Lets talk about firmware 5.00

I cant even get the new firmware, currently on 4.7.0.14

I had several problems before the update as I posted in another thread. I want to do a quick sum up of the changes for me:

HR Dropouts:
Before I got the drop to 70bpm every 10 to 15 Minutes of workout.
Since the update I did about 7h of activities (cycling and running) with no dropouts whatsoever.
-> Yay!

Altimeter readings:
Before it depended heavily on manual calibration and even then it was somewhat weird sometimes.
Now it seems more consistent and I got nearly the same altitude on start and finish. The automatic GPS calibrations is however off about 5 to 15m.
For me, this is not that big of an issue since the important thing is the elevation change and not the absolute value which is only relevant on higher altitudes for me and if you are up 1000m or more, an error of 15m is also not that relevant. I miss the manual calibration though.

Step statistics completely gone on some days on the watch only:
Seems to be solved, I get now consistent stats on watch and Connect.

Intensity minutes count:
Before I could make exactly the same workout and I got maybe 60 minutes the first time and none the second time.
Now it behaves like I would expect it to behave.

Workout timer resets:
Before, the workout timer would reset every time the automatic lap counter sets in so there was no way to see how long the current workout step will take.
This seems to be completely solved with the update, tested it several times.

Other things I experienced with the update:

+ I feel like I have way more battery time since the update but this could be subjective. I don't have that much of a steady schedule that I can compare it long term.
++ You now get an indicator of your intensity zones (cadence, HR, speed, etc.) in workouts. Before the was only the actual value and a warning if you got too low or high. This is way better.
+ You can now change the data pages in a workout resting phase (before you only could change to the notes screens which was somewhat useless)
- My watchface sometimes changes, especially after loading and connecting at the PC but sometimes also when I wake up, I have not found a pattern yet but it happens not often
- The HR recording (outside of a workout) stopped for me after the update, restart of the watch fixed this. I got it one more time after a minor update (no idea what that was) so it seems it's a good idea to manually restart the watch one more time after updates.


Thats about it. I still have some things to test out like HR boradcasting which was not working well for me the one time I tested before the update. We'll see.

Overall I am very happy with the improvement and changes.

seems like in Asia we must still wait & wait! very very disappointing

Innstalled firmware 5.0 today, still no stairs registered. Anyone with same problem on new firmware ?

Here, since a few days no stairs registered, have washed the vivoactive3, but doesn't fix it.
i climb at least 6 stairs a day, but no one ist count.

CYCLING UPDATE - AND A FEW GYM EXPERIENCES.

Since the update I have done two 40 mile bicycle rides. I have a Garmin Edge 1000 and it does a great job and I like to broadcast my HR to it while riding. I have found after this update and doing two rides that the HR is stable and does not drop. However what I find interesting is that the best way to get a more accurate HR on Garmin Edge 1000 is to actually NOT select Broadcast Mode but rather Broadcast Mode in Activity and then actually start a Bike Ride (without GPS). Tried it both ways yesterday on a 40 mile bike ride and the HR was MORE accurate doing the broadcast mode in activity. Now the only bummer is that the Edge 1000 does not have the Physio True Up so I actually get TWO workouts.

When closing the activity on the VA3, do not save it - then only one gets recorded.

The Edge 1000 doesn't need Physio TrueUp for the activity to show on your va3. Don't save the activity on the va3, and what was done on the edge shows up on the va3.

Altimeter ist completely off in 5.00 have apparently been running downhill underground today?!!?!? (yes i waited for gps, even 30sec longer to make sure i got a fix)

Why does a programmer come up with the idea to make the hint for unlocking a locked clock even bigger than it already was?
Now you can see almost nothing on the screen when the clock is locked.

And because it fits the topic locked clock:
When used as an HFQ transmitter, the control menu still can not be called up so that the clock can be locked quickly.
The good news is that sending the HFQ still does not work.
So I still can not use it - despite resetting to factory settings, which was called by the support as a solution.

In addition, it has already happened twice that measuring the HFQ after charging does not work properly.
Although a value is displayed in the widget, it will not be logged or passed to the watchface.
In addition, the clock has stopped several times - also after charging - has stopped.
This has not happened before.
Only switching off and on again fixes this.