New to wearables - Can Charge 5 track trail and treadmill walking steps?

[SaxonTheDog]

Hi everyone, I'm new to wearables. I'm a walking junkie - 9 miles/day if I can manage it. 

Happily, my recent spell of unemployment (and hence, daytime outdoor walking) is coming to an end soon, and I'll be heading back to a gym after work to get my miles in. 

Can I use the new Charge 5 (or any of the existing product line) to track trail/outdoor walking AND treadmill walking? Since my Samsung Health seems to rely only on GPS, I'm led to believe it won't track me on a treadmill.

Thanks in advance.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[JohnnyRow]

I'm not familiar with Samsung Health - I guess it's a phone app that tracks your walks via phone's GPS.

Fitbits, when walking without using GPS, including on treadmill, estimate your distance as number of steps times stride length.  There is a default stride length based on your physical parameters, but you can change this.  Of course this distance cannot be precise as stride length can vary.

Most, or all, Fitbit models, allow connecting to phone's GPS, assuming you carry phone with you (connected GPS).

Some models, Charge 4, Charge 5, Versa 3, Sense, Ionic also have built-in GPS allowing GPS distance and mapping without using phone, but taking a decent battery hit to do so.

[SaxonTheDog]

Thx JR - so how does it work on a treadmill? Is it arm swing or footstep vibration? 
Yes, Samsung Health uses GPS, presumably to track distance, but it uses (I presume) footstep vibration to measure steps. It's actually very accurate.  What I don't know is whether it works if I just handhold my phone on a treadmill, or strap it to my arm. The app is pretty good - the support for it is lousy. 

I also use an Omron pedometer, a model that uploads data to a PC, but it's been discontinued for years and once it's toast, I won't be able to get another. 

[JohnnyRow]

Fitbit, and I imagine all wrist trackers, measure steps by swinging of arm as in walking.  That can lead to a few extra steps from arm movement, and also some not counted such as holding hand rail on treadmill, but generally evens out over a day.  If just for a particular walk, step count should be fairly accurate.

Unless you have a sensor pad on shoe, I doubt it uses foot vibrations; if phone in pocket, that generally detects steps fairly well from hip movement.

[Rich_Laue]

@SaxonTheDog you may need to add the walk, hike, and treadmill modes. See the second question in How to track your exercises 

[SaxonTheDog]

So...it looks like a foot pod is probably the best solution for accurately measuring both trail and treadmill steps. Seems a bit complicated to load up a device under my shoelaces, but if I really want to accurately measure both walking modes (without relying on arm swings), that's the way to go. 

In that respect...looks like Garmin has a foot pod. And Fitbit doesn't.

Still mulling this over....