{"id":34326,"date":"2025-09-21T09:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T09:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/34326\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T09:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T09:59:08","slug":"i-took-14000-steps-with-the-garmin-forerunner-570-vs-galaxy-watch-8-and-im-shocked-by-the-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/34326\/","title":{"rendered":"I took 14,000 steps with the Garmin Forerunner 570 vs Galaxy Watch 8 \u2014 and I’m shocked by the results"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re looking to upgrade your watch and you\u2019re trying to decide between the Garmin Forerunner 570<\/a> and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8<\/a>, you\u2019ve come to the right place. I\u2019m a fitness editor with a decade of experience testing the best smartwatches<\/a> on the market; below, I\u2019ve compared the step-counting abilities of Garmin<\/a>\u2019s newest mid-tier Forerunner and Samsung\u2019s newest watch.<\/p>\n

Of course, both watches will do an awful lot more than track your steps. They are both designed to be worn 24\/7 and will track your heart rate, sleep, menstrual cycle and more.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re trying to decide between the two, the Garmin has more sports tracking capabilities and is compatible with Android and iOS via the Garmin Connect app. The Galaxy Watch<\/a> 8, on the other hand, needs to be connected to a Samsung phone and cannot connect to iOS.<\/p>\n

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For this test, I wore both watches on my 4.5-mile morning run, then a dog walk and a third walk to my first meeting of the day. For both walks, I carried a manual clicker with me and clicked each time I took a step. Once I got home, I downloaded all the data and compared how close each watch got. Read on to see my results.<\/p>\n

I took 15,000 steps with the Garmin Forerunner 570 and Galaxy Watch 8 \u2014 here\u2019s the results <\/p>\n

\n

\"Garmin\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)Run one <\/p>\n

As I mentioned, this test involved a run and two separate walks. I decided counting my steps while running would be too much, even for me, so instead, I used the following calculation to work out my step count.<\/p>\n

My average stride length when running is 0.99 meters, which is 38.9 inches. I divided one mile (63,360 inches) by 38.9 to calculate how many steps I took per typical mile \u2014 1,628 steps. I then multiplied this by 4.5, which was the length (in miles) of my run, to get my total step count for the workout \u2014 7502 steps.<\/p>\n

Both watches accurately measured the run. The Garmin Forerunner 570 said I covered 4.51 miles, and calculated my average pace as 8:48-minute miles, and my average heart rate at 158 beats per minute. The Galaxy Watch 8 recorded a 4.54-mile run, with an average pace of 8:47-minute miles and an average heart rate of 159 bpm.<\/p>\n

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the step count data:<\/p>\n

Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n

Manual<\/p>\n

7,502 steps <\/p>\n

Garmin FR 570<\/p>\n

7,692 steps<\/p>\n

Galaxy Watch 8<\/p>\n

7,630 steps<\/p>\n

Walk one <\/p>\n

As soon as I got in from my run, I swapped my shoes and took the dog out for a quick walk as my second test, this time with my trusty clicker in hand. Both watches count your steps by using an internal accelerometer, which measures the swing of your arm.<\/p>\n

Each swing counts for two steps. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you wear your watch on your dominant or non-dominant hand, or whether you\u2019re walking with your hands in your pockets, or holding something; the accelerometer should still measure your body\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s what both watches recorded:<\/p>\n

Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n

Manual<\/p>\n

3,150 steps<\/p>\n

Garmin FR 570<\/p>\n

3,224 steps<\/p>\n

Galaxy Watch 8<\/p>\n

3,176 steps<\/p>\n

Walk two Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n

Manual<\/p>\n

3,500 steps<\/p>\n

Garmin FR 570<\/p>\n

3,506 steps<\/p>\n

Galaxy Watch 8<\/p>\n

3,477 steps<\/p>\n

TotalSwipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n

Manual<\/p>\n

14,152 steps<\/p>\n

Garmin FR 570<\/p>\n

14,422 steps<\/p>\n

Galaxy Watch 8<\/p>\n

14,283 steps<\/p>\n

As you can see, the Galaxy Watch 8 beat Garmin in my testing, and I think this is the first time since starting these tests I\u2019ve seen one of the best Garmin watches <\/a>come in second place. Of course, the results are very close \u2014 both watches were within 139 steps of one another, which is a tiny margin over the course of 7.5 miles.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Samsung\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that both are very different watches \u2014 the Galaxy Watch 8 <\/a>is a competitor to the Apple Watch 11<\/a>, with a built-in AI assistant and a number of health and fitness features.<\/p>\n

The Garmin Forerunner 570, on the other hand, is a watch that could easily get you around your first or faster marathon. It\u2019s got tons of Garmin\u2019s most advanced health tracking features, and includes useful tools like Body Battery, Garmin Coach and Training Readiness.<\/p>\n

The Garmin Forerunner 570 launched on 15 May 2025, and all models of the watch cost $549.99 \/ \u00a3459.99. It comes in two sizes \u2014 42mm and 47mm \u2014 and there are three colors available for each size.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $349 \/ \u00a3319 for the Bluetooth<\/a>, 40mm version, and $379 \/ \u00a3349 for the Bluetooth, 44mm. With LTE support, this goes up to $399 \/ \u00a3369 for the Galaxy Watch 8 (LTE, 40mm) and $429 \/ \u00a3399 for the Galaxy Watch 8 (LTE, 44mm).<\/p>\n

Both are brilliant watches, and the right one for you will depend on your training needs. That said, I\u2019ve been impressed with the Galaxy Watch 8\u2019s accuracy, and I\u2019ll be doing more testing now that the Apple Watch<\/a> 11 has dropped.<\/p>\n

Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News<\/a>, or add us as a preferred source<\/a>, to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!<\/p>\n

More from Tom’s Guide<\/p>\n

Today’s best Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Garmin Forerunner 570 deals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re looking to upgrade your watch and you\u2019re trying to decide between the Garmin Forerunner 570 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[203,61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-34326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}