GPS quality bad? Have spikes when tracking ... - Moto G Power Questions & Answers

Hello alltogether,
for the last 5 years I've used a LG G4 a lot for gps-tracking when hiking. Rather seldomly I had spikes in elevation and distance measurement, even in situations with bad signal quality (e.g. in canyons) or no signal at all.
Now with Moto G8 Power GPS-quality is really bad - there are often spikes in elevation and distance when tracking the hike (navigation itself works good - it's only in the recorded track).
I've tried disabling akku optimization for my navigation app, used a cover without a magnetic clip, have exactly the same tracking settings with the same application (Osmand) - no effect. The gpx recording stays bad.
Does anybody know whether there is a possibility to "tune" the G8 Power, or is it simply the bad gps of a relatively cheap device?
Greets and thx in advance!

For accurate gpx files, I use the Qstars BT-Q818XT over bluetooth. It updates 5 or 10 times a second (latter is good for driving) and it is far more accurate than a phone for elevation. It is accurate w/in a few feet where any phone I've had was inconsistent. As a bonus for hiking, it uses a its own battery. I connect it via an app that wires it up over bluetooth using the developer mode and the mock location option. It is something to consider if you want accuracy.

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Problem with outdoor running apps tracking speed

Dear all,
I have tried apps for tracking my outdoor running, with poor results in terms of detected speed profile. Basically it seems that the speed recorded by my HTC Titan is affected by a lot of noise, bouncing up and down even when I am running at quasi-constant speed.
To have a comparison, my friend and I went to run side by side, doing sprints periodically. On my friend's iPhone, you can clearly see the sprints in the speed graph (blue line). In my tracking, taken with Endomondo in my HTC Titan, there is no way to see anything like that (speed is green line). It seems just noise.
This is strange also because the position tracking appears quite accurate, when checking the path on google maps. I know that computing the speed from GPS position data is tricky, but I think the graph I obtain is far too bad, and pretty much useless.
Thinking it might be due to Endomondo, I tried Runtastic Pro, with similar (bad) results. In the attached file, I am walking at pretty much constant speed, and again I have noise all over, with speed varying between 5 and 10.
Does anyone experience a similar problem? Neither Runtastic nor Endomondo apps comments seem to mention this problem, so can it be specific to Titan? Any solution?
Thank you,
maTTeo

My disappointment with the Amazfit

I read so many positive reviews and watched so many reviews on Youtube that I decided to buy the watch.
I flashed the newest version of Pacefied.
My issues right now:
- GPS is inaccurate (even in MiFit App)
- Battery drain
- Music playback order
- Bluetooth cracking noise bug
- Impossible to use the watch in low-light settings (in the evening)
So basically the watch is not able to do what I but it for, listening to music while working out and tracking the progress.
I don't even have the bluetooth-connection bug many others already experienced.
Any hope that this will be fixed or can I throw it in the garbage right away?
do you have proposal for any better watch with GPS, Music, better battery time?
I had the Samsung Gear Fit 2 before and switched because of the rather short battery life. Now I wish I would have kept it.
You are using a custom/developer rom and you expect no bugs?
Flash the latest stable english firmware and use that (1.3.3a)
No battery problems
No bluetooth problems or hissing
Gps is quite good in my area
Whats the problem with light in the evening? Backlight turns on when you lift your wrist.
I have not had such bad experience... Gps was ok to a point that it shows where did I cross the road, night visibility is ok, if just washed out, and battery serves me at least 3 (up to 6) days. Also can has much watchfaces, which I've hoped for. As for bluetooth, I wish it could have "don't forget your phone" reminder, when it looses signal, and bigger font on reminders and messages. That's about it, fairly ok for 100$.
Sent from my LG-D858HK using Tapatalk
my experience with this watch is good... battery life is good (aprox. 4-5 days), gps signal works good in my zone... i recommend you disable some functions to improve battery such as notifications or less use of bluetooth.
I have the latest version of pacefied and have none of those problems (except for the music playing order). Battery lasts me 4-5 days (two 6km runs in those days, plus all notifications on).
Same here, none of those problems with an original 1.3.3a rom.
Even more issues: I started running and after a while I wanted to increase the volume of my bluetooth headphones. But: There is no way to do that without stopping the running activity, wow. Afterwards I noticed that the Pause-Mode doesn't work. I took a 5 minute break and noticed that the counter did not stop. So the tracked activity can be thrown into the garbage. The watch can not even play any other format apart from mp3. No wma, no ogg, no flac... annoying, it's 2017 goddamnit.
it's a cheap watch.... if you looking for a best watch, a watch like a samsung gear 3 can be the best choice....

Amazfit Stratos. GPS run Vs Garmin Forerunner

I've recently received my Amazfit Stratos and I was worried about the GPS performance. I took a run with both the Stratos and my Garmin Forerunner 235 with this results:
(Amazfit data in red and Garmin data in blue)
GPS fix takes longer in the Amazfit (about 25-20 secs more)
Overall, both give a similar total length (Amafit 10.47 Km vs Garmin 10.46)
View attachment 4433182
It seems that at the start Amazfit had a big gap in the position:
View attachment 4433183
But it gets corrected and they follow very similar path. I would say even that Amazfit takes a more precise GPS measures or in a shorter interval since the curve is less edgy:
View attachment 4433184
Although it is not perfect and Garmin seems to have a slightly better GPS, I would say the Amazfit GPS is good enough for my needs.
Does the Stratos have different GPS modes? Usually in Garmin or other sports watches one can set the GPS interval for more or less accurate values / battery life. Also is there a smart mode which is just polling GPS like every minute and then estimating the values in between using the accelerometer? Is Glonas supported?
Theres no GPS modes in settings...
janteque said:
I've recently received my Amazfit Stratos and I was worried about the GPS performance. I took a run with both the Stratos and my Garmin Forerunner 235 with this results:
(Amazfit data in red and Garmin data in blue)
GPS fix takes longer in the Amazfit (about 25-20 secs more)
Overall, both give a similar total length (Amafit 10.47 Km vs Garmin 10.46)
View attachment 4433182
It seems that at the start Amazfit had a big gap in the position:
View attachment 4433183
But it gets corrected and they follow very similar path. I would say even that Amazfit takes a more precise GPS measures or in a shorter interval since the curve is less edgy:
View attachment 4433184
Although it is not perfect and Garmin seems to have a slightly better GPS, I would say the Amazfit GPS is good enough for my needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG, it's drama. Starting to regret that I've already ordered For me, in term of GPS quality, Garmin (Fenix family to be precise) was a total sh*t comparing to Polar V800, wchich gives outstanding recorded track precision. But now I can see that Amazfit 2 is even worst then Garmin...:/
I just checked out the FAQ on amazfitcentral and saw that battery life time with GPS is 35h. So it must be some similar to smart GPS mode, means GPS intervall is low and the gaps in between are filled with help of accelorameter.
SteffenBerlin said:
I just checked out the FAQ on amazfitcentral and saw that battery life time with GPS is 35h. So it must be some similar to smart GPS mode, means GPS intervall is low and the gaps in between are filled with help of accelorameter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe this is the reason. If yes - hope that some update will give a choice - for example 1s, 30s, 60s sampling.
SteffenBerlin said:
I just checked out the FAQ on amazfitcentral and saw that battery life time with GPS is 35h. So it must be some similar to smart GPS mode, means GPS intervall is low and the gaps in between are filled with help of accelorameter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't only read half of the information, because then you get the wrong impressions.
They have a new Sony chip ( 28nm ) that needs only a fraction of the energy that the others need.
Nice test, thx.
It would be great if someone compared Pace vs Stratos.

Amazfit Bip poor GPS accuracy, help

I just got an Amazfit Bip and took it out on hikes this weekend. The GPS distance seems to read high by as much as 30% when compared to a Garmin and a TomTom that we had on the same hike. When looking at the GPS tracks, it seems the Bip is erratic, the track zigzags a lot, which could explain the huge distance difference. Because of this erratic nature and that the Garmin and TomTom read almost the same, it points to the Bip GPS distance being quite inaccurate. For reference, compare these two tracks.
I am running firmware v1.1.1.00 on the watch. I can't tell what GPS firmware it has (how do I tell that?). Can the GPS be more accurate on the Bip or not? With GPS+GLONASS I expected much better. This post says they should be the same, but I am seeing huge differences. As a matter of fact, when sitting still I see a gain of 0.01mi every couple seconds!
Anyone have any advice? Thank you for any help you can offer!
Here is another example from a hike yesterday. The Bip is saying 25% too much distance. The Bip said I went 2 miles further, that is way too far off. If you look at the tracks closely you see that the Bip is very erratic. Closely looking at them, the TomTom seems to be following the best, it and the Garmin differ by less than 4%.
roombarobot said:
I just got an Amazfit Bip and took it out on hikes this weekend. The GPS distance seems to read high by as much as 30% when compared to a Garmin and a TomTom that we had on the same hike. When looking at the GPS tracks, it seems the Bip is erratic, the track zigzags a lot, which could explain the huge distance difference. Because of this erratic nature and that the Garmin and TomTom read almost the same, it points to the Bip GPS distance being quite inaccurate. For reference, compare these two tracks.
I am running firmware v1.1.1.00 on the watch. I can't tell what GPS firmware it has (how do I tell that?). Can the GPS be more accurate on the Bip or not? With GPS+GLONASS I expected much better. This post says they should be the same, but I am seeing huge differences. As a matter of fact, when sitting still I see a gain of 0.01mi every couple seconds!
Anyone have any advice? Thank you for any help you can offer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly A-gps update missing, poor receiving of gps signals (eg shielded/ under sleeve), interference from surroundings...
I found the AmazFit BIP as accurate as iPhone ... when it has a proper fix on the satellites.
I'm not sure on the 'other' sport settings, but in 'outside running' mode it takes a sample around every 1 second, and that sample frequency will affect the amount of zig-zag also.
The 'while sitting' or stationary setting, may still get a variation of 50m or even more depending on the momentary interference. (For 'GeoCaching' you'd have to be in 1 spot for 10 minutes to enable calculation of a more exact -around 1m accuracy- location. An averaging algorithm is included in some GeoCaching software...... but inside the BIP there is no offering for such software ).
I have the same issue, but more severe. The watch indicates the GPS signal is found and after awhile of running I check the watch and the distance has jumped 2-3 miles ahead of what it should be! The distance drawn is always all over the map for most of the run and only seldom does it actually show the route I used. It's really annoying as this happens every other time and messes up the whole exercise for me. Once I check the watch after the run it does indicate correct amount of steps and distance, but the Mi Fit app is forever stuck with the wrong data and no way to correct it. The watch was only partly visible from under the sleeve, but even this doesn't explain the problem as I used to run the whole winter with gloves and a much thicker coat completely covering the watch and didn't have these problems. Also the watch doesn't give those two quick vibrations after finding the GPS signal as it used to, which is also weird.
I saw this comparison the other day between Mi Band 2 on the silicone strap and on the metal bracelet. When on bracelet, the values were not accurate, they didn't correspond with the data on the phone, and on the silicone strap gave the correct values.

Multisport tracking: Swimming, hiking and skiing on Amazfit Stratos

I open this post because I haven't been able to find any review or opinion about one of the functionalities that offers Stratos: Skiing.
Has anyone try it and can share his or her experiencie?
I am interested mainly if it is able to dismiss the skilifts automatically on Alpine ski.
I assume it can measure speed, hear rate, and the other normal variables that are shared with running.
Any experience?
As well I am interested to know if for long multi-day hiking trips the battery would resist with the GPS active? (like 12hours sport tracking?)
In general, it would be good to know the tracking difference between one sports mode or the others
Last weekend I just made a long hike and starting with full battery and with GPS on of course, it recorded all my 11 hours hike. At the end, the battery was at 12%
I have just returned from a 400+km hike where I used the Stratos constantly. With an average of 7h of hiking I got 3 full days of battery life: Bluetooth on, sleep tracking but obviously internal HR sensor off during activities and outside.
Tioz90 said:
I have just returned from a 400+km hike where I used the Stratos constantly. With an average of 7h of hiking I got 3 full days of battery life: Bluetooth on, sleep tracking but obviously internal HR sensor off during activities and outside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the readings on altitude? Looks pretty inaccurate in the reviews and it's a very important metric when hiking.
Does anyone else have any feedback on the "Skiing" mode please? I am also interested in this mode, and whether it automatically detects travel on the ski lift. Thanks.
Stratos skiing mode
Just used my stratos for a couple of days skiing and am pretty disappointed in the results. Firstly the altitude readings are pretty inaccurate, out by more than 10% in some cases. Amizfit support responded with the following "The altitude error is greatly affected by the environment.
Due to environmental factors, the error may reach tens of meters or even hundreds of meters." So even though this is a metric that is important to skiing dosn't look like it can be improved.
Secondly, yes it looks like the watch does stop recording during lift travel and start again during a downhill run. This is what I noticed when I looked at my tracks. There was the odd lift travel that may have been a bit downhill that got recorded as a lap but most of the laps were actual runs. I even looked at my watch at the end of a run/lap and noticed that it recorded the downhill distance and descent for that lap. When I started riding the lift these results cleared and the watch was ready for the next run/lap. So this is were the good news stops. Even though I was under the impression that the watch was recording all this great individual lap information when I tried to see my results in the evening on my phone app most of my metrics were all combined into totals. For example total laps, total downhill km, total descent and total time. The only metrics listed per lap/run is max speed which is good and the time each lap ended, which is useless becuase it includeds lift waiting and riding time.
It is sad as I believe the watch has been designed and is capable of gathering detailed information but the phone apps inability to present this information totally ruins a potentialy good product. At the moment I would not recommend this watch for skiing. Go back to using your phone and any of several free ski tracking apps.
Many thanks for the detailed feedback. I used the Skiing mode on my Pace a few months ago and found it almost useless because it didn't detect travel on the skl iift and treated it as part of the ski run, thus totally ruining the data it collected.
So it meant I had to take my glove off to manually start and stop the Pace (since it doesn't have buttons like the Stratos), which of course means digging under the sleeve of your ski jacket and fleece, and then adjusting the clothes back. Doing this at the start and stop of every run is a big hassle when you're with a group of people. It's not worth it.
I don't think I checked the altitude accuracy, so I can't comment on that. I also couldn't work out how to use the 'lap' function. It treated every run I did as the first lap, even if it was a repeat run on the same slope.
Amazfit still doesn't seem to have any instructions for this mode.

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