Apple wasn't kidding when it claimed that the Apple Watch Series 12 has the best heart rate accuracy of all wearables, but the extensive study also shows just how close some key rivals are under certain test conditions.

Other than the return of the popular ceramic casing, the Apple Watch Series 12's most significant update was in its improved health sensing system. Central to this is how the new Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 monitor heart rate every five seconds. Apple's Deidre Caldbeck, senior director of Apple Watch and health product marketing, said during the launch that the company had tested it against rivals. Now Apple has published the results of that test.

Naturally it wouldn't have published the results if it weren't true that the Apple Watch comes out top. But deep in the detail, Apple has published just where rivals meet or exceed it in certain areas. The tests involved 1,460 people who wore a Polar H10 ECG chest strap as reference. Then at the same time, they would wear an Apple Watch on one wrist, while on the other hand they had one of the following: Garmin Forerunner 970, Google Pixel Watch 4, Huawei Watch 5, Oura Ring 5, Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, WHOOP 5. All of these, apart from the Apple Watch, monitor heart rate more during workouts.