When the Apple Watch Ultra launched last year, multi-band GPS was one of its standout features, meant to appeal to outdoor athletes who like perusing route maps. And while I love ultra-accurate maps as much as the next runner, I was most impressed with how Apple used GPS for its track detection feature.
Track Detection uses a combination of Apple Maps data and GPS to automatically recognize you’re on a standard 400m IAAF running track. You will then be asked to enter which lane you are in. Later, in the workout summary, you’ll get a route map that Apple says has lane-level accuracy. Works with Watch.)
I wasn’t blown away by the whole “lane-level precision” bit. When it comes to telling the watch which lane you’re in, you expect it to be accurate, especially if you start your workout on the track.The impressive part is getting that accuracy without it Optional calibration. Other running watches require you to create a specific profile. each I typically start a track run activity, doing 1-4 laps around a particular lane and calibrating the watch’s GPS. Garmin watches, for example, can store profiles for up to 10 tracks. Then you need to start the track run activity for the portion of the run that is on the track.
I’m not doing it all.
Apple Watch can switch to track mode during normal driving Once you recognize that the truck has arrived. It also lets you know when you left (sort of). I was planning on doing a spin on the Astoria Park running track, so Sunday’s long run seemed like the perfect opportunity. Test this functionality. Also, to see how the Apple Watch Ultra compares to the new Garmin Forerunner 265S (which also has multi-band GPS), the Garmin Vivomove Trend, and the Runkeeper app on the iPhone 14 Pro Max over three long runs. Did. Measure 8, 10, and 12 miles.
For the first 8 miles, I wore the Ultra on one wrist and the Vivomove Trend on the other. To my surprise, the Ultra rang as soon as I entered the track’s gate. I was asked to choose a unit of measurement (meters or miles) and told Ultra that I was running lane 2. Additionally, it took about 2-3 minutes after leaving Astoria Park for the Watch before we were notified that we had left the course.
My results were similar on my 10-mile run, and the Ultra notified me as soon as I got to the track. This time, I decided to run lane 4 because I wanted to see this “lane level accuracy”. Then when I compared the 8-mile and 10-mile runs, the maps looked the same when I zoomed out. But as you can see in the screenshot below, you can clearly see the difference when you zoom in. I didn’t get a notification when I left the track. Either way, it appeared to have no effect on the data itself.
On a 12-mile run, I ran lane 6 and traded Trend in a Forerunner 265S with multi-band GPS enabled. and This time I remembered to enable lap alerts. There was a slight delay as to when these alerts would arrive, but I found that track runs on my running watch generally applied to his activity. (But admittedly, that was a while ago.) Another thing to know about lap alerts is that the normal split alerts are suppressed when you’re on the track. again, please do not With lap alerts enabled, you will no longer see track-specific data in your workout summary. Again, Ultra didn’t tell me I had left the track until I was outside Astoria Park.
When it comes to maps, The Ultra is more accurate than my phone’s Runkeeper app, and I fully expected it to beat the Trend on an 8-mile run. The latter is a lifestyle watch that relies on your phone’s GPS, and as you can see from my screenshot in the gallery below, the Trend has completely ruined my truck excursions. This isn’t really a fair comparison. This is just the difference between tethered GPS and the most advanced built-in GPS possible.
1/6
The Forerunner 265S worked better, but wasn’t as accurate, even with multiband enabled. But that’s because I didn’t calibrate the 265S. Because I had only made a pit stop at the track in the middle of a long run. In the past, I’ve found Garmin’s track accuracy to be pretty good. If I had stopped running outdoors, switched to track running, and switched to outdoor running, it would probably have been even closer. I’m done But this is very annoying, especially since first he has to calibrate the 265S to the track and almost never runs the track alone. Most people, myself included, probably prefer to record everything as an outdoor run and live with a map that’s a bit choppy.
That said, after testing several running watches over the years, I’ve come to realize just how good the Ultra’s GPS is. We don’t just mean metrics and maps. After these three runs, I spent a lot of time comparing data. Ultra was the best overall, but the Forerunner 265S was very close and he was second. Rather, I kept thinking about how I’ve avoided running on the track because calibration was a hassle and how the Ultra made this whole experience pain-free lap except he turned on the alert , didn’t need to do anything. All I had to do was show up and leave when I felt like it.
