More impressions of the H1

[JungleJim]

v3.04

I finally got the time to do a first walk with the H1. So time for some more impressions. Didn't do any detailed testing so be careful with jumping to conclusions.

Operating the device works more intuitively than the GPSMAP 67 (imo). The touch screen works well, the UI makes more sense. Switching to an app from a glance on one of the home screens is pretty intuitive.

Navigation (routing with courses) works better for me. Using Courses with Roads&Trails navigation on the GPSMAP 67 never worked very well, but now it is similar to how course navigation works on the Edge cycling computers (of which I have used quite a few). Navigation instructions are only shown on the Map app, so there could be room for Garmin to show the instructions when you are on other apps as well. The course is displayed with chevrons indicating direction, which is a very welcome addition for me.

The total ascent / descent is still way off. I live in a flat area at sea level, and the walk I did contains no significant elevation changes. But the H1 thinks I did 65m of ascent and descent. Disappointing, I had hoped that this would be improved over the GPSMAP 67.

The satellite app showed some interesting things. I tried Auto Select and Multi GNSS+Multi band modes. In the latter I got less satellites on GPS, Galileo and BeiDou than I expected, mostly around 6 or 7, with 2 or so blinking. With Auto Select the device often switched to single band GPS, which showed more satellites with signal reception.

Accuracy varied between 2.1m and 2.6m when moving. Interestingly, when standing still the accuracy almost instantly moved to 3.0m and varying up to 3.4m. So it may be that the accelerometer also plays a role in accuracy. Note that this was in heavy cloud conditions, and some rain. So it would definitely need testing in better conditions to see how the accuracy behaves.

Accuracy of the recorded track seems fine at first sight, but this needs more testing. I recorded at the default setting of Smart, so I didn't test Every Second option yet.

When you configure the device to save a GPX file of a recorded activity (in addition to the FIT file), this GPX file is saved in the GARMIN\GPXActivities folder (instead of GARMIN\GPX).

In the coming days I'll try to do some more testing and share the experiences.

Data in the FIT file has been extended compared to the GPSMAP 67. It contains data about switching Satellite modes, the Events registered also includes data about course points reached or when you have gone off course, it contains info on the user, and the record messages (the track points) contain info on speed and altitude

[JungleJim]

With regard to the displayed accuracy: Garmin has stated on the official GPSMAP H1i Plus forum that there is an issue with the displayed accuracy that will be fixed in an upcoming update.