I swam 1400m with the Apple Watch 12 and Fitbit Edge: Here’s which fitness tracker came out on top
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Jane McGuire is Tom's Guide's Fitness Managing Editor, which means she looks after everything fitness-related — from running gear and fitness trackers to yoga mats and sports bras. An avid runner, Jane has tested and reviewed fitness products for the past five years, so she knows what to look for when finding a good running watch or a pair of shorts with pockets big enough for your smartphone, running gels, and house keys. Jane has run six marathons — the London Marathon five times, and the Berlin Marathon once -and is still on a quest to tick off all of the marathon majors. Her marathon PR is 3:30, which she ran in the New Balance Supercomp Elite V5's, but she also spends a lot of time talking about her ‘joy plan’, where she runs for happiness, not for PR’s. Previous to Tom’s Guide, Jane worked for Runner’s World, where she co-hosted the Runner’s World podcast. She also presents on a YouTube channel called the Run Testers, alongside other running-mad journalists, where they review the latest shoes, kit, and tech. Her work has also appeared in Coach, Get Sweat Go, and Women’s Health. When she's not pounding the pavements, you'll find Jane striding round the Surrey Hills, taking far too many photos of her spaniel, Toby.
Both the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Fitbit Edge are designed to do more than just count your steps, calories and sleep. They can both track multiple sports, but which one comes out on top in the water? I swam 1400 metres with both devices, using my Speedo smart goggles as the control — read on to find out more.
Before we dive into the data, check out our Apple Watch Series 12 review and Fitbit Edge review on Tom’s Guide here.
Let’s start with how these trackers measure your swimming workouts. Both use an internal accelerometer and gyroscope to recognise arm pulls and calculate how many strokes you take per length, as well as your stroke rate (strokes per minute). That said, there is a slight difference between the two trackers.
Before starting a swim workout, the Apple Watch Series 12 asks you to confirm the length of the pool you’re swimming in. This means during the workout, you’re able to see at a glance how many lengths you’ve swum. The Fitbit Edge doesn’t have a similar feature. When you get out of the pool, the Apple Watch will also give you a breakdown of how far you swam in each stroke, whereas the Fitbit Edge doesn’t.
As a control, I used my Speedo iQ Vanisher 3.0 goggles. These smart goggles give you a wealth of data when you’re back on dry land. As well as your pace, distance, and how long you spent resting at the side of the pool, you’ll also be able to see your head position, breath time and distance per stroke for each stroke.
Here’s what the Apple Watch Series 12 and Fitbit Edge recorded:
Speedo iQ Vanisher 3.0
Apple Watch Series 12
Fitbit Edge
Distance
1440m
1440m
1760m
Pace
2:25 mins/100m
2:27 mins/100m
2:01 mins/100m
Lengths
72
72
77
Strokes
Breaststroke: 840m, Freestyle: 600m
Breaststroke: 840m, Freestyle: 600m
N/a
Heart rate
N/a
129 bpm
126 bpm
As you can see from the data, the Apple Watch Series 12 was pretty perfect in the pool, measuring exactly what my goggles did. While the goggles don’t record heart rate, according to my Oura Ring 5 , my average over the course of the swim was 129 beats per minute.
The Fitbit Edge, on the other hand, recorded a longer swim, and therefore a few more lengths. It would be nice to see stroke data on the fitness tracker, but again, I’d argue that the Edge is designed for the casual swimmer, not someone looking for a wealth of data.
Either way, I was impressed with the accuracy of the Apple Watch in the water. Being able to input the length of the pool and see at a glance how many lengths I’d covered allowed me to listen to my podcast (the Shokz OpenSwim Pro headphones are still my go-to) without having to keep count. During most swim workouts, I typically switch strokes every 10 lengths, so it’s a good addition to have.
I’ll be continuing to test wearables in the pool, but which of these devices would you be more interested in? Let us know in the poll below.