wrist HR

hi,

I use both.

because of the Varia RTL 510 radar, I started to put 5x+ on my handlebar, to see notifications.
also in bad weather, under the sleeves is almost impossible to see the watch.
so I purchased chest HRM.

although complete different measuring system, (optical vs electrical) both have spikes.
on the wrist, yes, moves, I sweat, for sure not as accurate as the chest HRM.
therefore in the water the watch HRM is disabled.

I'll share here almost the same trail, before and after I bought the chest HRM (trisport).
the elevation in green is the overlay.

HRM fenix on my hand



fenix on handlebar, chest HRM tri sport



to me, both are good ...


just me,
robert

When i'm lazy and want to run without much, I use the wrist HR. It's not great, but for easy runs, I don't need it to be perfectly accurate. Since I want to avoid a chest strap, I purchased a Scosche Rhythm sensor, it's still optical, but more reliable. I can put it on my arm, and really not feel it anymore. Is it better than chest strap ? I don't think so, there are errors too. It's probably more reliable at the start, when the chest strap is struggling a bit without enough sweat. Then after that, the chest strap seems better, but do I need a 99% accuracy if i can have 95% with a more comfortable device ? I decided that I did not. The comfort is now more important, so it's mostly the Scosche, then sometimes the watch.

Hi Robert,

nice comparison, although it`s hard to compare HR from two different moves, it looks like your chest HRM have even more spikes than wrist HR...or your second ride was more interval tipe...:)
For me the most disturbing thing, when using wrist HR, is that it does not follow HR as it should...for example when I start to go hard I look at the watch after few minutes and the HR is still at app
120 bpr and than when I start to go easy it goes in oposite direction...and these are not short intervals I`m talking about.
And there are also this spikes in every direction...and in the end the result is totaly unusable....::((
Wrist HR is for me useful only while I`m sill...for example for mesuring sleep phases...

hi,

hmmm... I might have had this issue when I compared some Strava segments in the past.
with wrist the trend of the HRM was not following the effort....
let me try to find them, will not be easy.

robert

garmin wrist HR is bad. really slow.take sometimes up to 30 sec to correct hr and sometimes it dosent even react at all. My apple watch series 1 is much quicker och more precise.
only thing it is good for is rhr and daily calorie count.

here we go.....

the same segment, you can see the same result 1:35 min in three cases, my best three, trust me I have to pedal hard...

1. example wrist HRM with an almost constant 105 bpm - here I suspect an absolut value error.



2. the "shift" you are talking about, indeed the wrist HRM increase should have been from the beginning of the segment, and the values are 133-139 bpm...well...not ok



3. chest HRM, here the trend and the absolute values 119-163 bpm look right to me, following the effort





two comments:
a. since July, when the first two results were recorded, more firmware updates were in place.

I'll have to ride wrist HRM to see improvements, if any, just waiting for the ice to melt a little.

what firmware are you running?

I'm, in 6.51 beta right now....

b. how does this affects me
- at one point in time, when the gadgets (I am a gadget man...) were all over me (garmin, gopro, etc), I say "stop..., do not "rely" on those gadgets, I suspended the segment alerts, I do not race...and start enjoying your rides, feel the wind, the only thing matters is you arrive safe home, the time is not so important,...etc..."
- so I do not pay too much attention to these anymore
- bothers me yes, if are looking strange

just me,
robert

I could not agree more Robert...it is not about HR value, time and other mesurements provided by Garmin or any other device.
It is simply all about beeing outside doing what you like and enjoy it all the way...BUT if we already buy an expensive device like Garmin watch, it would be nice
if this device works as advertised....and also confirmed from some of the most trusted "sport tech guys" out there...like DCRainmaker...:)
And I`m not talking about HR value beeing just a little of, when using wrist HR monitor on Fenix 5x plus, but beeing completely missed most of the time,
which makes this function completely unusable...at least for me...:(

BDW...nice HR value comparison up there...it shows the problem we are talking about.

I forget sometimes to put on the HR belt. When running, the results from the wrist HR are so-so. When I bicycle, they seem just as good as the HR belt.

I have been a Garmin user since the early eTrex; I’ve had a few watches including Forerunners and Vivosmart and I use Edge devices when I cycle. My wife has generously given me a Fenix 5+ for Christmas and having just completed an indoor rowing session I’ve apparently averaged 59bpm and max’ed at 93bpm in a 20 min session. I’m no athlete, but would expect the max to be 170+ and average above 150. I noticed the low reading mid-session and tightened the strap even more, but it didn’t affect the measurements.

I agree with the other posts. If the wrist HR function does not work, it’s not fit for purpose. I could accept recording inaccuracies but this is useless. At this price point, it’s not acceptable. I will try a few more activities, but if I can’t get a useful reading, it’s going back.

Hi Robert,

nice comparison, although it`s hard to compare HR from two different moves, it looks like your chest HRM have even more spikes than wrist HR...or your second ride was more interval tipe...:)

The problem with the wrist HR is not really spikes, but rather a lack of spikes. It will try to "lock on" to a heart rate and will not really want to believe it if your heart rate changes quickly. And then suddenly, it will realize that the HR has in fact changed, and then it will try to catch up, either slowly or fast. A good example of this can be seen right after km nr. 6 where it drops almost vertically.

To me, it looks like the chest HRM has the spikes it is supposed to have. It reacts quickly when he starts climbing a hill, just as it should, if he in fact uses more power going up that hill.