GPSrChive Discussion Forum

v9.34 December 22nd, 2025

Added support for transferring and receiving waypoints in Garmin Mode
Fixed possible Where To item duplication
Fixed possible issue where the layer information page in OM+ would get cut off after a certain distance
Fixed possible issue with TopoActive Map Downloads not using the preferred storage location
Fixed possible issue when using UTM position format in Portuguese
Fixed possible issue viewing some custom maps in Map Manager
Improved Applied Ballistics app

After two forest walks, what should I say...
One was 45 minutes and the second one 90 minutes, weather conditions - clouds, no sun, no rain snow, temperature -6C deg, Two tracks recorded with 1 sec period. Fenix on hand, GPSMap on shoulder.

It's not as bad as previous firmwares (especially <=9.10), but it's not too good as well - tracks from my fenix 7 pro were much better.
Tracks recorded on the same path back and forth after 1 hour, differs about 5-7 meters. Tracks from fenix have accuracy about 1-2 meters - within error radius.

I don't really understand Garmin libraries. Aren't they shared, basically the same? Why can they adjust accuracy in one device, and cannot in another?

Anyway, for now - no more Garmin GPSMaps. That one is the last one.

art3k wrote: Thu Dec 25, 2025 3:47 pmI don't really understand Garmin libraries. Aren't they shared, basically the same? Why can they adjust accuracy in one device, and cannot in another?

There are no technical reason why GPSMAP would have worse GNSS than Garmin watches. It is almost surely related to prolonged battery life.
The device probably uses moving sensors and cuts off some power from GNSS when unnecessary (not moving).
You will get exceptional battery but at the cost of sometimes outdated GNSS data and inaccurate position in effect.

If they truly fix this issue (by disabling power savers), you will probably get back to 66sr version or so.

Please note that Garmin Edge units haven't such aggressive power savers, because they are cycling devices designing for fast moving.
So they have "poor" battery life (when compared to GPSMAP) but no similar issues with GNSS position.
After all, those devices are from the same company with the same technology available. But manufacturer politics is different here.

Thank you for posting.

Both posts confirm my findings regarding accuracy. I use or have used

• Edge 810, 830: visibly cutting of corners

• Edge 1040: in use the most accurate and good battery life as well

• Fenix 7: almost as good as the Edge 1080, excellent for a wearable; activity based logging, even open water swimming!

• GPSMAP 66sr: not bad but not as good as the Fenix; not good for cycling because it overshoots corners

• GPSMAP 67: useless (FW 8.9, 9.1) especially in harsh conditions like forest or mountains where it should outperform the rest; coordinates wandering off; I sold it; good to hear they improved the firmware (a bit)

Suspicion: On the GPSMAP 67 the motion/acceleration sensors play to large a role with respect to GPS/GLNSS.

Watches have GNSS mode selection which greatly impacts battery life, ie.: All Systems + MultiBand, All Systems, GPS-only, SatIQ, UltraRac.
Eg. for Forerunner 955 you can increase battery life from 20 up to 80 hours just by changing GNSS mode (see: Forerunner 955 Series Battery Life Assumptions).

GPSMAPs have not such sophisticated selection modes available, and there is some hardcoded mode which balances between battery life and GNSS accuracy.

GPSMAP 66sr is not particularly optimized so its battery life isn't wonderful but accuracy is stable. GPSMAP 67 has wonderful battery life but it sometimes suffers from accuracy as you described.

BTW: GPSMAP 66sr and 67 have exactly same battery.