Fenix 6 Sapphire and HRM Pro Plus difficulties

Hi Everyone - I'm having a difficult time using my recently purchased HRM Pro Plus with my Fenix 6 Sapphire.  I've done 2 outdoor runs and one treadmilll run so far thinking the HRM Pro Plus was connected and recording, but was surprised to find no "running dynamics" information when looking at the activities afterward in my Connect app.

I'm sure I've had the HRM Pro Plus connected correctly to both my watch and app.  And, just to re-try everything, I've since removed the HRM Pro Plus from both watch and app, powered down and restarted my watch, and then re-connected the HRM Pro Plus to both watch and app to ensure everything is connected the right way.

I've tried both Ant+ and BLE connections on the watch.  The problem is that when I start an activity - and, yes, I do ensure the HRM Pro Plus shows "connected" on my watch first, and I have the strap on - I don't get a message/buzz showing "EXT Heartrate" in the activity.  However, I actually saw that once when I tried an indoor row - the "EXT..." message was displayed for a few seconds before I started the indoor row but I have no idea if the HR data for that workout actually came from the HRM Pro Plus or my watch.

And I've never been able to get that "EXT Heartrate" message displayed since - when I start a run, treadmill, indoor cycle or any other activity - I've tried several times (all with the HRM monitor strapped on and the watch showing it's connected to the device).

Can anyone advise what a proper functioning HRM Pro Plus should look like when you start an activity?  And if the HRM Pro Plus is just not compatible with the Fenix 6 Sapphire (Garmin's website lists 3 Fenix 6 Pro Solar models as compatible, but not the Fenix 6 Sapphire specifically) ? 

Should I just return it (been wasting so much time tring to figure thins out)?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

  • When you connect the strap to the watch and start a running activity don't you see a couple of new data pages with the running dynamics data?

    I have a Fenix 6X Pro and the same HRM strap and didn't do anything special to get that information on Garmin Connect.

  • Just to make sure, you are wearing the strap the right way up? If you have it upside down you have HR but no running dynamics. To check if HR is coming from the strap or the sensor in the watch, have a peek under de watch during a run; LEDs off means HR has to come from the strap.

    If you go into the settings on the watch, while wearing the strap, what is shown for the HRM Pro Plus? Is it connected via Bluetooth or ANT+?