The Apple Watch 6 was the most accurate for measuring heart rate (CV <5%), whereas all three devices showed poor accuracy for energy expenditure (CVs 13.44-29.66%) across 5 physical activities.
Observational (n=60)
Do wrist-worn devices (Apple Watch 6, Polar Vantage V, Fitbit Sense) accurately measure heart rate and energy expenditure compared to reference devices in young healthy individuals?
The Apple Watch 6 provides accurate heart rate measurements across various physical activities, but current wrist-worn devices are inaccurate for estimating energy expenditure.
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of 3 recently released wrist‐worn devices (Apple Watch 6, Polar Vantage V and Fitbit Sense) for heart rate and energy expenditure during various activities. The study population consisted of 60 young healthy individuals (30 men and 30 women; age: 24.9 ± 3.0 years, BMI: 23.1 ± 2.7 kg/m2). Heart rate and energy expenditure were measured using the Polar H10 and Metamax 3B, respectively (reference measures) as well as with the 3 wrist‐worn devices during 5 different activities (sitting, walking, running, resistance exercises and cycling). The Apple Watch 6 displayed the highest level of accuracy for heart rate measurement with a coefficient of variation (CV) (%) of less than 5% for all 5 activities, whereas the Polar Vantage V and the Fitbit Sense presented various degrees of accuracy (from high to poor accuracy) dependent on the activity (CVs between 2.44‐8.80% and 4.14‐10.76%, respectively). As for energy expenditure, all 3 devices displayed poor accuracy for all 5 physical activities (CVs between 14.68‐24.85% for Apple Watch 6, 16.54‐25.78% for Polar Vantage V and 13.44‐29.66% for Fitbit Sense). Results of the present study indicate that the Apple Watch 6 was the most accurate for measuring heart rate across all 5 activities, whereas variable levels of accuracy for heart rate measurement for the Polar Vantage V and the Fitbit Sense were observed depending on the activity. As for energy expenditure, all 3 devices showed poor accuracy during all activities. Highlights The Apple Watch 6 was the most accurate for measuring heart rate, whereas the Polar Vantage V and Fitbit Sense showed variable results dependent on the activity The Apple Watch 6, Polar Vantage V and Fitbit Sense showed poor accuracy for energy expenditure during 5 different physical activities Healthcare care professionals, athletes/coaches and the general population may want to proceed with caution on the clinical utility of energy expenditure of these devices during the implementation of an exercise training or nutritional programme.
Hajj‐Boutros et al. (Mon,) conducted a observational in Healthy (n=60). Wrist-worn devices (Apple Watch 6, Polar Vantage V, Fitbit Sense) vs. Polar H10 and Metamax 3B (reference measures) was evaluated on Accuracy of heart rate and energy expenditure measurement (coefficient of variation). The Apple Watch 6 was the most accurate for measuring heart rate (CV <5%), whereas all three devices showed poor accuracy for energy expenditure (CVs 13.44-29.66%) across 5 physical activities.