Why? the only reason why in the past the Garmin introduced the "smart" recording was the insufficent disk space and before the FIT format, the TCX files have huge sizes. the "smart" is meaningless since the Edge 820 for sure. Every sec = more accurate data, honestly, i would be happy if there would be 1/4 or 1/10s recording availability (for power , if the powermeter is supported the high speed data, and for GPS recording, the new dual-band chipsets are capable for recording faster than 1s, more datapoints , more accurate tracks)
If I take a break, the GPS still records a track point every second. I don't need data every second. The track files just become unnecessarily large (sometimes up to 3MB). When I make a longer track recording, I get the impression that the device becomes slower and only responds with a delay.
Smart record doesn't mean inaccurate data. Edge processes the data point every 1 sec, no matter 1 sec rec or smart rec. The smart rec. means the data points are logged into the fit file when the value changes more than a certain threshold, which is actually good if Garmin take care of how to determine the threshold. I also prefer the smart record if Garmin can do it correctly, as 840 takes a much longer time to save the ride and show the summary page after any long ride than 830.
What Garmin should do, as you're partially correct, is to recieve and to process the data more rapidly, like at 4 hz instead of 1 hz, but they should keep smart record with a correct threshold. It's also better for the calculated data, such as the laggy gradient.
man, i know that (only) the FIT file contains variable time intervals if smart is used. (my "job" is processing and analysing FIT files since 10years... ) if it is used, the heart rate has no 1s resoultion if you wanna analyze it on a chart, neither your speed. (ok, if you ride only commute without any sensors, doesnt need 1s , but in this case you dont need edge840 neither... )
"Garmin take care of how to determine the threshold." because it is not easy and why do they spend hours of coding , the 1s is the default and thats all, the device has huge disk space, the saving process is slower than on E830 but not because it is 1s , i had 830 also , and 820 , and 1000 and 510 too, all was used with 1s, the E840 has more features which make the saving process a bit slower than on the previous models. (and probably it needs some tweaking in the code to get faster, thats all)
i rode 8hs 2 months ago in swiss alps, with powermeter, hr and speed sensor , HRV logging enabled via BT, the file size is 1.5Mbyte, how could you get 3Mbyte? with CIQ app and with tons of spec datas? Or do you ride 16hs per day? (i hope not :D)
if you take a break, use the (manual or auto) pause function, not so difficult...
That's why it would be better if you could choose it. if someone needs a recording interval of 1s, then they choose 1s. If you don't need that much data and prefer smaller gpx files, then you select intelligent interval
btw the easiest way to speed up this saving process would be a damned toggle button in the settings of the activity profile: end ride's summary info = enabled or disabled, honestly, how much users wanna analyze their own data on the Edge if the ride is uploading immediately to the Connect cloud, and you can analize much more easier on your mobile (better and faster displaying, easier zooming ) in the Connect, or if you wanna analyze it more deeply , in TPeaks, GoldenCheetah or in WKO4/5 or on Strava desktop. Everybody wants just save their own rides immediately as fast as possible.
