Vivoactive 5 HR low when running

I have a problem with hr tracking too since yesterday. I have the watch since January, so it seems like it’s introduced with an update for me  but not sure because some people notice this for longer already..

During yoga, Pilates and strength activities but also outside of an activity, although then it’s not visible in the graph in connect so I only see it when I am looking at my watch, my hr drops to 40 or 30 sometimes but it immediately goes to the correct hr. During an activity I get the low hr alarm I’ve set to 50 or lower. That’s why I’ve noticed this.

I rebooted the watch, that helps for an hour or less and then it happens again. I Have heart problems, so  checked with other devices who can measure heart rate, and they don’t see those drops. Only my Garmin watch is seeing drops in my hr. It sometimes drops from 161 to 30 and then it goes back to around 160. 

and outside activities it is at 68 for example and then suddenly it drops to 32 and then immediately it goes back to 67-70. I clean my watch daily so it’s not that the back of my watch where the sensors are is greasy or so. I checked that to be sure  

Thank you for the post, please provide some dates of the activities that this has occurred on and an older activity that is similar but different for heart rate data. Additionally, can you also provide this information to better assist:

• May we email you?
• Do we have permission to access your Connect account?
• What country are you based in?
• What is the Sensor Hub version? Menu > Settings > System > About
• Do you warm up prior to starting your activity? If so, for how long?

Hi,

Here is my info, but I have to add, I’ve been sick for long and beginning of April started to gently workout again and then I got sick again after a week. So I don’t have many recent activities where it occurred as I’m recovering still. So I’m not sure if I’m a very useful case to investigate this.

I also notice the drops outside of activities. They are not visible in connect app though, those drops and peaks get smoothed out in the graph I guess.

I only do yoga, Pilates, walking and strength (with resistance bands) and it was during yoga activity when the drops happened, 19 april. 

yoga activities where I saw no such drops: April 4, April 5 (and April 2, but those were Pilates and strength). 

Garmin-Inder said:

• May we email you?
• Do we have permission to access your Connect account?
• What country are you based in?
• What is the Sensor Hub version? Menu > Settings > System > About
• Do you warm up prior to starting your activity? If so, for how long?

• yes 
• yes

• Netherlands 

• sensor version 28.11 (and software 9.27)

• I warm up with stretching exercises. But then the activity is already running. I am always indoors then though and not in a cold environment. When I do walking activities I don’t warm up either, I consider walking to the forest as warming up then. 

I had a similar issue while running. The HR would stay at around 110-120 and if I stopped then it would jump to 150-160 (accurate). So basically I had to stop every now and then to get an accurate reading.

I emailed them and they concluded it was a known VA5 software issue and they're working on it but don't know when it will be resolved. They let me return the watch for a refund even though it was well out the 30 day policy. 

That's disappointing to hear.  Did you buy a different watch instead?  I've certainly had the watch for beyond the 30 day period and do like it, but wish the heart rate issue was resolved.

It might be more than a software issue. I was having very similar drop outs that would last for many seconds, and then jump back up to realistic values. I have been wearing other Garmins for over 4 years so I know how to wear and it is not a user issue. I returned my VA5 for an exchange since I was within the 30 days. The replacement has not had any drop outs, so clearly the first VA5 was defective.

That's interesting to know! One of my main draws for the Venu 3 was the V5 sensor, vs the 965 that has the same V4 as the vivoactive, but knowing the vivoactive is working well for other people will def help when I ultimately make a choice. Thank you!

If you need very accurate heart rate, you need to use a chest strap as I'm sure you know. But for convenience everyday use, my second VA5 is acceptable. Here is a comparison of my VA5 vs my chest strap for an easy HIIT interval I did on my indoor bike. 

Glad to see I'm not the only one with an issue.

I sent a load of example data to Garmin and they said it had been escalated, glad to hear others have been told it's under investigation. Unfortunately I bought my device from Argos rather than Garmin direct so I don't think I'll be able to replace it. 

I've been having less issues with running lately but have had a massive of problems when recording walking activities now, half the time it won't go behind 70bpm (my heart isn't that efficient just yet).

I told Garmin this too and they said it had been passed on so I'm hoping that's on track to being resolved too.