I’ve been using my brand new Fenix 5x Plus watch while on holiday. My main sport is running but I have competed in Ironman and SwimRun races and need a watch that can deal with both running and swimming effectively. I previously used a Fenix 3 very happily. The 5x plus is disastrous when it comes to open water swimming. No matter whether I use GPS on its own or with GLONASS or Galileo, the track bears no resemblance to the actual swim. Generally it records less than half of the distance. I have tried waiting for five minutes before starting to swim but that makes no difference either. I swim a normal front crawl stroke and I’m swimming in clear salt water with gorgeous blue skies above me. Considering I’m using Garmin’s most expensive watch, I’m very disappointed. Support suggests I attach the watch to a float or put it under my swim cap, both of which are either laughable or offensive depending on my mood. Is anybody else having similar issues?
zellerbach - difficult to tell from those just how bad they are - I assume they bear little relation to where and how far you swam? Are you swimmimh freestyle of breastroke and do you make sure you get a good satellite fix before starting activity? Also do you have GPS only or with Glonass or Galileo - may be worth trying different combinations to see which works best for you.
You might be best placed to discuss this in the 5X+ forum for clarity. This really is for the Garmin Swim device. I know your'e swimming, but this is really for the Garmin Swim device.
zellerbach - difficult to tell from those just how bad they are - I assume they bear little relation to where and how far you swam? Are you swimmimh freestyle of breastroke and do you make sure you get a good satellite fix before starting activity? Also do you have GPS only or with Glonass or Galileo - may be worth trying different combinations to see which works best for you.
yes, I am waiting for a GPS signal and I am starting to swim crawl. Of course, I tried GPS, GPS + GLONAS or GALILEO .. Similar results. I did the test on two 5X + devices and it is the same. Today I tried to hold my hand longer over the water. The effects in the picture are better but it was not supposed to be a trace. ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1470507.png
I am waiting more than 2 minutes before starting the start and before it connects with gps. I see that there is a green shield and active gps. Then I press start and wait ~ 10s and start to flow. Data storage format: 1 second. Maybe I'll try with the option of 10s ...
zellerbach when did you purchase you should return for a refund or maybe swap for a different device - in the past I found the 935 to be reasonably accurate for swimming. If you don't want all the recent features added to devices you could consider a 920xt (can be had very cheaply) - I found that generally very good for swim/bike/run but it doesn't have the activity tracker features or music maps etc
I have purchased the Fenix 5x Plus to replace my Fenix 5 one to fix the GPS problem, but still, I have the same issue with OWS on this new watch. Worse, it keeps adding 50m laps with Pool Swimming mode on our 50m swimming pool.
I had the 7.60 version firmware installed and I updated to the latest Beta 8.22 one thinking that from 7.60 to 8.22 there will be many improvements, but it still keeps adding 50m laps (1 ou 3 on each k) and GPS stops whenever it wants.
I keep reading all those people just like me that have paid a fortune on this watch (Fenix 5-5x plus) and have the same problem: what a shame from Garmin !!!
I have purchased the Fenix 5x Plus to replace my Fenix 5 one to fix the GPS problem, but still, I have the same issue with OWS on this new watch. Worse, it keeps adding 50m laps with Pool Swimming mode on our 50m swimming pool.
I had the 7.60 version firmware installed and I updated to the latest Beta 8.22 one thinking that from 7.60 to 8.22 there will be many improvements, but it still keeps adding 50m laps (1 ou 3 on each k) and GPS stops whenever it wants.
I keep reading all those people just like me that have paid a fortune on this watch (Fenix 5-5x plus) and have the same problem: what a shame from Garmin !!!
I'm also experiencing issues with my Garmin Fenix 5x Plus. For the first few months, I mostly swam solo and/or didn't compare my stats with other Garmin swimmers. However, I did notice my stats were always a bit off. Well, I finally confirmed the issues yesterday because I swam with two other Garmin Fenix 5x Plus swimmers; at the same pace, for the same distance, and my stats where completely different from their.
If it helps, I would be happy to share screen shots of all three Garmin devices with anyone from Garmin support?
It's a shame so many other users have reported a similar issue and Garmin hasn't stepped in to help.
