, started running in the hope he would lock during my run. But that caused some inaccuracies a couple of times. So now I do wait, sometimes 10 minutes even, until my Garmin locked on a satellite and only then do I start the running activity.

[damienair Administrator]

The Garmin GPS watches are very accurate. I know that some Fitbit watches also have GPS, but others calculate distance via an estimate of steps taken. A friend of mine has a Fitbit and we have also tracked via a phone App. I have a Garmin Forerunner 35. My Garmin is accurate to within a few meters. Ida's Fitbit is always out by as much as 300 meters for 5K, meaning she has to run a further 300 meters than me to make up 5K on her watch and the phone tracking App is usually out by 100 to 150 meters.I previously had a Garmin Forerunner 15 and it too was very accurate.

Damien