How well are the S8's working with bluetooth at the moment? (Garmin particularly)

[JohnMcL7]

Is anyone having BT issues with their S8? I was about to press the button on an S8+ as my Note 4 seems to be failing but found a few concerning threads on people having trouble with the S8 and bluetooth. Specifically reduced range and intermittent connections, I use a Garmin BT watch and cycle computer plus BT to the car stereo without issue and I'm not wanting to lose that. However at the same time I do realise that information online will be more biased towards problems so I'm wondering how people here are getting on with bluetooth?

I've had a dig through the forum and found a thread complaining about the lack of range and a few posts with owners of a Garmin Vivoactive HR (it's a Fenix 5s I have) but they've not mentioned any issues. However others are reporting problems with a Garmin watch:

https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/GS8QA/thread-id/299/page/48

https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/com...sues_with_samsung_s8/?st=j4jxbqbu&sh=8f56d3e9

I also realise this can change with updates so would appreciate any thoughts from here particularly as I'm not seeing that many references to BT issues when flicking through threads.

 

[TylerLV76]

I don't use the Garmin products so can't help on those specifically.

I have no issues connecting to any bluetooth device, however the range is God awful. I use a Samsung Level U Pro headset and I get stuttering with them while my phone is in my pocket. It's not constant but it's aggravating. The phone and speakers are maybe 3 feet apart. If I bend down it's a guarantee the sound will stutter.

With all my other BT speakers, I can't go more than 10 feet away without getting an interruption. If there's a wall between the phone and speaker it gets worse.

I heard they released a patch in Europe but haven't seen anything in the states to fix the issue.

 

[anon(238680)]

I have an S8+, two Gear S2 watches, BT speakers and Bt in the car and have had no issues. I have seen posts that comment on potential conflicts when using wifi and BT together, but I have not seen problems with that either. I seem to remember that one past update addressed BT. As you say, internet posts tend to slide toward the negative on many issues.

 

[callihan_44]

I have a fenix 3 and updates work good and connection is solid with the s8, prior to an update on the iphone I had trouble with the iphone not giving me weather updates so the s8 has been better

 

[JohnMcL7]

Thanks for the prompt replies which are very helpful, there's a few items I've bought without reading through forums which I've been very pleased with but probably wouldn't have bought had I read the forums first as they make the product sound unusable. I just couldn't see the BT being as bad as being made out as otherwise the forum would be dominated by posts about bluetooth.

 

[TylerLV76]

Thanks for the prompt replies which are very helpful, there's a few items I've bought without reading through forums which I've been very pleased with but probably wouldn't have bought had I read the forums first as they make the product sound unusable. I just couldn't see the BT being as bad as being made out as otherwise the forum would be dominated by posts about bluetooth.

There's a thread related to bluetooth you may want to read.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=803748

 

[jeffmd]

Forum search is your friend

 

[anon(7901790)]

I have a S8+ and a Garmin vivoactive, and I'm not having any problems. Nor have I had BT problems with any other BT devices.

 

[razortaz18]

I'm actually getting rid of my S8+ due to one particular Bluetooth gripe. The range is terrible. I have owned a lot of phones, the S8+ has the worst range of them all.

 

[JohnMcL7]

Forum search is your friend

Yes, which is why I specifically mentioned the results of the forum searches I had done none of which discuss the device working with Garmin watches (aside from in passing) and also with a new phone like the S8, BT performance can change through software updates and older information may no longer be valid. Reading posts properly before replying is also your friend.

 

[JohnMcL7]

There's a thread related to bluetooth you may want to read.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=803748

I've had a read through it but hard to know what to think, I can't understand how some people can find the BT completely unusable and others ok - it would make sense if specific combinations didn't work but that's not the case as those having trouble, have trouble with everything.

With regards to the range I don't use BT speakers or similar and the devices I do use are all close to the phone. For some reason the current Garmin watch has a much shorter range than the last one I had (Vivoactive), I don't know how the Gear S3's compare range wise as I've seen a Fenix owner that said the watch would disconnect if they folded their arms.

 

[dejanh]

Still plenty of Bluetooth issues. No fix is available in North America yet and none seems to be forthcoming.