Will the GW Truly Function Correctly For Cycling, Running, Etc?

[jfenton]

I bought a Garmin 935 and hate it. The display flat out sucks and it drives me nuts. It is the best activity tracker / sports watch made.

I have a GW sitting here in a box. 46mm. unopened. Every review I read says the heart rate sensor doesn't work correctly, the GPS tracking doesn't work correctly, it won't truly synch with Strava to get record cycling, hiking and running activities.

Does anyone have any real world experience with using it for these types of activities?

I can probably live with the short battery life.

 

[Peter621022]

Well, my personal opinion: there's nothing wrong with the hardware, the GW has potential to be a good tracking device for sport activities. GPS tracking Works fine on mine, but I have no experience in synching it to Strava.

The issues you read about are mostly software related. The latest firmware (R800XXU1BSA4 for the bluetooth version of the 46mm GW) was a big step in the right direction. Many reported issues have been reportedly solved, so make sure you update your watch.

You do have to maintain the watch to some extent: if you're interested in elevation measurements you need to keep the air pressure sensor clean (and dry).
The watch get's less responsive if there are too many apps running in the background.
Stuff like that.

 

[sonnnet]

I bought a Garmin 935 and hate it. The display flat out sucks and it drives me nuts. It is the best activity tracker / sports watch made.

I have a GW sitting here in a box. 46mm. unopened. Every review I read says the heart rate sensor doesn't work correctly, the GPS tracking doesn't work correctly, it won't truly synch with Strava to get record cycling, hiking and running activities.

Does anyone have any real world experience with using it for these types of activities?

I can probably live with the short battery life.

Also, since your requirements are running, cycling, GPS, HR and Strava, you need this app which is what I use. It's fantastic and Strava sync takes place seconds after your workout:

https://www.facebook.com/GearTrackerApp/

The Gear Tracker app also takes care of the problems you have talked about. I get perfect GPS and HR graphs and stats after every run, all uploaded to Strava

 

[skatergirl]

There are definitely software issues with this watch, though as Peter said, the watch has great potential.

 

[sonnnet]

There are definitely software issues with this watch, though as Peter said, the watch has great potential.

Hopefully when you get the update, the software issues will be a thing of the past. I know Peter is having issues with the floor counter/ barometer, but my watch is working perfectly now. Something which also might have made a difference is I used to change watch faces frequently. I've found one now that I like, has all the info I need and doesn't cause any issues, so I just stick to that now.
It's called MD62 by Matteo Dini (see pics). Tapping on the 4 o'clock region brings up some app shortcuts (2nd screen) which is useful too.

http://apps.samsung.com/gear/appDetail.as?appId=com.watchface.MD6212hkm

 

[jfenton]

Also, since your requirements are running, cycling, GPS, HR and Strava, you need this app which is what I use. It's fantastic and Strava sync takes place seconds after your workout:

https://www.facebook.com/GearTrackerApp/

The Gear Tracker app also takes care of the problems you have talked about. I get perfect GPS and HR graphs and stats after every run, all uploaded to Strava
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190213/d2ad4530c932813085702111d6ad50b7.jpg//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190213/3d67e668bad08b4f80a3ae89362e1b0b.jpg

Sonnet....this is very helpful. Thank you

 

[skatergirl]

sonnet is extremely helpful

 

[sonnnet]

sonnet is extremely helpful

Why, thank you @SG! Lol, we do try on here, don't we? It's a really useful forum and loads of ideas and solution sharing going on.

 

[sonnnet]

Sonnet....this is very helpful. Thank you

No worries. Also, since you don't like the display on the Garmin, have a look at what you can do with the display on Gear Tracker with Galaxy Watch:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=15MYzo_s-Qc

 

[skatergirl]

Why, thank you @SG! Lol, we do try on here, don't we? It's a really useful forum and loads of ideas and solution sharing going on.

The silver lining to all these watch issues is getting to meet and speak with like minded nice people. So thank you Samsung for that!

 

[Peter621022]

It's called MD62 by Matteo Dini (see pics).

Nice watch face! As soon as there is a 24hr-km version I will download it.

 

[Kko 5]

Also, since your requirements are running, cycling, GPS, HR and Strava, you need this app which is what I use. It's fantastic and Strava sync takes place seconds after your workout:

https://www.facebook.com/GearTrackerApp/

The Gear Tracker app also takes care of the problems you have talked about. I get perfect GPS and HR graphs and stats after every run, all uploaded to Strava
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190213/d2ad4530c932813085702111d6ad50b7.jpg//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190213/3d67e668bad08b4f80a3ae89362e1b0b.jpg

Dear Sonnnet hi...what is your experience with Gear Tracker app? Is it working accurately? Did it fix some issues?

 

[arunma]

I bought a Garmin 935 and hate it. The display flat out sucks and it drives me nuts. It is the best activity tracker / sports watch made.

I have a GW sitting here in a box. 46mm. unopened. Every review I read says the heart rate sensor doesn't work correctly, the GPS tracking doesn't work correctly, it won't truly synch with Strava to get record cycling, hiking and running activities.

Does anyone have any real world experience with using it for these types of activities?

I can probably live with the short battery life.

The heart rate sensor kind of sucks. As far as I can tell it's pretty accurate. The main problem is that during workouts it randomly stops reading your heart rate, and will not resume readings for the rest of the workout unless you stop and remain still for a few seconds (or sometimes minutes). I have my watch set to record my heart rate all day, and it reads continuously except when I'm actually working out. Very annoying.

That's my only major complaint though. I go running with this thing all the time and the GPS tracking is very good. Never tried Strava integration. I can say though that the battery life is great.

 

[Greymire]

The heart rate sensor kind of sucks. As far as I can tell it's pretty accurate. The main problem is that during workouts it randomly stops reading your heart rate, and will not resume readings for the rest of the workout unless you stop and remain still for a few seconds (or sometimes minutes). I have my watch set to record my heart rate all day, and it reads continuously except when I'm actually working out. Very annoying.

That's my only major complaint though. I go running with this thing all the time and the GPS tracking is very good. Never tried Strava integration. I can say though that the battery life is great.

Do you have the update? Mine has not quit once since the update.

 

[arunma]

Do you have the update? Mine has not quit once since the update.

Nope. I checked just an hour ago and no update on the T-Mobile LTE version. The heart rate issue, along with the deep sleep inaccuracies, are really my only two major problems with this watch so if they can fix them without negatively affecting my battery life, I will have no serious issues.

 

[Greymire]

Nope. I checked just an hour ago and no update on the T-Mobile LTE version. The heart rate issue, along with the deep sleep inaccuracies, are really my only two major problems with this watch so if they can fix them without negatively affecting my battery life, I will have no serious issues.

It seems like Heart Rate is fixed or greatly improved on the Bluetooth model.. This improved, but didn't totally fix deep sleep. At least it registers some deep sleep every night. My battery life has been about the same, maybe a bit better since a found a couple faces I like that do not eat battery.

 

[Greymire]

I also can't believe they haven't started pushing LTE fixes, although many times LTE fixes need carrier approval which can add a lot of time.

 

[skatergirl]

I think the biggest fix the LTE version needs is in stopping background apps from interfering with the watch and of course a general update of all trackers and monitors.

 

[Pizzabager]

I have only tried to use GW for one Run, and the GPS was pretty okay i knew the length of the run, so it was accurate enough, but the HR was not working right..(i have the LTE version, without any update yet)
I use endomondo, i always loved that app, i have used it with both my former phones, and link it with my garmin running watch..
When the update arrived i will try to use my GW for another run, to see if it is working better, but for now im using my 5 year old garmin watch, when there is battery on it, it works great, but im having some truble to get it to charge right at times..

 

[sonnnet]

I have only tried to use GW for one Run, and the GPS was pretty okay i knew the length of the run, so it was accurate enough, but the HR was not working right..(i have the LTE version, without any update yet)
I use endomondo, i always loved that app, i have used it with both my former phones, and link it with my garmin running watch..
When the update arrived i will try to use my GW for another run, to see if it is working better, but for now im using my 5 year old garmin watch, when there is battery on it, it works great, but im having some truble to get it to charge right at times..

With a combination of the new Samsung software and an app called Gear Tracker, these are the kind of results I am getting consistently. Here is the HR graph from tonight's run (screenshot is from Strava). As you can tell, the aim of tonight's run was to increase speed steadily over the course of the run (1hr). The HR reflects that perfectly.