I recently got a VA3 a few days ago and my initial impressions were positive until I started to use the device for a running activity. I'm not sure if others are having the same issues as me or if I have a defective unit and need to contact Garmin for a replacement.
My major issues so far:
1. ANT+ sensors constantly disconnect/reconnect during an activity. I use a foot pod(Stryd), tempe, and HRM-run for my activities and they all constantly disconnect and reconnect. Not sure if this is a issue that was introduced with the latest firmware update, but it's very annoying and messed up data. Especially for indoor runs with the foot pod.
2. Altimeter measurements are way off. During my first run, my total gain/loss was way off. Even the elevation profile was no where near what it should be. Looking at it, you would think I was running downhill when in fact I was running uphill. I've ran this route with other Garmin devices and even though the total gain/loss would be slightly different, the profiles were pretty close to the same.
3. GPS/Pace issues. It seems like the GPS stops recording at times and tries to catch up. This messes up the track where it's not as smooth and my average pace suffers a bit. I have the data recording to every second.
Not so major issues:
1. The temperature sensor doesn't always show data in the watch faces that I use. Sometimes it does and sometimes the reading is way off (like 574 F) . I know my body temp influences this measurement, so not really something I use or care about. But it is something that I've noticed and not sure if I have a faulty temperature sensor that would impact altimeter from working correctly.