Polar ignite watch - app and watch itself both show different distances I've run.

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Polar ignite watch - app and watch itself both show different distances I've run.
I turn them both to start (sports watch on arm (polar ignite) and the polar beat workout app within seconds of each other but every time, the end of my run shows 0.5km less according to my watch stats compared to the app stats so according the watch, I'm actually a fair bit slower. Both use GPS but according to technical support, different types of GPS. Aside from that, they've been less than helpful and say the two systems should not be compared. I'd have thought that distance run should NOT be subjective and I want to know what my actual speed is (which is dependent on distance covered).

Has anyone else had this issue? Any guidance?

Thanks

Bump

If the watch and the app are both using different forms of GPS, and vary in how exactly they calculate distance, then I doubt there's much you can do unfortunately. I guess it will vary a bit depending on how they get a 'fix' on the satellites, how often that data is refreshed, within what degree of accuracy they operate, and what method they use to calculate position. As they say, it's two slightly different methods, so can't exactly compare them.

But then how do I know what my actual accurate running distance is to compare to other runners, reference ranges etc?

Just going to have to pick one measure, and stick with it! Other runners are going to be using the same tech with the same degree of accuracy. Just perhaps if they're not using two different devices at the same time, they won't notice any difference. So in reality if they say they're run 5 miles, it could in reality be between say 4.8 and 5.2 miles. The only way to properly test would be to use them on a route you know has been accurately measured using a validated method and compare to that.

Thanks. Just find it annoying they’re significantly different. If it was a difference of 2m I wouldn’t mind but 500m is a fair bit :/

Over what sort of distance does that level of difference appear? Maybe could try using something like Strava at the same time to see what that says. If you had a Strava segment to try all three methods over then might give an indicator which is more off.

I guess a running forum might have some more experience of this sort of thing as potentially cropped up with others.

@Bananarama101 over about 5km, it shows that much difference. Yeah maybe good to try different apps alongside to see which ones most similar but I’m guessing other phone apps will be more similar to the polar app (rather than the polar watch) due to the fact I’d be comparing phone apps to each other but definitely worth a try.

Thanks