Apple Watch Ultra 3 Beats Garmin Forerunner 970 in Open Water GPS

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 outperformed the Garmin Forerunner 970 in open water swim GPS accuracy, according to testing by The5kRunner. That's a significant result. The Forerunner 970 is Garmin's flagship multisport watch, and open water swimming has historically been a weak spot for Apple Watch.

GPS accuracy in open water is genuinely hard to nail. Your wrist goes underwater on every stroke, satellite signal drops constantly, and watches rely heavily on accelerometer data to fill the gaps. The Ultra 3 appears to handle that interpolation better than the 970 in this test, tracking a cleaner and more accurate route.

For triathletes, this matters directly. A distorted OWS track doesn't just look bad on Strava. It can skew your total distance, affect pace-per-100m calculations, and mess with any post-race analysis you're doing on swim efficiency. Getting the GPS leg right is foundational for multisport athletes taking data seriously.

It's worth noting the Forerunner 970 is no slouch. It runs dual-frequency GPS, has a solid track record on land and in pool swimming, and remains one of the most complete triathlon watches available. Losing on OWS GPS to Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a specific and meaningful gap, not a wholesale defeat.

Verdict: If open water GPS accuracy is a priority and you're already in the Apple ecosystem, the Ultra 3 just made a stronger case for itself. Garmin will need to respond.