Gear Sport... How good is this watch for sports tracking and running ??

[smiley]

Hi Guys,

I previously purchased a Gear S3 frontier... although with my intended use being as a running watch and sports tracker I was sorely disappointed.    I ended up returning the Gear S3 Frontier watch within a month for refund as it was not fit for my purpose... although with the new Gear Sport being the replacement watch for the S3, I wondered if it is any better for these issues below ?   Any comments from anyone that uses this watch for running would be appreciated

• I found with the gear S3 that the heart rate monitor was inaccurate... and often gave me HR values of 220-240 BPM... a level that would raise concern and I would never realistically get to... these spikes were clearly not a genuine reading from the optical sensor.
• I also found the GPS would take a very long time to get a position fix, and without any visible screen indicator to show that the sports app was in a healthy fix status to start running... I would regularly start my run after standing around for a few minutes and then find at the end of the run, due to the watch taking nearly 10 minutes to make a position fix, that the first 6-8 minutes of the run would be missing from the tracking ... what is needed ***** is a message like many of the running watches to state 'Ready to Run' or 'GPS Position Obtained'.  

• I had an instance whereby mid way during a run that the position fix was completely lost and then stopped tracking distance during this down time period.   This lost me 0.8 miles / 6 minutes in the middle of my run.  

My other experiences with the watch were all good...and the golf distance tracking, music player, smart phone features were all good and I enjoyed using.   However this watch was let down by the sports accuracy of it's features...

These were all items that I felt should work in a premium priced smartwatch and although this is not exactly designed as an out and out running watch, i believe that if you are selling a product with HR monitor and GPS positioning that it should work correctly.   I am a big Samsung fan with an S8+ and I enjoy the samsung gadgets... I am sure if I knew this watch worked well enough for running that I would buy one asap.   However I have my concerns that many of these issues above have not been resolved despite regular feedback from consumers to Samsung on these issues and similar...

Please let me know how your experience is with the gear sport watch

Smiley.  

[RunForrest]

How I understand you... I'm very very very disappointed with the running tracking capacities of the Frontier and specially with the Samsung silence around the subject!
Additionally, I tested the watch with some other App with more positive results (quicker GPS lock and increased accuracy) than shealth?!
For the moment, I'm not sure if I've a defective unit and should return it OR if I should continue trying other running Apps OR if I should buy a real running watch (Polar, Garmin,...)?

[RunForrest]

BTW, if we check many Frontier reviews on the web, from "specialized sites", all states the equipment as ok for running, with accurate GPS and HRM?! Due to the oposite experience reported here, what's happening with these reviews?

[Anonymous User]

I already dumped the Gear Sport in Summer and since them I am using a Forerunner 645 that my wife used before and upgraded hers to a Forerunner 945. App support is excellent and the watch also works quite accurate with only minor deviations. Chest straps in various ways are also available - my wife is happy with this brand since 5 years and and I am happy since this summer...