Solar Surf

Hi,

I don't think I've ever been more pissed off with a product.

I've tried to give this watch a chance, Garmin you sell this on all the surf features, & those are the worst features.

-I stand up when surfing on say for example two waves, the watch picks up 10 - I get it registers acceleration but come on..!!!

-It constantly losing GPS signal when in the water even if you arm is 3-5cm under water ????

-The solar panel doesn't even work...

- It now is not even picking up the tide, no matter how many times I sync it, no matter how many times I picked a "saved tide"

This watch cost a lot of money & you guys pride it on being the best surf watch but in all honesty maybe take a leaf out of Rip Curl's book.

I'm really really disappointed.

There is my vent for the day, stay tuned.

Top Replies

trux over 3 years ago +1

Zade2 said:
-It constantly losing GPS signal when in the water even if you arm is 3-5cm under water ????

I am not questioning the complaints about the surf functions, since I am not a surfer, but I am afraid…

All Replies

0 3000610 over 3 years ago

Return it if you still can. Complaints on the Solar Surf on this forum are plentiful, but save some incremental "improvements" (software updates that seem more like they're meant to give the user the idea they're working on it instead of actually improving things), nothing has ever been done with that feedback. The only argument is the financial one. Return it and warn others to stay away.

0 3000610 over 3 years ago in reply to 3000610

Some more constructive remarks on your list:
- I don't (wave)surf myself, so can't comment on that. For tracking kitesurfing it works just fine, but ovbviously I'm not paddling in the water all the time. I just use a custom activity based on the built in walking activity.
- Solar panel works for me and - in summertime - definitely extends my battery life by multiple weeks. Do you mean to say it is not working as in defective or it is not working as in 'hardly adds any juice, might as well have omitted it?"
- Tide works for me, althoughI have to say this involves ME having to send an email every 6 months or so to the tide data supplier (API) that Garmin is in business with since THEY (Garmin) refuse to fix this problem on their end. (The problem pertains to 1+ hour deviations from actual High/Low times, usually occuring after DST switching events).

That being added, I still stand behind what I said before. Up to you.

0 trux over 3 years ago

Zade2 said:
-It constantly losing GPS signal when in the water even if you arm is 3-5cm under water ????

I am not questioning the complaints about the surf functions, since I am not a surfer, but I am afraid you won't find any GPS watches capable to receive the signal under water. Water is simply practically opaque for the wavelength GPS uses, and the already weak signal is very quickly attenuated by even a thin layer of water. Perhaps it could work a few cm under the surface for the price of a bigger size and much higher power consumption, but I am not even sure about that. If you know about some watch able to lock the GPS signal a few centimeters underwater, let us know.