Number of steps very inaccurate with hiking poles?

Interesting to see that Coros handles this so much better.

Will the number of steps be more accurate with a chest strap or will it still be way off?

I do not see many comments very many conversations about Coros in our forums. As for capturing steps while wearing a HRM-Pro+, I have not seen forum comments on either the happiness success level OR any issues experienced when wearing the HRM. If you buy one directly from a vendor vs. through us directly, check into the return policies. I cannot speak for exactly how it works in Europe but we have a buyer's remorse test and return period for devices bought directly from our Garmin United States headquarters.

three-alpha-six said:

Will the number of steps be more accurate with a chest strap or will it still be way off?

As long as you wear the watch on the wrist, the watch will still be the Primary Wearable Device, and hence the steps count will come from there, not from the HRM. You need to remove the watch from the wrist. And if you keep it in the pocket, or attach it to the ankle instead of the wrist, it will count steps correctly even without any chest strap, while walking with poles.

The main problem with counting the steps while walking with poles is that the watch cannot sense the steps of the leg on the opposite side, because the watch is firmly supported by the pole in that moment, and does not sense the foot hitting the ground. It only senses the swings of the arm wearing the watch, while at normal walking it can sense both the arm swing, and the leg hitting the ground.

Some brands perhaps only count the bigger peaks in the acceleration curve, and multiplying them by two, but that is not an ideal solution either, since it leads to inaccuracies in other situations.

Thank you trux. Good information.

Thank you for your detailed explanation.