Software update 2.13.18 for S series (S3,S5,S9)

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@Rob33 I suppose the maths that the chip does are simplified and other techniques. Complicated subject. Includes SNR etc.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos you mentioned that new GPS firmware improves power consumption with other GNSS than GPS. Shouldn’t it be reflected in estimation on activity start screen? Or simply those gains in power are reflected in better accuracy? Or are they internal and not reported by battery time estimation?

Having my watch at 85% I get 20h estimated time with GPS only and GPS plus Beidou and 14h with GLONASS and Galileo which is identical as with previous firmware.

[markytarky]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel true, I just tried the same, full battery 24h best performance on GPS only, 18h best performance GPS +Galileo

[Brad_Olwin]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel @markytarky When I test the battery life, I typically do this on a run or ski that is at least 4-6h, longer if I can. The watch will provide an estimate but it is just an estimate. Moreover, if you are needing sufficient battery for long endurance events does it really matter which satellite system is used? Or how precise your track is? Under long events Endurance mode will only get a GPS fix every minute and FusedTrack will fill in the details so why not use GPS only? There are improvements with power consumption but what you are asking simply does not make that much sense.

[Rob33]

@Brad_Olwin The idea is, I believe, to be able to do ultra trail (up to 24 -26 hours) while still using the Best 1s mode

[markytarky]

@Brad_Olwin thanks, I got your point. I think we both were referring to this sentence: New GPS firmware from sony that improves many things including power consumption for other GNSS systems than GPS. So kind of common sense is telling us most probably it will increase the estimate while using the GPS with another system. Thank you again.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

We didn’t bump up those numbers as the improvement might be 1-2h (or more).

Changing the estimates can create complexity , from people who read the specs but still don’t have the update etc.

Better be on the safe side.

[Rob33]

the best autonomy remains in GPS alone?

[Brad_Olwin]

@Rob33 You can and I have, but using a belt or turning off OHR will help more than which satellite system you use. In my experience I have found the estimates on the watch tend to over estimate rather than under estimate the time. @Łukasz-Szmigiel and @markytarky I would not assume the duration that the watch is providing is completely accurate and as I mentioned before a real test in real conditions will give you a better idea. I mostly test GPS only but I have seen improvements in battery life for me using Performance and Endurance modes during testing of this firmware.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos pretty reasonable, thanks for the info.

@Brad_Olwin, I suppose that in a rare occurrence when battery life is paramount I’d use GPS only. However I personally don’t see a situation where I might need more than 20h of constant tracking. One can charge a watch with even the smallest of power banks that don’t add much weight to equipment so why bother? Just wanted to know if a bug slipped through or the difference was too small or too variable to report it in activity start screen.

[Brad_Olwin]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel I personally hate to charge my watch, carry cables and have all of that hassle when racing ultras. The challenges of the race are far more important to me than a precise GPS track. So, I used FusedTrack and never have to worry about charging. If my event is ≤36h I will use Endurance mode and if ~48h for the cutoff, I will use Ultra mode. I typically wear the Smartsensor belt. So, weight is not the issue.

[nseslija]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Great…

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@Brad_Olwin also pretty reasonable. Most ultra runners I know don’t even bother with hr, let alone the track quality. Some charge their watches during the race, others don’t or don’t have to, but if I were to run an ultra I guess that the last thing I’d like to worry about was the watch. I was rather referring to hiking or multi day activities where this shouldn’t be a problem.

[stromdiddily]

Awesome update if not as flashy or sexy as some previous ones

Noticed that I received a “Wait for green arrow” notification prior to running after the update. I waited for five-ish minutes w no GPS lock. Backed out of the workout. Tried again and GPS was found in probably 10 seconds.

After the workout, I received another notification advising on how best to achieve optimal GPS results.

Wondering if this is expected?

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@stromdiddily perhaps the watch didn’t have time to extract AGPS after the update. Did you go for your workout right after the update finished?

[stromdiddily]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel Probably 10-15 minutes between update and getting into the exercise screen…

[omunoz]

@stromdiddily
I have a joke about this , always you update or reset the watch , use the Altitude settings with location coordinates and when you have the information goes to exercise and start .

[A Former User]

@stromdiddily I’ve had this happen the first run after almost every update. It doesn’t recurr though. There must be some sort of bug in the software. It won’t be a problem going forward, unless it is.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

I just looked at a track from today’s walk on quantified-self.io and compared it to yesterday’s run and it seems there’s a lot less areas of “less dense” points than before. Basically almost the whole path is populated with high density of points on QS and there are no long fragments with points that are spread apart. Also, the browser in my new phone didn’t die while viewing gmap with points overlaid on it so it’s another plus thanks @Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos for phone benchmarking tool on QS

Apart from fun but slightly retarded activity of counting the dots on the map I wonder: shouldn’t the new firmware result in larger fit files and therefore less activities stored in watch memory?

[Brad_Olwin]

@zrumlow said in Software update 2.13.18 for S series (S3,S5,S9):

@stromdiddily I’ve had this happen the first run after almost every update. It doesn’t recurr though. There must be some sort of bug in the software. It won’t be a problem going forward, unless it is.

It is not a bug, it takes 15 min or so for the GPS update data to populate appropriately in the watch. So make sure AGPS is updated and don’t outdoor exercise immediately after the update.