Like many others here, I have experienced very poor data from the barometric altimeter in this watch. Coming from the Vivoactive HR I was quite disappointed by this. On closer examination I found that the holes for the barometric altimeter must be located on the backside of the watch and so I started to wonder, if the poor data was due to the holes getting clogged by sweat. I therefore decided to take the watch off my wrist and mount it on my bike midway on a biketrip and this greatly improved the elevation data. I have since experimented with putting a small piece of transparent silicone between the watch and my wrist, and since this the elevation data has greatly improved on my runs, and the data is now very comparable to what I used to get from my VA HR. The silicone probably decreases the accuracy of the optic HR sensor, but I always use a chest strap for my workouts, since I find optic HR sensors in general to be a bit to inaccurate for working out, so this doesn't really bother me. If I'm accurate in thinking that the holes for the barometric altimeter are located on the backside of the watch, this is a HUGE design fault and I can't believe that this made it all the way to production. It seems like the watch was never tested under real life conditions. At least I can live with having to use my little hack. Now I'm just dreading updating to 5.0 since rumor has it that this removed the option to manually calibrate the altimeter...
If I'm accurate in thinking that the holes for the barometric altimeter are located on the backside of the watch, this is a HUGE design fault and I can't believe that this made it all the way to production.
You're correct and those are the holes for the barometer sensor. Where else could Garmin have put them without making them more susceptible to rain and debris?
You're correct and those are the holes for the barometer sensor. Where else could Garmin have put them without making them more susceptible to rain and debris?
On my VA HR the hole is on the side, and I never had a problem with the altimeter. I believe the hole is on the side on pretty much all other Garmin Watches. At least this is the case with the Forerunner 645 and the Fenix 5 series. However, today I just noticed that there is a small hole located just underneath the crown of the watch which is connected to the holes underneath the watch, and I tried covering the holes underneath with duct tape leaving just the small hole under the crown to "breath". So far I have had very good elevation data, but I have yet to try it on a sweaty run ;)
However, today I just noticed that there is a small hole located just underneath the crown of the watch which is connected to the holes underneath the watch, and I tried covering the holes underneath with duct tape leaving just the small hole under the crown to "breath". So far I have had very good elevation data, but I have yet to try it on a sweaty run ;)
Where exactly is the hole just under the crown of the watch? I do not see anything but the 2 holes (one right next to ohr sensor and one just under button.
