My old Fenix 3 HR would stay connected to my phone via bluetooth at least twice as far as my new F5. Did Garmin decide to gimp the bluetooth transceiver on the F5? It literally buzzes all day long... sometimes when I'm walking only 15 feet away from it. Yes, I can turn off the notification but I really liked how my old Fenix 3 HR would buzz and warn me when I left my phone behind. Nice feature to have. Would hate to lose that feature because of a gimped BT transceiver. I'm hoping that my unit is just defective. Any others here that had a Fenix 3 HR and now have a F5 experiencing the same?
Happy to see i' not alone. ;) I also have a problem due to poor bt connection. I use my gf5 for mtb and often loose connction from my back pocket. No problem with my gf3... Hope in a new fw....
Just for reference I'm attaching a printscreen of the HR chart I'm used to get on every single workout (Polar H10 paired with Fenix 5X via Bluetooth). Please take a look at the red chart below and tell me if it's acceptable.
Hello, i'm using Polar H7 in Bluetooth with my F5 Sapphire since april 2017, at least 5 times/week and no single disconnection or interruption in heart rate graph. What you are seeing is not normal.
Hello, i'm using Polar H7 in Bluetooth with my F5 Sapphire since april 2017, at least 5 times/week and no single disconnection or interruption in heart rate graph. What you are seeing is not normal.
Regards
thanks for your reply. I do agree that this is not normal but I do not have any idea on how to have this issue fixed. Hope Garmin mods to give some recommendations because this is the standard behaviour of my 5X.
I was hoping to come back in and see a post saying the bluetooth issues have been fixed. I tried 3 different Fenix 5 models and they all had major BT issues. Basically I got a range of about 1.5 to 2 feet. Yes you can turn off the connected, not connected alert but that does not fix the issue. I control my music from my watches so have a watch disconnect during a workout is unacceptable. The Fenix 5X did a much better job but I wanted the Fenix 5. This is a bad situation for a very expensive watch. My Fenix 3 (non HR) never loses a connection within a fair distance. I keep notifications turned on and never have issues. Since forums all over are filled with posts on this issue I am really starting to believe it is not fixable via a firmware update. Too bad since I would go get the Fenix 5 again right now if it worked like it should. I have to assume the people that do not have this issue are not using the watch to control music so they are not noticing when it is disconnected. The chance of it not being a big issue when I tried 3 different watches is pretty rare.
It is certainly HW problem, but I still wonder, if it would be possible to increase the power of BT radio via firmware... Also, some phones are better with F5 than others. I had Sony Z1c and it was dropping the connection even if watch is placed on the phone, lol. Got the watch replaced. Same thing. Changed the phone to LG G6, no connection drop issues, but range is 5m max. Such range is basically useless for any smart functions Garmin advertises (music control, notifications, find my phone). Therefore, in my opinion, Garmin sells a flawed product for premium price. Some ppl may say that it is not a smart watch and i should have bought an iWatch. But, I bought it because the ADVERTISED list of features was exactly what I was looking for, combined with the design. Bottom line is that if you advertise a function and it is unusable, your product is flawed.
And in addition to my rant, Garmin completely fails to act on the problem, even in terms of at least acknowledging the issue. We keep sending our watches back, and there is no communication regarding the range problems. I love my watch, but I wouldn't buy it, knowing how bad the BT range is.
On GCM, under "settings" is "Device Connection Aid". I didn't notice if people have been trying that.
There's actually two ways to pair a watch. Pair it using the phone's bluetooth and pair to the phone, or pair in the GCM app itself and not on the phone. One method could be better based on the phone you have. The garmin connect mobile forum may be useful to see if someone has the same phone as you do, and found how to make it work better.
On GCM, under "settings" is "Device Connection Aid". I didn't notice if people have been trying that.
There's actually two ways to pair a watch. Pair it using the phone's bluetooth and pair to the phone, or pair in the GCM app itself and not on the phone. One method could be better based on the phone you have. The garmin connect mobile forum may be useful to see if someone has the same phone as you do, and found how to make it work better.
I'd like again to highlight that the Bluetooth issues are ALSO between 5X and compatible devices like HR chest straps. Anyway pairing my 5X directly to my Nexus 6P does not solve at all the continuous dropouts with the phone.
Hello, i have disconnection problem with Polar H7 in only one condition: during triathlon, after the swim part, heart reat is heractic, false, and a lot of disconnections. This is reproductible for each triathlon. I have to stop/resume later/restart to retrieve heart rate normal values without disconnections.
Hello, i have disconnection problem with Polar H7 in only one condition: during triathlon, after the swim part, heart reat is heractic, false, and a lot of disconnections. This is reproductible for each triathlon. I have to stop/resume later/restart to retrieve heart rate normal values without disconnections.
Thats normal to all Fenix 3, 5, 5s and 5x, there has no connection from any device when your watch is under the water until you get out, and then the connection resume. That?s why Garmin HRM-Tri can store your heart rate information when you swim under the water and uploade the Heart rate info to the watch later when you get out of water.
