Garmin Calorie Counts Score Worst in Lab Wearables Test
Florida International University researchers tested four consumer wearables (Apple Watch Series 8, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, Garmin Forerunner 955, Fitbit Sense 2) against a lab-calibrated COSMED K5 during a controlled 10‑minute cycling session and found Garmin to be the least accurate, with an average 68.61 kcal miss and 77.6% of true calories miscounted. Fitbit’s results are sensitive to outliers (including them makes its mean miss 128.6 kcal), while Apple and Samsung outperformed Garmin. Accuracy declined with higher body fat for all devices, skin tone showed no measurable effect, and the authors conclude that none of today’s watches reliably measure calories for weight management or research, though trends over time may still be informative.