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fēnix 5 Plus Series Better connectivity than F5?

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Better connectivity than F5?

Former Member over 7 years ago

Hi,

As i experienced in this thread the HRM Tri disconnects from Fenix 5 when i turn my back (2-3 meters) (i remove the watch so i can workout with kettlebells freely on my wrists), this is a fact, always happens...

Has someone tried if the signal-connection is stable with Plus models??

Best regards,

0 Baz 8755 over 7 years ago

It is most definitely improved over my old F5.

I have a Tempe, Basic HRM, Premium HRM, and 2 GSC-10 units, the F5 used to connect to them all but was not at all reliable.

When I ride I use a GSC-10 & Premium HRM and this combination works fine with my Edge 810, the Fenix 5 however wouldn't even get to the end of my road without disconnecting.

The Fenix 5 plus has performed flawlessly and holds the connection, also a bonus the Bluetooth connection to my phone now reaches across my entire open plan office for smartwatch functionality whereas it used to only manage about 5-10 metres.

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 7 years ago

If you have a look at the Garmin Connect activity links in my 2 posts linked below, you’ll see that the 5+ is getting a much better/reliable connection to my RunScribe pods, particularly the right pod on the opposite side to the watches (they are dual ANT+ and BLE, which is the combination notorious for poor connection to the F5)

https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-the-trail/wrist-worn/fenix-5-5s-plus/1366500-fenix-5-comparison-to-5-plus?p=1366752#post1366752

https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-the-trail/wrist-worn/fenix-5-5s-plus/1366500-fenix-5-comparison-to-5-plus?p=1367794#post1367794

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Well, after few days using the 5+ i can tell the connectivity issues are really similar to the rpevious ones i had with the F5. If i give my back to the watch (being this in the floor) the watch HR is lost, same for the music. With the music is worst since when i am stretching with my arm behind the back/head the music is lost/disrupted.

0 Baz 8755 over 7 years ago

Well, after few days using the 5+ i can tell the connectivity issues are really similar to the rpevious ones i had with the F5. If i give my back to the watch (being this in the floor) the watch HR is lost, same for the music. With the music is worst since when i am stretching with my arm behind the back/head the music is lost/disrupted.

I do not understand what you are trying to say regarding heart rate, and as for music the F5 never had music. With music I am finding my Bluetooth headphones have exacly the same range and dropouts as my Nexus 5 phone (if anything the F5+ is better than my phone)

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I do not understand what you are trying to say regarding heart rate, and as for music the F5 never had music. With music I am finding my Bluetooth headphones have exacly the same range and dropouts as my Nexus 5 phone (if anything the F5+ is better than my phone)

I didn't say the F5 has music...

I do some Kettlebell workouts, for Snatch i put the watch into the floor, giving my back to the watch (2m?) results in lost of connection to the watch (i discussed this in other thread months ago), and now same happens with music, but it is enough to take the arm back of the head (stretching) to lost music, not desirable behaviour i think.

0 Baz 8755 over 7 years ago

I didn't say the F5 has music...

I do some Kettlebell workouts, for Snatch i put the watch into the floor, giving my back to the watch (2m?) results in lost of connection to the watch (i discussed this in other thread months ago), and now same happens with music, but it is enough to take the arm back of the head (stretching) to lost music, not desirable behaviour i think.

OK, So I guess you are using HRM strap, I use both the Garmin Basic and Premium units and have no issues (However I am wearing the watch as you wouldn't usually expect not to be wearing it), with F5 I experienced connection issues with both my bikes GSC-10 units but F5+ is solid for this. As I said with music the performance is slightly better than my phone and my headphones aren't the best at maintaining connection, so I would say any issues I see are down to them and not the watch.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I haven't had a chance to set up my powermeter/HR/cadence sensors yet, but I'm a really big fan of the phone alerts, saved my bacon a couple of times when leaving my phone in a shop. With my Fenix 5 it was impossible to use because of constant dropouts, even with my phone in a backpack cycling to work it would disconnect. I've had my plus since Tuesday and alerts have been on all week, I don't think I've had one false alert yet.

I've also been using music connected to some AfterShokz and I've yet to have a disconnect.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

OK, So I guess you are using HRM strap, I use both the Garmin Basic and Premium units and have no issues (However I am wearing the watch as you wouldn't usually expect not to be wearing it), with F5 I experienced connection issues with both my bikes GSC-10 units but F5+ is solid for this. As I said with music the performance is slightly better than my phone and my headphones aren't the best at maintaining connection, so I would say any issues I see are down to them and not the watch.

Yes, sorry, i forgot to mention i use HRM Tri, the connection issues are with this, and with music, like i said, when im doing this type of stretching (see image) the music is not stable.ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1372168.jpg

0 aclz over 7 years ago

Yes, sorry, i forgot to mention i use HRM Tri, the connection issues are with this, and with music, like i said, when im doing this type of stretching (see image) the music is not stable.

I also noticed that two different fenix 5 units lost connection to my HRM Run strap if my torso is between the watch and strap (eg if you do the type of stretching you say or triceps dips etc). I tried asking if the 5 plus disconnects in this situation too but for some reason it seems hard to get an answer. Would be curious to find out.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I haven't had a chance to set up my powermeter/HR/cadence sensors yet, but I'm a really big fan of the phone alerts, saved my bacon a couple of times when leaving my phone in a shop. With my Fenix 5 it was impossible to use because of constant dropouts, even with my phone in a backpack cycling to work it would disconnect. I've had my plus since Tuesday and alerts have been on all week, I don't think I've had one false alert yet.

I can confirm this. 5 would easily disconnect when the phone was in my back pocket or when I left it in another room of my apartment. 5+ is much more stable - it will occasionally still loose connection over multiple rooms, but that's pretty much on par with other BT devices. On 5, the Find My Phone functionality was kind of a joke. The way to find it was to walk around the place until it connects and then you're pretty much standing on top of the phone. ;-) On 5+, Find My Phone is actually useful.

I haven't had issues with HRM-Run on Footpod on my 5, so I can't comment on it (they work fine for me with 5+ too), but I did notice that my Tempe sensors, which is in another room, connects during my strength training sessions. ;-) I haven't seen that happen with 5.

From this I would say there is definitely considerable improvement in both ANT and BT range.

However, since this question concerns HRM-Tri, do notice there's a known issue with 1st generation HRM-Tri/Run: https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-the-trail/wrist-worn/fenix-5x-plus/1366525-first-gen-hrm-run-drops-out-after-2-ish-mins. That has nothing to do with range, it's just broken.