GPS accuracy first two tests

I was all set to buy myself a 5X when they came into stock; but judging from the example tracks that have been posted so far here and on the 5/5s forum it seem that the F5 is as bad as the F3 was for GPS accuracy.

After going through all the these problems with 2 different F3 units, finally returning them for a refund... I don't fancy going through all that again.

I'm sure plenty of people will be happy with theirs, maybe doing activities in areas that don't produce as many issues. But I run and ride around buildings and in woodland and I would, sadly, get better accuracy out of my iPhone or some £25 second hand age-old Forerunner watch off ebay.

I'm actually quite sad about it :(

This thread is relevant to all in this forum:

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?371929-GPS-Accuracy

Let's not act hastily, shall we? Look at the Suunto Spartan Ultra, which was quite bad at first but improved A LOT!

If you're not set for 1 second recording then don't expect decent tracks. The "smart" option is very conservative in terms of power but isn't really very useful for anything else in my experience with the F3.

Looks just like the Fenix 3, unfortunately. There's a huge thread on GPS accuracy in the F3 forums, of course. The same things hold true: every cell phone I've owned gives a better track than the Fenix watches do, and I tried five F3's. People will say it's due to trees and buildings, but those don't bother my phones. And people will say they are not interested in "pretty tracks", that it's a training watch, but people have different expectations of their watch and are entitled to them.

That's because your phone uses assisted GPS - pulling info from the skyhook database of nearby wifi hotspots and also triangulating from cell towers. Take your phone off grid and see how well it works.

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Morning! A quick run in the park, consisting of two loops and one smaller circle towards the end. I did a similar (but longer version of the run yesterday, as you can see from my previous post above;

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1630245800

First time set up and run, the GPS took over 10 mins to get a full lock. Is this the norm? Its quick now on each activity.

First few runs with SMART recording/GLONASS Off (Defaults) are shocking tracks and incorrect distance. I think I had similar with the Fenix 3 which got a lot better after a few runs.

SMART is never going to give you good tracks. Use 1 second.

This statement is false. My F5 has been excellent on trail and road runs. Much better than F3 ever was initially! Even ultra trac mode has been exact by the .01 miles!

I was all set to buy myself a 5X when they came into stock; but judging from the example tracks that have been posted so far here and on the 5/5s forum it seem that the F5 is as bad as the F3 was for GPS accuracy.

After going through all the these problems with 2 different F3 units, finally returning them for a refund... I don't fancy going through all that again.

I'm sure plenty of people will be happy with theirs, maybe doing activities in areas that don't produce as many issues. But I run and ride around buildings and in woodland and I would, sadly, get better accuracy out of my iPhone or some £25 second hand age-old Forerunner watch off ebay.

I'm actually quite sad about it :(

This statement is false. My F5 has been excellent on trail and road runs. Much better than F3 ever was initially! Even ultra trac mode has been exact by the .01 miles!

My statement was not false; it was based on looking at all of the samples I could find on this and other forums.

While it may well be tracking fine for you, and for many other people for that matter; there are also lots of people for whom it has been tracking terribly.

GPS accuracy is very dependant on tree and building cover, position of the device and so on and some people simply use it in areas where the signal doesn't get blocked as much as it does for other people in other areas. It working well for you doesn't invalidate the people who find it doesn't work well.

My only issue with the F3 and F5 is that it simply does not perform as well as other GPS watches in terms of GPS accuracy, for a lot of people. I could buy a secondhand Forerunner off ebay for £50 and do a run in my local area with an F3 and an F5 on the same wrist besides the Forerunner..... and the Forerunner would produce a much more accurate track.