Any hope for improving GPS track?

Randy Penn

Don’t get me wrong, because I really enjoy this watch. But the thing that keeps me putting it back in the drawer is the dismal GPS tracks I get. For example, I take my dog on the same 1.4 mile walk just about every day, but the S7 always measures it between 1.5 and 1.56 miles, and it’s because of the drunken wandering of the GPS track. No other GPS watch I’ve owned has ever measured this walk at over 1.44 miles, and they almost always hit it spot on. There is no tree cover or tall buildings along the route, Other than that, the S7 is superior in every way, but that inaccuracy drives me nuts. Is there any hope of the GPS track getting smoothed out in a future update?

pavel.samokha

@randy-penn I believe the issue you described exists only when slow activities, like walking.
When running/cycling/skiing - track stats are on par with Sony-chipset watches.

Randy Penn

@pavel-samokha Based on what I’ve read, I believe you are correct. However, other GPS watches, even cheapy ones, do a decent job even on slow activity.

pilleus

@randy-penn oh, that’s a special feature of the Suunto 7 other watches do not have. The Suunto 7 is able to record a walk of a drunken sailor in the correct way.

Randy Penn

@pilleus Maybe I’ll enlist and head to the liquor store

pavel.samokha

If you care about conforming distance of your walks to other watches you may try change Location Accuracy from Best to Good

isazi

Went hiking with S9 and S7 today. Distance measured:

S9: 17.44 km
S7: 17.64 km
Difference: 195 meters (1.1%)

Brad_Olwin

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

Went hiking with S9 and S7 today. Distance measured:

S9: 17.44 km

S7: 17.64 km

Difference: 195 meters (1.1%)

@Randy-Penn Mine are great too, the difference between S9 and S7 walking is negligible.
S9 0.42 miles
S7 0.45 miles
Tracks look identical!

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.