I'm running on some narrow trails and wanted to know how reliable the GPS is? I have a Pixel 2 phone if anyone needed more info since the specific GPS library might produce different results on a particular Android device. We know that devie-specific issues often present.
Has anyone used it on a trail course with lots of twists and turns and did you compare it with a manual measurement taken with a measuring wheel? How close were the measurements if you did so?
Not sure about a phone but my Garmin is within about 2% in places like that.
It’s been my experience that it’s pretty good but not amazing. The Strava app likes to measure every 7-10 seconds or so and smooths out the slow curves (I’ve biked using the Strava app but same principle should apply). It also depends on GPS coverage - if it’s seriously covered then you’ll have issues but also gain *some* ability to record position because the phone will use cell towers.
Are you ok with it being ~5% off? What are you ok with?
If I were doing 50 mile runs, 5% off would make it about a 47.5 mile run or 52.5 mile run. I'd say that since im only doing 5 mile runs at the moment I can live with 5% margin of error. But for much longer distances I'd be more concerned. I'm actually more concerned with how long I run. As long as I reach certain duration requirements I consider my workout a success. (while running at a reasonably fast pace)
Karl Hungus wrote:
It’s been my experience that it’s pretty good but not amazing. The Strava app likes to measure every 7-10 seconds or so and smooths out the slow curves (I’ve biked using the Strava app but same principle should apply). It also depends on GPS coverage - if it’s seriously covered then you’ll have issues but also gain *some* ability to record position because the phone will use cell towers.
Are you ok with it being ~5% off? What are you ok with?