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OHR Vs. Strap difference

Former Member
Former Member over 4 years ago

I got curious after seeing some people complaining about differences between OHR and strap HR readings so I did a wee experiment.

From another thread in the F6 forums and using a data field I found on the ConnectIQ store I put on my strap, configured the data field and got these results (see photo). My results where also very similar while in activity (+/- 4 bpm )but as I don't carry my phone with me no photo so you'll have to take my word for it.

Try this yourself and post a photo of the results. Please show how you wear the watch as well.


Download and install the datafield from here (F6 only!): https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/a9734c04-fb8a-49b9-89e1-9ac16a9a6f5e

Instructions to use:

  1. Download and install the datafield.
  2. Turn off the HR strap within your F6
  3. Configure the datafield (1 field only) for your chosen sport.
  4. Go into an activity (you do not need to start the activity) and the datafield will automagically connect to your HR strap.
  5. Scroll to the datafield, take a photo and post it here.

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  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to SAHO

    Good point! I had missed that! Though the dev is engaged with me as he did see a problem with the reporting

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Realizing that an activity like Tai Chi is not the easiest in the world for an OHR to track, I did this today with my Fenix 6 Pro Sapphire.  This is the result Oddly enough, my Apple Watch Series 4 is actually more accurate using the native HRM on the watch.  Go figure.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Thanks for the data field.

    i used it yesterday with my F6 Ti and a Polar OH1 strap. I did a 16x200m workout and the watch OHR gave me an average HR of 156 and Max HR of 182, while the strap gave an average of 136 and max of 155.

    These were cruise interval, not full gas Vo2Max. My max HR is 178 so I can say that there’s no doubt that the Polar strap was the more accurate of the 2.

    I’ll also add that I’ve used many Garmin devices with OHR sensors, starting with the FR225, and gotten good results. So this isn’t a matter of not wearing it correctly or having unrealistic expectations.

    In 24/7 mode I’ve no complaints with the OHR on my F6, but on the run it’s more than useless.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Firstly, thanks for the data field. Very cool.

    Today I tried it during a 63 minute indoor bike ride. For the first 30 (ish) minutes I was riding on the hoods, as usual, but the data from the OHR did not look too clever, so I sat up and left my arms and hands loose and free, with no gripping of anything. This did not improve results at all and towards the end of the ride the OHR went really quite nuts compared to the steady data from my TickR chest strap.

    Overall HR stats were....

    OHR average = 141 BPM, TickR average = 154

    OHR max = 174, TickR max = 189

    The screen print below shows OHR trace above and TickR HR + power data below. You can see the relationship between power and TickR quite nicely. Just what the OHR is doing is anybody's guess. At times it can be very close, but the gulf between values can just as easily be vast. I have added this result to my ticket with Garmin Support.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    F6XPro vs Polar H10

    Elliptical/Cross Trainer with Elliptical profile on the watch.

    OHR vs H10 (H10 in orange)

    Delta HR (OHR minus H10)

    Delta HR vs H10

    Same performance with older firmware (TCX comparison Connect/Polar Flow)

    V 5.0

    V 5.74b

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to bluefish

    I second your experience OHR doesn't register increased HR (regardless of activity started/not started). In resting state delta is 0, at higher HR difference is massive

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    in resting state difference is minimal, problems start when HR is over 100. OHR just doesnt register anything higher than 110

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to SAHO

    How do you think all the fancy metrics like EPOC are calculated by your watch after you stop activity? As there is no way to force watch to take correct HR from chest strap after you stop an activity it automatically switches to OHR which shows 50% off the actual HR resulting in completely wrong calcs. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Never bothered to check this before since I don’t experience any real problems. But here we go.

    3.9k run, steady pace. Fenix 6 Sapphire fw 8.0. Run activity. WHR is red, HRM strap is orange.

    Looks good (great actually) to me. Definitely works for my easy/long runs. Glad to have that verified.