{"id":343627,"date":"2025-08-14T10:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T10:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/343627\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T10:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T10:35:19","slug":"i-walked-5500-steps-with-the-samsung-galaxy-watch-8-vs-galaxy-watch-7-this-watch-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/343627\/","title":{"rendered":"I walked 5,500 steps with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 7 \u2014 this watch won"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samsung makes some of the best smartwatch<\/a> models available in 2025, including both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the newer Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.<\/p>\n

I’ve already covered the differences between the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs. the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8<\/a> in terms of features, design, and battery life, but what about fitness-tracking accuracy?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To find out which Samsung smartwatch is the more precise workout companion, I sported one on either wrist and embarked on a 5,500-step walk \u2014 manually counted, of course \u2014 around my neighborhood in Seattle, Washington.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Scroll down the page to see how my post-workout stats compare, including steps, distance, climb, pace, heart rate, and calories burned.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs. Galaxy Watch 7: Quick comparison<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia\/Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

But first, a quick comparison: The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7<\/a> and Galaxy Watch 8 <\/a>feature the same onboard health sensor array, but the newer model has a couple of exclusive wellness features, including insights into a user’s cardiovascular load and antioxidant levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Watch 8 also has a brighter screen and slightly better battery life. Design-wise, the older model sports a simple, circular case, while the Galaxy Watch 8 has a ‘cushion case’ similar to the Galaxy Watch Ultra<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another major distinction: Only the Galaxy Watch 8 is available in Samsung’s ‘Classic’ edition<\/a>, which features a fan-favorite rotating bezel.<\/p>\n

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.<\/p>\n

Those core differences aside, from a fitness-tracking perspective, these two devices are essentially an even match. So, which model, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 or Galaxy Watch 7, came out on top in my walk test? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs. Galaxy Watch 7: Walk test results<\/p>\n

For this walk test, I wore the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic on my left wrist and the Galaxy Watch 7 (40mm) on my right wrist. As a control, I manually counted my steps, denoting every hundred taken with a click of my trusty tally counter<\/a>. As a control for distance, elevation, and pace data, I ran Strava on my iPhone.<\/p>\n

To avoid either device piggybacking on location data from my paired Samsung Galaxy S24<\/a>, I left it behind.<\/p>\n

Swipe to scroll horizontallySamsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs. Galaxy Watch 7 walk test results<\/p>\nHeader Cell – Column 0 <\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (40mm)<\/p>\n

Control<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Step count<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

5,531 steps<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

5,475 steps<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

5,500 steps (manual count)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Distance<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

3.08 miles<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

3.20 miles<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

3.16 miles (Strava)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Elevation gain<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

221 feet<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

211 feet<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

237 feet<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Average pace<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

16 mins 22 secs per mile<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

16 mins 12 secs per mile<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

16 mins 19 secs per mile<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Average heart rate<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

130 bpm<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

131 bpm<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

n\/a<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Max heart rate<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

160 bpm<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

161 bpm<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

n\/a<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Total calories burned<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

352 calories<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

328 calories<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

n\/a<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Device battery usage<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

8%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

12%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

n\/a<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

This is as close as they come. Both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 7 recorded step count tallies that fall well within a reasonable margin for error. The former overcounted by just 31 steps and the latter undercounted by a mere 25 steps.<\/p>\n

Strava, for what it’s worth, measured a step count total of 5,524 steps.<\/p>\n

Distance-wise, both smartwatches also proved accurate, with less than a tenth of a mile separating the totals from Strava’s count.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Watch 8 seems to have undecounted my climb by a manageable 16 feet, while the Galaxy Watch 7 was off by a more notable 26 feet. Beyond that, pace, heart rate, and calorie data are all anear-match across the board.<\/p>\n

Finally, the Galaxy Watch 7 burned more battery during my 50-minute walk, which was to be expected.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 vs. Galaxy Watch 7: And the winner is…<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

\n

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is just as competent at tracking workouts as the newer Galaxy Watch 8.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While the Galaxy Watch 7 was ever-so-slightly more accurate at counting my steps and measuring my distance, the Galaxy Watch 8 was noticeably more precise at measuring my climb.<\/p>\n

So, which device wins this bout? I’m giving the championship belt to the Galaxy Watch 7, but I strongly suspect that these two titans of the wrist will be squaring up again sometime soon (perhaps for a bike ride). As noted above, this was an exceptional close comparison.<\/p>\n

More importantly, you now know that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is just as competent at tracking workouts as the newer Galaxy Watch 8, and either is a great choice to keep tabs on your next walk, run, hike, or pickleball match.<\/p>\n

More from Tom’s Guide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samsung makes some of the best smartwatch models available in 2025, including both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3160],"tags":[1685,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-343627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115026678718049983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}