gps distance accuracy

My Instinct has been trailing about 8-10% from another friend's Instinct, which BTW matches another friend's Apple watch. The problem has persisted for a while but it never concerned me since I was just using it for exercise, however, now that I am more serious, it is a concern.

I have updated the OS and am current, and I have cleaned the memory. I even make sure that the sat connection is made before I take my first pedal stroke; still, every single ride my distance is short close to 10% than what my friends readout, even with another Instinct.

What else can I do?

Top Replies

Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago in reply to 6098112 +1 verified

I am sorry there are issues.

Please try the following:

- Soft Reset: Hold down your top left power button until your watch shuts off then let go of the button.

- Reset to Default: How to Reset Default…

All Replies

0 6098112 over 2 years ago

(addendum) My Instinct also seems to run out of battery too soon. It may last 5-6 days in watch mode, but drains about 50% of the battery on a 90 minute bike ride.

+1 Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago in reply to 6098112

I am sorry there are issues.

Please try the following:

- Soft Reset: Hold down your top left power button until your watch shuts off then let go of the button.

- Reset to Default: How to Reset Default Settings on My Garmin Outdoor Watch

0 3262996 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

Just purchased an Instinct to replace my Vivosport with the non-replacable band for the second time. MTB run on a train that IS 6.4 miles gave me a Strava mileage of 6.3 miles and a garmin instinct mileage of 4.3 miles. Hmmm. Maybe it's me. Nope. 2nd MTB trail - 15.1 miles as recorded with Strava vs 11.6 with garmin instinct. What happened? The instinct freezes at regular intervals during the ride then snaps to the current location. Every time this happens it appears the mileage is not computed. Strava subscribers can see the graphical mess the instinct is at this link: https://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#9012405861?c=dps3y810&z=E&t=1aL3xK&a=ZWYuGd5dLhk&s=3u - The rides under 'Paul' with one labeled as garmin shows this issue during the flyby run. How do I fix this? A simple reset as you indicated? Seems more involved than that and this should never happen in the first place. garmin owes me 5.5 miles!!!

0 Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago in reply to 3262996

3262996

Since your watch is new, ensure you have your outdoor activity profiles setup to acquire GPS from multiple GPS satellite constellations. (GPS+Glonass) The tree canopy can cause you issues but it won't in general if using multiple satellites constellations and changing your Settings > System > Data Recording to Every Second.

- Improving GPS Accuracy, Distance, and Speed Readings on a Garmin Instinct Watch

0 3262996 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

As indicated - Strava does not have issues - Vivosport does not have issues. Additional GPS will reduce battery life - THIS SHOULD NOT BE DROPPING MILES AND FREEZING AT REGULAR INTERVALS. Just a little frustrating.

0 3262996 over 2 years ago in reply to 3262996

Watch the strava link and send it to your programmers. It's fun to see the garmin freeze as I call it. Go ahead. watch....

0 3262996 over 2 years ago in reply to 3262996

Any other complaints like this garmin freeze from your helpdesk?

0 Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago in reply to 3262996

Please reach out to Outdoor Product Support if the troubleshooting steps above do not resolve your issue.

0 3262996 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

FYI - the MTB setting for GPS was set to UltraTrac - Is there a mega UltraTrack setting? I assume MegaTrack uses all GPS satellites possible? Initially I thought the Auto-Pause was the issue but even with that off the distance is incorrect and the Strava flyby shows the garmin tracking stopping during the ride. Watch will be returned.