I just started to use Stryd (instead of garmin foot pod) and here are some thoughts and observation.
1. I paired Stryd with F5x as footpod and set speed and distance to "always" and calibration to "off". So was recommended by fellrnr.com.
2. I ran on previously measured tracks (markers every 100meters)
3. I ran 100m, 200m, 400m at a pace 3:00 3:30 4:00 5:00 (each distance with each pace)
4. I checked the distance measured by Stryd at the end of every run.
5. I had a common stopwatch to calculate pace after each run by hand.
6. I did some "sequence runs" 100m@3:00 - 100m@5:00 - 400m@3:30 - 400m@5:00 using the lap button.
So:
1. It is incredible piece of hardware and software (I don't know which part do the job).
2. The biggest difference between measured distance and what Stryd provided was 2 meters! Regardless the pace!
3. Stryd constantly show the pace. There are no delays.
4. Garmin footpod calibrated to 5:00 "improved" its pace at 3:00 (sometimes by 10 percent). Stryd didn't. The pace was almost the same as calculated by hand.
5. I didn't care about watts. I simply do not understand that.
6. Stryd webpage (powercenter) is even worse than Garmin.
At the end I ran 5km track (measured and marked by people from parkrun). The track is located in a forest and completely covered by trees. It is a circle with 4 bends. Usually F5X (and F3) showed 4.6 - 4.8 km and you could clearly see on the map that bends were cut (shortened). With Stryd the map looked the same however the distance was 5.04 km which is impressing.
I know that the methodology was unprofessional but pretty accurate to check my needs. For me Stryd will be used as a primary source of pace and distance for sprints, intervals and tempo runs when you often change the pace. Otherwise (long runs, trails) I can run without it.
Regards,
W