I really hope a knowledgeable Garmin developper will read this and take actions. Can always hope...
I had a Fenix 3 and Edge 1030 for a long time and used them extensively. Got a Fenix 6x and expected the navigation to be much in par with the Edge 1030 but it is not. They added a map and some features to the Fenix but didn't implement thing properly, some of the navigation is the old Fenix 3 type (which had no map), and it should be the Edge type. I will explain the shortcoming and fixes, but that probably will only make sense to the initiated and those well versed in Garmin's ecosystem.
ISSUES
1) turn guidance on the Fenix 6x
Garmin has two ways to do this it it's devices. One is pushing turn cues from the Connect service to the device, which is then is pretty much dump and just popup those cues as it goes. These cues are embedded in the FIT file, That 's what the Fenix 6x does, and also alll Edge devices without turn-by-turn navigation (i.e. detailed mapping). The second way is that the FIT does not contain cues, and the devices computes them by matching the route with the map database. That is the "Calculating..." phase when you start a course on the Edge 1030/830/530. It then shows the original track in magenta and the computed and cued route in pink. Cues follow the pink line. When you send a course to the device with "Send to device" you need to pick the device, and depending on the device the FIT file sent is not identical as it may or may not contain turn cues. Garmin has decided which device gets what and in genral those with TBT have not cues white those without TBT get cues. For the Fenix 6x it sends a FIT with cues, and the device does not compute those but simply use what is in the FIT file. I think one reason is the Fenix 6 (non-pro without mapping) would not be able to navigate by itself but I am not sure what the whole rational is. However I know what the consequences are
Now the issues with embedded cues when you hike is that the implementation is totally stupide. The cues have no idea what the map says, they just come as they were computed by the Connect server. And the way it does it is to add a cue anytime there is a turn and twist on the trail.. This is totally useless, annoying and a distraction. Trails keep turning all the time and cues for those turn are not useful. I can follow the darn trail. What would be useful and indications when there is a junction, like the Edge does. But it does not do that because it does no computation based on the map which is ignored entirely when following a Connect course. It is my view that the cues that are provided are simply useless. But there is no easy way to desable them as they are embedded in the course FIT file sent to the device.
The workaround I found on the forum and tested - it works - is to not transfer the course using the "Send to device" command in Connect Web or Connect Mobile, but rather do it via USB. On Connect Web, you open the course and go "Tools/ Export FIT". Notice you are then NOT prompted to pick a device, and the FIT created that way is clean of those pesky useless turn guidances. The annoying bit is that the only way to send that particular FIT file to the watch is via USB on a computed by copying it to the Garmin\NewFiles folder. Sends us back to stone age before Bluetooth existed. But it works at least.
2) Navigation data fields
I always make use of the navigation data fields as they are useful to navigation. When I create a course I add "Course Points", those flags in the Connect course creator. I usually identify a handful and milestone locations along the route, like shelters, water supplies, summits, etc.. I monitor my progress on the trip based on those course points. I will not dive in all datafieds but illustrate the issue with two of them. On the Edge 1030 two fields I use a lot are "Distance to Next" (lets call it DTN) and "Course Point Distance" (lets call it CPD). DTN is the distance to the point on the coure, that point can be one I inserted when creating the course, or any of those navigation cues the Connect service might have inserted. CPD is the distance to the next course points I inserted, and excludes the navigation cues if there are any. On the Edge 1030 those two data fields exist. I can choose the information I get. On the Fenix 6x, only DTN exist and CPD is nowhere to be found in the options. So people are using DTN and guess what, all we get is the distance to those annoying turn cues, which are typically a very short distance apart. We need CPD and all we have to work with is DTN.
So if you implement the workaround in point 1) then you can work around the issue of a lack of CPD by using DTN and then yes you only get that field updated with the distance to the next course point you manually inserted which is what people are looking for. But again this is a hack. CPD should be available as a datatfield as it is on the Edge devices.
The "Next Waypoing" data field is also used to actually identify the next course point by name. Same issue here, if you do not produce a FIT without the turn indications, you get those reported as next waypoint, and not those you added to the route. It is useless information and one need to implement the manual FIT transfer to render the "Next Waypoint" field usabe. We would need the "Next Course Point" data field but it is not available on the Fenix 6x, yet is is there on the Edge.
3) On course/ Off Course notification
When hiking I often get the Off Course notification, which screws up many navigation data fields since the watch goes into a "get back to course" mode of some sort. Now when hiking GPS accuracy varies a lot. The watch uses a very short distance to trigger the Off Course alert, something like 10m. This is just way too close. I don't need my device to tell me I might be 10m off the course, especially when 99% of the time I am actually right on the trail I follow. Most of the time it is not that the course track is bad, it simply that the GPS is drifting somewhat because of the terrain. I only want to get an alert if I am seriously getting off course, like if I missed a turn on the trail and took another one. It would be fine to have to backtrack by a short distance.
SOLUTIONS
This whole navigation is very easy to fix but Garmin has been dragging it's feet on the issue. Here are my solutions
a) When we choose "Send to Device" have a check box for "Include Course Points" and another for "Include Navigation Cues" (or Include Turn Guidance, whatever you want to call it) and produce a FIT file accordingly. People can then choose what they want. Need this on both the Connect Web service and the Connect Mobile app.
b) Add the "Course Point Distance" and "Next Course Point" data fields plus some other similar, to the Fenix 6x. Those exist on the Edge 1030 and they should be on the Fenix 6x since it is a device with navigation. They are probably already in the code but just not shown in the data field configuration menu.
c) Change the error margin to trigger the Off Course alert and status, increase from what it is to at least 100m. I can easily backtrack that distance if I missed a turn, and can use the history line to do so if I need to. The alerts would then be rare and meaningful, rather than frequent and useless.
The issues highlighted are real and very problematic to anybody that use the navigation in real life, power users. It shows poor design in a flagship device that should leverage better implementation already found in other Garmin products (Edge 1030). They must be addressed. The good news is that the solutions are very simple and only involve tweaking features that already exist. I didn't try to be creative and ask for the moon but rather leverage what Garmin already does. I hope somebody will listen.
