Compass on vívoactive 5

You would need to look at a device in our Outdoor Adventure Watches series to find a watch with a magnetic compass.

Currently-supported Forerunners have a magnetic compass: FR255, FR265, FR955 and FR965. Some of the older Forerunners also have a magnetic compass, but personally I wouldn't go older than any of the above, if I were buying a new watch.

Sources:

- DCR's product comparison calculator: www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-calculator

- Googling garmin product names along with "magnetic" and "compass", and looking at the product manuals linked in the results. The watches with a magnetic compass allow you to set True North to Magnetic.

EDIT: I was a little off base with this comment, bc:

- DCR's product comparison page says vivoactive 5 doesn't have a magnetic compass, but actually it does

- "The watches with a magnetic compass allow you to set True North to Magnetic." This is true, but there are also watches which have a 3-axis magnetic compass which don't allow you to set True North (e.g. VA5)

In hindsight I would say:

- check the spec sheet

- check the manual and see if it says that the watch has a 3-axis compass and/or calibration function for the compass

As someone that entered the Garmin ecosystem with the VA3 and now sporting a VA4 I was interested when the rumors came out about what the 5 would hold. I can't fathom why they would remove basic functionality from the 4. This is very disappointing.

The VA5 does have an inbuilt compass to support navigation, it's just that you can't access its information as an app or Glance. To get round this, I downloaded Compass by Navicom from the Connect IQ store.

The "compass" uses GPS data. As shown by the response from Garmin, It's not a magnetic compass. The altimeter and barometer functions were also removed from VA5.

Initially I also thought VA5 didn't have a magnetic compass.

But double-checking the manual, it does say that the watch has a 3-axis compass (which also explains why it has the ability to calibrate the compass).

www8.garmin.com/.../GUID-0EDA1295-72F0-4A99-98EC-7FF834B796AB.html

The watch has a 3-axis compass with automatic calibration. The compass features and appearance change depending on your activity, whether GPS is enabled, and whether you are navigating to a destination.

...

Calibrate the electronic compass outdoors. To improve heading accuracy, do not stand near objects that influence magnetic fields, such as vehicles, buildings, and overhead power lines.

- a 3-axis compass is an electronic compass that responds to magnetic fields, and doesn't have to be held level (unlike a standard electronic compass)

- if the watch only had a "GPS compass", the manual wouldn't refer to the compass features changing if GPS is enabled or disabled (it would just say it doesn't work without GPS), and it wouldn't refer to magnetic fields.

- if the watch only had a GPS compass, there would be no compass calibration feature (calibration wouldn't apply to a software GPS compass)

The specs page also indicates a compass is present: www.garmin.com/.../1057989

For comparison, the FR55 does not have a (magnetic) compass, and this is reflected by the fact the specs and manual don't mention it at all.

So it does seem like the VA5 has a magnetic compass, it's just that not all the related software features are available (such as the compass widget/glance, and the ability to set the north reference)

Similarly, VA4 had an altimeter/barometer and compass, but apparently no related widgets/glances. FR165 has an altimeter/barometer and compass, but not the associated glances.

But you can check for yourself by downloading the app mentioned above, and trying to see if it works while you're standing still. If it does, then you def have a magnetic compass. (It's also notable that this app does not support FR55, which does not have a magnetic compass, but it does support VA5.)

apps.garmin.com/.../d76fb0c3-064e-4c5d-baf0-2ac63bd61f92