Comments on: Garmin Forerunner 620 Watch GPS Accuracy Issues

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 12:29:41 +0000

I have a Garmin 410 with heart rate monitor. It used to be accurate (I believe) and consistent – if I went for the same 10k run the measured distance would vary by a few yards/metres, and my heart rate would rise quickly in a smooth curve then level out and slowly rise. But then Garmin installed a software update back in around April 2013 and after that the 10k would vary by up to 5% (0.5k) and my heart rate would shoot up to 250 bpm, plummet to 50-60 and then throughout the run every now and then shoot back up to 250 or so before dropping back. Now when I go for a run it usually measures short compared to everyone else’s watches (Garmin, TomTom, Fitbit and the rest), the worst being round Grizedale Forest when my watch said 15 miles, my friend’s 16.5 miles. Garmin’s response when I contacted them was to say it’s out of guarantee, buy a new one. I’d had it for 14 months and it worked perfectly until their software upgrade. I keep checking for new updates but nothing, still mesures short and apparently I can walk on water, as the map often shows.

It would be great if they released a correction to their last update so my watch would be accurate again, but I now just use it as a guide to how I’m doing. It’s annoying but I’m not serious (or good) enough to get too upset.

By: Harry

Harry — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 04:43:53 +0000

I have used a Garmin 610 in Seoul, Korea and other places around the world for a number of years with generally repeatable and stable results. Recently, I obtained a 620 and started running some of the same routes in Seoul and have found the 620 basically unusable with very significant deviations from the actual route (on the map) and consistently wrong splits and totals for distance. There is no doubt in my mind that it is significantly worse than the 610. I have the latest software so not sure what else might be coming. I am trying to contact Garmin service but so far had to get back to work before I made it through the waiting queue.

By: no kidding

no kidding — Sat, 02 May 2015 20:54:36 +0000

In reply to Wai. GPS watches are not suitable for tracks. Use a traditional stopwatch. This is not a garmin issue. Every GPS watch I have owned has been ill suited for track work.

By: Wai

Wai — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 13:48:11 +0000

I entered a 12km race in Feb this year and was surprised to cross the finish line when my 620 registered 10.96 km. My next race, a half marathon in Apr, was registered as 19.54km.

Finally my 3x1600m track repeats on Monday were registered as distances of 1.32km, 1.28km and 1.32km!

By: Borihyun

Borihyun — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 09:56:10 +0000

Same GPS problem here different 500 m form running road. I was disappointed with Garmin FR 620.

By: Francesco

Francesco — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 21:12:30 +0000

Hello, I was wondering if there is a way to edit or modify the tracks in the event the GPS has not been accurate. For not being accurate the whole workout is sometimes messed up (e.g. pieces where I run at a speed of 30 km/h or s0).
THanks

By: Pascal

Pascal — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:59:25 +0000

My 620 is complete piece of junk. This watch is completely unusable for serious runners using it for pacing. I never regret something that much as me replacing my 610 with the 620. Everybody reading this: NEVER EVER buy this device.

This issue I could confirm on a second 620 as well. The first had the same issues (it was replaced because it unrepairably killed itself during the fw update…horraaaay also :D).

I was a former polar user and switched to garmin for open standards (ant+)…but I’m gonna be a polar user again.

By: Luc

Luc — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 20:01:10 +0000

It seems that Garmin acknowledges an issue with FR620 GPS accuracy in the release of FR920XT. Interested readers may want to follow this thread: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?127702-GPS-Track-Accuracy-Reporting-Thread

By: Mariano Kamp

Mariano Kamp — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 15:20:39 +0000

Same issue here. With the current firmware version and in September 2014 ;(

It may be trees in my case. But the Strava app on my Android phones works fine.

Returned my 620 to Amazon.

By: Jose

Jose — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 07:00:55 +0000

In reply to Jose. Correction: GPS version is 3.10

By: Jose

Jose — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 06:57:09 +0000

Hi, I have my GFR6200 on 3.0 firmware version (both GPS and sw) but…. yesterday I got the same error. The run is in open roads with very little house/tree obstruction. bye, jose.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 20:05:14 +0000

In reply to Brad Patterson. The problem I have with Fellrnr's results is they are not related to what I have seen. In my numerous tests, the TomTom is the most accurate, with the 310xt consistently measuring long. Footpods, even calibrated, were inaccurate outside the calibration pace.