Bumpy and inaccurate altitude data with new Suunto 7
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I’ve done the first view activities with my new (refurbished, from suunto.com) Suunto 7 and everything seems to be working fine, except for the altitude data. I’ve attached two screenshots were I compared the data recorded by mobile phone (green) with that from the watch (blue). Not only is the overall magnitude wrong by sometimes over 15 m (I’ve checked this with map data), it’s also really bumpy. It even seems like there is a larger bump roughly every 200 m. The total elevation gain of the blue data turns out to be roughly double that of the green data.
One activity was a moderate run, the other a walk, so I don’t think that wind or sweat were a problem for the barometer hole. I also wasn’t covering it up somehow, just wearing the watch normally on my left wrist. Perhaps something is broken already?
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I just did another test walk and this time I’m comparing the watch (in blue again) with a route created using Strava (green). The bumps are still there and this time, the altitude is completely off, by over 300 m. I’ve also included a comparison of the location data. I’m not really sure what to expect, is this level of accuracy normal or does that also suggest that there is a problem? I did wait an extra 1-2 minutes after the watch connected to GPS.
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Here’s a screenshot that I took in a barometer app. The barometer altitude was constantly jumping around wildly by 2-3 m while the GPS altitude stayed constant, as expected.
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@themrdjj The altitude should not jump around like that. I assume you have done a reboot of the watch (upper left button for 12s) and that it has synced to the phone. The GPS tracks should be a bit better too but those are dependent on a large number of factors.
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@Brad_Olwin Thanks for your reply! Yes, I’ve done multiple reboots and the watch is connected to my phone practically all the time. Should I just contact the customer support and ask for a replacement?
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For me this is not how it should work.
Go the support way to rule out a hardware issue.
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I received a reply from the customer support today and they told me that I should also try doing a factory reset. I did that and then again went for a walk, this time with both my old Polar M400 (green) and my Suunto 7 (blue). I compared the elevation data again and I made some interesting observations. Both the green and the blue data were downloaded in the respective apps of the manufacturer. The red data however was downloaded from the Strava activity recorded with the Polar. The Strava activity of the Suunto shows the same data as the blue line.
Apparently Strava automatically corrects the altitude for devices without a barometer, such as the Polar. So I never actually got to see the real altitude data from my Polar watch on Strava, but instead the corrected data (which is therefore the level of accuracy that I’m comparing with). Both the green data and the blue data are not great, for instance that green bump around 700m is totally wrong and so is the green initial altitude, the Suunto even did a better job here.
Now the question remains, is the bumpiness of the blue data acceptable? Or is that still a possible barometer issue? I will go for another run or two with both watches and then decide whether I send back the Suunto 7 to get it checked.
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@themrdjj I believe you have a hardware issue. i would send the watch back in. The altitude data on my S7 and S9B agree very well and are very close to what Strava or Training Peaks corrects for.
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Hello,
i am also struggling with the similar issue. The accumulated altitude data is totally wrong. I sent the watch (copper colored one) to support but got the watch unrepaired back with comment “no failure found”.
Today i took a second Suunto7 from a friend and did a comparisson with both watches on my left arm and not covered with a jacket. At the beginning of the hiking track the altitude data of both watches were similar but after 30 min the watch started showing wrong data. The altitude graph shows an “break in”, guess this is the reason for the wrong data (see picture enclosed). Also the suspicious watch shows 109 m descent while climbing up only. Hopefully i`ll find solutions here in the forum what to do to eliminate this failure.
Correct altitude measurement was for me the reason to buy an “expensive” watch with barometer…:) Cheers Thomas
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@daltonthomas
the distance is not correct either. It’s not massive, but for this “short” activity it is noticeable.
Just a wild guess: GPS issues that maybe tweaked fusedalti in the wrong way? -
@daltonthomas you can try a third party app to check your GPS.
Ghostracer is a good alternative with the option to calibrate the altitude at the starting point.
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GPS issue could be a reason, i`ll test ghostracer on both Suunto7 and let you know.
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@daltonthomas
I am curious to see how a merged activity from both watches on quantified-self.io would look like.
can you upload, merge, publish and share? -
@TELE-HO
good idea with deep dataanalysis, didnt`t know quantified-self.io.
I published and merged both tracks
https://quantified-self.io/user/rxqh5UVb9LhOn2n6zRIh2gHKXMH2/event/yhaYyYqGrMMleVKe03jh -
@daltonthomas
the difference of the altitude is not at the same location where the track diverges
and the graph with the dent is much noisier. -
@TELE-HO
maybe the sensor detects more peaks which count (e.g. different filter used).Today i did another test, i used both Suunto 7 attached on my backpack and also used Ghostrace on the supsicious watch. The difference in altitude is much lower compared to the test with both watches on my left arm.
I also merged data in quantified-self.io, the GPS data of the suspicious watch is not consistent. I guess thats because of running Ghostrace and Suunto app in parallel.Link:
https://quantified-self.io/user/rxqh5UVb9LhOn2n6zRIh2gHKXMH2/event/HN9H4ALaoMt4oymyZp3y
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@daltonthomas
the graphs look better, except for the start section.
But the copper watch has a totally crazy track.
Did you try to reboot this watch? What about the firmware, is it up to date?In other threads we are discussing issues with tracks and alti that are GPS chip related but the S7 has a different chip afaik.
edit: one more thing: my wife has experienced alti and track issues once as she started an activity too soon. Just to double-check, only hit the start button when the watch has locked all required satellites
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@daltonthomas I would record the same hike/track twice. The first round/lap with Suunto wear app, the second round/lap with Ghostracer.
Then it should be clear, if it’s a GPS issue (hardware) or a software issue (app).
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@TELE-HO
After i got the watch back from service i didnt reboot but now its rebooted.
The firmware of both watches is up to date.
I guess GPS was ok when the session was started but next sessions i`ll doublecheck.@pilleus
Good idea with changing between Sunnto App and Ghostracer lapwise, would give another input. Also it would help to do the same track several times and compare the tracks with quantified-self.io -
Today i went with my wife for a short hiking tour. My wife used the copper watch and i the black one.
Both watches were started simultanously and the tour was exactly the same. Again a huge difference in ascent meters of 130 m. (344 m instead of correctly 214 m). Also the distance is different.
I guess i`ll write a summary and send the watch again back to suunto service.Merged data:
https://quantified-self.io/user/rxqh5UVb9LhOn2n6zRIh2gHKXMH2/event/uOtApfTPguXgsWSlCytM
