Running with Gear S3. How accurate?

[wsrobert]

Any runners here who already have an S3? Comments on accuracy vs other smartwatches/garmin devices?

It's going to be one of the primary use cases for me - running in standalone mode while playing spotify (whenever that comes). But want to ensure it can accurately track a run.

 

[arunma]

I'm a regular runner and use the Gear S3 to track my runs. I should state at the outset that I do all my running on a treadmill, so I can't comment on things like distance accuracy with GPS, altimeter-based statistics, etc.

I used to use the Gear S2, and the calorie count it reported lined up almost perfectly with what the treadmill said. On the Gear S3 it actually gives me a lower value, which I think means that it's not tracking my warm up run as part of the workout. I suppose I could test this hypothesis by manually starting a run instead of letting the watch auto-detect workouts.

When the treadmill says I've run 2 miles, I'm getting values of about 1.8 from S Health. Again, if it doesn't count walking as part of the workout, I suppose that makes up the difference.

I use the S3 to measure heart rates, and when I compare my resting rate to the result from my S7 Edge I get values that are very close (usually +/- 3 bpm, and the error distribution is fairly symmetric). I'd have to compare to a physician's pulse oximeter to know if the result is correct. But at minimum it's consistent with a phone's heart rate monitor.

So overall I'd say I'm quite pleased with accuracy so far.

 

[PookiePrancer]

So far, I've noticed that the heart rate monitor is pretty accurate, within 2-3 BPM. Haven't tried the GPS distance tracking, as I've only tested on a treadmill as well.

 

[ScottyKnox]

I have taken it on a few runs. I have the T-Mobile LTE version. I leave my phone at home when I run. The GPS locks on fairly quickly and is very accurate. I have compared it with my Garmin Vivosmart HR+ and it is always within 0.01 miles of what the Garmin says. The run tracks look identical. I do notice differences in the HR monitor. The Gear S3 tends to run 3-5 beats faster than the Garmin.

I use a BT headset to listen to music downloaded to the watch. The screen is great in bright light and rotating the dial to view different metrics screens is easy. I have had several Android Wear Watches and the S3 crushes all of them (except the Moto 360 Sport which is very accurate for running GPS and HR).

 

[Fozzee70]

I bought a Moto 360 sport and sent it back after 2 days as the HR was inaccurate.

 

[Reseg]

First, to give experience context, in regards to wearable trackers with HR, I've owned and used for tracking activities:
Gear Fit 2
Gear S2
Gear S3
Fitbit Blaze
Garmin 735XT
Garmin Vivoactive HR
Moto 360 Sport
Polar M600
Apple Watch (both orig and series 2)
MotoACTV
Ticwatch 2
LG Urbane 2nd edition

Keep in mind, everyone's skin color, hair, fat layer, and tissue density is different, so the lights each device uses and algorithm to identify heart beats will vary in accuracy depending on the person using it. What is most accurate for one person may be the opposite for another. In the case of the Gear S3, The main body is substantial and heavy, so it needs to be on pretty tight, as it can more easily shift and flop around, depending on your running style and movement, at least in comparison to devices like the Gear Fit 2. If you compare it to the LG Urbane 2, it's on par as far as how it fits and shifts around. In my case, with it on tight, the heart rate seemed pretty solid and GPS was great, however, keep in mind, Samsung doesn't enable you to export heart rate data to directly compare to other devices used on the same run. In fact, there's no way you can share any of your runs (WITH heart rate) to any fitness platform outside of S Health. So, if you're one of the many you have years of data stored in places like Strava, you will either need to use dev mode and many work arounds to try and get the data after each run out of S Health each time, or you will have to deal with not having your heart rate info on these platforms.

Unfortunately many of the Android Wear devices are a serious pain to share the data easily and natively to other platforms as well.

For activity heart rate tracking, I've had the best results with the Apple Watch, Garmins, and Polar M600. Garmin has horrible tracking otherwise for heart rate, it's algorithm is too dumb to throw out 24/7 samples that randomly read 160 when sitting at a desk, and they also use movement to determine when to sample, which often leads to hours of untracked heart rate while sleeping. The Polar has no sound notifications, and you can barely feel the vibrations. I hate to say it, but I keep having to go back to the Apple Watch lol. The main problem with running with the Apple Watch is no apps support the new GPS of the series 2 (without a phone), except Apple's own tracking, and Nike Run Club, and neither will let you share/export your full data to use on platforms like Strava. I'm sure this will change soon, though.

 

[wsrobert]

I'm actually not terribly concerned with the accuracy of HR. But its definitely promising to hear that the GPS was tracking inline with Garmin devices.

Are you using the standard BT model or LTE?

 

[ehosey2]

I use my Gear S3 Frontier LTE with S Health for my runs at the beach and the GPS tracks my route and distance quite accurately. I only have previously used the Gear S2 3G to compare it to. But over all I am very pleased.

 

[p1eric]

Any runners here who already have an S3? Comments on accuracy vs other smartwatches/garmin devices?

It's going to be one of the primary use cases for me - running in standalone mode while playing spotify (whenever that comes). But want to ensure it can accurately track a run.

I have used a Garmin Vivoactive with heart rate strap for the past two years so the S3 had to be pretty good. After a few weeks and a 6-8 outdoor runs I'm happy enough to make the switch. I realize that it'll never be a good as a Garmin but it is close enough. Most importantly the GPS distance tracked is spot on. I wore it and the Garmin on the first two runs and they were within .1 miles on a 4-5 mile run.

Things that aren't so good...
1. On one of the data screens on the S3 is Pace and the number jumps around like crazy. I think it is going for instant pace but something is haywire about it. The average pace that is spoken on the speaker is correct. hopefully that can and will be corrected in an update to S Health.
2. The heart rate is pretty accurate if you really tighten the strap. I mean uncomfortably tight. On a short run it isn't that big of a deal but i could see that being an issue on a longer run.
3. As mentioned above heart rate info doesn't export in any manner. Not too big a deal for me since I only started keeping HR data in the past two years. Distance data exported straight Strava as configured in S Health is wonky. I'm not exactly sure what's going on but it seems it only uses active time to calculate pace. So for example on a 4 mile run in Strava it will say my pace is 6:15 or something crazy. Everything in S Health looks normal. There is some sort of bug with the S Health > Strava interface. If I manually export a GPX to Strava it is correct. And export to Runkeeper works well straight from S Health. In the end I can get my S Health data into either Strava or Runkeeper (both of which have my history) so that's good enough for me.
4. The data screens are quite bright and scroll nicely but I really wish they were customizable with more than one data point on a single screen. I'm probably asking for too much here but it is what I am used to on the Garmin.

So it is not really a replacement for a dedicated fitness watch but it is a great smartwatch with a pretty good basic fitness app.

 

[Fozzee70]

Are your distances the same in s health as when you export to Strava?

S Health keeps under reporting distances compared to my Garmin 235. But when I export to Strava its a lot nearer the Garmin??

 

[rinkeedink]

Did my first run to test standalone yesterday on WiFi version using GPS on a park run I've been doing for years and GPS route map after had me running for about a mile on a street parallel to the park. Try again tmrw.

 

[Fozzee70]

Think I've found the issue.

The watch gps is not sampling often enough and is cutting corners etc which is why it is reporting short on standalone.
Connect to the phone it works exactly the same as my garmin.

Annoying!!

 

[Rick_Stone]

Totally agree with your assessment.

1) Need more than 1 data point on a screen. Should be customizable.
2) GPS is pretty good. Not as good as my Garmin 220
3) Heart rate read about 30-40 BPM high for me with a comfortable snugness.
4) Pace screen is useless because it goes from 7:00 pace to 13:30 pace as opposed to some kind of moving average?
5) Doesn't seem to sync with strava. Have tried MANY times.

 

[sjfwhite]

First outdoor run was yesterday. I gave the watch a chance to get a gps signal for around 30 seconds before starting the run. It was pretty much identical to my Fenix 3 and I was surprised to be able to get some running metrics to choose from during the run (pace, cadence, speed, calories burned and distance). I was surprisingly pleased with it. I wonder whether it uses the HR data to calculate calories burned but thats another issue.

 

[SiGoodchild]

So, I've had a couple of runs and a walk with the Gear S3 since I got it yesterday and I have a few issues. The first is that the GPS takes ages to acquire a signal (flashing location symbol which goes steady later) and during this time the watch estimates your movements. It's crazy, but if you stop the exercise session once the signal is acquired and restart it the GPS still takes ages to re-acquire. Once acquired, the instantaneous pace indications are useless, wildly swinging up and down by a minute or so, even when the pace is very steady: it needs to smooth out this reading. Strangely, the Samsung speedometer app acquires GPS really quickly, but even that information doesn't help S HEALTH get going.

I got this watch to replace my FITBIT SURGE but right now the old watch works better for running. Are there any better running apps available to use instead of S HEALTH?

 

[Tmel14]

I'm looking to buy this watch but one of the key factors for me is using it as a standalone for running.

I'm not too concerned with HR or having a map for the exact route I ran but it is crucial that the distance is pretty accurate and therefore my pace per km is accurate. Is the Gear 3 able to deliver on that front? Also does S Health have the feature where a voice-over will alert you at each completed km and update you with your pace for that km and overall average pace per km?

 

[wsrobert]

Think I've found the issue.

The watch gps is not sampling often enough and is cutting corners etc which is why it is reporting short on standalone.
Connect to the phone it works exactly the same as my garmin.

Annoying!!

Curious. Does this resolve the instant pace jumping around issue? Meaning, is the instant pace more steady?

I'm assuming you have the BT version - not the LTE. I'm wondering if the LTE version does better in stand alone mode. Having to bring the phone with you defeats the purpose.

 

[OriginalMrC]

It is definitely more accurate when connected to the phone. Not by a huge amount but it does occasionally cuts corners etc. To be honest though unless you are a serious runner who needs very exact distances then it shouldn't be an issue. Serious runners are more likely to buy a dedicated GPS watch anyway. For me as long as it is fairly accurate then I'm fine with that.

PS. I have noticed since leaving GPS always on it is more accurate when I use it as a standalone for my runs (probably due to no delay acquiring satellite)

 

[eefflrat]

I am an everyday runner, I log approximately 200 miles per month, outdoors. I have always used the Nike application, at first I had the Nike watch with tom tom, then I got the gear S2 with Nike preinstalled. I am an ATT customer and use the watch with mobile data, and GPS etc. The Gear S2 was very accurate using the Nike App until they abandoned it last year. I used the S Health and find my mileage is completely inaccurate. I upgraded loyally to the Gear S3 becauseI don't use IOS . I knew going in it did not support the Nike App, which I hope it will soon. They tried to get me to use Pear, which I did but deleted immediately because it was completely inaccurate.
I went back to S health for my past 3 runs (I have only had the watch 5 days). My average training pace per mile is about 7:20. I typically run 7-8 miles per day, so I have got it down pretty good. The S Health app is logging me at almost 10-11 minutes a mile, and it's absolutely horrible to get that mile statistics and know I'm not tracking properly.
When I run, I use Bluetooth to my Beats wireless.
My settings are as follows:
In Connections
Bluetooth On
Mobile Networks Always On
mobile Date On
Data Roaming On
NFC On
Location On(GPS & Wireless)
So, Help me if I have improper settings. It's obviously frustrating, and I am praying for the Nike App to resurface here.
Any suggestions?

 

[SiGoodchild]

I agree with the above. S Health is dreadful on both the watch and the phone. The data provided is limited and inaccurate. The instantaneous pace information is unusable. Utter rubbish from such a major company. I can only hope they update the software, because the hardware is really good.