Garmin Fenix 5 GPS inconsistencies

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi,

I recently bought Fenix 5, my first wrist worn fitness tracker. I've done 6 activities in 2 weeks and I discovered something odd.
Everytime I finish an acitivity it is automatically uploaded to my Strava and Runkeeper accounts. What Runkeeper does is it shows different distance than the one Fenix 5 logged. Today I discovered that on Strava, I can correct the distance, pictures attached. I happens on all activity types I've logged: running, hiking and trail running.
The other day I went on a hike with 2 friends and they had the same distance on their smartphones, while my Garmin logged a couple of hundred meters fewer. Strava than offered me to correct the distance and after I accepted, it showed me the exact distance my friends logged.
I've tried both 3D mapping on and off and the issue still remains the same. The only time my watch was correct was on the track.

Do you guys know what might be the problem?

Thanks,
Anton ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1415419.jpg ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1415420.jpg

0 tiefflieger666 over 6 years ago

Firmware and GPS settings on you F5?

BTW - GPS distances measured with different units will never match 100%.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Firmware and GPS settings on you F5?

BTW - GPS distances measured with different units will never match 100%.

Software version: 11.00
GPS: 3D is on, data recording every second.

0 thr4 over 6 years ago

3D distance should be off for running

0 volodp over 6 years ago

3D distance should be off for running

Why is that? I'm not saying it shouldn't but this is the first time I hear about it.

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

Your GPS altitude is usually more noisy than your GPS 2D location. If you try to calculate a 3D distance between all those wrong altitudes, you can end up with a large error.

And 3D distance doesn't really add anything of value during a normal run. Even if you run up a 10% slope, your 2D projected distance will only be 0.5% off from your true 3D distance.

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

The other day I went on a hike with 2 friends and they had the same distance on their smartphones, while my Garmin logged a couple of hundred meters fewer. Strava than offered me to correct the distance and after I accepted, it showed me the exact distance my friends logged.

As far as I have read, Strava simply calculates a distance through every logged point on your path. This includes those points which were not really on your path due to location noise. So there is a risk that Strava's correction actually added an error.

I might be wrong, though. I have never tested it myself.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Thank you all for your answers!

I've found this cool info site on Strava: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216919487-How-Distance-is-Calculated

Anyways, its all about the logging method. Whats important is that no matter the method, you will always be within 5% of standard deviation.

Cheers from Zagreb!