Stand-alone GPS tracking, Endomondo, My Tracks etc.

[evlarberryman]

OK, so I finally used my Urbane LTE for running. I decided to try Google fit. It worked well once I was able to get the GPS to lock on. Overall the mapping was fairly accurate (within 15 feet) and never had any disconnects once the position was locked despite going through some wooded areas.

The overall distance seemed to be accurate with a 5% margin of error, which is acceptable for an amateur runner like myself. Im not sure if the distance is based on thr step counter or GPS ot both. Google fit automatically checks your heart rate while you run as well as elevation and pace tracking and provides a nice summary in the watch as well as your phone app when you get back home. This all worked while in standalone mode.

Also, I had my watch synced with LG's Infinim Tone 910 bluetooth headphones and was listening to music and made a call while I was out. Everything worked great. Total time out was about 50 minutes and battery drain was 20% during that time, which is fine by me given how many aspects of the watch I was using. Overall a great first experience for running with the watch while in standalone.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mdw1995]

.. It worked well once I was able to get the GPS to lock on....

. Im not sure if the distance is based on thr step counter or GPS ot both...

Did you try Wear GPS before starting Google? If it took a while to get a lock, I find this app helps to lock faster.

I'm guessing it uses GPS only for distance. My steps vary greatly and have also reduced since the new build update. I'm not sure how they could be used for distance. Just a guess though.

Were you paired to your phone through 3g/LTE? That's pretty good battery life for 50 minutes with music and tracking.

 

[foxbat121]

Depending on your speed. At low speed (I think anything below bike speed), steps are much more accurate than GPS for distance due to the inherent inaccuracy of GPS (10 to 15 feet at best).

 

[mdw1995]

Depending on your speed. At low speed (I think anything below bike speed), steps are much more accurate than GPS for distance due to the inherent inaccuracy of GPS (10 to 15 feet at best).

If I run the same distance at the same speed and my steps vary by 1,000, how does it record accurately? This happens often.

Also, if GPS briefly stops, when the next point is recorded the map draws a line from one point to the next and my mileage is short of the true distance. If steps were used wouldn't it adjust for the missed point? Just asking, I just assumed it's recording by GPS only.

 

[foxbat121]

The GPS in the watch probably record 1 point each second, unless you runs faster than 15 feet per second, the distance between two recorded points are useless (remember you have a uncertainty of 10- 15 ft radius bubble). So, you could moved anywhere between 0 foot or 30 ft in that second. So, it is not good to use these distances between points. It is not that simple to count distances. You need something like 20ft/s speed (or 15 m/h) to make it usable.

 

[ekerbudeeeek]

OK, so I finally used my Urbane LTE for running. I decided to try Google fit. It worked well once I was able to get the GPS to lock on. Overall the mapping was fairly accurate (within 15 feet) and never had any disconnects once the position was locked despite going through some wooded areas.

The overall distance seemed to be accurate with a 5% margin of error, which is acceptable for an amateur runner like myself. Im not sure if the distance is based on thr step counter or GPS ot both. Google fit automatically checks your heart rate while you run as well as elevation and pace tracking and provides a nice summary in the watch as well as your phone app when you get back home. This all worked while in standalone mode.

Also, I had my watch synced with LG's Infinim Tone 910 bluetooth headphones and was listening to music and made a call while I was out. Everything worked great. Total time out was about 50 minutes and battery drain was 20% during that time, which is fine by me given how many aspects of the watch I was using. Overall a great first experience for running with the watch while in standalone.

Posted via the Android Central App

are you able to listen to streamed music or only music on the watch

 

[mdw1995]

are you able to listen to streamed music or only music on the watch

In standalone mode I don't think any streaming services have support yet for Android Wear. It would be a nice addition if one of them would add it. I listen to playlists transferred from Google Play Music. Of course my playlists keep disappearing after my phone reboots, but that's another issue.

 

[evlarberryman]

are you able to listen to streamed music or only music on the watch

I can only listen to music downloaded to the watch from Google play. But, I did not experience any connection problems and the music was very clear using bluetooth. My Gear S2 3G would cut in and out a lot.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mdw1995]

I can only listen to music downloaded to the watch from Google play. But, I did not experience any connection problems and the music was very clear using bluetooth. My Gear S2 3G would cut in and out a lot.

Posted via the Android Central App

Not sure if it's the same issue, but with my headphones the music cuts out on the left arm but works great on the right arm. Bluetooth must be on the right side of my headphones.

 

[scaots]

Not sure if it's the same issue, but with my headphones the music cuts out on the left arm but works great on the right arm. Bluetooth must be on the right side of my headphones.

I have the same issue with my Omate Truesmart. I noticed with the LG it is much less of an issue, but still there when I drop my arm totally to the side. I have a new set of headphones on the way (Moto S305) and hoping they work better (than Artic P311).

I've used it at the gym, but anxious to get a chance to use on a run. I plan to try Endomondo first since that is what I have been using.

 

[mdw1995]

I have the same issue with my Omate Truesmart. I noticed with the LG it is much less of an issue, but still there when I drop my arm totally to the side. I have a new set of headphones on the way (Moto S305) and hoping they work better (than Artic P311).

I've used it at the gym, but anxious to get a chance to use on a run. I plan to try Endomondo first since that is what I have been using.

I also prefer the over the ear style and have the P311 headphones. They work pretty well with the LG and only cut out occasionally. I recently purchased the Swage Sport from Rokit Boost headphones and they cut out all the time with the watch on my left arm. No problems on the right arm and I like the smaller size so I'm adjusting to the change.

 

[evlarberryman]

The LG Infinim line of bluetooth headphones work great. No connection issues. Work with music and phone calls.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[xendula]

The LG Infinim line of bluetooth headphones work great. No connection issues. Work with music and phone calls.

Posted via the Android Central App

The earlier version, the LG tone PLUS work perfectly as well! Zero issues with music cutting out and their battery last a full day on one charge. I love that I can take one earphone out and leave it attached to the collar in situations where I still want to listen to music but also need to hear my surroundings.

 

[scaots]

I finally made it out for a run today in a short period without rain. It worked well with Endomondo. Good interface, flawless BT music, however GPS was definitely not as accurate as my Omate TrueSmart. I will try another day when it is not heavy clouds and drizzle and hopefully it does a little better. Moto S305 work great and I can't get them to cut out with the LWU2L.

Google Fit only added less than 500 steps for my 3.5mi run. Not sure what gives there because normally I feel the steps are at least close to accurate.

My big disappointment was that it used 45MB of data in 30-40mins on cellular! And I believe it would have been higher if it didn't hit the data limit at 50. WTF? There is no way a watch should be using data like that. As if it is streaming my music, but it doesn't do that yet. It just shows that Google Play Services used the data in the details. Anyone else have issues like that? I will restart and hopefully not have that issue again. Only other thing I can think of is that some update was trying to push, but I don't think there are any updates out and it should definitely be doing that on wifi or tethered. I may try using Fit or Strava on my next run, but will try to replicate this problem again first.

 

[xendula]

...however GPS was definitely not as accurate as my Omate TrueSmart...

Google Fit only added less than 500 steps for my 3.5mi run. Not sure what gives there because normally I feel the steps are at least close to accurate.

My big disappointment was that it used 45MB of data in 30-40mins on cellular! And I believe it would have been higher if it didn't hit the data limit at 50. WTF?

No data eating at all on my watch. I average about 2MB per hour, costing me $0.20 or less with Truphone. In the settings, I disabled almost every app from using data on cellular. I know I had an issue with Wear Media/Music (?) on one of my runs last year: I discovered 15 mins into my run that a playlist was synchonizing over 3G, so I killed it, and deinstalled that app ultimately.

About the GPS issue: I started wearing a Sprigs Banjee wrist wallet beneath the watch, and when I do, it tracks well. When I wear the watch on skin, it tracks unreliably. It's a bit pathetic, but I have since gotten used to just putting on the Banjee underneath.

The steps, though, never used to be this bad. I wonder if the pedometer is that "faulty component that deteriorates over time", as that is the only thing that seems to be getting worse on my Nov edition. The LG always undercounted steps compared to my Gear S, but now it's just getting ridiculous. After a 20 km run last weekend it registered under 10,000 steps!

 

[foxbat121]

The step counts on my Nov edition was wide apart between Google Fit and LG Health. The new version is spot on between the two although it still have a delay from Google Fit. I suspect Google fit use the raw data from the watch and analyze the step counts out of it in the cloud (otherwise, why the delay). Make sure your phone's step count is disabled if you use Google fit. Otherwise, it will merge steps from both devices.

 

[nrseife]

>>Make sure your phone's step count is disabled if you use Google fit. Otherwise, it will merge steps from both devices
How do you do that?

 

[foxbat121]

Just tune off activity detection on your phone's Fit app.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

I have activity detection activated on my phone and the step count is comparable to my basis peak fitness tracker so it must cancel the phone out when they're both detecting steps.

 

[foxbat121]

But it will be more accurate if you disable it if you wear your watch all the time. Take the guess work out.