I walked 7 miles with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Pixel Watch 5

Close-up of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 5 in a user's hand against a bright blue background — (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)

The Pixel Watch 5 is Google’s most accurate smartwatch ever for tracking outdoor activities. Google even benchmarked its performance against pricier wearables, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, two of the best smartwatches available for fitness tracking, but can it really compete?

I decided to find out by strapping the Pixel Watch 5 to one wrist and the Apple Watch Ultra 3 to my other and walking seven miles around Seattle, Washington.

Google says that the latest Pixel Watch is twice as accurate at route mapping in environments with obstructed skies like “urban canyons,” so I made a point of cruising around the Emerald City’s denser neighborhoods, like South Lake Union, which is jam-packed with gleaming corporate skyscrapers.

I also made my way through several expansive parks, meandering beneath enormous canopies of old-growth trees.

So, how did the Pixel Watch 5 do? Check out the results below.

Close-up of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 next to the new Google Pixel Watch 5 — (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)

Note: I split my walk into two separately tracked legs and ran Strava on my iPhone 16 Plus as a control for distance, pace, and climb.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Pixel Watch 5 vs Apple Watch Ultra 3: GPS test 1/2
Header Cell - Column 0	Pixel Watch 5	Apple Watch Ultra 3	Strava
Distance	3.73 miles	3.69 miles	3.75 miles
Climb	275 feet	216 feet	234 feet
Average pace (elapsed)	18 mins 10 secs per mile	18 mins 11 secs per mile	17 mins 41 secs per mile
Average heart rate	126 bpm	128 bpm	n/a
Max heart rate	151 bpm	155 bpm	n/a
Calories burned (total)	607 calories	502 calories	n/a

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Pixel Watch 5 vs Apple Watch Ultra 3: GPS test 2/2
Header Cell - Column 0	Pixel Watch 5	Apple Watch Ultra 3	Strava
Distance	3.26 miles	3.25 miles	3.29 miles
Climb	446 feet	459 feet	435 feet
Average pace (elapsed)	18 mins 34 secs per mile	18 mins 22 secs per mile	18 mins 15 secs per mile
Average heart rate	141 bpm	143 bpm	n/a
Max heart rate	168 bpm	168 bpm	n/a
Calories burned (total)	647 calories	514 calories	n/a

The Pixel Watch bested the Apple Watch at tracking my distance

For distance-tracking precision, the Google Pixel Watch 5 proved slightly more capable than the Apple Watch Ultra 3 during this demo, assuming, of course, Strava's data is correct (which it generally is).

That said, both devices did pretty well at logging my miles — well within a reasonable margin of error — but the latest Pixel Watch did just a little better.

Elevation tracking is a toss-up

Close-up of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 showing the option to track hiking in the Workout app — (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)

Things get a little trickier when we look at elevation. For the first leg of my walk, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 proved more accurate, with a total climb tally that's just 18 feet less than the control. Google was more generous with my uphill efforts, to a fault, logging 41 additional feet of gain compared to the control.

During the second leg of my walk, though, the Pixel Watch beat the Apple Watch with a total climb that was just 11 feet greater than Strava's measure, compared to 24 feet over for the Ultra 3.

Both watches noted similar paces

Strava tends to log slightly quicker pace data than most modern smartwatches I test, and the same is true here, even if Strava's data isn't that much faster.

That said, for each of the two legs of my walk, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 5 calculated remarkably similar paces, a result I love to see.

Heart rate data is also a near-match

Close-up of the Pixel Watch 5 in 45mm on a user's wrist — (Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom's Guide)

The same is true for heart rate data: Both the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 5 measured strikingly similar averages and maxes during each of the two portions of this test. I know this article is mainly about GPS performance, but I would be remiss not to mention this impressive outcome.

Ultimately, this comparison has left me feeling downright cheery about the state of modern smartwatch fitness tracking, with each device performing incredibly well across the board.

Which begs the question: Can the Google Pixel Watch 5 keep up with the pricier Apple Watch Ultra 3 when it comes to logging outdoor workouts using onboard GPS in tricky environments? I'd say the answer is a resounding yes.

Which of these two smartwatches would you be more likely to use to track an outdoor workout? Let me know in the poll below.

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Dan Bracaglia is the Tom’s Guide editorial lead for all things smartwatches, fitness trackers and outdoor gear. With 15 years of experience as a consumer technology journalist testing everything from Oura Rings to instant cameras, Dan is deeply passionate about helping readers save money and make informed purchasing decisions. In the past year alone, Dan has assessed major product releases from the likes of Apple, Garmin, Google, Samsung, Polar and many others.

An avid outdoor adventurer, Dan is based in the U.S. Pacific Northwest where he takes advantage of the beautiful surroundings every chance he gets. A lover of kayaking, hiking, swimming, biking, snowboarding and exploring, he also makes every effort to combine his day job with his passions. When not assessing the sleep tracking and heart rate accuracy of the latest tach gadgets, you can find him photographing Seattle’s vibrant underground music community.