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Dear Garmin - What do I miss here???? Fenix 5 bad accuracy

Former Member over 8 years ago

Sorry to write this way but I am a bit sad about my Fenix 5 saphire which was not a cheap buy but when I see the results of the tracking and also how the connect app is organized, I could throw up. I changed from Fitbit which was very accurate to garmin as I tought the watch would be a pretty good choise in accuracy, water resistent, apps and so on.... looks like I was totally wrong.

1.) What is going on with the calories burned tracking?

I am 186cm, 99Kg, 39 y/o.
Garmin tells me already now at 8:20 in the morning that I overall burned 1177kcal by sitting in the office??? and 700 steps?

Yesterday I did a workout with weight lifting in the morning but again...overall calories burned = about 4500???? Resting time etc. ok but it looks like I burn like a volcano while I rest.....

Sorry but I guess something is totally wrong here or do I miss anything? Activity class is set to 2 which should not be too high I guess, or is it?

2.) Sleep tracking:

Also compared to fitbit which was very accurate and knew exactly when I started to fall asleep (it even knew that I was just staying on the couch for 2 hours before I went to bed) my fenix or the connect needs to be adjusted... in other words I have to jump in and manually edit the tracked sleeping hours myself which is totally weird!

Thanks for the help and support... if this is not explainable I will send it back and do a quick youtube video on this accuracy issue if this can't be explained.

0 rickj2903 over 8 years ago

So yesterday I received a replacement Fenix 5 sapphire after I encountered issues with the altimeter on the original unit.

Really quick turnaround by Garmin support so well done for that.

However this morning I had no sleep data (movement/depth of sleep) although it had recorded the correct times for me going to sleep and waking up. So far today I know for a fact that I have climbed at least 4 sets of stairs, yet the watch shows none. I haven't even used the original watch or this unit outdoors yet so haven't started worrying about GPS accuracy and I'm not an elite runner so I'm not worried about instant pace accuracy and such like but what I am worried about is feeling ripped off. I paid £650 for the sapphire performer bundle and have yet to feel comfortable with any element of this watch. My £150 Fitbit blaze was more accurate at counting floors and recording sleep. I wasn't worried about the elevation of my location until I bought this watch but now I've spent the money I expect the watch to do what it says it should and it doesn't.

I love the way the watch looks and the fact that I can wear it for work and it still looks professional but for the money this watch is nothing but an expensive bangle.

0 WillCW over 8 years ago

I feel for you guys so you may not be consoled by the fact that I do not have any of these issues with my F5X. Assuming all your profile settings are correct, I would suggest you return/replace your watch. Better luck on your next one.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

With the exception of stairs, my 5S seems to be pretty accurate. In two weeks I have only had to edit one sleep session. I was coming from a Fitbit Alta and I actually wore them both at first just to compare, and the differences in everything was negligible. Prior to the Alta I used a Zip and did the same, wearing both, with differences such as phantom steps from arm movements and missed steps from pushing a cart being a wash. The calorie count is what matters to me most, anyway.

It sounds like something is not entered correctly in your settings, in regards to your calorie estimates that you are getting.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Make sure that your height, weight, etc. settings (and Metric or not) on the watch and in Garmin Connect are correct.
I have had no problems with any of the data provided. I had a FitBit and it was junk - it was barely "humidity proof" and
the watch band caused a rash - and this is commonly noted on the FitBit forum, until they kick you off for complaining.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I think it would help many people to have a kind of quick start video or whatever where most important adjustments you need to do as a new user are coverd. Today it seems (evening here) I get a bit better and realistic result even that I think the resting burned calories are high. Do I maybe also need to take a 5 kilometers walk using the GPS so the watch knows my step length, pulse etc? I dont know that.

Can anybody provide a quick start list and what I need to take care of in order to get the most accurate resulta?

Thanks

0 JohnnyIA over 8 years ago

My calorie count is high as well, I've had the sapphire Fenix 5 for 2 weeks now and every day has been at least 3000+ calories. I'm 5'11" everything on the watch and Garmin connect is correct, tried different activity classes with no luck.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Another day, another issue......

I went to bed at 12:10 and woke up in the night at 2 and could not sleep anymore, so I watched a movie on the couch and went back to bed at 4 to wake up at 8:35 in the morning.

What did the Fenix 5 track?
Sleep of 4h 35min -> from 4 to 8:35 WHAT?!?!?!

Next issue:

Never had this problem until today but I live on the 5th floor and today when I walked the stairs to my appartment the Fenix counts 0 "ZERO, NADA"...

Again WHAT?!?!?

Does anyone from Gamin Support read this here? I am really getting a bad feeling with this 750CHF (Swiss Franks) tracker. Should I send it back? Can it be fixed with a software update they release soon?

Sorry but this is a no go in such a price segment!

0 NYanakiev7 over 8 years ago

I understand that you may be having issues but chill. Contact Garmin directly, rather than just write on these boards or simply get your money back.
Stress is bad for you!

0 Dr Phil over 8 years ago

Send it back. Buy a Fitbit.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I have both fitbit Charge HR and F5 on my wrists (one each of course) and using FB and F3/5 since almost 2 years in parralel.

I can tell how much Garmin is way more accurate then FB, charge HR is a nice toy doing the job ok but it counts everything way out.
HR is ok for daily things but not workouts, it's very economy oriented and HR is refreshed kind of "smartly" but not regularly.

You might a fault Garmin but in general they are awesomely accurate.