GPS Software version 4.80
Change Log:
- Fixed bug to improve GPS reliability
- Fixed bug to improve time to first fix in certain conditions
GPS Software version 4.80
Change Log:
My impression is that the watch is quite quick to pick up a signal. It tracks excellent for bicycling, except for some strange altitude offset in some areas. For walking, it is not among the most accurate…
This update has completely messed up any walking and biking activity. All recordings are unable to track the actual route and either add or deduct up to a mile of distance from each activity. Please fix…
It seems to be faster. I went for a run (pre-update) today and the fix took about 60 seconds. The watch updated when I got home and when I tried to get a fix after, it took about 10-15 seconds. Tried three times; the time to fix was pretty consistent.
My impression is that the watch is quite quick to pick up a signal. It tracks excellent for bicycling, except for some strange altitude offset in some areas. For walking, it is not among the most accurate watches, but it is okay. I can usually see what side I have walked on in narrow streets when I zoom in on the map.
Do not buy the VA4 (or the Venu, for that matter). Looks deceive, as under the hood it is not very reliable: the bluetooth audio for most headphones does not work, the pulse ox is inaccurate (the graphs make clear they don't even understand what Sp02 is, showing a scale that covers dead people for 80%), and the sleep tracking is subpar and won't be improved (no Firstbeat update, is what I read here). In my experience, there is not a single third party widget that is objectively useful, so the app store also is not creating added value. I'm not sure there is any future for the current platform.
Despite all this, I found the GPS to be quite accurate, and even slightly better than the one on my phone. You can't see on which side of the street you are running, because GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO are only precise up to 10-25m. In the city, between high buildings and under bridges, it will fail just like any other device, but trees and corners have not been an issue for me. Also, I believe my last 3-hour ride has only taken 15% battery life, so for long activities, there is nothing like Garmin.
I recommend going for the cheapest Frontrunner model without the smartwatch activity that is outdated or broken.
I'm fairly confident install of this update has killed my battery life. I installed it approx 2 days ago and my battery life has been trash since. I've already 100% drained the battery since then despite only doing a single one hour indoor workout (stationary bike). I took the watch off the charger right before I went to sleep last night and when I woke up 8-ish hours later I had already used 30% of my battery, which is unusual.