Fitbit Surge: Accuracy near tall buildings GPS vs Connected GPS

[dchee008]

I recently bought a Surge and have been using a Charge HR for two years. When I was using the Charge HR connected GPS during runs near tall buildings, I would notice a lot of "ghost data" around the map when I would look back at my runs. My question is will the Surge be more accurate using the built is GPS or will it be the same as using the connected GPS. 

[WendyB]

I would think GPS would be the Same.

GPS has its problems like anything else. Being built in will not solve the problem.

[dchee008]

So I'm better off using my Charge HR and using GPS through my phone instead of the Surge I bought?

[WendyB]

I didnt say that.

GPS has never been perfect. It does not matter what you use it on.

Tall buildings clouds etc have always effected it

I use my GPS on my surge all the time instead of the phone.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hope you are doing great and enjoying some healthy activities @dchee008, welcome to the Forums! 

I agree with @WendyB, Fitbit Surge GPS and Connected GPS, should connect in the same way, the main difference is that that you don't have to carry your phone with you with Fitbit Surge. But both connects in the same way with the satellite signal. At least two dozen GPS satellites are constantly in orbit around the Earth and broadcasting data. All GPS devices, whether your phone or a Fitbit Surge, require a direct path to these satellites in order to receive their radio transmissions. If the signal is being blocked either because you're underground, near many tall buildings, or as a result of atmospheric effects GPS will not work. Thus, whereas GPS gives you a more accurate measure of distance than step counting alone, the actual accuracy depends on both your environment and the weather. 

If the GPS signal is lost, rest assured that your Fitbit tracker or phone continually  will search for a GPS signal as long as the exercise is in progress. You might have to take in count that the environment you are in can affect the signal strength of GPS. For example, if you are running in an urban environment with many tall buildings (as you already know), it may take your Surge tracker several seconds to get a fix. 

For best results, wait for your Fitbit to find the signal before you start your workout. However, if you don't want to wait you may be able to use the Quick Start option with the Fitbit Surge. Quick Start begins tracking your workout without GPS until it finds the signal. Keep the following tips in mind:

• Quick Start is not available if you're tracking a bike ride because cycling requires GPS to track distance. 
• If you see the Quick Start option and want to use it, press the Select button and then press Play. 
• While Surge continues to look for the GPS signal it will use your step count to calculate distance traveled. In this scenario you can expect that your total distance calculated for the workout will be slightly less accurate than if GPS data was available for the duration.

Hope you find this information useful, I'll be around in case you have any other questions! 

[dchee008]

Thank you,

From the information i've gathered it seems to me that the only big perk of the GPS feature on the surge is that it saves the battery of my phone. Thank you all for the information. 

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Thanks for getting back @dchee008, it's great to see you around. Hope you found what you were looking for. Another perk in regards using GPS on Surge is that you don't have to take with you your phone. I think that if you run or walk, it's a really great option! 

Feel free to come back for more information whenever you want, I'll be around. 

[Dougw1975]

Hi. 

On the subject of accuracy. Not so much an issue near tall buildings. 

I have noticed running with a friend using Surge with onboard GPS. My Blaze using connected GPS the difference running the same route is vast. Mostly 600-800m on an avg 10k run. 

The Blaze is always more optimistic in its figures using the gps connected to my phone. The last run recorded 14,4km on the surge and 15,6km on the Blaze. That is vast!  

Why is that?

[YojanaFitbit]

Hope you will have an excellent time here. Welcome aboard @Dougw1975! 

Wow! You're right about the difference that you got when comparing both. I'd recommend restarting your Surge in case that you haven't done so! I understand that two readings with different trackers not always show exactly the same stats but the difference is huge. Do you have the map and the stats of the exercise you mentioned? It'd be great to compare both, but I'm not sure if you would be able to get your friend's info to compare them. As I'll need as much information as you can get to report the issue!

Please include as many details as you can, I'm very interested in checking this particular case! 

I'll be around!