Heart rate on Epix 2 activity WAY TOO LOW

The problem i reported did not reoccur,
as someone suggested: avoid keeping the hand in the pocket while monitoring the activity seems have helped. 
This way it worked last days... and i have also compared HR with an Apple Watch :
the apple watch seems to start with higher HR when the activity is started, but then after a while my Epix and AW shows very close if not same values. 

hi Philip - we all understand a minor lag, as well as strap performing better than optical. 
The Garmin watch recording wildly different heart rates when selecting activity or not (and wildly different calorie consumptions) - sometimes up to 50 heart beats - is not a lag issue. It’s an inferior optical sensor combined with a wildly inaccurate calorie consumption algorithm. We expect the Apple Watch to have bettter smart watch functions but worse fitness functions. That’s why most of us buy Garmin. But it seems Apple is catching up on fitness accuracy, yet Garmin still way behind on smart watch.  

I also have this issue. In workout mode heartrate is accurate. But when not in a workout the heartrate is crap, not stable, not noticing a substantial and long high heart rate. FW fix should do it, no? Might take more battery.

I have noticed the same issue recently. Were you ever able to get this resolved?

After 3 the same models, the problem was still there. I think Garmin is having a big issue here.

So I returned my Garmin to the store, and bought a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 which works perfect.

I ‘ve sent it back to Amazon as well, back to Apple Watch where HR works way better for me. Maybe the pro with the new sensor ‘elevate 5’ is better. 

This is the first time I’ve noticed this issue with a Garmin product - but as I age (56) - it’s worriesome. 

I spent big money on on the Epix 2 because I believed I was getting quality and accuracy. Now it’s reading 118bpm when the gym treadmill reports 163bpm. That’s just too much. Previously, it’s been within one to two bpm. 

What’s chamged? How can this be fixed please?

Thank you.

Just looking to log this.  Running is fairly accurate, but when on broadcast whilst cycling, in the last month or so has become really unreliable - significantly lower than actual

Thank you, yes, please log. 

We’re looking for a formal response from Garmin on this. Is this a sensor aging issue, or a software update issue, or something else? 

Can it be reversed - and if so, how and when?

Thank you.