Inaccurate hiking distance on wife’s AW

[SVTmaniac]

My wife’s Apple Watches consistently record a shorter distance hiked and far less steps taken than mine or anyone else’s watches. We hike a lot and sometimes with other people. My watch is always about .1-.2 miles ahead of her watch even though we start at the same spot and hike the exact same trails. The longer we hike the more hers falls behind. When we hike with other people it’s the same deal. Theirs are spot on with mine and hers is behind.

She had an AW 6 and I thought it was just the watch so I just got her the AW10 and it’s doing the exact same thing. Her and I are the exact same height and hers will also record close to 2,000 less steps a day taken than mine.

If we bike hers is the exact same mileage as mine so it’s something to do with walking. The GPS seems accurate.

 

[Howard2k]

Which watch do you have?

Does she wear it under a sleeve?

 

[SVTmaniac]

Which watch do you have?

Does she wear it under a sleeve?

I have the AWU1 and no it’s usually exposed, we live in Arizona so it’s always too hot for long sleeves.

 

[Howard2k]

I have the AWU1 and no it’s usually exposed, we live in Arizona so it’s always too hot for long sleeves.

The Ultra 1 is dual band GPS. It will be more accurate than the S6 and S10.

I'd guess that's the most likely reason.

Maybe re-run the calibration on her watch.

Calibrate your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support (CA)

You can calibrate your Apple Watch to improve the accuracy of your distance, pace, and calorie measurements. Calibrating your watch can also help it learn your fitness level and stride, which improves accuracy when GPS is limited or unavailable.

support.apple.com

 

[Night Spring]

Your wife could try resetting calibration data, then re-calibrating.

Calibrate your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support

You can calibrate your Apple Watch to improve the accuracy of your distance, pace, and calorie measurements. Calibrating your watch can also help it learn your fitness level and stride, which improves accuracy when GPS is limited or unavailable.

support.apple.com

 

[SVTmaniac]

The Ultra 1 is dual band GPS. It will be more accurate than the S6 and S10.

I'd guess that's the most likely reason.

Maybe re-run the calibration on her watch.

Calibrate your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support (CA)

You can calibrate your Apple Watch to improve the accuracy of your distance, pace, and calorie measurements. Calibrating your watch can also help it learn your fitness level and stride, which improves accuracy when GPS is limited or unavailable.

support.apple.com

Yes but when we hike with other people nobody else has an Ultra. And we have recalibrated it once already and nothing changed. Only thing I notice is under her health all it says her stride is 4” longer than mine but we are the same height and walk the same speed.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Here's an easy experiment: on the next hike, swap watches and see what happens. Perhaps instead of purely leaning on GPS, the algorithm mixes in some impact data. A man walks "heavier" than most women. Perhaps the difference is enough to register that much difference in results?

Another experiment: you wear both watches (one on each arm) on a future hike... then she wears both watches on another hike. Compare results each time.

Also, stride and height can be very different things. Stride has to do with leg length, not overall height. If she is- say- "all legs" and you are "all torso," her stride would easily be much greater than yours, even if both of you are same height (or if you were taller). I once dated just such a girl with hips higher than my hips... but I was overall taller. Her stride (with those longer legs) would have been greater than my stride.