garmin fenix 8 map lag

there are some projects to make OSM (open street maps) available for Garmin devices, such as https://www.openfietsmap.nl/

However i don't know if it works on a Fenix 8 and whether these maps would be faster.

As already discussed, the problem is the slow CPU in combination with a high-resolution (OLED) screen. Whether the various changes to the "Fenix OS", which were introduced with Fenix 8, are helping or hurting performance, is not clear. Some people claim the F8 is even slower than the previous Epix.

I have tried. Same problem there. 

"However, if it's a lot slower than older watches it may be that you enabled a lot of maps on top of each other."

not at my side, and even lot of map options/details are disabled ...

Im agree with you  and you replied to most of my dubs about others previus Garmin Fenix 7 version in comparison to 8 for the problem of map lagness . However for a watch with a so pro target they could work better over the memory cache like replied another user here .

 It could be a good idea for Garmin to change rendering map tech or map file format it could be the only way to reduce the lag that its very hard without to touch hardware or processor speed.

Garmin technicians should work hard on this issue because  in adding to be the high price level of watch (high end) its embarassing .

And pro users ?

Only Global map could  be acceptable  to scroll but is only used as an index 

I tryed every type of myself solution.

I tried topoactive original maps only: the lag decrease only a bit putting low details .

You are right custum maps are not optimized again..

I use in italy openmtbmaps that are more detailed in many italian regions than garmin topoactive ( in topoactive there are not some mountain italian hut in some regions ) .

With openmtbmaps a very little effect in map lag there is only putting details to low (I use only the openmtb layer ) . Its very difficult to find a place .

You have to spend time if you want search it visually on the map.

But this feature is useful in mountain or in some situation where there are not paths or signs  . Instead to take the mobile easly could be done on the wacht if it was less a bit lag.

So i will use a temporary solution to use low details when i have to search and after i swich to medium default .

However Garmin technicians have to work hard on this. Now they introduced screen with an increased resolution and with a great clarity (amoled) and detail they have to finish the work . In this situation only half work is done . Change map rendering e map type could be a software solution .

For the technicians : " let do your best to finish your good starting work , let try please to find  an accettable  solution "

What is good is other competition on the market has maps nowadays. Thus it's good Garmin can see how slow it is. Showing them it's slow is much better than telling them it's slow. Now, they'lI need to make it faster in future versions. But I don't have big hopes for current models. Also I wan't the same battery life but the faster map rendering. :D

sis651 said:

Suunto and Polar have watches that display less detail but render on the screen smoother

They use the same NXP RT500, but with an additional 32MB RAM module which makes things significantly faster. Garmin make do with the 5MB of onboard RAM with on RT500, presumably for battery longevity.

The next device will likely get the NXP RT600 which is marginally faster, but comes with an NPU which can run rudimentary AI models for things like speech to text. It only has 4.5MB RAM, so my guess is they'll give it 16MB or 32MB in addition to enable model storage and other advanced features.

Even Garmin Epix and Fenix 5X had 32 MB memories but rendering was *** slower, navigation etc. was all slower. Then they decreased external memory and removed it with 7 series. As 7 and 8 are faster than previous ones it seems it can be done with less memory. But I think they could keep at least a 16 MB module on Fenix and Epix series. Maybe just render it to a bitmap and save to storage if you don't have enough memory on SRAM and just read it from there transform and display. Suunto is very fast at renderind instantaneously.

I'm not sure what they'll do with NPU except introducing more bugs. :) Also RT600 can run at 300 MHz but we don't even know at what freq. Garmin runs its processors. 120, 150, 200 MHz, or even maybe much less?..

sis651 said:

Maybe just render it to a bitmap and save to storage if you don't have enough memory on SRAM and just read it from there transform and display

I think this is to why Suunto is quite a bit faster. They seem to use bitmap tiles rather than vector rendering as Garmin appear to do. I find vector to be more desirable as you can add or remove detail on the fly, but it does come at the cost of processing speed. Let's hope NXP can provide Garmin with a processor which has a little more speed, more memory and around 4nm for efficiency soon.

Isn't it normal for processors to get faster and use less power year after year? Is it different with this type of processor, or is Garmin just using outdated tech to maximize profit?

And if that's the case, three years is a long time in tech. Meanwhile, they keep adding more and more features to the maps that aren't very practical in the real world with this processor.