Heart Rate Wildly Inaccurate

Similar issue here:

Upgraded last week to a 6X Saphire from my 5X.
OHR is unusable when I‘m performing activities with hiking or ski poles.

As soon I even only hold a hiking pole in the hand where my 6X is worn I won’t reach HRs above 110bpm.

When I take the poles on the other hand HR gets into normal rates again.
Same issue on Backcountry Skiining activity where I use Ski poles to climb a mountain.

Never had similar issues with my 5X the last 3 years.
Seems 6X was a step back OHR sensor wise.

Is that a know issue?

Longstag said:

Never had similar issues with my 5X the last 3 years.
Seems 6X was a step back OHR sensor wise.

Longstag said:

I won’t reach HRs above 110bpm.

forums.garmin.com/.../anyone-still-having-heart-rate-accuracy-issues-with-their-fenix-6

My question was mainly if the problem still persists or reoccurred with 13.10.
Found a blog article which described they improved OHR tracking with hiking poles with a firmware update in April.

I'm on 13.10.  The issue was present prior to 13.10 as well.  I did a couple runs with 12.20 and noticed the same high HR. 

I'm going to do some testing on the dreadmill to see if I can tell what the problem is (maybe the watch is loose/bouncing).  I may not get to it until after my race in early January.  I don't normally pay much attention to HR but since all of the health stats are based on it I need it to be at least close to accurate.  

Additional comment:  I have both 6xPro Solar and 5xPlus, the 6 was *wildly inaccurate* from day 1 and through many firmware updates, it's quite a bit better now but still loses touch with reality during any exercise profile.  The 5xPlus *when placed up from my wrist* and *very tightly* (not cutting off circulation but getting towards that) is almost as reliable as the wrist strap, *USUALLY* but not always, however when it's doing the "stuck at 30 BPM too low" or wildly too high in the RUNNING activity, powering it down and then back up ALWAYS fixes the problem (and garmin nicely offers to resume the activity)

You could also let someone else use it and see if you have the same results.

If you get one that is not defective and avoid any of the things that could interfere with the sensor, you should get performance very close to a heart rate strap.

When OHR works correctly it is reasonable accurate. The main problem for me and for many other users is that it inevitably locks to whatever frequency of swinging arms, which is cadence lock, and once it is there it gets wildly inaccurate.

My typical experience using OHR is that it is accurate for perhaps 10-20 minutes. Then at some point my HR gets high enough to where it is close to my cadence, and after that point HR jumps sharply up to 20-40 bpm higher than actual and I can no longer bring it to its actual range.

To give you an example, my typical HR range on an easy run is 130-145. My typical cadence range is 160-180. If I run steady and don't let HR climb up, for a while everything is good. If I go over a climb or stop running steady for whatever reason I can later find my HR in 165+ range, which for me is zone 5, so I know that can't be true. Once it is there it tends to stay there unless I switch to walking. The most ridiculous is 175+ HR when I cruise downhill when I know my actual HR should be below 130.

You mention that not wearing the watch tight enough could cause problems, but it's a thin line.  Wearing it too tight will restrict blood flow and impede the readings.