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Fenix 6X Pro GPS and altitude problems

Majasako
over 5 years ago

Once again, the Fenix line has failed my trust. I was expecting better calibration of the GPS chipset and the altitude sensor, as my earlier watch was a 3 HR, but no. The altitude randomly and unexpectedly rises/sinks without any warning. Auto calibration is ON, and my altitude changed from 168 meters to 82 meters just now. If I calibrate with DEM, it will set the correct altitude. It can keep it on the correct altitude for a few days, but it then calibrates it at least 100 meters less, usually. Very frustrating.

Also the GPS track will wander all around the place too much. The older F3HR was much more spot on, the Fenix 6X will have an error distance of 20 meters from the actual position at worst.

Luckily, there's something good in this watch still: it's way faster than the 3HR, battery lasts quite long and the HR sensor is a tiny bit better than the 3HR, but still awful and not usable for any real training.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    And the weather hasn't changed at all, just a note.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Majasako

    Weather, air conditioned rooms, submerging it under water or showering with the watch, traveling to different altitudes by car, bus, bike or walk could "mess" a bit with the altimeter. Mine changes by +/- 30 or more meters when a storm is coming or the season changes, until the weather settles for a day or two. It is normal. Had a 5x Plus that had a broken altimeter/barometer, but showed +/- 20000 meters until it stopped working at all.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Raul77

    Well again last night the elevation dropped from 168 meters to 46 meters. The weather conditions remained the same (rained through the night), checked the air pressure history from my weather station, it has remained quite the same for a few days now. So I'm not convinced that it's normal. I own an Ambit 3 Peak too, it shows the elevation as it is. 

    Also when I stop the GPS activity, it takes anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds for my speed to go from walking speeds (6 km/h) to a full stop. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Majasako

    Contact Garmin and tell them in detail about the problem. Maybe they will help you. In the meantime, try to do  factory reset, maybe that will help you. Lot's of times a factory reset solves some of the problems. Good luck!

  • +1 over 5 years ago

    I recently purchased a Garmin Fenix 6 pro and I noticed that even after a dozen or so calibrations the altitude keeps having issues. First I thought it was just when I was not doing a activity and the reading on the watch was wrong. That bothers me considering the cost of this watch and it's not accurate by about +/-100ft at my home location and at work. After calibration it's good until I go home from work or vis versa. I do have about a 300 ft elevation change during my drive. 

    To add to the issue even during the activity it's not correct I start from the same location and the elevator is off by 50-100 ft.

    I have it updated to the most recent firmware. 

    Planning on calling Garmin tomorrow but just wanted to get some info from you guys

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Les86

    Can you elaborate on your settings (Auto-callibration on/off, watch-mode: auto/altimeter/barometer), weather changes, etc.? 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Merkur41

    So I have the settings for calibration set to during activity : continues, not during activity: on. As for weather it's been fairly consistent and the altitude has been off as described most recently weather changed and it made the errors slightly worse. As for watch mode question I am not sure what you mean by that.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    FWIW I have a couple of recorded activities with my partner on a flat track where we both showed a drop of over 100 feet in altitude at the same time presumably as a low air pressure pocket moved through or through some other event external to the watches, it lasted for close to an hour then went back to normal for the remaining hours of the run with a +/- 10-20 feet overall.    

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to CuriousConstruction

    I can see that but what draws my attention is that my home location and work location keep changing off by 100 feet

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Les86

    So Garmin just told me that 100ft is a acceptable amount of error when it comes to the watch. I was not too happy to hear that but I sorta understand considering how that sensor works. I plan on finding a posted altitude location and setting it as such so I can have a 100% accurate starting point. I will try that.