Can the distance accuracy problems on twisty wooded trails be fixed?

If you are otherwise happy about the watch, I will recommend that you buy a Stryd. It will give your watch much better precision in pace and distance under those circumstances.

(It will also give you running power, which is the intended purpose of the Stryd. However, I bought mine just for the accurate pace reading.)

They say that a Black Friday sale is coming up...

Purchase Garmin footpod and set 'distance from footpod' after calibration run.

For those who know of the issue I’m talking about, and understand gps watch software, I have a simple question...

Can, and more importantly, do you think Garmin will, fix it? It definitely seems to be software related as the tracks are pretty decent looking, which makes me think it can be fixed with firmware.

It’s a dream watch if it didn’t have this problem. But if the problem isn’t fixed or can’t be fixed, the watch is useless to me as a trail runner.

I've been messing around with this for awhile. https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-t...tance-accuracy

Distance is usually 10-15% less the other devices in wooded singletrack. I keep wondering, though, maybe the Fenix is actually the more accurate device. When comparing the tracks the fenix seems the be consistently more consistent. Granted currently my other devices are not the greatest, Android phone (in pocket), Fitbit surge (on wrist), and random friends devices (had a FR305 that recently broke), their distances are consistently 10-15% farther, but the tracks usually look horrible (fitbit tracks actually look decent, though).

What makes me doubt there is a problem with GPS accuracy (in my conditions), is that my Fenix tracks are very consistent when I do overlapping laps at my normal MTB riding spot (Tight heavily wooded trails). The other devices seem less consistent, more erratic turns, more wandering, and less overall consistent overlapping. The Fenix is defiantly conservative in the corners. Other devices go wider in turns.

I've kind of dropped the ball, but still intend to, send Garmin-Heath my Connect info so they can take a look at my tracks. Just want to have a good sample size of rides before I do. Also, without comparing them to another device's tracks, it might be hard to explain the difference in distances.

Do you have access to some good quality devices that you can compare the tracks to? I'd be interested in your findings.

Purchase Garmin footpod and set 'distance from footpod' after calibration run.

You can, if you always run in the same pace range.

If you run at different paces, you will probably go nuts trying to find a calibration factor which matches. I gave up after I had systematically tested my Garmin pod at different paces.

What makes me doubt there is a problem with GPS accuracy (in my conditions), is that my Fenix tracks are very consistent when I do overlapping laps at my normal MTB riding spot (Tight heavily wooded trails)..

There are two issues which should not be confused:
1. Does the GPS track fit the actual path taken.
2. Does the GPS speed and distance fit the actual speed and distance.

Logically, they should be very much related. But there seems to be something going on which defies normal logic.

When I walk at constant speed in a straight line, my GPS speed will drop when I get under tree cover. If this was just a simple issue of "location noise" caused by the tree cover, the average distance between each point in the GPS log would get larger, causing my GPS speed to go up. But it goes down.

My best guess at what is happening is that the GPS chipset or the Garmin software tries to compensate for the path getting too long because of location noise. But they end up overcompensating, and this leads to a too low pace.

Thanks for the responses. Seems like the answer to my question is that nobody really knows...
Having spent a lot of time in forums and other discussions trying to resolve this issue, I have to say that I find it absolutely mind-blowing that so many people are perfectly fine with needing to purchase a $100-$200 third party device (stryd) in order
to make "the best wrist worn GPS on the market" function properly. Does Garmin own Stryd or something?

I don't pretend to be an expert Joshtee, but I don't believe that the shorter distance that the F5X+ is yielding in wooded trails is correct. I've run the same courses for years with different devices as well as in big group runs where friends are using other models (Garmin and Suunto). NONE of the devices have yielded the low distances that the F5X+ is reporting.
I myself have used a Suunto Ambit 3 Peak for the last 4 years. I've found it to be incredibly close to official stated distances on trails all over the northeast USA, including dozens of trail races during that time. I've done A couple of runs using both watches simultaneously which have resulted in the F5X+ yielding about 10% less distance than the Suunto. On one of my favorite "home trails" the Suunto gives me 7.4 miles for the loop and the F5X+ gives me 6.7 miles. There is a race every year on this same loop and the stated distance is 7.45 miles.

I've been holding out hope that this issue can be fixed with GPS firmware updates, but I'm not sure. Sometimes, on other trail systems, the F5X+ nails the distance. It just seems to suck on the ones I care about most!

Anyway, I'm running a 6 hour trail race on Sunday and am hoping to get some good data from strava with so many people running the same course.

I have to say that I find it absolutely mind-blowing that people seem to be perfectly fine with needing to purchase a third party device (stryd) in order
to make "the best wrist worn GPS on the market" function properly. Does Garmin own Stryd or something?

I look at it this way: All sport watches from all vendors suck at something.

With the Garmin, I am so lucky that it sucks at something I can actually do something about by buying a third party device.

If I owned another watch, it would suck at something else, and that might not be anything I could do anything about.

So in my case, the pragmatic solution was to stay with Garmin and buy a Stryd.

This was exactly the reason that I started my recommendation with: "If you are otherwise happy about the watch..." - because if you are not otherwise happy with the watch, you should run away and buy something else. It will not make sense trying to fix something which you will not be satisfied with afterwards anyway.

I had not expected to be ridiculed in this way for trying to help you. The next time I will think twice.

No good deed goes unpunished...

No good deed goes unpunished...

sigh....