Fenix 6 Pro FIT vs GPX Files - Distance Discrepancy

I have seen many threads addressing the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro (and other Fenix 6 models) and the inaccuracy (specifically being short) due to smoothing done by algorithms for the FIT files. For many months, I have had to use the "Correct Distance" feature in Strava after my run is synced due to the Fenix 6 Pro FIT file inaccuracy. However, today I saw that you can test the issue by exporting the GPX file from Garmin Connect and re-import it to Garmin Connect. Lo and behold, all my missing distance showed up. Today's small run of 6.3km actually showed 6.3km vs the 6.0 reported by the FIT file. I also traced the route out on Google Maps and Strava "Create a Route" and got 6.3km.

My questions:

Are there any fixes to address the FIT smoothing problem for the Fenix 6?
Is Garmin tech support doing anything to address this problem?

I've been a long time Garmin customer since the Forerunner 305 days. The Fenix 6 has been, hands down, the worst GPS experience. Yet, now I see that the watch itself is actually recoding the distance correctly but the software algorithm smoothing is the true culprit. I just wish something would be done.

Top Replies

silentvoyager over 2 years ago +3

It is not the FIT smoothing problem.

The root of the problem is that device distance is not consistent with the track. A FIT file has both the data from device and the track. A GPX file has only the track…
BigRed-80 over 2 years ago +1

districtsoul said:
I've been a long time Garmin customer since the Forerunner 305 days. The Fenix 6 has been, hands down, the worst GPS experience

Could not agree more!

So bad, I resorted to buying…

All Replies

0 6928399 over 2 years ago

Hmm.. I never really looked at this. Not in a running mood today, but I dug out my old Vivoactive 4s and compared it on a very short run with my Fenix 6s pro solar, and my phone. Phone: 3km, Vivoactive: 2.83, Fenix: 2.73. I was doing stride repeats with coach Greg. Ok, the Vivoactive was way off on the elevation as I've not fired it up in ages and had moved since the last run. Took 10 minutes to get green on the gps signal and then I let it soak for another 5 minutes. Still off. And I just realized smart recording was active instead of 1s recording. Will repeat this with same settings. But anyway. The AndersB widget suggets the Fenix was off by 176m. So the truth might be out there between the vivoactive and the phone. Will get a Fenix 7s sapphire solar next week. So there'll be more testing.