GPS Accuracy

For everyone experiencing GPS issues- please write to Garmin support and provide them with evidence. No one will bother to look into fixing things otherwise!

+1 to this. I've found Garmin Support to be responsive, helpful, and appreciative when I've provided data, screen shots, links to activities, etc. Although I've found the pace tracking to be more accurate lately, I've shared my varied experiences with Garmin Support and they told me that they were aware of reports about differences between the 935 and the fenix 5, and were looking into it. So providing them specific data and evidence does seem helpful both in terms of elevating the issues, and helping their technical folks identify and correct any issues.

Just out of interest what level of accuracy from a wrist-worn GPS device are you expecting?

I know, that most of the users forget the GPS accuracy is about 3-5meters. Nevertheless by personal opinion is that the accuracy of Fenix 5 is worse than 920XT i was using for 2,5 years. And instant / average pace is terrible in case you make a turn around. (920XT was much better here as well)

Go ahead and report that to Garmin directly. I have been providing them with comparisons between my 5X and FR935 for a while, where there is a clear difference in the quality of the tracks/pace recorded.

I know, that most of the users forget the GPS accuracy is about 3-5meters. Nevertheless by personal opinion is that the accuracy of Fenix 5 is worse than 920XT i was using for 2,5 years. And instant / average pace is terrible in case you make a turn around. (920XT was much better here as well)

Actually no. GPS accuracy is about 10m (per data point) http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/ While it is possible to get better, expectations need to be better aligned with reality. And the reality is that 3% to 5% is actually quite good under most circumstances.

As for instant pace? I don't give a toss about how the graphs look like after the activity. Of more interest to me is how the device operates during the activity. The 920 will show wide differences in pace when I look at it, particularly if I do so frequently. However, when I only look at it infrequently, it appears pretty much ok. On a graph? Is this ok? https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1737772774

Different in different locations

Hey all,
I'm experiencing some of the same accuracy issues as you guys. I've used my Fenix 5 Sapphire on about 10 runs since I've had it. I live in a neighborhood in Louisville, KY with a lot of large oak trees on the main roads so I've always thought that made a difference. Since day 1 my watch has been about 2 tenths of a mile shorter on distance than my iPhone on 5-6 mile runs (Using Map My Run). (GPS only, 1 second). Last week I was on vacation in FL and ran three times with it. Each run between 5-7 miles. Same settings and for all of these runs the watch was only 1 or 2 one hundredths off. Which is pretty much spot on as far as I'm concerned. This morning I ran at home and turned on GPS + GLONASS just to see if it made a difference. On a 6 mile run my iPhone said I ran 6.01 miles and my Fenix 5 said I ran 5.72. Almost 3 tenths of a mile off! WTF? I'm not a professional runner or anything like that so it's not a huge concern. I, just like most of you expect a little more out of a $600 watch. When I look at a map my tracks aren't that much different so it's weird that they would register that large a difference in distance. Shouldn't GPS + GLONASS give a better track? Has anyone else experienced differences in accuracy based on geographic location? Seems odd.

Actually no. GPS accuracy is about 10m (per data point) http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/ While it is possible to get better, expectations need to be better aligned with reality. And the reality is that 3% to 5% is actually quite good under most circumstances.

As for instant pace? I don't give a toss about how the graphs look like after the activity. Of more interest to me is how the device operates during the activity. The 920 will show wide differences in pace when I look at it, particularly if I do so frequently. However, when I only look at it infrequently, it appears pretty much ok. On a graph? Is this ok? https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1737772774

Expectations are mainly, or at least largely, based on experiences with previous watches/models though. They suffer from the same limitation with regards to gps but somehow seem to make it work pretty well giving us the illusion it's much more precise.. If they can do it, one can only assume a new high-end model from a recognized manufacturer can do it too. If that new watch performs worse compared to the older ones, one is disappointed.

About (instant) pace, well... The graphs are a representation of performance during the activity right? When you use pace for your training it kinda sucks when it varies too much in a short time as you can't really take it into account then. I usually use avg pace and then it's less of an issue, overall it evens out. But when doing intervals towards a certain pace it really sucks if the pace isn't as accurate (especially when the intervals are max 1k for example it's hard to 'find the right speed').

Anyway, it's all depending on how you use it and what is acceptable to you as a user of course... And from what I read the 3.30 fw seems to have improved things which is nice!

What's strange with pace on my FR235 is that's it's pretty solid when I run (using the footpod or not, reacts a lot more quickly with the footpod of course) but looks like crap on GC ! Doesn't really matter but still perplexing.

Ran Asics Stockholm Marathon yesterday and the watch measured the marathon to 43,05 km. +1 km on a marathon is very bad accuracy... GPS + Glonass and 1 sec recording.

Ran Asics Stockholm Marathon yesterday and the watch measured the marathon to 43,05 km. +1 km on a marathon is very bad accuracy... GPS + Glonass and 1 sec recording.

Given that it's a race, I presume you can extract the complete GPX / TCX file from a fellow runner - and compare it using the My GPS Files website.

You should send this comparison to Garmin support!
(You can even post it here!)