Why I finally gave up on the F5X after 7 months of ownership

I will be posting my F5X out to its new owner in a few hours. I was in the early adopter wave when the watch first came out, having decided that I wanted Garmin's latest and greatest GPS watch with mapping!!!

Multiple software/beta releases down the line, I am still underwhelmed by how little is done to differentiate the 5X from the Fenix 5 despite its superiority from a hardware standpoint. Yes, maps work but are a pain to use with slow drawing and visual artifacts.

The main reason for using the watch for so long was the fact that it is compatible with my Stryd pod, which ensured that I can rely on accurate pace/distance+power measurements. Which brings me to the much discussed topic of the product's GPS accuracy, or lack thereof. Having used the Polar V800/Sunnto Ambit 3 Peak/Spartan, all recent Garmin watches I have owned have suffered from inferior GPS accuracy, while "sporting" a class reading price.

In addition, Garmin's continued neglect of the issues surrounding the use of multiple Garmin fitness devices (F5X+another Garmin tracker and/or Edge cycling computer) has been a major annoyance. Dealing with syncing and editing uploads from my 5X and Edge 1030 has been a pain.

My plan is to use my Apple Watch Series 3 for running/going to the gym, while paired with Stryd and record rides with my 1030.

I do hope that GPS performance will change for the better with the inclusion of Galileo by Garmin. Hopefully the next version of the 5X will be a little quicker and more differentiated than the rest of the product line.

Best,
Nick

0 sis651 over 7 years ago

Why you want it to be different from fenix 5's? Why should it be different or what you need to be different? It's already a Fenix 5 in the end, just with a X in the end maybe for extended or extra for maps. Also Chronos is almost same with those Fenix 5's, they don't make so much difference even in their different product lines.

What is a superior hardware, 16 GB storage and 32 MB RAM chip? Yes they are superior but they are for maps there. Also CIQ apps can make use of about 1 MB memory, almost 8 - 10 times more than other Fenix 5's. Maps load slower, 'cos they have a lot of data and probably in a standart format that's hard to be processed by a hundred MHz CPU. Change the processor with a higher frequency one and you'll lost most of the battery life advantage, a kind of trade off. I draw maps on my computer and some take long time to render even on a computer as realtime rendering is different than just displaying some pre renderen images on the screen.

For me it's already different with a map support, and that's why I bought it instead of my old Fenix 3. Fenix 5 line is follow up of Fenix 3 and they didn't add anything really new and functional over Fenix 3. But Fenix 5X adds map support, which sometimes helps a lot for me as taking out and using my phone, waiting GPS lock etc. is more time consuming and dangerous on activities. I bought Fenix 5X after using Fenix 3 and knowing what's in my ahead, so I'm happy enough with it...

Garmin Fenix GPS have never been so perfect as a Polar V800 and I doubt it'll be. Suunto and Polar uses Sirf chips for GPS signal acquisition and processing and very reliable chips. But Garmin can't make use them as they are banned for US companies for patent infringement issues. That's why older Garmin watches with Sirf chips, can beat current Garmin watches with MTK chips. Also maybe Garmin antenna designs are problematic too. For me my Fenix 5X functions well for bike activities (except wrong max. speed recorded after pause resume) but worse in running and especially worse in walking activities which is done in a slower speed. So Fenix'es like fast speeds.

Adding Galileo etc. means more processing for the GPS chip. Can be acceptable if the chip processes the multi GNSS signals with the same or lower power consumption. But even then I doubt how accurate it'll be. :D

0 dkatchalov over 7 years ago

Maps and 20 hour battery life in 1-sec GPS mode. Isn't that enough of a differentiation from the F5? Yes maps are slow but this is the first generation of a product with full navigation and TBT support. You have to be realistic in your expectations. Also map drawing in non heavily built up areas is fast.

Also the GPS in the F5X has been incredibly accurate for me and many others. Maybe not perfect tracks but distance absolutely spot on.


0 sis651 over 7 years ago

Maps and 20 hour battery life in 1-sec GPS mode. Isn't that enough of a differentiation from the F5? Yes maps are slow but this is the first generation of a product with full navigation and TBT support. You have to be realistic in your expectations. Also map drawing in non heavily built up areas is fast.

Also the GPS in the F5X has been incredibly accurate for me and many others. Maybe not perfect tracks but distance absolutely spot on.


It's actually not the first generation. Fenix 5X is successor of Garmin Epix. Slow drawing is understandable in these devices, as they have limited CPUs to increase the limited battery lifes. It is slow for searching and looking sth. in the map, but its really conventional to follow a road or trackback your activity. Also navigating via buttons is not very fast, so I'd prefer a touch screen like Epix but they apparently reserved it for Fenix 6X or 7X. :D

0 NYanakiev7 over 7 years ago

Maps and 20 hour battery life in 1-sec GPS mode. Isn't that enough of a differentiation from the F5? Yes maps are slow but this is the first generation of a product with full navigation and TBT support. You have to be realistic in your expectations. Also map drawing in non heavily built up areas is fast.

Also the GPS in the F5X has been incredibly accurate for me and many others. Maybe not perfect tracks but distance absolutely spot on.


I do agree with sis651 that the 5X is not a first generation in the slightest. Garmin had the Epix to play with as their first foray into the area but blew it. I am sorry but incredibly accurate is not something that I can agree with. Having gone through multiple Fenix 3 units, I knew what to expect with the F5 series. If you need proof just head over to the F5 section of the forum.

To each their own.