VO2max differences between Apple Watches
Hi there, recently I noticed some strange things happening with my VO2max value in Apple Health. Might be a bit of a luxury problem, but I like looking at my stats 😄
Since a while I began running constantly for three times a week. I own an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and a Series 10, which I wear alternately.
My VO2max-value sometimes suddenly drops by about 6 to 7% and then goes up again. I started to notice a trend based on the Apple Watch I used that day. After wearing the Ultra 2 on a run, the VO2max bumps up. After wearing the Series 10, it always drops again. If you have a look at the screenshot, the higher values are from my ultra, the lower values are from the 10.
I know that the Apple Watch doesn’t really measure VO2max but does an estimation based on different values like heart rate, speed, HRV/recovery, age, etc.. but I would think that within the same ecosystem the calculations should give pretty much the same results for each device.
The Ultra 2 has a dual-band GPS, compared to single-band on the Series 10, but the GPS and average speed data always seem pretty accurate on both devices (I run in open surroundings with just a few trees and no buildings). I also use the same type of bands on both Apple watches.
The results for the Series 10 are about the same every time, so I would think that if GPS inconsistency would be the cause, the results would fluctuate more.
Could these minor GPS-differences trigger such a big VO2max difference? Anyone knows what’s going on? :)