Watch seems to be plagued with problems resolving GPS fix when not tethered to a phone. I went out for a run, without my phone and it took the watch close to 10 minutes to get a GPS Fix. This severely limits the functionality of the "Outdoor/Fitness" aspect of the watch.
This is not about the hardware. Watch5 GPS on its own is totally on par with other sports watches - in a group hike last week, all sorts of these were in use, distance and altitude stats in my Watch5 were sitting very close to all the others, and the recorded track is reasonably accurate.
What we observe here is a big fat software bug that will very probably either carry over to the Watch6, or eventually get fixed on all models.
Hiking will track closer to other devices than say running or cycling - mainly because the deviation in distance isn't that much between tracking intervals.
I've had nearly every version of the Galaxy Watch since it came out. They've all had issues with GPS tracking. If it's software, it will never be fixed. Only chance of it being fixed is if they change the hardware and modify the software as a result. I'm hoping they add multiband to compete with the Apple Watch Ultra. Get a Garmin or Apple watch if you want the most accurate tracking, The Galaxy Watches just don't compete in this area.
Watch5 GPS is perfectly fine when on its own. Only when software tries to combine GPS location with cellphone tower triangulation (aka A-GPS), it becomes extremely jittery. This is a software problem that affects the LTE models only, and which has been introduced only recently - Watch4 LTE did not have that problem, and Watch5 LTE models started to have that problem sometime early this year.
I think you're missing the point. I've had the Galaxy Watch, GW3, GW4 and the GW5. NONE of them have performed well as related to GPS performance - if you don't believe me, watch any fitness related videos on Youtube that test it and compare to other smartwatches. It is nowhere near as accurate or reliable as a Garmin or Apple Watch.
Seeing as Samsung has for YEARS never addressed this issue in their software, there is no reason for them to change it in the GW6 - UNLESS they implement new hardware, which would mean they HAVE to change and do additional testing with the software.
I currently have the GW4 LTE but don't use it to track my runs or cycling because it is not nearly as accurate as my Apple Watch. If you think Samsung will fix the GPS with software, you're going to be waiting for something that will never happen as history already proves this.
I have used the GW4-LTE for many many runs, GPS accuracy was always well within everyone else's range, in group runs just as well as in officially measured races. The GW5 performed the same until early this year, when this software "improvement" happened.
Other people in this thread have had the exact same experience, and the fact that turning LTE off makes GPS accurate again is witness to this not being a GPS problem.
The fact is that the Galaxy Watches have never been accurate or reliable as fitness trackers and why they are never used or recommended by fitness experts. I actually like the Galaxy Watches I've had but I'm disappointed and frustrated that Google, Garmin and Apple take fitness tracking so much more seriously than Samsung.
Same issues here with my Galaxy Watch 5, I've had everything from mediocre to absolutely terrible GPS accuracy while running. Restarting the watch seems to help sometimes, but cloudy/poor weather seems to exacerbate this issue. I'm a bit disappointed and considering ordering a cheap Garmin watch just for running. I previously had the original Galaxy Watch Active, and Galaxy Watch 4 and never had these issues. Disappointing!
