GPS signal dropping on Sense

[dk1909]

The Sense has dropped GPS on a number of runs. No GPS Signal message is displayed on screen. It seems to recover but no further details are recorded on the run map. Distance seems to be correct though 

Moderator edit: format

[SunsetRunner]

I suggest reading this thread about the same topic. It has some interesting and apparently useful experiments and suggestions by Kathyss.

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing these steps that have been useful for you, @SunsetRunner! 

Have a great day.  

[SunsetRunner]

You're welcome, @DavideFitbit .

Hope it helped.

A great day to you too.

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks, @SunsetRunner!  

[kvog983]

My GPS also drops out every time I run or walk. I did not have this problem at all with my Ionic and have followed the same route on both. Therefore the distance and elevation stats are never fully accurate and I lose out on data.

[Daveniv]

We had the same problem.. unless you take your phone or it can pick up your step movements.. it drove me mad as all it did was buzz on my eeriest as it connected and disconnected.. we are now avid Garmin users and can’t fault their watches
Plus you get all the add ins for free.. where as I was paying out a monthly fee with Fitbit.. I also went through the fit bit range thinking that the top end models were better.. shame on Fitbit .. best advice would be to bin it .. it drove me nuts


Sent from my iPhone

[SunsetRunner]

Same here, very disappointing 

[gtazy]

Just came across this thread. I have had the sense for a few months now and initially had no issues at all. But gradually over time the watch has started doing this. Once it says no gps signal that's it. Unless you see it and tap the screen. Then the distance comes back and sometimes the plot continues.

Recently it's got worse. I went out for a 10 mile run the other day and it said connecting, connected, connecting, connected about 10 to 20 times a mile. Then  4 times during the run "no gps signal" the trace was a mess and gave me no confidence.

Then a few days later it stayed connected for nearly 6 miles of my run and only going funny for the last half a mile.

I already had a case open about this, and contacted fitbit again. They have now sent me a "new" pebble from the Netherlands. Or at least I assume its new? That's what it said? 

Not tried it yet for running, but will be so annoyed it the new one does it too.

Only a month ago (when it was more intermittent) I did a half marathon race and many practice runs of the same distance and had no issues at all. It's seems random and I have come to assume it may be a loose connection inside (no gps signal 😆)

We will see.... can't believe this issue has been here since release. My ionic did this near the end of its life (after 4 years) so maybe the sensor was started to go wrong? And the sense being cheaper means it occurs much sooner?

[Chazman21]

The Sense GPS seems to be quite poor. Mine often takes a fair while to connect before I start running, and several times I've had it drop part of the way through a run. This is on the same routes that I ran for years with my old Ionic, and the Ionic always had rock-solid GPS.

One thing I noticed today - I wanted to check my pace, and as I looked at my Sense, it showed me my 10000 step notification instead. When I look at the map of my run, it seems to be at pretty much this exact point that the GPS dropped out. Perhaps coincidence, hard to say. Although I note that one of the commenters (maybe a different thread, I don't recall) said that his map always dropped out at around 8 - 9 km.

Anyway, I'll try turning off my 10000 step notifications and see if that helps.

[Chazman21]

So to follow up on this - it was just coincidence. I made the change so that I get no steps notifications, and I have still had this intermittent issue.

Sadly, the conclusion is that GPS on the sense is not very good. It doesn't drop out often, but it drops out often enough that I feel I can't rely on it. Also, I feel the accuracy is poor - over a 4.8km route, step-for-step identical each time, I have seen a 150m discrepancy, which seems like too much.

Which is a shame, because I love my Ionic (which had none of these problems), and in every other respect, I really like my Sense. It's a good size, battery life is fine, it looks really good and I even like the app, mostly. But I no longer trust Fitbit engineers to provide a decent GPS solution, so for my next watch I'll have to go elsewhere 😞