My Fenix 5 hates trees

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hello,

I recently changed from a 235 to the Fenix 5 for running and I have noticed a poor GPS signal under trees with the Fenix 5 compared to the 235. Having spent a lot of money on what I would hope to be an upgrade it has been a bit rubbish in the GPS department. Especially since I rely heavily on knowing current and average pace at all times. These tend to go haywire under trees with the Fenix 5 but were solid as a rock with the 235.

I have added two screen shots of a Parkrun I do every week. Along the top at 4 km is a tree line and you can see the 235 does a much better job at recording the GPS. As a result the Fenix 5 actually records to distance as 3.08 miles instead of 3.1.

Any ideas of the cause, or possibly solutions? I have tried both GPS Normal and GPS GLONASS but they are no different. I know GPS watches can be a bit iffy under trees and around houses but for a Fenix 5 to be worse than the 235 is a bitter disappointment :(

Thanks, ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1471100.png ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1471101.png

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

jose.cboliveira GPS seems OK for some people even in OW swimming but not for me at the moment - hopefully Garmin are still working on it. The maps sound like a good idea but on such a small screen can't really see the purpose - certainly trying to look at them whilst on a mountain bike would be just about impossible :)

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Well I was advised by Garmin support to do a hard reset. Usual answer, so I’ll just hope for a software update or put up with it.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

hello to everyone.
I am using fenix 5 from 11/2018. I start run with fw 11.0.0.0 and last run with fw 12.50.0.0.
I can see degradation quality of positioning.
Look attached images.

1.) run in one place
2.) try to run different samples of feinix 5. I have 2 device fenix 5: APAC and EMEA models
3.) Good results of positioning have heavy weather conditions (cloudy) ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1477623.jpg

0 pistapoci over 6 years ago

Fenix GPS precision is very poor, there are no excuses. I myself have experienced that many times. Look into my previous threads where I explain my tests and experience with this device.
My advice is to switch to a different device if you care for precision. I know this is not what you would like to read, but it's the blunt truth.
Later today I'll have a little race and I will use my old Polar in order to have meaningful readings during the race. I really hate doing so, but there is no other way.