Galileo and 5x

There is some interesting opinion here and discussion in this thread.

So with the GPS capability of the Fenix 5x proving to not be best in class (cough) and Galileo GPS being available in the new iPhone etc. Are we likely to see that as an option to enable soon? Apparently it would help a lot where the mere site of a structure seems to cause the 5x to draw maps like a five year old trying to draw between the lines.

I don't know the GSP chipset in the 5x so couldn't see if it was a support model on the Galileo website.

I find these "Garmin Fenix 5X GPS is crap/not best in class/etc" posts amusing.

Here are my last 3 races as measured by my F5X (50km, 50km, 100km): 49.69km (v2.90), 49.67km (v4.10), 100.7km (v5.40). That last 100km race I added about 300 metres to the course by taking a wrong turn. These were all trail ultras with variety of conditions - mountains, tree cover, sharp twisting trails, tall cliffs, etc.

Furthermore, when I had to follow a course for 2 of these races, the watch was spot on every time I looked at the map/track.

The final trail is not always 100% accurate and has some corners cut (rarely) but in terms of mission-critical functions of a watch like this (accurate distance, accurate map/course tracking) it is simply the best device I've owned so far.

Where I live I find the gps works good for me, I ride some pretty heavy, tree covered trails and it does well! However in several different cities, in different countries I have found it to be not so good. So people's experiences of the watch are different depending on location!

Personally I would have hoped for it (5x) to be the benchmark for watch based gps devices and it's disappointing when it fares worse than much cheaper, less capable devices. Hence not best In class.

Don't get me wrong, I love the watch and would recommend to anyone if they lived somewhere where they got good gps with it!

It just sounds like Galileo being enabled could help fix some of these gps issues for those in less fortunate areas and maybe fine tune it for the rest of us!

mick,

Where I live I find the gps works good for me, I ride some pretty heavy, tree covered trails and it does well! However in several different cities, in different countries I have found it to be not so good. So people's experiences of the watch are different depending on location!

Personally I would have hoped for it (5x) to be the benchmark for watch based gps devices and it's disappointing when it fares worse than much cheaper, less capable devices. Hence not best In class.

Don't get me wrong, I love the watch and would recommend to anyone if they lived somewhere where they got good gps with it!

It just sounds like Galileo being enabled could help fix some of these gps issues for those in less fortunate areas and maybe fine tune it for the rest of us!

mick,

Yeah Mick, I agree - maybe I'm just lucky with where I live (Australia). Maybe I'm just lucky with my sample of the F5X. I've found it does struggle in the cities (i.e. CBDs, tall buildings, etc) but I would expect every device to struggle - it is simply a limitation of GPS, not individual devices.

I just know that when it really counts - races, long runs, key training sessions, this thing has not let me down.

Do you think Galileo can be implemented via software only on the F5X?

I was expecting it to not do well in city centres - even my phone struggles. Though Galileo apparently inproves that over gps too!

In theory if the chipset supports it, it could be enabled by a firmware upgrade.

I was expecting it to not do well in city centres - even my phone struggles. Though Galileo apparently inproves that over gps too!

In theory if the chipset supports it, it could be enabled by a firmware upgrade.

I have a feeling that garmin will release a new watch and guess what ?Will have Galileo enabled.But you know what ?It will be a new watch and you and i we will buy it if we want Galileo enabled.But on fenix5x i doubt that we will see this option enabled...Like always garmin do...

Fenix 5X GPS chip is MTK 3333AV which can be found on almost all Garmin GPS watches. It supports Galileo according to information from MTK.
Will supporting Galileo increase Fenix 5X GPS accuracy? Accuracy is not only based on a chip, but also antenna design, case design etc. lots of different things. People here say, much cheaper Garmin watches has more accurate GPS than Fenix'es. So in particular it may not help our Fenix'es as much as other watches if there's an issue with desing side. Maybe it helps, who knows without trying.
Will Garmin implement it? Garmin supports GPS and Glonass satellite constellations. But Galileo is not the only other GPS constellation that it doesn't support. We already have Bediou constellation pushing locations signals to earth, MTK 3333 supports it and Garmin doesn't enabled it. So it's hard to say Garmin will enable Galileo in our watches just via update. Maybe in next generation watches maybe with newer GPS chips it'll enable it...
But again how much accuracy it will add. And how much battery consumption it will add? For me when cycling GPS works fine enough. But when I pause and resume, it marks some extremely high and false speeds, that's issue. But when running among buildings, that's a different story; it can jump me on other roads over the buildings. :D

Maybe in next generation watches maybe with newer GPS chips it'll enable it...

There exists already one Garmin wearable with Galileo support, although it's not quite fitness-oriented.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/572639/pn/010-01772-00#

But again how much accuracy it will add. And how much battery consumption it will add? For me when cycling GPS works fine enough. But when I pause and resume, it marks some extremely high and false speeds, that's issue. But when running among buildings, that's a different story; it can jump me on other roads over the buildings. :D

read my link about new L5 frequency radio signals for GPS