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Anyone STILL having heart rate accuracy issues with their Fenix 6?

Hi all,

Super frustrated, but I am still having issues with my Fenix 6S and heart rate accuracy even with the 4.20 software update. I'm wondering if it's just me or what the deal is? I had a 5S Plus before this and had no issues doing the same activities so I really don't think it's user error. My heart rate hardly reads over 110 during really vigorous exercise when my heart rate is closer to 160+. I have tried wearing on the inside of my wrist, tried my other wrist with no luck. It consistently reads 80-110 bpm the whole time. I wouldn't have bothered to upgrade if I knew this was going to be an issue. I know that wearing a chest strap is the most accurate, but I don't like to have to wear it for all of my work outs and my old Fenix was totally fine as well as my apple watch before that. Any suggestions? 

  • For the Fenix 6X .

    Heart Rate: OHR v strap difference
    https://apps.garmin.com/fr-FR/apps/a9734c04-fb8a-49b9-89e1-9ac16a9a6f5e

    Regards,

    Gerard C.

    FRANCE

  • it is so, so, so poor from garmin that they do not get this fixed.

    Really, I couldn't agree more! All we get is updates on WiFi, GPS and Powerbeats volume rocker issues, nothing on WHR, it's almost laughable.

  • OK, so I opened a support ticket and they responded later the same day which is great.  They suggested a soft reset which is holding the power button for a full 20 seconds, wait a few seconds and then power back on.  I did that and then also did another test where I wore the F6 as normal for me which means it slides down to very close to my hand and I have bony wrists as well.  I noticed that my old Fenix 3 HR was sensitive to this given my bony lower arm and wrist....so I tried to wear the Fenix 6 a bit higher up my arm by about 1 inch (like the picture further up this thread).  It worked!   Both in normal watch mode and also when I turned on an activity (indoor cycling), the hear rate was very close to a chest strap I wore and monitored through my phone app.  So, I'll keep up with this approach and it may work for others to make sure the watch has enough 'flesh" under it by moving the watch up the arm just a bit.  Another learning...I have a Wahoo Tickr Fit optical arm band and to get a good reading I have to wear it just up my forearm a bit so there is good flesh under it.  If the arm band is too low on the arm where the arm/wrist bones are closer to the skin surface it won't work well.  I think that's a common problem with optical sensors.  I'll keep trying to wear the watch an inch or so up the arm and away from the wrist bones and see if that helps.  The support ticket person also said to just return it for a new watch if it keeps happening so I agree with others that part of all of this mess may also be a hardware or software problem....my old Fenix 3 HR didn't have these sorts of problems nearly as often and wasn't quite as sensitive to the placement on the wrist.

  • I did a run using "heart rate: OHR v strap difference" datafield. with Fenix 6x pro solar. Strap was hrm-tri.

    Light grey: OHR

    Orange: hrm-tri

    Dark grey line: temperature from watch

    First few minutes OHR showed quite a lot of higher reading and then started to be quite aligned with strap. I don't know where that difference comes.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    No problem

  • Sorry to disagree with those that say all Fenix 6 have issues with HRM.  Might has not in the past, nor has any issue now.

    No issues in normal wear.

    No issues over night

    No issue in strength and conditioning class

    No issues in runs from 5k to 50k

    Each and every time I manually take my pulse just to compare, it's very very close.  (And many times i do this check after climbing 5 flight of stairs)

  • Still the same issue when exerting. Max heart rate on the watch is 30-40% lower than reality. No problem with Fitbit ionic which I purchased to compare.

  • I agree with you.

    Mine as well is perfect.