Fenix 6 wrist HR massively inaccurate again after v15.20 upgrade

Since the 15.20 upgrade I am finding the wrist HR reading are back to being highly elevated. This was a problem Garmin fixed in version 13.10 and the values were then more inline with my chest strap, however after the latest upgrade I am finding this is 40 - 50 bpm higher than before.

Comparing a easy 10k run to my Fenix 5S, the Fenix 6 is now considering every run is at Vo2MAX and Overreaching, which they aren't. The 5S is showing an avg of 125/135 bpm, the 6 pro on the same run is 165/175 bpm!

*yes I know wrist HR isn't accurate

Its like the 15.20 code, wasn't built on top of the 13.10 release, or if so they have broken the HR sensor code again.

Top Replies

Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Andy_ROC +1

Andy_ROC said:
Anyway I've only seen the high HR spike when I'm on the elliptical and I'm using the cardio app, not with the elliptical app

As crazy as it sounds, this is by design. This is…
LeeB25 over 4 years ago in reply to LeeB25 +1

A easy 10k this morning with the 15.71 beta code, and it's just as bad.. HR started out normal but after 15/20mins it was reaching new Max HR levels and it stayed pegged at max for the rest of the easy…
spamdog over 4 years ago +1

I have raised a ticket with Garmin and will be expecting the standard excuses.

On my run today, wrist heart rate worked fine for about 40mins, just gave up for the last 10mins!

Didn’t move watch position…

All Replies

0 LeeB25 over 4 years ago

Installed the 15.71 beta code now, it has an updated sensor file.. now to go for a run and see...

0 Simone.01 over 4 years ago

LeeB25 said:
This was a problem Garmin fixed in version 13.10 and the values were then more inline with my chest strap

I usually use chest strap doing sport, anyway when I ride my bike I use my Garmin Edge and my Fenix is in my writs without start any activity.

In this case, values from Fenix 6 sometimes was really bad with 13.10 and was better with the previous official release.

Here some screenshot with 13.10

0 Aagar over 4 years ago

I have the same issue after updating to 15.20.

Wrist HR is toooo high.

Small walk in very slow pace and my heart rate on wrist is about 130. Normally before updating around 80-90.

Annoying....

0 Gr4z over 4 years ago

Same here. HR is too high. It surely is related to my VO2 going down as it’s now readjusted to inaccurate heart rate.

0 Andy_ROC over 4 years ago

Mine also. I jumped on the elliptical today and my HR went from 85 to 165 less than 2.5 mins after starting. I didn't notice it was whack until nearly 7 mins in. I took the watch off for 30 seconds, put it back on and then resumed ---my HR was a more normal 125 throughout the duration of the exercise. FYI I was in the Cardio APP not Elliptical, but I've seen similar using the elliptical app.

0 7709459 over 4 years ago

Same here. I did a restart, let's see if that helps.

Also: this appears to be happening only in the higher range. The resting heart rate looks plausible.

0 EnormoDerClown over 4 years ago

Same for me, looked promising/better in the past, but with 15:20 i have absolute no problem exceeding 200 BPM and HR is also not really going down. I just dismiss HR Data now..... V02 Max dropped 4 Point in 2 Days while running with OHR instead of the chest strap.

0 TeoKatopodis over 4 years ago

Same here! Easy running and my HR went after 2 minutes up to 170 and reaching even 195! My chest strap was steadily at 135!

0 Andy_ROC over 4 years ago

Totally screwed up HR again with my lunch workout. Went up to 169 1.5 mins after starting light cardio when actual was between 110-115 according to two other HR methods. I'm contacting Garmin this is total BS for a $700 product. That's now 2 days in a row it's wrong. I did shut off and restart the watch before today's workout but that didn't fix it.

Is there a way in the log somewhere to see when the watch updated to 15.20?

0 Andy_ROC over 4 years ago

Chatted with Garmin Fenix customer service just now. They are sending me a questionnaire to report problem details to give to engineering.

They said to encourage users here to open a ticket with them as they don't generally monitor forums https://support.garmin.com/en-US/ql/?focus=topics