GPS accuracy, new vs older models

I'd say it's better than older devices. A caveat to that is that I stopped using auto-pause years ago because I quickly got annoyed with the watch stopping when the signal got degraded enough to trigger the auto-pause. I do a large amount of my activity offload in the bush and am usually pretty happy with the tracking accuracy. Granted wobblies are thrown every now and then but overall ok.

Garmin have put the new Sony chipset in the 945 and Marq and that is working well. If the 945 is too light for you and the Marq too heavy, perhaps wait until the replacement for the 5+ is released as that will likely have the new chipset.

Are you sure about the new Sony chipset workinig well (better than previous chips), philips? I don't have a watch with a Sony chip myself but from what i'm hearing/reading it's using less battery but accuracy is rather a little worse at the moment. this might just be a case of garmin having to tweak their software for the new chip.

i agree with auto-pause off for running.

Well, that's an "ask 2 persons, get 3 opinions" thing :-)

I currently own a Fenix 5+, Forerunner 945 and a Suunto 9 (I'm a running watch geek; often replacing units).

The Suunto 9 is the worst of those 3 from accuracy standpoint ("worse" is a hard word; it's still not unusable bad, so don't get me wrong). Yes, it has a Sony chip.

At least for me and my environment (no cities but just trails in forests) the 945 works better than my F5+.

But just look at the a accuracy thread in the 945 forum. You will also find completely opposite opinions and some of them can give you valid sounding reasons for their opinion.

I can only say that in my opinion using a 945 and a Marq Athlete (I like GPS watches lol!) the new Sony chipset generally works very well. Of course there are times when it throws a 'wobbly' but then that has been the case with all GPS watches in the past. Is the new chipset better than the old? I'd put my money on the new chipset having the edge overall; on land at least. In the open water, when it works it works well. However, there is still some work to do there. Too cold for me to do anymore swims in the sea now, but I did have some good swims before...and some not so good ones too. I do most of my activities in the bush and get reasonable results. When I go on the road in open space, the results are invariably excellent from the 945 and the Marq. I think too that Garmin are 'tuning' the chipset to work best with GPS+GLONASS. I had only used GPS on its own before the 945/Marq. I now have them both on GPS+GLONASS all the time.

You will always find those that disagree, especially in a user forum like this where most people come to complain. In reality the best thing you can do is buy a watch and use it to form your own opinion. I can honestly say that my experience over many years since the FR305 has been overwhelmingly positive. As has that of the people I train with.

you have a "live" opinion of this still?  im a 245m user but will switch because of livesegments... should i go with the 945 or the fenix 5 plus?

the fenix has the old gps chipset or?

You are hi-jacking a 9 month old thread.. please create a new one.

sry for dat, but i think the topic is still fresh, sry again for hi jacking :-)

I have the following watches and have worn them all recently at once to compare tracks...

Polar V800 - the best tracks of all, but not always perfect.

Fenix 3HR - vastly improved over time. Good enough, usually. Used to be very poor, like 5X+ is now.

Fenix 5X+ - the most wobbly tracks by far. Distances seem in the ball park, but the tracks look poor

Fenix 6X Solar - very close to the V800. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. V800 edges it overall.

Some say that the Forerunner series is better than Fenix due to plastic shell vs metal and better satellite signal as a result. I have no personal experience, but anecdotally it seems so.

I have not found the addition of Galileo to improve things ever. Either GPS + GLONASS or GPS alone gives the best results for me. That may vary for others depending on location and terrain, of course.

This is out of date now, but may give some insight to the success of GPS by individual watch and trends for brands....

fellrnr.com/.../GPS_Accuracy

Now I have F5+ and Forerunner 910XT, but kept my F3HR for a while just to compare all these 3.

My findings are exactly the same, just consider 910XT as Polar V800.

I just contribute to this thread to highlight that the GPS track of F3HR vastly improved indeed. 

I wonder whether it was triggered by any software change or hardware change (I had two replacements due to broken altimeter during the 37 months of possesion an F3HR), or it was simply the outcome of the improving Glonass system, which improvement was enough for F3HR, but not for F5+.

If it was related to software changes we should have seen the same for F5+.

Haha! My F3HR was replaced once, after 11 months, also due to altimeter problems. Maybe it was a hardware fix and not software, but I don't have the details now to make the judgement.