Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Heart rate is unusable

Former Member
Former Member over 5 years ago

I have apple watch 5 i am pretty happy with it but the health and activity app experience is not great. I do not like 2 separate applications for activity vs health. Additionally thee is no web version and easy way to export. no sleep tracking and ox monitor. 

I recently got vivoactive 4s, my primary reason to go for this device was activity tracking. I like the application its one page that give you summary and details if required. Additionally you have a web version that lets you download the data look at graphs on bigger screen.

Sleep tracking and the pulse ox is definitely a bonus over apple watch, that being said i have come to realize the accuracy of the device is very questionable. 

The heart rate on vivoactive4 is very low for activity tracking, i have checked my heart rate on apple watch 5, my wives fitbit versa 2 and i also calculated it manually, for an activity heart rate of 145 on apple watch and fitbit garmin shows 95 may be 100 at times, i have seen this on several occasions. 

if i run its the same, if i do yoga its the same even for cycling its same. i am about to return it, not sure if others are experiencing the same issue

btw i am on latest firmware 4.50, another thing i have noticed is if you stop tracking ox the heart rate gets a little better, for 145 ion apple watch it tracks 110 over 95 when the ox monitor is always on. 

Also the distance is inaccurate. i have done the same measured trail 00s of times and i know it is 1.2 miles for a fact, apple watch is mostly spot on, garmin is 1.1 or 1.15 so it is understating the distance. I do wait for gps before i start and also do multiple laps but the result is same. i thought gamin was leader is gps they should get the distance right 

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

    Nope, I've got the same problem. It's honestly awful for the quality I expect from Garmin. The features are great but everything depends on a reliable HR sensor and the one in this device just doesn't deliver.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I'm having the same problem. The heart rate is too low in some activities and spikes too high in others. Extremely disappointing in such and expensive watch. Hope Garmin acts on this soon. It's a major problem for their reputation. Wish I had returned it within the Amazon 30 day window. Customer service doesn't seem to know how to help. Now I'll have to pfaf around trying different activities to see if any of them capture heart rate more accurately. Thanks to 7713368 for sharing that outside walking and strength training were recording close to accurate for them. I'll try those first.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 1558664

    Take into acount that You can create new activity profiles based on those that work correctly, for example I copied the Strength activity to create a lift weighting (not sure if it is correctly translated) and also a circuit training.
    I will have the opportinity to try the trail running and MTB cycling soon, lets see how they work....

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    I noticed that I have to restart my VA4 from time to time in order to have a consistent optical heart rate. Otherwise optical heart rate can be wrong.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I have been a user of Garmin products for many years. After this watch I will never recommend a Garmin to anyone. Heart rate is nonsense.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I can say that I tried trail running and mountain bike and both seems to work fine with the herat rate optical sensor

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 4644056

    Something's wrong with your device. I find my Fenix 6S Pro is very accurate, if anything a bit over. For example, on a hard bike ride, I can push it over 170 according to my watch. I'm 65. Even using max HR metrics modified for over-40s like me, the low 170s is definitely about the max for a 65-year-old. My VO2 max is, according to the watch, 49. I've worn both my watch and my wife's Samsung Active, and after about a half minute to settle down, they both say the same at rest. Haven't tried it during exercise.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    My wife is also experiencing inaccurate WHR while recording activities. Always way too low.