GPS Accuracy

As if the smartphones haven't put enough hurt on Garmin. Lol, looks what's just around corner.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/your-phones-gps-is-about-to-get-a-massive-upgrade/

(though I have a 935 after returning the F5 because of these gps issues) .

How do you find the 935 FlipStone? At the moment, changing to a 935 is my preferred option, although I'm going along with Garmin Support at the moment...

I did another test last night with my Fenix 5. It was a 4.4 km run with GPS+GLONASS on in my neighbourhood - a little challenging as there are some apartment blocks and trees. My Fenix recorded the distance as 4.04 km, lots of corners cut. It made quite a difference to my recorded pace though. Fenix 5 pace - 5:07/km, pace calculated by actual distance/time 4:41/km. I'm going to report back to support today :)

Cut corners sound more like you didn't have 1 second recording turned on.

1 second recording is definitely on. Here's the run. I must say it's one of the worst for accuracy. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2000523445

How do you find the 935 FlipStone? At the moment, changing to a 935 is my preferred option, although I'm going along with Garmin Support at the moment...

I did another test last night with my Fenix 5. It was a 4.4 km run with GPS+GLONASS on in my neighbourhood - a little challenging as there are some apartment blocks and trees. My Fenix recorded the distance as 4.04 km, lots of corners cut. It made quite a difference to my recorded pace though. Fenix 5 pace - 5:07/km, pace calculated by actual distance/time 4:41/km. I'm going to report back to support today :)

I am really happy with it...

At first I was afraid I would find it too plasticky, I preferred the Fenix5 looks in the beginning. But it's actually very nice, way more subtle and I now also prefer the 935 looks. The only thing still annoying me now and then is the black ring around the display, with the F5 there are some markings on it making it less obvious. But with a black watchface this is also a small point.

But most importantly, it just performed way better then the F5 I had. GPS tracks were smooth and that was my main reason for changing. Also, the lighter weight helps when running (you notice it less, but also less moving around which improves OHR measurements).

An added bonus is the wifi, didn't know I would like it so much but it just works so smooth and faster then bluetooth. (Well, I had it loose my wifi network once but ok). I do feel the F5 has a more glass display which is better by default, but I have a screenprotector on the 935 which also fixes that.

So all in all, haven't regretted the switch for 1 second :)

Btw, I never use/used any pods so can't comment on connection issues... My main gripe back then was the GPS signal.

Of course, everybody is aware of the limitations of GPS.

But as some watches perform very good, e.g.old garmins, other newer and expensive ones don't. I also switched from F5 to 935 and am very satisfied with GPS performance now.

I don't think all the F5's can be bad. I've been actually quite surprised how good the lap accuracy and total distance is on mine. I think it's as good if not even better than my FR235. I've ran some weeks without Stryd (using it only for power) and I don't really miss it for anything but more reactive / accurate pace readings and even then power makes up that loss quite nicely. Actually since there is an inaccuracy at start of an activity with Stryd that causes sometimes the first 40m to be lost, the laps hold up even better with the F5.

I ran yesterday 12 km on a forest road, it was a round trip, 6 km one way and the other 6 going back over the same route (at least that's what my f5 says)

Regarding distance accuracy I am surprised about getting the same distance on the first 6 km than in the second 6. I had a difference of some 40-50 mts between the 2 segments. I would lke to think that this is a good signal of accuracy or at least of consistency.

However, the first 2 kms or so were recorded very far from the road.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2023436344

I ran with GLONASS turned off. I have read opposing comments about GLONASS but not sure what is the consensus. Should I leave it off or should I turn it on?

I use smart recording, I wonder if 1 second recording have made any difference in the 2 first kilometers

Thanks for your comments.

I have experienced the issues other people mention here with all of my previous Garmin devices (I had 4... I vividly remember how on my old Fenix 1, I once couldn't get GPS fix for 15-20 minutes into a race).

What really works for me is to ensure that you do not actually start the activity before the GPS-based instant pace goes to dead zero (--:-- on watch screen). You will notice that shortly after GPS indicator going green, the pace moves a bit -- this is as the accuracy increases with a better fix and your position gets closer to where you really are. Other alternative is to have the GPS accuracy data field shown and don't start running until it's stabilizes at a value lower than 10 metres.

After following these rules I never had any major problem. If I start running before GPS "settles down" though it almost always drifts through a major part of the run; it takes much longer to correct once in the activity.

I've owned my fenix 5 for several months and have loved everything about it until this weekend when I ran a 50K race and the mileage was off by over three miles. Apparently, the watch lost GPS signal and reconnected multiple times during the race. I've uploaded the tracks from my race and someone who finished 2 seconds ahead of me. We ran the exact same course, but you'd think I got lost from looking at the maps. I'm not nitpicky and haven't cared that my previous runs haven't followed the road precisely or cut a corner slightly, but the watch completely failed during the race and this is unacceptable for being Garmin's flagship watch. I've never had this problem with my Forerunner 220 or just using Strava on my iPhone (even running the same course).

I had been using GPS NORMAL and Smart Recording and I've since changed to GPS+GLONASS and Every Second Recording so we will see if this makes a difference. Curious if anyone else has experienced this problem and found that the settings made any difference. Again, I don't expect the GPS to perform flawlessly as I understand the limitations of a wearable. but I'm very disappointed that the fenix 5 let me down during an important race. ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1258494.jpg