Topuli's GPS tracks are within a hundred feet or so. That FENIX 5-series GPS track is off by miles, it is the same identical track I've hiked dozens of times with my FR610, and the FR610 has always shown both the correct GPS track and the correct distance (with no discernible GPS drift on the Garmin map). In contrast the total distance reported by the FENIX 5-series is 12.5 miles instead of 8.5 miles. I've done this hike several times a year for 20 years. The hike distance is known to be 8.5 miles, and verifiable by CalTopo, Fosters RMNP guide book, Rocky Mountain National Park maps, and local trail signs. Everytime I've done the hike, that distance has been verified by my FR610. I've also always had accurate GPS tracks with my FR610, but with the new FENIX 5 both the GPS track and the Distance are all over the map... the FENIX is off by miles. (Scott, yes when I stop to rest, I stop/start my hike track). Something is terribly wrong here. In 15 years of owning Garmin GPS devices, I've never seen such a bad GPS track. Not just the track, but the resulting total distance is off by a whopping 4 miles.
Topuli - I'd consider that fairly normal for a GPS watch. Those tall buildings are interfering with the GPS signal. Plus, you're walking and GPS watches tend to do better at a faster pace, for whatever reason.
morebits - My uneducated guess is: You paused your activity when you took a rest break. When you resumed your activity, the Fenix struggled to get the GPS lock for a few moments. You can see those points where the track darted way out, and then came back once it had a true lock. This is explains the additional distance (4 miles). I've experienced this a few times as well when I'm hiking. I'm not sayig it's acceptable, because I share your frustrations; I'm just explaining the additional distance. Looking at my past hikes and activities, my FR235 tracked way better than my Fenix 5 does. Pretty sad that a lower end running watch performs better than Garmin's most expensive flagship device.
It's pretty clear the Fenix 5 and 5s have worse antenna reception. Based on DCRainmkakers last post in regards to the ANT+ reception issue, I now have zero confidence Garmin will be able to fix these issues. Unfortunately for me, I'm way beyond my return window, so I'm stuck with this.
I hiked the Four Pass Loop in Aspen CO which by all recorded accounts is 28 miles. (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5186829.pdf) Using my Fenix 3 (which has never shown much accuracy on anything GPS, current elevation, elevation gain/decrease etc) it recorded as 31.78 miles. I even made a composite of the tracks in Photoshop (attached) to make sure the tracking was accurate to the maps. Why is the Fenix 3 so inaccurate?ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1238410.jpg
Yesterday I was running with GPS-mode only (without GLONASS). I waited for the GPS-fix a little bit longer. Conclusion: pace is more persistent and the track on Garmin connect is smoother.
i was stating that the watch is alright if the conditions for gps are really good, but as treecover or even smaller houses appear it's going bananas. i was also stating that i have lots of experience with gps watches (back to the fr305 days) and the fenix is by far the worst watch in not ideal conditions, while being the most expensive and also marketed as highend trailrunning (might involve trees) watch. as there are also lots of positive remarks here in the forum i was asking for a exchange model.
garmin d responded now:
Einen Ger?tedefekt sehen wir hier, nach Ansicht der Aufzeichnungen, nicht. Daher k?nnen wir hier auch keine Einsendung vornehmen. Wir werden jedoch die Aufzeichungen an die Produktentwickler weiterleiten und darauf hinweisen, dass hier ggf. eine Anpassung der GPS-Firmware in Betracht gezogen werden sollte.
so they say the watch isn't defective and they can't send me a exchange model. but hey can send my observations to the developers which might look into the gps firmware.
I have been using Polar M400 for many years and it has been a great product. But this spring I saw Fenix 5 on the market and decided to buy it. With Polar, the gps tracking has been perfect but with Fenix 5 very bad. I am very disappointed and can not give it back to the store because it has been a while since I bought it. As you can see on the image, correct track is at the right but the red Garmin trace is way off to the left. :(
All my traces looks exactly as yours. But not only when there are some trees, but also on the athletic track! I?m very disappoited with this watch - wanted to buy the best on the market (I read many superlative reviews - GPS/Glonass... wau! - but effectively Glonass must be turned off, because it?s contra productive :-( ), now I want to trash them (fenix 5s). Especially when I see (on Strava), how the cheaper Polar M400 or V800 are accurate.
My settings are gps only (not Glonass) and date wgs84. I have an old (nine year) Garmin 76 handheld gps which plots the position and track better than this new Fenix 5. I wish Garmin can fix this issue via firmware update or by sending out new units to customers.
Agree with you on most of what you said. However I don't believe the problem can be fixed with firmware updates, it's hardware. I would love to be proven wrong.
