by Anura Guruge
on April 1, 2022
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The two screenshots (on the left) in black are from my ‘Garmin VENU 2’. The shot on the right is another from ‘TicWatch’.
I wore a brand new ‘TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS’ right next to my ‘Garmin Venu 2‘, on my left wrist, next to each other, this morning, on my daily 4-mile amble. I started the ‘walk’ exercise, on both of them at the same time.
As you can see from the GPS maps (above) they both tracked the same route — which was basically straight up a hill & back. A walk I do at least once a week — & have been doing for years. I know it well & know what the distances are.
Within 20 minutes I could see that there was a growing mismatch when it came to distance. The TicWatch was way too optimistic.
What I did was my usual ‘4-mile’ (~10K) walk. That is backed up by the time. Given that I walk 4 miles EACH & EVERY DAY, I do know what 4 miles feel like compared to 5.
4.19 miles (Venu 2) vs 5.05 miles (TicWatch) is a big difference; 0.86 mile (21%).
I do NOT want to be told I walked further than I did. I would then just be CHEATING myself. I am not into that. Cheating oneself is rather pointless.
Ditto when it came to elevation gain. Not good.
Yes, there will be some who would like this. They get to say they walked 5 miles when they only walked 4.
NOT FOR I.
I walk for my own good. I don’t want inaccurate numbers. So, the TicWatch, alas, is going back. Plus, with the brightness & display setting I WANTED, the battery life wasn’t that great. 1.5 days. Same as that I get on the Venu 2 with similar display options.
So, that is MY honest take.
