I walked 6,500 steps with the Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2 — here’s the winner

I tested two of the toughest-built, outdoor adventure smartwatches on the market today, the Garmin Instinct 3 and the Suunto Vertical 2, to determine which is the more competent and reliable activity tracker.

To do this, I wore the Suunto on my left wrist and the Garmin on my right wrist to track a one-hour walk around Seattle, Washington, through a mix of urban areas and heavily wooded ones.

As a control, I counted my steps while using Strava to monitor my distance, elevation gain, and pace. Below, I’ve compared the results of the Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2 face-off across six categories and declared a winner for each. At the end, an overall winner is crowned.

Read on to find out which smartwatch came out on top in this fitness tracking showdown between the Garmin Instinct 3 and Suunto Vertical 2.

Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Quick comparison

Jam-packed with sensors to monitor everything from location and elevation to heart rate and blood oxygen saturation, the Instinct 3 and Vertical 2 are fairly evenly matched. They each also sport a bright AMOLED screen, 100 meters of water resistance, onboard LED flashlights, and batteries that last for days at a time, rather than hours (cough, cough, Apple Watch).

The main differences between the two come down to price and navigational tools. The Garmin starts at $399 for the Instinct 3 Solar model, which lacks an AMOLED screen but boasts a solar cell behind the comparably duller Memory in Pixel (Mip) display. The Instinct 3 AMOLED, meanwhile, starts at $449.

The Suunto Vertical 2, by contrast, starts at $599. What does the extra $150 to $200 actually get you? Support for offline navigational maps. The absence of this feature is the biggest downside to the Instinct 3, in my opinion.

Moreover, Suunto’s implementation of offline navigational tools is seriously good. Maps are easy to follow, thanks to bold colors, thorough labeling, and contour details.

1. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Step count total

During my roughly one-hour walk, I counted 6,500 steps. Ordinarily, if a fitness tracker or smartwatch is within a few hundred steps of my actual total, I'm impressed. In this case, I'm blown away.

The Suunto Vertical 2 undercounted by an excusable 56 steps, while the Garmin Instinct 3 managed to be within 4 steps of my actual total. That's seriously incredible.

While Garmin wins this first category, both smartwatches performed extremely well here and represent the gold standard of step-counting accuracy for modern smartwatches.

Winner: Garmin Instinct 3

2. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Distance

Strava measured just a bit more distance covered compared to the Instinct 3 and Vertical 2. This time, Suunto's tally was a bit closer than Garmin's. While the Vertical 2 was off by less than a hundredth of a mile, Garmin undercounted by 0.15 miles.

Again, both results fall well within a reasonable margin for error.

Winner: Suunto Vertical 2

3. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Climb

Not all smartwatches track elevation gain reliably. For example, the Apple Watch Series 11 seems to consistently overcount my uphill efforts. In this case, the Suunto Vertical 2 seemingly undercounted by a permissible 6 feet, while the Garmin Instinct 3 managed to overcount by 31 feet.

I was a bit surprised by this result, given that the Instinct 3 has proven time and again to be a reliable elevation tracker. Still, I'd rather have it overcount by around 30 feet than undercount by that amount.

Winner: Suunto Vertical 2

4. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Pace

Strava tends to log faster pace data than most of the smartwatches I compare it to, and this test between the Instinct 3 and Vertical 2 was no exception. That said, Garmin and Suunto both calculated roughly the same average pace, both within one minute of Strava's metric. Of course, Garmin's pace figure is just a bit closer to the control.

For what it's worth, Strava's quicker pace is likely because the app is rather aggressive at pausing tracking for momentary stops in movement, whereas Garmin and Suunto are clearly less so.

Winner: Garmin Instinct 3

5. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Heart rate

I didn't wear a chest-mounted heart rate monitor for this test, so there's no control data (but I plan to for future head-to-head comparisons). As such, I can't declare a winner for this category.

What I can verify is that most of the above heart rates fall within a reasonable expectation for this walk based on my heart rates during prior, similar walks. Suunto, worn on my right wrist, measured a lower heart rate overall, with an average that's 7 bpm slower than Garmin's and a max that's 11 bpm slower.

Ultimately, I suspect that Garmin's max heart rate data is slightly inflated, but it's impossible to say for sure.

Winner: draw

6. Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Battery drain

Running the GPS on a smartwatch is a notorious battery drain. With both devices sporting dual-band antennas, I was curious to see how battery usage might compare over the course of a roughly one-hour walk. The result: each watch used exactly 2% power, suggesting you could GPS track for up to two days on either model before needing a recharge.

Winner: draw

Garmin Instinct 3 vs Suunto Vertical 2: Winner

With Garmin beating out Suunto when it comes to step count accuracy and pace data, and Suunto beating Garmin at distance and elevation data, this showdown is officially a draw.

Ultimately, if you're choosing between these two excellent outdoor adventure trackers, you can feel confident knowing that either is a supremely reliable wearable. If you've got the extra dough and want offline maps, the Suunto Vertical is the obvious choice. If you're looking to save some coin and/or want a smaller/lighter option (and don't need maps), the Garmin Instinct 3 will suit you well.

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