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 SAHO over 6 years ago

But what would people have post about on this forum otherwise?

Haha, good point :)

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.

I can understand this when looking some years back, but with the modern soft straps we have these days comfort shouldn't really be an issue. Sure, it has to be tight, but if it hurts in any way it's too tight.

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

Sure, there are more things than running. I use my chest strap also for strength training for example.
I aknowledge that the chest strap is not suitable in all possible situations, but I honestly believe there are several more situations where having a giant watch on your wrist is just as uncomfortable, not to say dangerous to yourself or others.
After having followed similar discussions on this and other forums for quite some time I would also argue that the majority of people complaining about the wrist HR are doing "normal" activities such as various forms of running, cycling, rowing, gym activities etc.

At the end of the day, there's limitations to everything, but the wrist HR has far more limitations than the chest strap.

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

When I bought Fenix 5 it was basically marketed that I do not need chest strap anymore. This is what bothers me the most.

I understand this, but unfortunately there's probably nothing defective with your device, which means there's no other fix to this than returning your device as not fit for purpose and get your money back if possible.

Not defending the marketing, it's just the way things are, and Garmin is no worse than any of the others on this topic.

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

louhe I understand that it may not be suitable if you're tackled but I would have thought the possible injury from a chunk watch on your wrist (to yourself or others) is probably greater - many team sports don't allow wrist watches

0 PaTsio over 6 years ago

I noticed a variance of 8-10bpm rest heart rate on my forerunner 235 and fenix5s (FR235 is always lower), which one is correct? I don't have a chest strap to triple check it out.

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

PaTsio I can’t tell you which one is correct, but given that the FR235 is an older device, there might be a difference in how the two devices calculates resting HR.

On my Fenix 5+ resting HR is not equal to the absolute lowest value detected, instead I believe it’s the lowest average HR sustained over a given period of time during 24H. (Typically sometime during the night).

The FR235 might not use this method and reports the absolute low instead, but I don’t know that for sure.

If you wear both at the same time, do you see a difference in the real time HR as well?

0 JSRUNNER_ over 6 years ago

PaTsio without a chest strap you won't know. Only alternative is to take your pulse manually and compare. When are you seeing this variance in resting heart rate - is this when you are sitting or lying down with arms relaxed? Also how are you comparing - do you have one on each wrist or are you wearing on alternate days/weeks and comparing over a period of time?

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

PaTsio JSRUNNER_ Just to avoid any confusion - are we talking about real time HR when resting as seen live in the HR widget, or are we talking about Resting HR as in the one recorded value per day?

If it's the latter, there might not be any difference in the real time values measured by the OHR sensors - still, there be a difference in the way those measurements are translated into a single value for Resting HR for the whole 24H period.

0 mcalista over 6 years ago

I aknowledge that the chest strap is not suitable in all possible situations, but I honestly believe there are several more situations where having a giant watch on your wrist is just as uncomfortable, not to say dangerous to yourself or others.
After having followed similar discussions on this and other forums for quite some time I would also argue that the majority of people complaining about the wrist HR are doing "normal" activities such as various forms of running, cycling, rowing, gym activities etc.

At the end of the day, there's limitations to everything, but the wrist HR has far more limitations than the chest strap.

Yeah, the wrist is a great place for VIEWING information, but it is a poor location to measure HR (on the extremity of the body so reduced blood flow, more prone to low circulation in cold weather, a fairly thin layer of soft tissue overlying bony structures, etc).

0 PaTsio over 6 years ago

PaTsio JSRUNNER_ Just to avoid any confusion - are we talking about real time HR when resting as seen live in the HR widget, or are we talking about Resting HR as in the one recorded value per day?

If it's the latter, there might not be any difference in the real time values measured by the OHR sensors - still, there be a difference in the way those measurements are translated into a single value for Resting HR for the whole 24H period.

You are right, i'm talking about HR values in the HR widget in real time (4 hours window). Some days i forget to charge fenix5s and i wore my fr235 at work, always fr235 readings are lower 8~10bpm.

0 louhe over 6 years ago

louhe I understand that it may not be suitable if you're tackled but I would have thought the possible injury from a chunk watch on your wrist (to yourself or others) is probably greater - many team sports don't allow wrist watches

This is true. Watch is under my glove all the time and I somehow feel that it is easier to "protect" my hands even when tackled. Anyway what I have read and understood is that Scosche has made OHR that actually works with interval/HIIT etc. training. Is this due the placement of the Scosches OHR?