Altimeter accuracy? - Samsung Gear S3

Does anyone know how accurate the altimeter is?
Every time a do a manual calibration, the new value is way off from the old value. Several dozen feet sometimes.
Has anyone tested it for accuracy?

I got the same problem too
And I'm in the same situation as you, I'm searching if anyone tested the accuracy of the altimeter :/

I havent found anything yet man. If you do, please post. Thanks!

When I refresh the altitude at home, I get 130ft. Checking my elevation against a geological survey source, I get 136ft.
When I'm at my vacation home on the coast (of Maine), I get 10ft.
Good enough for me

Reality test
I was skydiving yesterday and tested my Gear S3 Classic along with 2 specialised altimeters: Barigo and Neoxs.
Tried 2 apps: native baro-altimeter and Skydive altimeter metric by Jean-David Hsu.
Manual calibration and altitude set to 0 beforehand.
Below is the link to the video
https://youtu.be/Sofblyrn2FQ

So it is off at times? It is hard to see the reading in the watch in the video

reviad said:
So it is off at times?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the app keeps the screen alive all the time. The hand on the watch face is visible all through the jump. I put some magnifying screen shots in for better perception. Try watch the vid on PC. Must be OK.

Ljusalfheim said:
No, the app keeps the screen alive all the time. The hand on the watch face is visible all through the jump. I put some magnifying screen shots in for better perception. Try watch the vid on PC. Must be OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, what I meant by "it is off at times" is that it is not always accurate? I could see that the watch was on, but it was hard to tell if was the same reading as the "real" altimeter.

reviad said:
Sorry, what I meant by "it is off at times" is that it is not always accurate? I could see that the watch was on, but it was hard to tell if was the same reading as the "real" altimeter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should say it IS accurate! In most cases Gear S3 performed better than Neoxs (professional skydiving altimeter). Screen shots show that the difference between Barigo and Gear is minuscule and Neoxs is approximately 100 meters wrong at times.
So, I was pleasantly surprised. The watch rocks and no mistake!

I live 200M from the coast. Setting up the Gear was easy at sea level from then on mine has been as accurate as can be expected for this type of device.
I have owned nearly every smart watch available being a watch nut and can say to date the S3 is my favorite of this type of watch. Very well made and in general a quality advanced piece of micro engineering. One to be proud of.
Ryland

The altimeter on the S3 is a fake, same as barometer. To prove it, just disconnect the watch from your phone and prevent internet access. Data will then be totally inaccurate with huge variation during the day even if staying at exact same spot.
Samsung is just using the GPS data location to get more accurate values, but wht is inside the S3 is dumb

fastmike said:
The altimeter on the S3 is a fake,
Samsung is just using the GPS data location to get more accurate values, but wht is inside the S3 is dumb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but you are totally and entirely wrong. See my video (link is above). There was no phone and Internet in the sky with me.

I recommend app Altimeter & Barometer. I use it in mountain from year. Accuracy is better than stock devices.

Ljusalfheim said:
Sorry but you are totally and entirely wrong. See my video (link is above). There was no phone and Internet in the sky with me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No link I am assuming you where jumping it could I use this insted of a digital. I am jumping a analog and if this will work I would rather buy this .

kidhines said:
No link I am assuming you where jumping .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link is below:
https://youtu.be/Sofblyrn2FQ

Ljusalfheim said:
The link is below:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you trust your life with this only ?

kidhines said:
Would you trust your life with this only ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course not. Never trust in one single device (even professional). I use at least 3 simultaneously.

Related

Disppointed with the Barometer/Altimeter App

I am very disappointed with the Samsung Barometer/Altimeter app, The barometer only registers in whole inches of mercury. All watches I had in the past, register in hundredths of inches of mercury. I wonder who else feels the same and would like Samsung to fix this error or maybe a developer could create a replacement app.
Edit: They finally updated the app and it shows the barometric pressure in 100th of a inch of mercury. Big thumbs up
dhonzik said:
I am very disappointed with the Samsung Barometer/Altimeter app, The barometer only registers in whole inches of mercury. All watches I had in the past, register in hundredths of inches of mercury. I wonder who else feels the same and would like Samsung to fix this error or maybe a developer could create a replacement app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Hopefully Samsung does address it. Meanwhile I found a free app called "FBarometer." Just search/install via Gear app. Seems pretty accurate, doesn't register in hundredths but does do tenths so a step up from wholes inches at least.
I have a feeling Samsung rushed to get this watch out (obviously, everythings backordered now it seems).
I have a feeling there will be many updates in the near future. At least I hope so.
If you touch the barometer to display the trend look at the outside ring, the barometric pressure is displayed gauge style with a red dash marking the pressure and the units are to the hundreds place. It's still not great but you can at least tell the difference between 28.5 and 29.
I live 77m above sea level and my watch shows -97m, a bit out me thinks.
Barometer and altimeter are useless. I live between - 90 and plus 154 meters, in Amsterdam which is - 3. Consequently also the floor counter is facked up.
dhonzik said:
I am very disappointed with the Samsung Barometer/Altimeter app, The barometer only registers in whole inches of mercury. All watches I had in the past, register in hundredths of inches of mercury. I wonder who else feels the same and would like Samsung to fix this error or maybe a developer could create a replacement app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use another very good app called Barometer & Altimeter. I use it when go mountain. I talked to author this app before download it. It was tested by a few climbers and created with help mathematicians and physicists. The measurement error is < 1%. It is better than my stock altimeter GPS-based. Very good app, absolutely worth buying.
dhonzik said:
I am very disappointed with the Samsung Barometer/Altimeter app, The barometer only registers in whole inches of mercury. All watches I had in the past, register in hundredths of inches of mercury. I wonder who else feels the same and would like Samsung to fix this error or maybe a developer could create a replacement app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree! Looks like the sensors that Samsung has choosen are totally pieces of crap.
Altimeter: from my sofa 5m... couple of hours later 35m!!!
Barometer and heart rates are also giving vera random figures compare to 'real' hardware.
Samsung just wanted to show more features and be in line with competition but it does not work.
They better should have left very useful features that were present on previous model likre IR Remote that I had on my Gear 2 Neo!
I will never understand Samsung when they decide to replace features in place of add new features. Mainly when they remove very useful and working gears and replace those with unreliable sensors....
You do realise that the altimeter is air pressure based right?
If the air pressure has changed during the two hours you were on the sofa then the altimeter will show a different reading.
That's the whole point of calibrating it before you set of on a climb or whatever you're up to.
@Lakota
Where is the setting screen, been through settings tried hold the screen nothing.
jb.traveller said:
@Lakota
Where is the setting screen, been through settings tried hold the screen nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tap on the widget and scroll right.
Thanks Stormglider sorted.
Lakota said:
You do realise that the altimeter is air pressure based right?
If the air pressure has changed during the two hours you were on the sofa then the altimeter will show a different reading.
That's the whole point of calibrating it before you set of on a climb or whatever you're up to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's barometric. And altitude jumps all over the place even when the pressure is constant. Eg walking up the stairs, 2 stories, results in a climb of -12 to +30 meters, should be - 3 to +4. And my daily run which is totally flat at - 3 shows 116 meter hills. It's true and authentic crap and I'm gonna replace for the Fenix 5 as soon as possible!
blackspp said:
Yes it's barometric. And altitude jumps all over the place even when the pressure is constant. Eg walking up the stairs, 2 stories, results in a climb of -12 to +30 meters, should be - 3 to +4. And my daily run which is totally flat at - 3 shows 116 meter hills. It's true and authentic crap and I'm gonna replace for the Fenix 5 as soon as possible!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats why shealth thinks i climbed 10 flights of stairs while just walking about for nine hours.
To those who think that their Gear S3 sensors are any accurate, just try to disconnect your phone Position/GPS or to use the gear S3 alone. You will then see the truth about those very inaccurate sensors that Samsung has put in the Gear!
They are only 'providing' you with accurate figures when position/gps on your phone is on, in other words, the 'accurate' info you are seeing are provided by internet data, and not by the sensors themselves... Shame on Samsung for that!
i have the same issue. at 155 ft above sea level, but watch states between -150 and +435
it also only counts 1/10th of floors climbed
I don't get accurate floor counts but I know for a fact the gps works well without my phone. At least the golf app I use gives me accurate readings in standalone mode.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
Same here. I stood outside under a clear sky around 30m above sea level. Tried calibrating thrice but each time it says -7M.
Skydiving
I have used the S3 Frontier when I skydive along with my Viso II Digital Altimeter and they are within 25-50ft of each other. This is without the phone. It is actually pretty accurate. I do not use the built in app. I use one from the store called Skydiver Altimeter. It works great.
Well no clue about others.. but just got mine and comparing with two others one ming Suunto and its like some others pretty darn accurate. Just going up a few feet.. was spot on. I wonder if like the phone you need to reset it at now and again.

Keeping altitude on display

I want to try the altimeter during a flight, but I can't keep it on display. If the watch return in AOD mode, it comes back on the watchface if turn my wrist, not to the last application as Altimeter. Is there a way to keep it on display ?
An alternative could have been to put the altitude as a complication on a watchface, but no one include it... I can only find the pressure...
A pressurized cabin won't give you an accurate altitude reading. Typical commercial airliner cabins are commonly pressurized to about 6000-8000 ft.
Sent telepathically
RiverCity.45 said:
A pressurized cabin won't give you an accurate altitude reading. Typical commercial airliner cabins are commonly pressurized to about 6000-8000 ft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I'm talking about a non-pressurize little Cessna
I don't have mine in front of me, but isn't there an altimeter watch face?
Or you could turn the screen time out to maximum time.
You could make your own watchface and put the altimeter in it...
There is a watch face with altimeter alread...
Its calldled the gear dashboard... and you can stylize from there
smrsxn said:
There is a watch face with altimeter alread...
Its calldled the gear dashboard... and you can stylize from there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried it : the barometer is available inside but not the Altimeter.
I've tried to configure a watch face with the gear Watch Designer but the I haven't found the option...
RiverCity.45 said:
A pressurized cabin won't give you an accurate altitude reading. Typical commercial airliner cabins are commonly pressurized to about 6000-8000 ft.
Sent telepathically
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I understand why my watch only went up to about 2300m when i tested it on a recent flight. thanks! I thought it was broken!
I had the same problem. I wanted to use the Altimeter for paramotoring. Someone on this forum kindly directed me to a Gear app called "I am alive".
Install the app, open it and switch it on and leave it running in the background. Whatever app you open after will now stay on screen. Works great.
Thank you, I am Alive works perfect

AMOLED screen burn-in

I'm using Waze app every single day for about 1.5 hour.
in the past when i had galaxy S4, after 2 month of daily use, i noticed on white pages i still see all the static banners and buttons of waze.
baisically, using Waze in daily basis, burn-in my screen in the static area of the app like the up and down banners, speed meter etc...
Can it happen also in my new galaxy s8+? what to you think? did the amoled technology haven't changed a lot in the past 4 or 5 years?
There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Shaady said:
its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far.... the phone is pretty new so we can tell right now. hope it will never happen but my S4 experience keeps me worried about this phenomenon.
Shaady said:
There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked in Waze setting and could not find this option. Where is this option?
Shaady said:
There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't find this option in waze.... which app version installed on your phone? which country?
I had that problem with my s7 edge. I got it changed on warranty. I'm too scared to use waze on my s8+.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app
mouzam said:
I had that problem with my s7 edge. I got it changed on warranty. I'm too scared to use waze on my s8+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much time did you use your s7 before the burn-in happen?
How much time you used waze each day?
Flame Red said:
I looked in Waze setting and could not find this option. Where is this option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today i received an update to waze from play store and the function was added :good:
Definitely can still happen on the s8+. I'd recommend not having your screen excessively bright while static images are on screen if you can help it. It's a pain but this is just an unfortunate trade-off with these beautiful screens.
xeathpk said:
Definitely can still happen on the s8+. I'd recommend not having your screen excessively bright while static images are on screen if you can help it. It's a pain but this is just an unfortunate trade-off with these beautiful screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.
pieces of cake said:
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry if you dont like it but its the truth. I absolutely love the Samsung phones so I'm not against the phone. I've had the Note, S3, S4, S5, S6E, S7E and now the S8+.
I'm the first person to correct somebody wrongly bashing these phones but in this case it is what it is mate. Its well documented and accepted as fact that screen burn in on Amoled is more prevalent than some other display technologies. You need to be a little bit more mindful with Amoled if you want to keep the screen looking nice with heavy use.
xeathpk said:
I'm sorry if you dont like it but its the truth. I absolutely love the Samsung phones so I'm not against the phone. I've had the Note, S3, S4, S5, S6E, S7E and now the S8+.
I'm the first person to correct somebody wrongly bashing these phones but in this case it is what it is mate. Its well documented and accepted as fact that screen burn in on Amoled is more prevalent than some other display technologies. You need to be a little bit more mindful with Amoled if you want to keep the screen looking nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on your response, it's apparent that you didn't quite grasp mine. Anyway, cheers!
pieces of cake said:
Based on your response, it's apparent that you didn't quite grasp mine. Anyway, cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on your first response you obviously didn't grasp mine at all whatsoever. I wasn't comparing Amoled directly to any other screen technology but the fact remains that the prevelance of screen burn in is generally higher than other screen types in general. That's not just conjecture on my part.
Its accepted fact. Also I'd appreciate it if you dropped the childish, rude and flippant attitude towards me. I was simply responding to your straw man argument.
xeathpk said:
Based on your first response you obviously didn't grasp mine at all whatsoever. I wasn't comparing Amoled directly to any other screen technology but the fact remains that the prevelance of screen burn in is generally higher than other screen types in general. That's not just conjecture on my part.
Its accepted fact. Also I'd appreciate it if you dropped the childish, rude and flippant attitude towards me. I was simply responding to your straw man argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, ok then. Enjoy!
XkobiX said:
How much time did you use your s7 before the burn-in happen?
How much time you used waze each day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app
mouzam said:
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah unfortunately its one of those things that you just have to be mindful of, even when you're not on full brightness.
I was pretty lucky with most of my galaxy phones especially considering how heavily I used them, although my S7E was an exception.
I still have the phone and after just 13 months you can clearly see discoloration on the screen and admittedly very feint burn in on UI elements ie. the status bar. The screen discoloration is pretty bad and perfectly matches the YouTube app, where the video is playing up top and the static white comment section below put uneven "wear" on my screen. I'm now trying to make a habit to watch longer YouTube videos in fullscreen to avoid a similar result.
mouzam said:
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So they replaced it for you? If it is so common on amoled display, they still replace or repair burned in screens?
XkobiX said:
So they replaced it for you? If it is so common on amoled display, they still replace or repair burned in screens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes they did. I rang samsung and told them about the issue. They got the phone picked up from my house. I was expecting them to probably just replace the screen but to my shock they sent me a brand new sealed s7 edge.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Amoled is notorious for burn-ins. I would avoid using any app for prolonged periods of time.
pieces of cake said:
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for a carrier and never in my 14 years have I seen a LCD screen burn in I have however seen multiple AMOLED panels with burn in especially demo phones (yes on all day rolling content but so are the LCD models) this is a risk with organic displays to his point is true it is a trade off whichever way you sugercoat it

My Bp Lab

Anybody got this on the gear s3 to measure blood pressure?
Yes, I was trying it. The data may be useful at some point but I found that the readings from my Gear S3 were significantly higher than what I read with a cuff. Enough so that I didn't continue in the program.
Theojt said:
Yes, I was trying it. The data may be useful at some point but I found that the readings from my Gear S3 were significantly higher than what I read with a cuff. Enough so that I didn't continue in the program.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you install app on gear s3?
dj.shauny.g said:
Anybody got this on the gear s3 to measure blood pressure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there isnt the physical hardware on the Gear S3 to measure blood pressure.
youdoofus said:
there isnt the physical hardware on the Gear S3 to measure blood pressure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad....that's what I get for a hurried answer. I only ran the My BP on my phone, not the Gear S3. Supposedly it runs on the Samsung Galaxy Active though.
Theojt said:
My bad....that's what I get for a hurried answer. I only ran the My BP on my phone, not the Gear S3. Supposedly it runs on the Samsung Galaxy Active though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i havent messed with that watch too much, but i have heard the same thing about it. That being said, it takes applying pressure to the arm to be able to read the feedback from your body in order for anything to take that kind of bodily reading. I work in health care insurance and see DME/HME (durable medical equipment/home medical equipment) claims for stuff like this all the time. Most of the claims deny as they are OTC (over the counter) items, but i bring this up because they are very specific devices and i wouldnt rely on the mechanical workings of the thing that attaches the wristband of a watch to give anywhere near accurate readings of BP. Not yet at least. My $0.02

S-pen as Pointer?

How come no one is talking about this in reviews? This seems really cool!
https://www.sammobile.com/news/vide...y3jmOKEYoGQPZ3bBGJ8RyEp20QcV8N_NGBzNWRaf6qZyU
Anyone else excited about this feature? I really want to see it in action. Like, how far away from the phone can the s-pen be and still accurately show the pointer?
PsiPhiDan said:
How come no one is talking about this in reviews? This seems really cool!
https://www.sammobile.com/news/vide...y3jmOKEYoGQPZ3bBGJ8RyEp20QcV8N_NGBzNWRaf6qZyU
Anyone else excited about this feature? I really want to see it in action. Like, how far away from the phone can the s-pen be and still accurately show the pointer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is the same as bluetooth pointer used for laptops , it is accurate as long as you are in the bluetooth range of the Spen , and it uses gyroscope in the Spen to move the pointer on screen and your phone should be standing vertically because the spen pointer can't be used when the spen is vertical the spen should be horizontal
If you have Note 10 plus you can test it in action by installing app called Smouse
*S Pen's operable distance extends approximately 10 meters from the device in open space. Control range may vary depending on surroundings and other factors.
raul6 said:
*S Pen's operable distance extends approximately 10 meters from the device in open space. Control range may vary depending on surroundings and other factors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This looks like official documentation. Is this real? I've still yet to see it in action in one review, and some menus I've seen didn't seem to have the option in s-pen (at least not that I saw). As a teacher of online kids, I'm thrilled about this because I often teach on my Note. I just want to be 100% sure the feature is there!
PsiPhiDan said:
This looks like official documentation. Is this real? I've still yet to see it in action in one review, and some menus I've seen didn't seem to have the option in s-pen (at least not that I saw). As a teacher of online kids, I'm thrilled about this because I often teach on my Note. I just want to be 100% sure the feature is there!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would expect the range to be up to 10m
But, alas
".. However, it seems the advanced pointer functionality that was*shown in leaked videos*didn’t make the cut into the final software, as the feature does not exist on any of our review units despite all of them having received at least one over-the-air update."
https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-note-20-ultra/review
raul6 said:
I would expect the range to be up to 10m
But, alas
".. However, it seems the advanced pointer functionality that was*shown in leaked videos*didn’t make the cut into the final software, as the feature does not exist on any of our review units despite all of them having received at least one over-the-air update."
https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-note-20-ultra/review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And someone on the US Waiting Room thread just said it DOES have this feature... What the heck...
PsiPhiDan said:
And someone on the US Waiting Room thread just said it DOES have this feature... What the heck...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see this as an option on my n20u, uk variant.
PsiPhiDan said:
And someone on the US Waiting Room thread just said it DOES have this feature... What the heck...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is removed from the final software version in all regions, but there is an alternative that works the same way called "Smouse" on playstore, try it out it is helpful
hoss_n2 said:
It is removed from the final software version in all regions, but there is an alternative that works the same way called "Smouse" on playstore, try it out it is helpful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Decent app! Thanks. Definitely not as clean as it would have been as a 1st party app... But nice in the meantime. I hope they push out that before the Note21 since they were clearly working on it... But I doubt they will. Probably will save it as a special feature to make you buy next year's model.
PsiPhiDan said:
Decent app! Thanks. Definitely not as clean as it would have been as a 1st party app... But nice in the meantime. I hope they push out that before the Note21 since they were clearly working on it... But I doubt they will. Probably will save it as a special feature to make you buy next year's model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they removed it because S pen only works as a pointer in horizontal position so the phone must be placed vertical and Spen horizontal to it which isn't practical unless you are using wireless dex and mirroring the phone to a bigger screen but at least they could have limited it to Wireless dex instead of completely removing it
hoss_n2 said:
I think they removed it because S pen only works as a pointer in horizontal position so the phone must be placed vertical and Spen horizontal to it which isn't practical unless you are using wireless dex and mirroring the phone to a bigger screen but at least they could have limited it to Wireless dex instead of completely removing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use it when doing teaching remotely. I'd be holding my phone up vertically so the webcam could see it, so it'd been perfect for me. Oh well, I know I'm a very specific use case.

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