I almost died today using garmin fenix 5s!

Former Member over 6 years ago

Let me start by saying that im a loyal customer to garmin since 2015 i owned multiple garmin devices.
I'm not sure if this is a known issue but today when I was doing an elliptical session I was monitoring my heart rate and it was in the low 80s so I kept on pushing hard to get my heart rate up but it didnt work And the machine im using doesbt have a built in heart rate moniter.

I THEN realised that It could be my garmin fenix 5s which is something you never expect from a 500£ device.
I then went measure my HR on a treadmil machine and it was 190 beats per minute, this is not a 10 beats per minute lag this is a 100 beats lag which not acceptable. In todays world you could get a 20 £ chinese fitness tracker and it would do a better job. At least send a disclaimer to your loyal customers acknowledging the issue a dead customer is of no use to you after all.

Please garmin get yourself together I love this company please dont push us away the field of fitness trackers is already competitive and you dont want to miss on us.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1419072.jpg

0 fabrice9164 over 6 years ago

And you dont feel by yourself the difference between 80 and 190 ??? :eek:

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Not really cause when you have headphones playing music at a 170 - 180 tempo you wont realise what's going on

0 szulik over 6 years ago

OHR in Garmin 5s is a piece of trash! Very often it shows 80-90bpm while I'm in 150-160bpm. It is normal situation for this 500Euro device to decrease heart rate just after you start training: Before start of activity recording it shows 90-100bpm during warm-up (seems reliable), you start recording activity and your real HR goes to 140-160 and usually my Garmin tend to show stable 80-90 for a very long time.
The opposite situation is also common: I'm sitting and relaxing (no activity for long time) and I see 155HR!!!

I contacted Garmin support in my country, they exchanged my device to the new one. And the new one has exactly the same bug.

I have never bought such an expensive trash!

PS. The problem is quite common - I've read a lot of similar cases.

0 TrippyZ over 6 years ago

I recommend you return your Garmin device to the store for a full refund and then purchase a 'better' £20 device. Good luck with your training.

0 Mistamb over 6 years ago

sorry, but i think, there is a disclaimer https://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/atdisclaimer (the same as in every manual). Also the Brand called "Su***o" is telling, that their watches are "estimating" heart rate.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

The OP and others make alarming overstatements.

If the F5 is worn at the suggested location and tight enough, then I have never had a problem
with the HR being relatively close enough. Also, the F5 is not a medical grade instrument.

0 C966 over 6 years ago

Title is a little exaggerated?? You don't die from something like that unless you have a serious heart condition, in which case you should be exercising under medical supervision and a chest strap in the first place. A stress test would put you through the paces much harder than that just to determine your maxHR. People regularly get close to hitting their max when they do HIIT as well.

Optical HR monitors are notoriously inaccurate sometimes, specially when you start exercising until after some time that it starts to catch the rhythm more accurately, and even then you shouldn't trust it so much, I for example use a chest strap for that reason. And don't rely on the elliptical sensors either (the graph you posted only shows you hit 176 max)

You should understand the technology and its limitations if you are going to rely on it with such abandonment that you don't even pay attention to how it feels at 80bpm vs 190bpm, That is your responsibility IMO.

0 Mistamb over 6 years ago

@yarddog44 i totally agree. and i know when it works perfect for me, and when i better use a heartbeat. when it does not work, is on "my" hands in very cold conditions. or under conditions like climbing when muscles are decreasing blood flow. but the problem is not the watch, its the physiological system of a human body.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I dont know why some people here defend an inanimate object. There is clearly a problem with the software , "lets hope its not the hardware", you just don't "suddenly" start reading the correct HR.
And yes reaching HR MAX might have serious effects.
Im no expert but To me it looks like the software is throttling the Optical sensor to save power.
I previously owned a vivosmart hr and it worked perfectly.