Shortcut to change wrist left/right

Does it make a difference to any data if you select right or left in the app? 

I assume changing it in the app will only change the selected wrist for future activities, once sync'd.

My guess is that the accelerometer is used to calculate vertical & horizontal oscillation in running power, which would be backwards of worn on the opposite wrist.

AFAIK the setting has an impact on the wrist gesture only, so I would not botter about it at all. Personally, I change the wrist for the night, and had never any need to change the setting.

Edit: another situation where the right setting may be needed is golf, in order to detect the shots correctly. Other than that, you can just forget about changing it.

trux said:

another situation where the right setting may be needed is

Flash light cadence feature while running on 2X needs to know which wrist the watch is being worn.

-Gesture (raise to wake), which is important when running in the dark.
-Running power, horizontal & vertical oscillation (+ground contact time etc for other watches)
-Swimming stroke detection
-Golf


Accelerometer, gyroscope & compass data is used in conjunction to calculate the above metrics and more.
Turns out it's quite important for the watch to be worn on the correct wrist, and quite a schlep to change the setting if you switch wrists regularly.
A shortcut would be awesome.

Christofison said:

-Gesture (raise to wake), which is important when running in the dark.

Frankly told, the gesture works on the other wrist just fine. I tried it many times, and it always worked. Right now I tested it 10 times with the watch on the "wrong" wrist, and it did not fail once.

Christofison said:

-Running power, horizontal & vertical oscillation (+ground contact time etc for other watches)

There is no horizontal and vertical oscillation without RD-capable device (such as for example HRM-Pro, HRM-Run, or RD Pod). And even if it were, the side you wear the watch wouldn't make any difference. The acceleration curve would be the same from both wrists. Running power does not need to know your wrist.

Christofison said:

-Swimming stroke detection

It also does not need to know your wrist. All detected strokes are symmetrical, hence the wrist the watch is worn on does not really matter.

Christofison said:

-Golf

Fortunately I do not care about golf, and have slight doubts that the settings change much, similarly as at the gesture detection. Instinct 2 (except the GI 2X) does not have a gyro, hence the relying on some complicated detection of movements just on the basis of the accelerometer alone is a bit illusory, on my mind.