A little (sad) summary of my experience with the F5

Garmin should invest a lot more in QE.. especially SW QE...

A lot of small details are so obviously broken, which I would guess being a SW developer myself, would not take long fixing. Like syncing data.. basic data like FTP or lactate threshold and displaying it consistently on the watch, in the app and on the web side. Or like translating strings.... Or setting alarms... So simple, yet Garmin fails.

At least I haven't had a mid-activity reboot yet with the F5. So, no data loss (yet).

If only Garmin would open their interfaces or open source their apps (and focus on the HW and the SW on the HW).... then we could help fixing bugs or develop working alternatives.

*sigh*

Sorry for the rant.

I had an erratic pace issue with mine too but it would only rise and fall by about +- 1min/km. I have since bought the foot pod and things do look better. Both tracking and distance are better on my f5 than hey were on my f3 so in that regard I'm happy. I've also noticed issues with garmin connect which I've emailed garmin about. Things will absolutely get better, garmin are issuing updates pretty frequently and I refuse to believe that there is any sort of hardware issue e.g. the metal bezel causing weak gps and Bluetooth signal.

Almost all your problems are because of poor GPS performance. I feel your disappointment and if you don't care about look that much, based on several reports, FR935 could serve you better with the same function set.

And yes Ambit2/3 GPS tracks are one of the best, hard to match.

My first GPS watch was the Suunto Ambit 3 in the end of 2015. The price had dropped to 200 Euros (!). I really wanted the F3, but had to skip it, because it was too expensive at that time.
So, I began preparing for my first half marathon. It was a delight running with a watch. I was surprised by the accuracy of the Ambit 3. It recorded my runs very accurate. I could rely on the navigation. The stats were always complete after a run and identical to the stats I recorded with some apps on the smartphone.

When I heard about the F5, I was hyped. The price scared me, but all the functions and the look of this watch allured me. Garmin wasn't new to me. I hike a lot with my etrex. That thing never let me down - NEVER!! And I was in places, I would have never come out of alive without that little helper. So two weeks ago, I decided to join the Fenix Club.

Let's get to the ugly part:
I have done 5 runs with the F5 now. I started with FW Version 2.90. The 2.95 beta hasn't done any improvement regarding my issues with the watch.
In all of my 5 runs the behaviour of the watch made me disappointed. The disappointment turned into anger fast, which made me run faster, but that is not the point.
Here we go:

• The pace was jumping from 5:00 min/km to 30:00 min/km every second. Every app showed different behaviour in pace. The result is an erratic pace chart in Garmin Connect.
  
• When navigating, the watch tells me every 20 seconds, that I'm off-course, but I never left the course. 5 seconds later it tells me, that I'm on-course again. It's permanently pushing this notification to the display. Makes navigation painful.
  
• Today, it rebooted twice during a 16km run. At least I was able to resume the run where the watch had stopped recording. So i got that going for me, which is nice.
  
• Garmin Connect showed the 16km run as a 14km run. Because of that, the pace was very slow. But after the sync to Strava, Strava showed the correct distance and pace.
  

Please don't tell me to get a foot pod or a stopwatch. How come, that watches at the half/third of the price of the F5 do everything they are supposed to do. If the F5 isn't able to show me my current pace, what it is good for then? Look fancy?
Please don't tell me, that you guys were living with these bugs for the last couple of years (F3/F2) and made the best with a bad bargain.

Do I have to wait for Garmin to fix these bugs with FW Updates?
I know I'm not the only one with these kind of problems, so I don't think, that I have a faulty hardware.

Just tell me, that it will get better.

Thanks for reading.

I wish I could tell you it will get better, but I don't think it will.

I have had an F3, F3HR, and an F5. I have had issues with all of them as well as other Garmin devices. I have lost entire workouts because of the device deciding to reboot by itself during the saving of activities. Also very inconsistent data on the same activities. I always felt I had to wear another device as a backup in case the fenix freaked out on me again.

I don't think Garmin really cares if half the features that they cram into these devices work or not. They sell a ton of them either way. I was hoping the F5 would be different, but started having the same types of issues with mine, so I returned it and got the Suunto Spartan Ultra. I have the Ambit 3 Peak too. The Suunto's are very dependable devices.

Kennedy mild

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?374586-Save-Yourself-The-Trouble&p=975463#post975463

Similar to Olu. F's experience, my F3 and now F5x have been stellar in 2+ years of use.

Yes, I've had minor GPS issues with the F5 but the pace & distance have always been spot on & that is what you need to improve - not perfect GPS tracks.

Having read a few reviews of the Suunto Spartan Ultra (their AUD $1k flagship watch) I honestly can't believe how anyone would opt for that unit over the F5X, which retails for the same amount here in Aus and has a ton more features (not to mention mapping).

My experience with the F5X so far has been that it has the best track accuracy of my last 3 watches... In my experience F5X > F3 > Ambit2. So to answer your question - you should return/exchange your F5 rather than waiting for something to improve.

I had Spartan Sport for a few months before I sold it and bought F5s. From my experience, Fenix is superior almost in every aspect.
Sure, some people have GPS issues, but you should have seen those early days maps from Spartan. Now, after 6 months they did improve, but lets give garmin a few updates before making any conclusions.

I am extremely happy with my F5s. I have a few issues (mostly pacing), but I am sure a few updates down the line this will improve.

So far my F5 has been great.

No scratches on the bezel (black Sapphire version)
No crashes or lost workouts
No gps tracking issues

Only issue I've had is with instant pace being slightly erratic. This was probably the same on my F3 but I just never noticed.

All in all I'm quite happy with it. So far it seems superior to my F3 in terms of functionality and gps tracking and so far it's as reliable, in that regard my F3 was rock solid.

Thank you guys for all your comments and support.

I really want to keep this watch, because of the functions and the look of it. I think once the bugs and flaws are patched and the watch unfolds it's full potential I will be lucky again.
I will contact the support to see, if my device is maybe faulty.

I got late to the Ambit 3, so it was already fully patched and everything worked smoothly. I get that. It just takes time, but after the release of the F5 I really couldn't wait for this watch to be on my wrist ^^

I want to stick with Garmin, already have two devices (hike and car) that work great and never let me down.

Hi. I'm ChevronLugs and I have a sickness.

I have:

• Suunto Spartan Ultra
  
• Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire
  
• fenix 5 (silver/blue)
  
• Garmin Oregon 700
  
• Garmin GPSMAP 64s
  
• Garmin Monterra
  
• Stryd Summit
  

On the purely fitness side, I'm a Suunto guy. I like the layout, and I freaking love Movescount. For me, it's logical. Where Suunto falls short is on the 24x7 activity tracking; Garmin has that nailed. The fenix 5 is my 24x7 HR/sleep/casual watch. When I don't care about absolute precision in HR tracking, like hiking, backpacking, and walking, I'll use the fenix 5 with WHR. Running and trail running duties go to the Spartan Ultra, with either the Rhythm+, or the Suunto Smart HR belt. I'll bring out the king (Ambit3) when I want to have the badass for comparison tracks. Still, even with the Ambit3 delivering great GPS tracks, from what I've seen the SSU delivers more accurate distance. I'm thinking Suunto is doing some good stuff with their FusedSpeed and Wrist Cadence.

I have had zero crashes with any of the watches, be it Garmin or Suunto. They're great. In a direct, head to head comparison between the f5 and Spartan Ultra, and on a day when GPS signals are good, the Spartan Ultra crushes the fenix 5 in precision. Meaning, the SSU gets pace, distance, and GPS tracks correct. On a day when GPS signals are marginal, they both freak out and neither will hit mile markers where the SSU hit them on a day prior. For me, it's about managing expectations; I know not every day is going to be a good GPS day. Birds in the sky aren't the same, day to day, even hour to hour, and there's environmental challenges. It's better than years ago when we had a foot pod and no GPS tracks, that's for sure.

It's all a bunch of fun gadgets. Some of the people here may very well be earning money off their races, and for that you're in a different league. For me, since I'm not earning anything off fitness related stuff, it's a hobby plain and simple. I have fun with my hobby.