Fenix 5 Plus HR very inconsistent

I hear what you're saying, but the others aren't charging the price tag Garmin is. I just expect a bit more from an HR sensor built into the premier fitness/triathlete device.

Then you're expecting the impossible. I understand the sentiment that such an expensive watch should be "perfect" but that doesn't reflect the reality of the underlying technology, and that doesn't change whether it's Garmin charging $800, Apple charging $399 or Samsung charging $349.

Hehe, we can go around and around on this, but I think your argument is somewhat flawed (naturally :) )

Imagine you bought a new and expensive car that advertised it could drive itself, but when you got it, you found it couldn't and it veered randomly. When you raised the point with the manufacturer their response was 'You're expecting the impossible. The technology isn't there yet, but it works if the road is straight and you drive at 52mph only' you might be a little disgruntled. Let's remove the obvious cost differential. If you bought a power meter that claimed it could measure power output, that COULD indeed measure power, but it was very inaccurate unless you cycled at a consistent 250w and the manufacturers' answer was 'The technology just isn't there yet', you'd be disgruntled.

Why should Garmin advertise a sports watch with a HR sensor that frankly doesn't measure accurate heart rate? Am I being unfair?

Now, I bought the watch for everything except the HR sensor. I run and cycle with a separate sensor because I know it's going to be bad. I would prefer it was cheaper and had no sensor, rather than advertised for something it cannot do.

Hehe, we can go around and around on this, but I think your argument is somewhat flawed (naturally :) )

Imagine you bought a new and expensive car that advertised it could drive itself, but when you got it, you found it couldn't and it veered randomly. When you raised the point with the manufacturer their response was 'You're expecting the impossible. The technology isn't there yet, but it works if the road is straight and you drive at 52mph only' you might be a little disgruntled. Let's remove the obvious cost differential. If you bought a power meter that claimed it could measure power output, that COULD indeed measure power, but it was very inaccurate unless you cycled at a consistent 250w and the manufacturers' answer was 'The technology just isn't there yet', you'd be disgruntled.

Why should Garmin advertise a sports watch with a HR sensor that frankly doesn't measure accurate heart rate? Am I being unfair?

Now, I bought the watch for everything except the HR sensor. I run and cycle with a separate sensor because I know it's going to be bad. I would prefer it was cheaper and had no sensor, rather than advertised for something it cannot do.

100% agree...
And let me add that is not fair to say that non one handle OHR better than Garmin, I had a Polar M600 that was quite spot on with the HR chest strap during high intensity activities (on the other site the need to recharge every 2 days was horrible)

I own a Fenix5 Wifi and a forerunner 645M and the second is more consistent than the fenix...that I'll sell ...

If I buy a multi sport watch is because I practice and train several sport and I expect at least that the recorded metrics are in the ball park not random.
Less is better some time.

Actually I'm on the fence and waiting new polar products... than I'll leave Garmin amazing bug word (Smart index, Fenix 5 , forerunner 645M etc.)

I bought a Fenix 5 plus X and use it in activities with a Garmin cheast strap.
i went biking with my edge 1000 and throughtout the ride, my Hart was showing up fine on my edge, but was showing intermittent on my Fenix 5 sometime with lower values, sometime with no value (just - - -), sometime with the same value as on my edge 1000
NB: my setting on the watch for hart rate is on auto
is-this normal? Should I change a setting on the watch?
thanks!

I have the 5S Plus and before it the 5S. The HR measurements I am getting are consistent and seem accurate. I did notice a difference between the HR reported in My Day view vs. the HR reported in a specific activity such as running. When I brought this to Garmin's attention, this was their explanation:

"this discrepancy is by design. The All-Day Heart Rate readings only pull from wellness data, which can and will differ from what is recorded during an activity. This is because the My Day / All-Day fields are recorded based on two minute averages. These are meant to be less precise than what is in the activity as it is the high over the whole day. The high during the activity is just one data point and precision is more valuable there as it is within a much shorter time frame."

I bought a Fenix 5 plus X and use it in activities with a Garmin cheast strap.
i went biking with my edge 1000 and throughtout the ride, my Hart was showing up fine on my edge, but was showing intermittent on my Fenix 5 sometime with lower values, sometime with no value (just - - -), sometime with the same value as on my edge 1000
NB: my setting on the watch for hart rate is on auto
is-this normal? Should I change a setting on the watch?
thanks!

Hi everybody. I joined the Garmin community 2 years ago with a F3HR, moving later to a F5 and now I just got my new F5+ (APAC version). I'm surprised to see how much more unstable the OHR readings are compared to my previous 2 watches. I'm particularly concerned about the all-day readings (While sitting, walking, etc). My F5 became very stable and accurate after one of the firmware updates, but my F5+ is showing crazy variations and jumping from like 55bpm to 75 bpm and coming back to 55bpm after a few seconds.

I also noticed the movement of my arm and body seems to affect the reading a lot. If I suddenly stand, the 55bpm could jump all the way to 90, get stuck there for a while and then go down to a more real value. I'm wearing the watch pretty tight, and in exactly the same way as my previous F5.

Is anyone else experiencing much worse OHR readings on the F5+ compared to the F5?

Cheers

Hi everybody. I joined the Garmin community 2 years ago with a F3HR, moving later to a F5 and now I just got my new F5+ (APAC version). I'm surprised to see how much more unstable the OHR readings are compared to my previous 2 watches. I'm particularly concerned about the all-day readings (While sitting, walking, etc). My F5 became very stable and accurate after one of the firmware updates, but my F5+ is showing crazy variations and jumping from like 55bpm to 75 bpm and coming back to 55bpm after a few seconds.

I also noticed the movement of my arm and body seems to affect the reading a lot. If I suddenly stand, the 55bpm could jump all the way to 90, get stuck there for a while and then go down to a more real value. I'm wearing the watch pretty tight, and in exactly the same way as my previous F5.

Is anyone else experiencing much worse OHR readings on the F5+ compared to the F5?

Cheers

I don't have any issue with the 5 Plus APAC. i compared it with the HRM-Tri. That said, i know some people experienced hr jump radically when they suddenly change position. If you try the HRM-Tri and produce same result, then you might want to seek medical opinion.

_hernan I've been wearing the F5+ 24/7 since July (and VA3 for 10 months before that) and I've made similar observations as you are describing for the last 3-4 weeks, combined with higher RHR and Stress values. I'm not sure if it's a change in the way the the F5+ is measuring/recording HR, or if it's a an actual change in my heart rate. I do have a medical condition that could have changed and explain it - however, that is not new and my medication hasn't changed, so I doubt the sudden change could be explained by that.