Strava: Inaccurate Apple Watch GPS

[Johnny Lawless]

Morning peeps, just curious if there are others who also find the apple watch (gen 2 in my case) GPS very inaccurate and inconsistent when the speed picks up?

 

Below are 4 runs up/down Afterburner (Banhoek). Going up things are fine and tracking nicely but the minute we go down it's all over the show. The blue line is my mate's ride (using a Garmin Fenix 3) and it tracks the trail perfectly and consistently every time. The green is mine and it was so inaccurate that strava did not even pick those segments up at all.

 

I've tried apple's suggestion of ensuring calibration is turned on etc. Is anyone using an apple watch which tracks very accurately compared to other sports watches or do I just accept that apple is not as good as other on this front? Currently I'm just telling myself that I'm simply too fast for it   

 

[slickjay007]

Although I am an Apple fan, I've come to the realization that if you want accurate fitness metrics and GPS then rather use a proper watch like a Garmin, Suunto etc.

 

My wife has the Apple Gen 4 watch and if you tracking steps and minor metrics then it's ok but anything more advanced i told her to get something better. I have read that the auto-pause on the Apple watch may interfere with the GPS accuracy but haven't tested it out yet.

[DR ◣◢]

Did you have you phone with you while recording?

 

I’ve had issues in the past with inaccurate readings from my 5th Gen where I left my phone in the car. It’s the normal GPS only unit.

[Slumiesboi]

I am using the gen 5 Apple watch and haven't had any problems. It is consistent when I compare my rides and going downhill (faster sections) to that of my riding buddy who uses a Garmin watch. I always have my iPhone with me but AFAIK the watch only shares the internet connection of the phone and not the actual GPS signal.

[Johnny Lawless]

Although I am an Apple fan, I've come to the realization that if you want accurate fitness metrics and GPS then rather use a proper watch like a Garmin, Suunto etc.

 

My wife has the Apple Gen 4 watch and if you tracking steps and minor metrics then it's ok but anything more advanced i told her to get something better. I have read that the auto-pause on the Apple watch may interfere with the GPS accuracy but haven't tested it out yet.

 

I'll look into the auto-pause suggestion since we do take a break after climbing and before descending

[Johnny Lawless]

Did you have you phone with you while recording?

 

I’ve had issues in the past with inaccurate readings from my 5th Gen where I left my phone in the car. It’s the normal GPS only unit.

 

ja, I had both watch and phone on me

[dasilvarsa]

Garmin is A GPS Company.

Apple is a Computer Company.

Xerox is a Copier Company.

[PSYCHOsmurfZA]

I'll look into the auto-pause suggestion since we do take a break after climbing and before descending

Auto pause is an annoyance even on Garmin devices, i switched it on the other day before a ride just to see what it does and my ride was about 1.5km short. I was just taking a leisure ride to test out a gopro mount. I noticed as soon as the watch recorded a speed below 5km/h it would auto pause and then loses GPS signal due to the pause.

 

As mentioned already rather get a fitness specific watch for best results.

I was lucky enough to get a Garmin from my cuz because he upgraded to a Polar.

[Frosty]

I’ve used my Apple Watch (3) twice but I’ve always used the native Workout App as it links to Vitality - once for a 5Km race when I left my Garmin at home, and once on a club ride (when I had forgotten to charge my Garmin).

 

I noticed I was able to upload to Strava after the workout, so no need to use the Strava app on the watch. Both routes were the same as everyone else on Strava, so I can assume it works okay, when needed.

 

Bike ride

 

Run - Apple Watch (2018) vs Garmin (2019)

Looking at it closer, the Apple Watch was a little erratic while the Garmin was smoother.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Frosty