There's A Right Way To Wear Your Apple Watch - And It Affects Your Data

Trending 6 days ago
Apple Watch SE 3 connected hand
Nina Raemont/ZDNET

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.


There's 1 measurement to get accurate wellness data, and it doesn't impact buying a much precocious smartwatch. Surprisingly, getting amended information is arsenic elemental arsenic changing really you're wearing your smartwatch. 

Also: I walked 3,000 steps pinch my Apple Watch, Google Pixel, and Oura Ring - this locator was astir accurate

Accuracy is everything erstwhile it comes to health trackers. Wearables companies for illustration Apple, Google, Oura, and Whoop person invested millions successful investigation and improvement to create sensors that tin not only observe infinitesimal shifts successful information but besides representation those specifications successful an actionable, adjuvant way. 

While sensor value improves information accuracy, sensor fresh is arsenic important. 

How smartwatch sensors work 

To understand why a tight fresh is important for smartwatch information capture, first, it's important to understand really nan smartwatch sensors work. 

Apple Watch Ultra
Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You whitethorn spot your smartwatch glowing greenish astir your wrist arsenic you workout aliases show your bosom rate. That greenish ray is really basal successful signaling workout data. To continuously show your bosom rate, a smartwatch emits greenish ray onto your wrist. 

Red and greenish are complementary colors, and arsenic your bosom pumps humor during exercise, nan greenish ray absorbs nan reddish blood. Between heartbeats, humor absorbs little greenish light, truthful much greenish ray bounces backmost into nan watch. 

Also: The champion Apple Watch of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

These intervals of reflection are past captured by nan watch's optical sensor and converted into electrical signals. These signals are tracked and converted into per-minute bosom complaint measurements.  

Why does your smartwatch's tightness matter? 

The tighter your watch is to your skin, nan little extracurricular ray interferes pinch this bosom complaint information capture. Exercising pinch a tighter watch tin nutrient much meticulous bosom complaint readings. 

How to correctly deterioration your Apple Watch 

Your Apple Watch should fresh you comfortably, but it tin beryllium tighter aliases looser depending connected nan activity you're doing. For workout and bosom complaint measurements, it should beryllium comfortable but tight. Try tightening your watch earlier a workout for nan astir meticulous information capture. Loosen it for mundane wear. 

Apple recommends wearing nan smartwatch conscionable supra nan wrist bone. It should not beryllium connected apical of nan wrist bone, arsenic it's prone to shuffling astir and an unsteady fit. 

Test your watch's tightness by shaking your wrist and turning your manus thenar up. If you consciousness your watch losing interaction pinch your wrist's skin, that's a awesome to tighten your watch band. 

Editorial standards
More