Pace, Auto-Climb and Grade Issues - Do I Have a Bad Watch

Well .... This is interesting. It looks like some of my issues may fixed in 9.20. I guess calling is waist of time until I test the new firmware.

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Software Version 9.20 Now Available! Phased Roll Out: 20%
Software version 9.20 is now available. This software version is being rolled out and can be downloaded through Garmin Connect Mobile or Garmin Express when available.

Sensor hub 5.90 is being rolled out at the same time.

06/19: Phased rollout: 20%

Changes made from version 8.00 to 9.20:
Added Physio TrueUp support. Physio TrueUp syncs activities done on other Garmin devices, allowing your device to more accurately reflect your training status and fitness. Activities from other devices will appear in the Activities menu, and they will update your Totals for Running, Cycling, and Swimming. Your Training Status, Training Load, and VO2 Max will be updated using activities from your other devices, and your Recovery Time will be also updated using data from other devices supporting Physio TrueUp. Enable Physio TrueUp in Settings > Physiological Metrics on the device or in Device Settings on Garmin Connect Mobile.
Added support for communication with a Garmin Xero A1i Bow Sight. The Bow Sight is capable of sending Laser Locate waypoints to the watch. These are accessible from the XERO widget (Settings > Widgets > Add Widgets > XERO) and can be further used to navigate to.
Added support for communication with a Garmin inReach Mini. (Settings > Widgets > Add Widgets > inReach) The widget acts as a remote and allows one to send preset texts, customized quick texts and trigger message.
New Beta Feature! Extended Display will allow you to display your data screens on your Garmin Edge during a multisport activity. Enable Extended Display mode on a supported Edge, and pair it to your watch as an Extended Display sensor.
Added support for REM sleep phase detection and improved the accuracy of the existing sleep algorithm.
Added support for selecting alternate locations within the Sunrise and Sunset widget. (Widget > Menu > Location)
Added the ability to save Stopwatch recording as an activity. Go to the Stopwatch control, and start the timer. Stop the timer, and select Done. You can then save your activity, which will appear in your History.
Added support for Garmin Vector 3 power meter software updates.
Added the Kayak app.
Enabled the setting for Strength activities. To access this setting, go to your Strength Settings, and select . When enabled, sets automatically advance during free Strength activities.
Enabled the Edit Weight setting for Strength and Cardio activities. To access this setting, go to your Strength or Cardio settings, and select Edit Weight. This setting will control whether you can edit the weight when editing sets.
Fixed an issue preventing some periods of rest from being correctly detected in all-day stress measurements.
Fixed an issue that could cause the time and date to be incorrect.
Fixed an issue causing repeated 'Wheel Size Computed' notifications when connected to a speed sensor.
Fixed an issue preventing the elevation graph from updating during certain activities.
Fixed an issue that could cause 0 to be displayed in the Grade data field.
Fixed a possible crash that could occur when downloading stored heart rate data from a Garmin HRM-Tri or HRM-Swim.
Fixed an issue where the device may crash while connecting to ANT sensors.
Improved the accuracy of the pace/speed target gauge during workouts.

It is never a waste of time to call Garmin Support but updating your software to see if it fixes your issue is highly recommended and will be the first step given by support.

Update

I have updated to firmware 9.20. Granted that has caused two new issue. I'll focus this update on my original post.

I have done two runs with the new firmware. A 4 mile loop and a 8.7 mile hill repeat run.

Pace Issue
UPDATE - The pace issue is a lot better, but there is still an issue. I'm no longer getting huge swings out to 15+ min/mi. I still drop 1-3 min/mi on the same parts as noted in my original comments. This a measured improvement than FW8.00.

The pace has always seemed off. At first I thought the watch just need time to short any algorithms it used, but that was wishful thinking. I live in Northwest Denver (The Highlands) and have some standard running loops. Most of the roads have some form of old growth tree on them. We are not talking a rain forest. Its a few trees per block. For testing I wore my old Forerunner 210 on one wrist and the 5x on the other. The 210 was a consistent pace around 9-something min/mile. The 5x was any where from 9 to 15+ min per mile. I turned on GLONAS and things got a little better in the sense that the 5x didn't read a 17min/mile running down the sidewalk.

Grade Field Issue
UPDATE - Working

I use the Grade field on my Trail Running and MTB modes. I seems to work at first, but I press the Activity button to 'stop/pause' the activity it never works again. I could be climbing straight up a trail and the Grade will read '0'. The Vert Speed and Total Accent change so I know something is working.

Auto-Climb Issue
UPDATE - Did not test

The auto-climb is so wacky I've just turned it off. I did hill repeats and it would work on some uphills and some downhills. Other times it would flip running on an almost flat sidewalk.

Overall I would call this an improvement. Sadly this may be all walked back by an increase in battery drain and lag on the watch face screen.

I'll be doing more testing over the next few days.

Here are the GPSies GPX comparisons. I included the earlier data I posted as well as run from yesterday. As I noted early, you can really tell the difference on the graphs. The F5x still wonders a lot more then the FR220. The speeds also bounces around a lot more.
http://www.mygpsfiles.com/app/#PdSv4frC
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