Any hope for improving GPS track?

Randy Penn

@brad_olwin This is my only Suunto, so I can’t compare to other Suunto devices, but my tracks have all kinds of craziness in them, both in good and best GPS modes, and my distance averages 10 percent high compared to 3 different Galaxy Watches, 3 different Garmin watches, 2 Ticwatches, and a Fitbit that I’ve had over the years…also compared to the actual distance. I thought maybe I got a bum unit, but I’ve actually had 3 of these over the last year, and they’ve all been that way. Guess I’ll just have to live with it or put it back in the drawer.

Mff73

@randy-penn said in Any hope for improving GPS track?:

or put it back in the drawer.

I have a drawer myself, if you send it to me, I could test it and put it in my drawer if I am not satisfied

Aleksander H

@randy-penn this is strange. I own a S7 and it’s always within 1% if my wife’s Fenix 5 distance when we go out together. Both slow and not so slow activities (I don’t really do fast ). Only exception is if I use good accuracy. In those cases I usually get about 5 - 6% longer distance then her and the track looks like a drunken sailor.

Brad_Olwin

@randy-penn Actual distances are very hard to determine. How do you know what the “actual” distance is? For testing you cannot compare on different days, etc. The watches need to be worn on the same arm on the same day. To determine accurate distances I use a wheel, otherwise I cannot know what the actual distance is ( I make sure to use the route I used with the wheel, side of road, etc.)

@randy-penn said in Any hope for improving GPS track?:

@brad_olwin This is my only Suunto, so I can’t compare to other Suunto devices, but my tracks have all kinds of craziness in them, both in good and best GPS modes, and my distance averages 10 percent high compared to 3 different Galaxy Watches, 3 different Garmin watches, 2 Ticwatches, and a Fitbit that I’ve had over the years…also compared to the actual distance. I thought maybe I got a bum unit, but I’ve actually had 3 of these over the last year, and they’ve all been that way. Guess I’ll just have to live with it or put it back in the drawer.

What about sending it to warranty?

Annnnna5

@isazi I had this problem today. Went walking for 10 km, the watch showed 12 km, +2 km. This is insane.

Randy Penn

@annnnna5 Was your GPS track woefully inaccurate as well?

Brad_Olwin

@annnnna5 Were there tall buildings, dense trees, water? All these can cause GPS issues. Second, I’ve asked this before how do you know it is 10 km? Measured along the path you walked?

olymay

Remember, the default GPS accuracy in walking mode is GOOD and samples t 10s intervals. Could this be causing these minor differences? Maybe try changing it to BEST which samples every 1s?

At the end of the day, does a couple of hundred metres make all that much difference when out for a walk?

Aleksander H

@olymay said in Any hope for improving GPS track?:

Remember, the default GPS accuracy in walking mode is GOOD and samples t 10s intervals.

Really? On my watch it is set to best, and I don’t think I’ve ever used the basic walk activity before, so I don’t think that is a change I’ve made.

olymay

@aleksander-h strange. When I used the walking mode it was set to GOOD. I changed it to best before realising that was pointless for a slow activity like walking.

In fact, I think GOOD is more than good enough for a run too. I’ve compared 6 runs (3 on GOOD and 3 on BEST) and it was tough to spot the difference

Aleksander H

@olymay said in Any hope for improving GPS track?:

In fact, I think GOOD is more than good enough for a run too. I’ve compared 6 runs (3 on GOOD and 3 on BEST) and it was tough to spot the difference

I’ll admit I never really tried it much. My activities don’t usually last more than 1 or 2 hours, so I’ve never felt the need to extend the battery. My old watch was a Garmin Vivosport, and that thing also sampled once every 10 seconds. I could never tell the difference between that and the track on my Fenix 5 Plus, so I’m not surprised if Good on the S7 works just as well for my slow running.

olymay

@aleksander-h Oh I still use BEST for my runs too

My runs are also typically short (when I can go running that is ) and rarely above 2hrs.

But it’s nice to know that the GOOD mode is more than capable should it be needed or wanted

Annnnna5

@brad_olwin I turned the GPS on my mobile phone, and my friend’s mobile phone also showed 10. We were in nature, tall trees, no roads etc. But the difference in huge.

Annnnna5

@randy-penn no, this is the first time.

Aleksander H

@annnnna5 could you share a link to the activity in question?

My S7 has been pretty solid, and usually comes within about 0.5 - 1% of my wife’s Fenix 5 when we go out together. Only really had an issue once when the track took a surprise detour, but my Garmin would do that as well every now and then.

isazi

@annnnna5 20% difference is not just some wobbling around, it’s most probably a major GPS error, so should be very visible if you compare the track of your S7 with the track on the phone. Can you show us pictures, or the activity itself?

Aleksander H

@isazi this is what I was thinking. An erroneous GPS fix throwing the track off and back can happen. My Garmin once teleported 800 m into the forrest and back.

isazi

@aleksander-h my Fenix 2 once teleported me 26 km away

Aleksander H

@isazi You must have got an impressive half-marathon time that day