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Your smartwatch may not be telling you the whole truth about calories you burn in a workout, with possible consequences for your weight loss, a new study says. A test of four fitness trackers against clinical lab equipment showed that the devices overcount how many calories people burned. Florida International University said Monday that the errors were greatest for people with the highest body fat, who may be more likely to track calories.
Lead author Jason Kostrna, an associate professor of kinesiology and exercise science, explained that the calorie-burn numbers from smartwatches should not be treated as accurate. Participants in the study included 58 Hispanic adults who rode stationary bikes in 10-minute workouts of moderate to vigorous intensity. The watches tested were the Apple Watch Series 8, Fitbit Sense 2, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and Garmin Forerunner 955.
All were worn simultaneously with a COSMED K5 metabolic analyzer for comparison. Apple was the most accurate, while Garmin and Samsung overestimated calories burned the most. Google’s Fitbit sometimes failed to generate readings or reported implausibly low counts.
Kostrna theorized that the algorithms used by smartwatches may be influenced by the data they use for testing. He suggested that companies refine their products based on this data. The researchers noted that while smartwatches are imperfect, they still play an important role in health tracking.
The next phase of the study will examine how watches estimate calories during strength training.
Source: The Independent
