Fenix 5 report too low heart rate at any intervall training.

Hi,

is there anything that can be done to this issue? At this point wrist HR is unusable to me. It does not give any sensible readings if i do any other than basic running exercise. Few weeks ago I forgot my chest strap at home from my ice hockey practice. Week after that i got chest strap with me at practice again. I knew that wrist HR would not be as accurate as chest strap but the difference is so huge that there is no reason to even use wrist hr at my training.

Point is that even thought wrist hr has it limits there is no excuse to be this wrong:

Wrist Hr
AVG HR 128bpm Max hr 177 Training effect because of these 2.8 and calories 680C

Chest strap
AVG HR 154 bpm Max hr 195 Training effect 4.6 and Calories 880C

Both practices were identical and my fitness levels were about the same (these would make only few bpm difference anyway). I'm not fittest person in the world but I know my data and that chest strap reported HR is almost spot on what it should be. I have noticed this same behavior when i do interval running. Basically you can't do any interval running with hr rates with the watch.

Something else i noticed is that after a shift i took watch of my wrist and it did not drop heart rate even if it was off from my wrist over 5seconds.

I know where i should were the watch to get any sensible data out of it so that is not the problem here.

When the watch also has GPS issues and Altitude meters report floors climbed when i stay still and sit at my chair there is something seriously wrong here. It is 500e watch here at Finland so I do have really hard time to believe that these are "features" and not flaws.

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

louhe unfortunately there's all sorts of reasons for it to be that wrong - it is simply a flawed way to track HR in high-intensity excercise - some people get accurate measurements for some hi-intensity activities with some devices - your problem is not unique to Garmin. GPS analtitude is another matter - GPS does seem to be somewhat compromised on the Fenix range - mine is definitely less accurate than my 935 but certainly most of the time it's accurate enough for my training/racing.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Point is that even thought wrist hr has it limits there is no excuse to be this wrong:

A simple internet search, or forum search here, or even a competitor's site will provide you a endless list why there is a reason why it performs this bad. There's a huge gap between expectations and actual performance. The oHRM technology just isn't there yet.

0 KrapfenKringel over 6 years ago

Would one of those in-ear OHR thingies get better results?

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

KrapfenKringel I've read that the in ear monitors are better. I've never tried one, nor know of anyone who has either. I would think it would be uncomfortable to use for myself and would probably pass given the opportunity. I'll stick with my chest strap.

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

@KarpfenKringel why not use a chest strap if you are going to add a separate device. An "in-ear" device may well be better than a wrist-based but chest strap is close to the source of electrical activity from the Heart so is always going to have the edge in terms of accuracy and responsiveness.

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

I do get that people are disappointed when they realise that the OHR sensors doesn't live up to the marketing from the various manufaturers.
What I don't get is why so many people want accurate HR or calorie estimates or whatever, but still are so desperate to replace the chest strap with something else, and usually that something else being some kind of optical sensor placed either on the wrist, upper arm, in ear and what not. WHY?

The chest strap measures electrical signals from the heart, and even the cheapest or simplest version usually provides a spot-on measurement without any kind of precautions. Either you get a signal or you don't, and if you don't it's probably solved with two drops of water. I hardly doubt that any kind of optical sensor based on current technology/concept is going to compete with that any time soon.
My advise is for people to forget the OHR for exercising, just put on the chest strap and direct your focus into doing a good exercise instead of worrying whether you got a correct HR reading or not.

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

SAHO - exactly - it mystifies me too - I would love to have the convenience of it all working flawlessly in one device on my wrist but I accept that for all sorts of reasons it doesn't read accurately and this is true of all the competitors (although a lighter closer fitting device than the Fenix may stand a slightly better chance of an accurate reading)

0 TrippyZ over 6 years ago

The chest strap measures electrical signals from the heart, and even the cheapest or simplest version usually provides a spot-on measurement without any kind of precautions. Either you get a signal or you don't, and if you don't it's probably solved with two drops of water. I hardly doubt that any kind of optical sensor based on current technology/concept is going to compete with that any time soon.

Well said. But what would people have post about on this forum otherwise? I remember when I first put on a chest strap - I felt like it was crushing my chest and, of course, then being a new runner, my lungs were very quick to protest.

But after around the fifth run it never bothered me further during the subsequent four years of daily running.

I did have one interval run over the past Xmas when I thought 'what the hell, lets give WHRM a try'. It was awful! Back to the strap....

0 KrapfenKringel over 6 years ago

.., but still are so desperate to replace the chest strap with something else, and usually that something else being some kind of optical sensor placed either on the wrist, upper arm, in ear and what not. WHY?

Because there is more out there than running, it can be in the way and painful if pressed into your chest.

0 louhe over 6 years ago

Because there is more out there than running, it can be in the way and painful if pressed into your chest.

Yes this exactly. SAHO and JSRUNNER_ try to wear a chest strap under chest armor and and get tackled by 100kg defender. Something I want to void if I can. When I bought Fenix 5 it was basically marketed that I do not need chest strap anymore. This is what bothers me the most.