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Garmin 735XT GPS distance accuracy

cfimarco
over 7 years ago
Hello,
What's your experience about 735's accuracy in measuring courses?
I own the Garmin 610, Polar V800, Apple Watch 2, iPhone 7 and of course, the Garmin 735XT which seems to be the least accurate in measuring courses.
The most accurate GPS watch I've ever seen is the Polar V800, which shows +/- 30 meters the same distance of a certified course or Google Earth. The same level of accuracy comes from the iPhone, then the Garmin 610 and the Apple Watch 2 and last (by far) the Garmin 735XT, which is usually off by ~ 150 / 200m on a 1/2 Marathon. Many Garmin's fan will say it's ok, because it's ~1% error, and it would be ok for me as well, but I don't see why the competitors are doing better...
(I run ~ 5000 to 6000km per year and i compare watches on most of my runs)

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Happy runs!
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    when you want statistical approach on this you'll have to check out fellrnr's site, he runs the same route over and over until he has enough points and then grants the device an accuracy number.

    I use gut feeling accuracy and I'm more than happy how my device is performing:
    * when running the same route at work I get the same figure of about 10.7k (this doesn't say anything about accuracy, but it means it has high repeatability) and is slightly less than what my 310XT used to report
    * I ran several marathons with the device and each time it was close to the expected 42.2k, good enough for me.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    Masjid strada

    Just curious how you measure "accurate" as no one runs the exact course line and therefore almost always your race distance should be higher than the certified course?


    You are right. Certified distances are measured tangent to corners, therefore unless you are the leader, most probably you run a longer distance.
    However my 735XT is always measuring a shorter than actual distance. Today measured 19.9km, which is about 200m less than the 21.1km course.
    That's fine. No problem with 1% error. But my Polar V800 that was on the other arm, and I guess arrived at the end at the same time since I'm using this keyboard with both hands, measured 21.13km. I can't ask for better accuracy...
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    You mean 20.9 km not 19.9 ? 1.2 km less would be worrying.
    Perhaps you can post the GC links (and Polar equivalent) so we can examine them more closely.

    And why are your sure the Polar is correct?
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I don't see any GPS problems at all with the 735 - and I'm be happy to complain about Garmin if needed, as I moaned about the Fenix 3's embarrassing GPS performance on here until I just sent back for refund.

    I've used the Polar V800 too, using it on the same run as my 735. Distances were exactly the same - some slightly deviations in the GPS track, but from both watches, and you'd be hard pushed to tell which one is which.

    Certainly think you'd be struggling to make an argument that phone GPS is better - any tracks I've seen from iPhone or Android devices are not as good as either the 735 or v800, though that's anecdotal, I've never done a side by side run with them.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    You mean 20.9 km not 19.9 ? 1.2 km less would be worrying.
    Perhaps you can post the GC links (and Polar equivalent) so we can examine them more closely.

    And why are your sure the Polar is correct?


    You are right, I meant 20.9, not 19.9, typo error. Sorry, my bad.
    I'm not sure, but confident the Polar V800 is more accurate because the error on certified courses is negligible and also because on courses not certified, but measured with Goggle Earth it matches the distance +/- 30m
    Therefore I consider the V800 well enough accurate for my needs, not correct. I don't pretend a better accuracy, we all know that a GPS signal received by a watch can't give the exact distance, but I do pretend that when I buy and >400$ top of the line watch, it should have the same level of accuracy of another watch that uses the same technology and is two years older.
  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Really does depend on the race and particularly its popularity.  London Marathon I ran almost 27 miles. Its impossible to stick to the race line and over 26.2 it makes that level of difference. We are not all Haile Gebrselassie!