Fenix 8 Open Water

For now, when it comes to swimming and open water activity in the Fenix 8, it’s terrible… I have to admit, I didn’t expect this. The GPS is set to the highest accuracy, and I’m sharing a map of my diving in Egypt from today. In the second case, it doesn’t show the track at all, even though it measured the distance. In the first case, I ended where I started.

Top Replies

Dr Phil 9 months ago +3

GPS does not work under water so you cannot expect a track when diving. If you’ve got a distance it will have been estimated from the accelerometers. When swimming freestyle on the surface it works fine…
MaciejHassak 9 months ago in reply to gonekmo1 +1

I’ve got everything figured out. Unfortunately, to make the track and distance as accurate as possible, you need to bring your hand above the water’s surface as often as you can while swimming. I mostly…
bluefish 9 months ago in reply to MaciejHassak +1

MaciejHassak said:
you need to bring your hand above the water’s surface

Yes. As described above GPS doesn‘t work underwater.

https://www.ardusimple.com/gps-cant-work-underwater-myth-or-reality/

All Replies

0 Dr Phil 9 months ago

GPS does not work under water so you cannot expect a track when diving. If you’ve got a distance it will have been estimated from the accelerometers. When swimming freestyle on the surface it works fine.

0 gonekmo1 9 months ago

I'm using my Fenix 6 pro for swimming, surfing and snorkeling (up to around 4m depth) and have no issues. So I'm pretty sure the F7 is fine too. The buttons however don't like being pressed when submerged (they just don't feel nice afterwards, I think a bit of water can get into the buttons, haven't had any issues with functionality and it also goes away after some time). So if I'd get a new watch for water sports it'd probably be the F8 with the new buttons.

0 MaciejHassak 9 months ago in reply to gonekmo1

I’ve got everything figured out. Unfortunately, to make the track and distance as accurate as possible, you need to bring your hand above the water’s surface as often as you can while swimming. I mostly swim freestyle. From that moment, the track is accurate, and everything works fine.

0 bluefish 9 months ago in reply to MaciejHassak

MaciejHassak said:
you need to bring your hand above the water’s surface

Yes. As described above GPS doesn‘t work underwater.

https://www.ardusimple.com/gps-cant-work-underwater-myth-or-reality/