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Shift in GPS track depending on wrist

Former Member
Former Member over 5 years ago

As an avid heatmapper / run every street I'm particularly interested in more accurate GPS tracks.  I've been perplexed by why has appeared to be a shift of my GPS tracks to the left of where I run no matter what direction I run in.  So if I run an out and back on a road it looks like I've practically run a loop because its shifts it off the road on both sides.  In general my tracks are off the road and sometimes its more egregious than others.  I took to running on the wrong side of the road (with traffic instead of against) to get it more centered.  I then did an experiment and changed my watch to my right hand.  Low and behold my tracks started looking significantly better!  I figured there must be some sort of setting I was missing.  I found the wrist setting in my Fenix 6 and changed it from "left" (the correct setting) to "right" and it made no difference.  


Wearing the watch on my right wrist example here:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4692022516  - I ran on the side of the road against traffic and its shifted to the right, which is closer to the middle of the road

Wearing the watch on my left wrist example:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4488678027 - notice how all the tracks are to the left where you would be running against traffic off the road

Really neither of these examples are very accurate as they don't capture where I really ran but at least with wearing it on the right hand it will actually show on the road I was running on.   I don't know if this is an intentional shift or not.  Also I'm not a fan of wearing it on my right hand (again wrist setting seem to make no difference in my tests).  Does anyone have any info on this?  

Also this isnt a one off test. All my runs with my Fenix 6 are like this and I found many with my Fenix 5 as well.  Additionally I have done several runs with it on my right wrist and they consistently produce better results every time.

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  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Yeah, those deviations are unacceptable. If it's not too late, replace the watch. My Vivoactive 3 goes right down the road, on the proper side, though I always wear it on the left wrist. I have a Fenix 6s Pro coming Tuesday and will definitely be checking it closely and comparing the two for the first week or so.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Ceten

    If you ignore arm movement, you would think running tracks would be better than cycling as you usually run at a much slower pace?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Ceten

    It was already written and explained somewhere here, slower speed=worse GPS. On the bike, I get absolute perfect GPS on my F6Pro, while runnig I wear it on inner wrist so the GPS antenna at 12 o'clock is facing UP. If it was cold and I run in jacket, I put the watch on the inner edge of wrist so the display was facing UP to sky like on handlebars and I get very good GPS tracking.

    Today's run, watch on inner wrist, GPS+GLONASS, first two rounds I was changing lanes and rest in lane 4:

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to honza_81

    Thanks, very informative! I am guessing the same advise will apply to the 245 and 945, or any recent Garmin using the Sony chip?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Aslam

    For what it's worth, my buddy I run with 2-3 times per week has a Marq Athlete. I would say approximately 80-90% of his tracks are within 1-2 feet of his actual path (with the watch worn in a normal outward-facing position). I run right beside him with my F6 Pro, and my tracks are consistently 6-12 feet off to the left (again with watch facing outward). As far as I know, both watches are the same Sony chip. The accuracy of his tracks and the huge improvement I also see when wearing the F6 on my inner wrist at least show that it's possible to get accurate tracks out of the Sony chip, but I haven't looked into the 245 or 945 specifically.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to honza_81

    Thanks for this, but I do not like running with a heart rate strap. I rather use the inner wrist or right hand tactic instead. Any idea if I have to keep changing the wrist setting on the watch if I use my right hand? I have read it affects the wrist raise gesture detection which I do not care about. But does it affect other stuff like cadence? 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Aslam

    I haven't noticed any difference that the left/right wrist setting makes. I've read it's supposed to affect gesture detection, but I personally haven't noticed it.

    If you do wear it on the inside of your wrist, though, the gesture detection for the backlight during night runs doesn't work correctly. Sometimes I can flick my wrist back and forth to get the light to come on, but it's not consistent. I usually just end up using the light button if I need to check data.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    Hi all,

    I have done some "research" with my F6 Sapphire. According to my observation the accuracy of GPS (I use GPS+GLONASS) depends on time of the day I run. (I suspect it have to do with satellites position). Mornings are worse than evenings (in Slovakia) I mostly run same track back and forth (5km+5km) and I have observed that first 5k is less accurate (more deviation from actual road) than on the way back. That I don´t know why it happens. There are trees on one side of the road but I have more accurate reading when my watch is on the side of trees.

    Also when I compare F6 to my previous F3HR when I hit the "correct distance" on Strava with F3 it was always 9,92-9,98km for 10k on watch and for F6 it is 10,02-10,08km. I think for training purpose it is better to run more than you think Smiley

    Fun fact: I have had (for now) one run with F6 in dense forest and after correcting the distance on strava it added 80m. With F3 it was 300m once.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to swtex15

    The left/right setting definitely makes no difference...I've just come to grips that I have to wear my watch on my right hand or get really *** GPS tracks at this point.  I created this thread and for me its clear as day.  I can go look at any run and instantly tell you if it was worn on my right or left hand.  The watch is a complete disaster if you wear it on the left hand (for me).