Garmin vs Zenlabs app accuracy?

[NicNax38]

Hi,

I'm new to running- I'm on week 8 of the Zenlabs Couch to 10k programme, and use my app when I'm running, and it stores the mileage at the end of each run, and calories burned. I've also just got myself a Garmin Vivo move smartwatch, and also used this on my last two runs, and it gives more detail about mile splits, etc. However, the distances recorded seem to be really different - I've just got back from a run, which has been recorded by Zenlabs as 2.15miles (about 3.46km), but the Garmin has recorded it 4.32km? I'm not sure which device to trust. I ensured to start and stop the Garmin timer at the beginning and end of the actual run, so didn't included the warm up/ down walks. According to the app, I should be running about 2.5miles now, in 25mins, so if the app is correct, rather than the watch, then I'm a way off the pace still.

Which would you trust?! 🤔

Hi there OP,

We're just giving this a little bump in case anyone who can help pops along. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help

I can't say anything about the accuracy of Zenlabs as I haven't tried it.

But my old Garmin routinely used to count arm movements as steps. At one point it said I did 10,000 steps without even leaving my house because I was knitting. So with that in mind I would say depending on how you run and if you wave your arms it might not be that accurate. Though its possible your Garmin is better than mine was.

Have you tried plotting the course you took into a map system online? It should be able to tell you what the distance for the route you took is. It won't be able to tell you how long you took but it should be able to say the distance of the route.

Also In general if I start my tracking with one device/system I tend to stick to that. Like using the same scale to weigh in, etc. So even if it is off, you are getting stats that are consistently off. if that makes sense?

Thanks so much for the tip @MoonNoodles, I plotted the route I ran, and found that the Garmin is pretty accurate, so the app has been underestimating how far I've been running. A massive confidence boost, as I ran just shy of 5k last night, in 28mins, so I'm doing a lot better than I thought. Thanks so much. ☺️