GPS precision and issue with barometric altitude

[aeroild]

I have had my Suunto 7 since 31th of January 2020. The first six months I was very pleased with the watch. Notifications worked flawlessly, I was happy with the GPS precision which seemed to be on par with the Suunto Spartan Sport WHR and the recorded barometric altitude was close to my perseption of the elevation gain on tracks I ran. But suddenly the recorded barometric altitude started to get worse and worse as documented in another post.

Now another three months later, the recorded barometric altitude is totally crazy and GPS precision turn out to be not as good as I thought it was.

This is the altitude profile from a short walk (carrying the watch in my hand) starting at an actual altitude of abt. 75 meters and ending at an actual altitude of abt. 100 meters:

And here is the recorded barometric altitude (recored as a walk) when I left the watch outside at the same spot for three hours:

Both these were done before this weeks update. So today I did another recording leaving the watch outside at the same spot for 1.5 hours:

And a short walk this afternoon, starting at an actual altitude of abt. 75 meters, walking up to an altitude of 90 meters and ending at the starting point:

Is this FusedAlti going crazy? Or the barometric sensor being faulty?

Over to GPS precision: When I first got the Suunto 7 I ran a few times using both the S7 and my old Suunto Spartan Sport WHR. The GPS precision seemed to be just as good on the S7 as on the SSSWHR. I put the SSSWHR in a drawer and just used the Suunto 7. When the cold came and I started to do nordic skiing I took out the SSSWHR again in order to get to use a HR belt. One watch on each arm and I have also switched arm between activities. I was surprised when I compared the tracks recorded by the two watches. I went skiing on a short round track where I did several rounds and it’s quite obvious that the consistency of the track recorded by the SSSWHR is much higher than the track recorded by the S7:

Also here you can notice the problem with the barometric altitude recorded on the S7.

Another example recorded after this week’s update and a reset of the watch:

Is this questionable GPS precision to be expected from the Suunto 7?

[Brad_Olwin]

@aeroild You may have a faulty unit, I have had mine much longer and the altitude is very good. Have you done a reboot of the watch and if so a hard reset? If the issue persists then I would contact support.

[aeroild]

@Brad_Olwin Thanks for your reply. Yes, I did a hard reset also after the firmware update yesterday. So I guess I’ll have to contact Suunto support.

Out of curiosity, have you used your S7 to record any runs or other activities with several laps on the same track? (similar to my skiing activities)

[freeheeler]

please forgive me being cheeky, but can we merge this topic?

[aeroild]

Here is a follow up on the GPS precision. This time using the SportyGo! app on the Suunto 7 and my Suunto Spartan Sport WHR as a comparison (four laps):

And a recording done with Ghostracer (six laps):

The consistency in the SportyGo! and Ghostracer tracks look better than the tracks previously recorded by the Suunto Wear app! Could maybe have something to do with positioning of satellites or the weather? Or the reason that hurts: The Suunto Wear app’s algorithm is doing a bad job?

[Mff73]

@aeroild
i have no S7, but you can’t compare tracks from one day to another.
GPS one day is totally different from another one.
For good testings, you should register same day, same workout with all devices/apps, and also be careful that one device is not perturbating the other (even think to wear watches the same way (same wrist, etc…)

[aeroild]

@Mff73 I get that, that’s why I compare the same workout using Suunto 7 and Spartan Sport WHR. I do however believe it is totally fine to compare the consistency in the tracking when doing round after round with the same watch. And I am sorry to say that the Suunto 7 seems to show weakness when doing this.

[Mff73]

@aeroild said in GPS precision and issue with barometric altitude:

The consistency in the SportyGo! and Ghostracer tracks look better than the tracks previously recorded by the Suunto Wear app! Could maybe have something to do with positioning of satellites or the weather? Or the reason that hurts: The Suunto Wear app’s algorithm is doing a bad job?

no offense , just saying that you are comparing one day track with S7/WearOsApp and another day S7/Ghostracer So this comparison is not perfect to say an app is better that the other (but you may be right also )

If i read well some users here, can’t you record the same activity using Suuntowearapp + Ghostracer at the same time ? Assuming an app is not influencing the other.

[aeroild]

@Mff73 Thanks for the suggestion. I will try both Suunto Wear app and Ghostracer running next time.