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Vivoactive 5 Heart Rate no longer accurate during indoor cycling

CityGuy
over 1 year ago

HI - Purchased a Vivoactive 5, my first smart watch. On second day I did an indoor cycling workout wearing both the Vivoactive 5 and my Polar H-10 heart rate chest strap for comparison. During the hour long session the Vivoactive 5's heart rate measurements and response time were very consistent with the heart rate measurements from the H-10.

However, yesterday during an indoor cycling workout, again wearing both the Vivoactive 5 and the H-10, the Vivoactive 5's heart rate measurements were extremely inaccurate. The Vivoactive 5's heart rate measurements during the session were significantly lower than those from the H-10, and never did report above about 90 bpm when the H-10 was reporting 130 bpm-140 bpm.

During the session I verified sufficient battery charge, tried adjusting the Viviactive 5's wrist strap to tighter and looser tension, adjusted position on wrist, removed the Voviactive 5 and wiped the heart rate sensor with a cloth, and even changed the data reporting interval setting from "smart" to one-second. Unfortunately, none of these attempts to resolve the issue were successful.

Any ideas on how to resolve the issue and its causes. I suspect a faulty hardware component in the Heart Rate sensor. I'm disappointed because I really liked so much about the Vivoactive 5 and I the Connect app, which I regularly use with my Garnin Edge 530. Probably will need to return the Vivoactive 5 to the place of purchase for a refund.

  • +1 over 1 year ago

    ISSUE RESOLVED UPDATE 1/11/2024

    I resolved this issue by identifying the cause which was my user error. I now understand that for the Vivoactive 5 to accurately measure heart rate during an activity, the Vivoactive 5 must have an activity selected and started. I incorrectly assumed that the Vivoactive 5 would simply measure instantaneous heart rate at all times including during any activities, without having an activity selected.
    For example, during my issue listed above, I was riding the indoor bike trainer and did not have "bike indoor" activity selected on my Vivoactive 5 for this particular workout. I assumed that the Vivoactive 5 would measure and report accurate heart rate during the workout, however, this was not the case and subsequently the heart rate measured and reported during the workout was not accurate.

    I have now completed three separate heart rate measurement evaluations during indoor bike trainer workouts using my Vivoactive 5 with the "Bike Indoor" activity selected. At the same time I was wearing my Polar H10 heart rate chest strap and monitoring its heart rate measurements on the Polar iOS app. The heart rate measured and reported by the Vivoactive 5 were extremely consistent with the values reported by the Polar H10. I now have full confidence in the heart rate measurements reported by my Vivoactive 5.