How long does it take to "lock" the GPS signal?

I used to have a Fenix 3 and a Fenix 3HR. It would usually take ~5 seconds to lock the GPS at the beginning of a run (except during first use and when traveling far away from home, which is normal). I just got a Fenix 5X, and used it for outside runs 6 times. Every single time, it took more than a minute to lock the signal.

1) How long does your Fenix 5X take to lock the GPS at the beginning of a run?
2) I configured my running app to use GPS+GLONASS. Could this be the reason?

Thank you.

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

If anything it should get a lock faster with GPS + GLONASS as there are more satellites. Having said that how long a particular watch takes depends on where you are, where you were when you last had a lock and if anything is blocking signals from certain directions. There's really no 'answer' to your question, some will be faster than yours and some slower.

0 bglover11 over 8 years ago

I've had my 5X about a week now, day 1 first GPS lock took maybe 10-15 seconds, every lock after that has taken less than 5 seconds (GPS only, no glonass). Very similar if not faster than my old F3 in the same area.

0 lapins over 8 years ago

I've had my 5X about a week now, day 1 first GPS lock took maybe 10-15 seconds, every lock after that has taken less than 5 seconds. Very similar if not faster than my old F3 in the same area.

Thank you for the info.

I was expecting my F5 to behave identically to my previous F3 & F3HR. As mentioned above, this is not the case, even though all the parameters that could affect the GPS signal (location, tree cover, buildings, etc) are unchanged.

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

Go to settings> about, and move through the screens. What does it say for EPO?

0 lapins over 8 years ago

Go to settings> about, and move through the screens. What does it say for EPO?

Good point: I should have mentioned it says "EPO: Current"

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

With the 2.72 beta, there's an update to GPS, along with this note. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try this even though it says the data is current...

In this beta software there is a GPS update. Before use, we recommend that all users allow their device an opportunity 'soak' and acquire GPS at least 15 minutes, with an open view of the sky, to rebuild ephemeris data