Heart rate not accurate

Former Member over 5 years ago

SOLVED: the watch was not tight enough. Has been accurate since.

I received my 6X Pro yesterday; my first Garmin. Sitting around my house yesterday, the wrist HR reading seemed accurate. I did a stairmaster workout today and was surprised to find that my HR would not go above about 80. This was obviously wildly inaccurate as my HR was actually fluctuating between 150 and 170. A few minutes after getting off the machine, the 6x started reading a HR around 110 as I was cooling down.

I did a few quick tests on a stationary bike with a chest strap and found that with a HR around 130to 135, the 6x wrist HR was reading between 100-110.

I understand a optical wrist HR sensor is not going to be as accurate as a chest sensor, but this is so far off that it is useless.

I am going to try a few adjustments over the next couple of days, such as how tight I make it, how far up by wrist I place it, and trying it on the underside of my wrist. If those don't work and I can't find a solution, I feel like I'm going to have to return this. I really want to figure this out because I love everything else about this watch. Any advice?

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+1 8290894 over 5 years ago

I've had the same problem. I went for the first run yesterdag with the 6 Pro Sapphire. Over 45 minutes of running my average HR was 96. Which normally should have been somewhere around 155-160. So I also have to test some adjustments.

0 nmyeti over 5 years ago

I suspect your wrist flexing on the handles of the stairmaster may be the issue. For running i've found the HR to be excellent and inside a few beats of my HRM-Run or HRM-Dual

0 Ariel over 5 years ago

Use a chest strap while running. The only advice you can get...

www.howtogeek.com/.../

0 kris2211 over 5 years ago

I went on a ride today had my edge connected to the hr strap and watch in watch mode on my wrist, watch (6X Sapphire) never went above 115.bpm while my actual average hr was 158.

0 Raul77 over 5 years ago in reply to kris2211

Do you have any tattoos on the wrist you use your watch?

0 DarrinC over 5 years ago

The problem could be firmware: https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/191617/fenix-6x-pro---2-30-sensor-hub-release-at-20

Fenix 6X Pro users,

Sensor Hub software 2.30 available to 20% of users. The change log is below.

Change Log Note:

Fixed a potential issue with WHR.

0 mahe over 5 years ago

During strength workout the amount of calories burn is way too high compared to AW series 4. Don’t know what’s the issue but I think for a 50 min workout 500 calories is too high? Anyone else thinks the same?

+1 kris2211 over 5 years ago in reply to DarrinC

After uploading the new driver the same problem.

In the attached video on the left hand Fenix6X on the right Fenix5X 
and in the middle Edge using HRM-Run.


IMG_4224.m4v

0 crt_hun over 5 years ago in reply to kris2211

Same issue with MARQ. I have compared it to a HRM-Tri connected to a Dakota 20 and a Suunto Ambit3 with it's own belt. Both have approx the same result but the MARQ is off by 20-40 bpms most of the time.

I use my HRM-Tri for most of my workouts, however as it's so unreliable it isn't really useful for health tracking and sometimes would be also nice if I didn't need to wear the belt.

Hopefully, it will be resolved soon.

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 5 years ago

To manage expectations of WHR do have a read of this support article https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=xQwjQjzUew4BF1GYcusE59&productID=641375&tab=topics&topicTag=region_heartratesensors (I recall Suunto have a similar webpage explaining the limitations of WHR). In my experience, even the class leading OHR sensors from Scosche, optimally placed further up the arm than a watch, still struggle with any activity involving regular arm flexure. For example, I haven’t found any OHR based sensor that can track even vaguely correct HR whilst Strength Training with free weights. Running and cycling in smooth environments are OK for me though (swimming WHR on the 6X Pro Solar is not too bad either).