[d7walker]

I had the same issues with my Q5. I don't any turn by turn navigation but still want to know where I am as we do a lot of driving on secondary roads. I previously had a 9000 and a 9790 whose gps worked well. Recently I sadly retired my Q5 and bought a Leap from BlackBerry; the gps is so much better. I hope you are able to resolve your problem

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[Rick-TJR]

Yes, it is sad because the Q5 is such a great phone but with one serious weakness, the GPS. Even my 9900 and my 9100 worked so much better than the Q5. There is never a perfect phone, but I keep hoping that BlackBerry will get it right someday. It is strange but now that I had my new Q5 for a month now, it appears to be getting weaker on the GPS. What a bummer.

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[z10Jobe]

Okay, so I tested out the BlackBerry 10 phones and Garmin 305 watch under two conditions for GPS consistency for exercise tracking for this uber scientific testing analysis.

TEST 1 Oval track.

I jogged 10 laps around oval track on the inside lane which I theory should be 4.00 kilometres. I used Q5, z10, and z30 with Casca run pro app with one second updates with results as follows:

Garmin 305; 3.98 km
Q5; 4.54km
Z10; 4.32km
Z30; 4.32km.

Summary : Garmin rocks, BlackBerry sucks (8 to 13% error) on oval tracks. To be fair to the Q5, it was the first to be activated so it was accumulating distance first and was the only device on my outside arm, the other 3 were on the inside. Use garmin or simply count laps if you are at a track. Garmin wins by a landslide.

TEST 2. Bicycle ride home from track.

Garmin 305 Didn't finish cuz it lost satellite on the way home. Got stuck at 2.33 km.
Z10; 3.18 km
(I didn't test z30 or q5 here)

BlackBerry wins round 2 by default. Yay BlackBerry!


TEST 3; frustrated with failed test 2, I immediately proceeded to test 3. An approximate almost straight line and return to start bicycle ride of about 7 km I estimated. The time interval in Casca Run Pro was increased to 3 seconds.

Garmin; measured time but not distance for some reason.
Q5; 6.68km
Z10; 6.72 km
Z30; 6.72 km

Again BlackBerry wins by default. And look at the consistency. Again z10and z30 identical so one can assume that they have same Gps chipset and attenea.

TEST 4; An approximate 12 km bicycle ride of two straight arms and return, in a basic 'L' shape. I used both Sportrate free and casca run pro on my q5 and used z10 as z30 had identical results first two times and z30 is a tight fit in arm band.

Garmin Watch; 11.59km
Q5 Casca run pro ; 11.43km
Q5 Sportrate Free 11.69km
Z10 Casca; 11.64km

Results all within about 1% so they all win. Yay BlackBerry! (I'm biased especially for Q5 cuz it is what I use for tracking) . And congratulations and thanks to Sportrate and Casca Run Pro for the excellent native BlackBerry 10 apps.

Bottom line: if you need superb accuracy and are super serious about training , get dedicated watch like Garmin. If you are just a recreational walker / jogger / bicyclist such as most of us are, BlackBerry with native BlackBerry apps is a less expensive way to go and is probably good enough, especially in straight lines.

Now you are probably thinking 2 things:

1. Z10jobe is verbose.
2. This has nothing to do with driving gps apps and turn by turn navigation so wtf z10jobe. My riposte: I am a man darnit and never will ask for directions, even from a BlackBerry. One look at the map before I leave and maybe one peek at the map if I get lost. Thats it!

Sorry for the epic novel, but typing is effortless on this z30.


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[mategergo]

On my Q5 with 10.3.1 it sometimes works pretty well, but sometimes it can`t find my place accurately. Don`t understand...

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[fschmeck]

Okay, so I tested out the BlackBerry 10 phones and Garmin 305 watch under two conditions for GPS consistency for exercise tracking for this uber scientific testing analysis.

This is more thorough testing then I think BlackBerry has done on the Q5 themselves. Great work!





Posted via CB10

[Rick-TJR]

Hey Z10Jobe, thanks for the awesome test. That oval test was pretty interesting as I see this happening with my Q5 when on the freeway and taking the clover leaf to get off. My location goes swing way out and off the road every time. This would explain why the distance is calculated as being longer as I'm never shown on the inside portion of the clover leaf turn but way out.

I doubt they will ever make a Q5 II with better specs and all, so I just have to put up with this one weakness.

Thanks again for the test.


Posted via CB10

[z10Jobe]

Okay, further to my previous comparisons between Garmin watch and BlackBerry, I went for a somewhat linear jog and return of about 8 to 10 kilometres (5 to 8 miles) and these are the distances:

Garmin 305 Watch; 9.04 km
Q5 Sportrate ; 8.90km
Q5 Casca run pro ; 8.91km
Z10 Sportrate ; 9.22 km
Z10 Casca Run Pro 9.16 km

As you can see, the BlackBerrys are within 2% of the values of the presumably more accurate Garmin. Good enough for me for a typical linear jogging route. If you split the difference between the Q5 and the Z10, you get the value of the Garmin.

As per my previous test, if you are running around an oval track or doing a lot of switchbacks and constantly turning direction, the limitations of the BlackBerry show up and I would rely on the Garmin.

For most applicable recreational walk/runs/hike/bicycle, the BlackBerry with the great and easy to use Sportrate or Casca Run apps will do just fine.

As far as you gps car drivers go, you will have to do your own research.

Posted via CB10

[lift]

Okay, further to my previous comparisons between Garmin watch and BlackBerry, I went for a somewhat linear jog and return of about 8 to 10 kilometres (5 to 8 miles) and these are the distances:

Garmin 305 Watch; 9.04 km
Q5 Sportrate ; 8.90km
Q5 Casca run pro ; 8.91km
Z10 Sportrate ; 9.22 km
Z10 Casca Run Pro 9.16 km

As you can see, the BlackBerrys are within 2% of the values of the presumably more accurate Garmin. Good enough for me for a typical linear jogging route. If you split the difference between the Q5 and the Z10, you get the value of the Garmin.

As per my previous test, if you are running around an oval track or doing a lot of switchbacks and constantly turning direction, the limitations of the BlackBerry show up and I would rely on the Garmin.

For most applicable recreational walk/runs/hike/bicycle, the BlackBerry with the great and easy to use Sportrate or Casca Run apps will do just fine.

As far as you gps car drivers go, you will have to do your own research.

Posted via CB10

In that test the Q5 was actually closer to the Garmin.

[z10Jobe]

Hey Z10Jobe, thanks for the awesome test. That oval test was pretty interesting as I see this happening with my Q5 when on the freeway and taking the clover leaf to get off. My location goes swing way out and off the road every time. This would explain why the distance is calculated as being longer as I'm never shown on the inside portion of the clover leaf turn but way out.

I doubt they will ever make a Q5 II with better specs and all, so I just have to put up with this one weakness.

Thanks again for the test.


Posted via CB10

Yep, the curves seems to be pushed out on all the BlackBerry. In a straight line with few curves, however, the BlackBerry were very close to the Garmin.

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