The latest edition Apple Watch SE and Garmin Forerunner 165 each start at $249 and boast bright, crisp touchscreens, onboard GPS, heart rate monitoring and excellent wearability. Both devices also have a dedicated mode for tracking bike rides — but which is better?
I decided to take advantage of an unseasonably beautiful spring day in the Pacific Northwest and find out. With a smartwatch strapped to either wrist, my bike tuned and ready to roll, I made my way toward the rocky shores of Seattle’s Golden Gardens.
The watches' key features
But, before pumping the pedals on the bike comparison, real quick, here’s how the two smartwatches stack up.
The entry-level Apple Watch SE is the best value smartwatch you can buy right now. Oozing with smartwatch features the rectangular device is also a competent workout tracker. However, the SE lacks some of the wellness tech found on the Garmin, like a SpO2 sensor, as well as advanced fitness training tools.
The Forerunner 165 is Garmin’s latest mid-tier running watch equipped with comprehensive training, rest and recovery features for enthusiasts looking to step up their pace and/or reach a new fitness milestone. Unlike the Apple Watch SE, though, the Garmin is rather light on smartwatch features.
The bike ride
Back to the action: Gold Garden Beach is a roughly 20-mile bike ride round trip (that’s 32km, for my Euro friends) that winds past lakes abuzz with seaplanes and sunkissed recreation revelers, active ship canals, industrial zones, postcard-perfect houseboats and boxy apartment complexes — not necessarily in that order.
The ride is notably flat for all but the very start and end. We reached our initial destination around 5:30 pm, roughly 90 minutes after departing — my companion and I were in no hurry — and headed to the northern shore to catch our breath and enjoy the scenery.
At this point, I paused the activity tracking on both devices and refocused my energy on the ice-cold beverage in front of me and the distance dogs galloping in the gently crashing waves.
Roughly an hour later, we again donned our helmets, flipped on our bike lights, and made our way home as the evening chill began to set in, taking a slightly different route to avoid overly steep hills at the ride’s conclusion.
Once back safe and sound, I ended both workouts, headed inside and checked my stats. Here’s how they compare.
How did bike stats compare?
For additional points of data, I ran Strava on my iPhone 12 mini, mounted on my handlebars, and utilized the auto-pause feature during our downtime at Golden Gardens.
All three GPS-enabled devices noted similar total distances, with Strava being the most generous by roughly half a mile. Differences in elevation gain are more notable: the Apple Watch SE marked my total ascent at 100 feet less than the other two devices. And, having tracked nearly identical versions of this ride in the past, 465 feet of total hill climb struck me as a tad low.
Similarly, the Apple Watch SE put my max speed at 17.5 mph, which struck me as sluggish. Mostly, because I hauled my butt down the very last bit of the ride to try and catch up with my quick-whizzing, ebike-riding partner.
And, unlike the other two devices, the Apple watch only provided an average speed calculation for (presumably) the entire duration of my bike ride, minus the part where I paused the workout, and not an average moving speed, which is much more useful.
That said, it's refreshing to see heart rate data from the Garmin and Apple watch nearly mirror each other, even if there are differing takes on calories burned — I always take this metric with a grain of salt, anyhow.
The Garmin Forerunner 165 wins
When it comes to tracking and a lovely Sunday bike ride to the beach, both the Apple Watch SE (2022) and Garmin Forerunner 165 performed well, keeping tabs on all the key metrics I care about, from heart health to ascent.
However, the next time I head for a cruise around town, whether on my analog bicycle or one of the best ebikes, I'll almost certainly reach for the Forerunner 165 over the Apple Watch SE — Seattle has a lot of hills, and I don't want to be short-changed.
