Counting steps with Oura ring and Withings watch

Early in July, I compared the daily step counts of the Oura ring and the Withings watch (see post of 7/9/2019). In an informal test over a short course, I concluded that, “...the watch consistently counted half the steps, as though it were counting strides, not steps.” In a subsequent multi-day test, I compared the step counts from the two devices after wearing them on the same hand all day. Again, the Withings watch counted differently.

Since that time, I have been wearing a more comfortable watch band and have been taking longer hikes. Below is a plot of the step counts I got over the last 10 days.

Two things are immediately obvious. (1) The two devices show the same lows and highs. Both are good for looking at changes in performance over time. (2) The two devices disagree a lot on the actual number of steps. If I were using the ring to track the number of days I walked 10,000 steps a day (the default goal of most fitness trackers), I would say that I met my goal on 3 of 10 days. If I were using the watch to track the number of days I walked 10,000 steps, I would say that I never met my goal.

I think my Withings watch (Steel HR Sport) probably does undercount. Perhaps I don’t swing my arms enough or I don’t bounce enough when I walk or I don’t have a long enough stride or the sensor on my watch needs calibrating. It could be my specific watch undercounts or all Withings watches undercount.

I don’t really care. I don’t have an absolute number of steps I need to take; my goal is to increase my activity level and to find the behaviors that support being active (sleeping well, eating well, doing creative projects, etc.). I think being active is good for my mental and physical health. For that, I need to separate the lows from the highs, not obsess about every heel strike. The point of wearing the watch is to have real-time feedback about how active I am being without having to get out my phone, fire up an app, and worry about whether there is a time delay in syncing data. During the day I track progress with a glance at the watch. Furthermore, I can monitor my heart rate with a simple button push, which is especially helpful when I am trying improve my workout, but not overdo it.

At the end of the day I take a little time to look at the day’s activity levels in both apps, to think about what contributed to a low or high activity day, and to make a plan for tomorrow. The two devices are helping me improve my health and quality of life. That is terrific and worth every penny I spent.