Had issues earlier uploading images and attachments, so I'm just going to link to all the screenshots I took for the issues I had with my watch on my last hike.
I'll begin by saying that for my first long hike with the 5+ I was very happy with the results. It helped me, especially the maps, in some very wooded areas and lost trails. The stats were also valuable, but as you will see, there were some issues. I have started a ticket with support, but thought I'd post my results here in case others are having similar issues, can correct me if I'm doing something wrong, or can provide any answers.
For reference, you can view my tracked courses on Garmin Connect at the links below which provide spot-on data.
Route to summit
Route back to trailhead
Issues:
Elevation Profile and Climb Pro
Elevation Profile was not working from the start. I even calibrated the elevation prior to starting the hike hoping that would help, but it did not. GPS locked on my position within seconds and did great on the entire hike. As seen in the courses above, this mountain is about 5,000 feet in elevation gain, yet the elevation profile displayed a flat line with a spike at the end. As I hiked up the mountain, the final elevation at the end of the graph only increased. Here are some screenshots of the ascent taken at different intervals:
Elevation Profile Ascent
The start elevation and the elevation gain up to the current elevation at the time looked fine, but again, the final elevation was always off and made the elevation profile screens useless. Here are some screenshots of the descent:
Elevation Profile Descent
Climb Pro was even worse. Too bad because I was really looking forward to having it help me gauge steep climbs.
Climb Pro Ascent
Waypoints
I don't know if I set up waypoints incorrectly or maybe the feature just doesn't work the way I expected, but I had hoped that adding waypoints in a BaseCamp created course would alert me when I was approaching and show the distance remaining to the next waypoint in the data screen on the watch as I had set. Neither worked. Instead, the Distance to Next field showed the distance to the end of the course. Here is the course from BaseCamp that I uploaded to the watch:
BaseCamp Course Details
Did I do something wrong? Any suggestions or comments here?
ETA
Finally, the ETA issue. On the hike up to the summit, the ETA worked just fine and adjusted to my pace properly. On the way down however, it was off from the beginning. In the screens below, you can see how I had almost 4 miles remaining. At 11:31, my pace was about 20min per mile so I should have an ETA of about 12:50 or so. Instead, it showed me finishing the course at 12:08!
ETA with time
Here are a couple more screens showing my pace and ETA:
ETA with pace
Again, very strange that ETA worked fine on my summit approach, but failed on the descent.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed using the fenix for my hike. It helped navigate me properly and provided most of the stats I needed during the course. Still, having correct elevation profiles, climb pro, waypoints, and ETA working would have made the day perfect. I'm hoping all this can get resolved before my next big hike!
