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Titanium vs steel | Metal vs "other material" band | GPS accuracy impact?

Frankysour
over 3 years ago

Hi All,

tried surfing the forum a bit but did not find much discussions or information on the topic...

I have a Fenix 6 standard model (stainless steel build) and a Fenix 6x Pro Solar (titanium build)

It seems to me that the titanium watch has slighly (but visibly) better gps tracks with same set up (GPS+Glonass; data recording "per second"; nylon watch band); it is also true that the F6ps is a "pro" model, could have (unsure about this) more computational power, or more memory available for the calcs, IDK.

Moreover, I recently got a titanium band for the F6Xps (not Garmin original, a "copy" from a manufacturer called "Yooside", but looks, feels and weights just as the original garmin vented titanium DLC bracelet, so I am assuming it is actually made of titanium - I don't think the coating is really DLC, though... However it does look f**king badass great!! :) ) and proubly wore this for a short run couple of days back;

Well.. the GPS track seemed to have gotten a fair bit worse than usual, even worse than the F6 performances. Of course this is a one time thing for the time being, I think I will repeat the experiment, however wanted to ask:

Has anyone had experience / noticed differences in GPS accuracy due to watch build material (titanium vs steel) and watch band materials (titanium or in any case metal vs nylon or in any case NON-metal)?

Thanks, cheers.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    A steel band can jam the compass but this is all about it.
    A non magnetic metal band is the only way to avoid any compass blocked.
    Titanium is non magnetic. Some metal band are also non magnetic.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I think its plausible a titanium Fenix would provide better GPS tracks than stainless steel.

    I doubt the strap would influence this - however if the Quikfit connections have any magnetic force, its possible (maybe). Remove the strap, open the Compass widget and see if the indicator moves as you put the Quikfit connector close to the watch.

    As GPS is non-deterministic and results will never be the same twice trying to experiment on this would be tricky - maybe do 10 laps around the block and swap straps at the start of each lap? Examine each lap to see if there is a pattern between odd and even numbered laps.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Thanks both for the feedback, i think I'll try some combinations of straps for my 2 watches and see (as soon as my ankle slight pain gets better...) Up to now... The sensation is that my best combination is titanium watch with a strap that has no metal parts (nylon, enduro style), however the difference is not so terrible with the titanium strap, just looks more wobbling around, making my performances better :D as the watch thinks I covered a little more distance.

    On second thought... As I am trying to improve my pace I probably should always go for the titan to get some seconds cut out my average pace Open mouth