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HRM Pro: Bluetooth Connection to smartphone unstable since few weeks

Grumpy from dawn till dusk
over 1 year ago

Hello everybody,

I use a HRM Pro since some months with the same smartphone (Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G). The firmware of HRM Pro is 8.80 and everything worked fine with ANT+ and Bluetooth until recently.

Maybe two or three weeks ago, things changed to the worse. The situation now is this:
- ANT+ Connection (with my Forerunner 255) seems to be rock stable. Recorded data of sessions, where I just have the FR 255 and the HRM Pro with me, is fine.
- But when I check the Garmin Connect App on my smartphone, the Bluetooth connection with the HRM Pro is very unstable. It is shown as "not connected" (even though I wear it and it is wet), then connects, the connection lasts for around 5-10 seconds, then it is "not connected" again for some seconds, connects again and so on. This is bad, as sometimes I use the HRM Pro with its "recording" function and obviously it should then be able to send the recorded data to Garmin Connect
- I also had this observation: When I took my smartphone with me on my runs (I don't do very often), the HRM Pro obviously needs to be connected with the FR 255 via ANT+ and the smartphone via Bluetooth at the same time. The Bluetooth connection errors with the phone impacted also the ANT+ Connection. Several times during the two runs, the watch did not show my pulse and it took some seconds, until it was displayed again. A review of the activity data later showed, that not only the pulse, but also steps and other running dynamics data were not recorded at those points in time. The HRM Pro seems to have completely lost the connection to the watch for some seconds

Has anyone else maybe had similar experience?

What I tried already: I deleted the HRM Pro from the Garmin Connect App and from the Bluetooth Connections on the smartphone and then connected it freshly.

Maybe this information is also relevant: The smartphone was updated from OneUI 4.1 (Android 12) to OneUI 5 (Android 13) lately, maybe the Bluetooth connection errors could have to to with it. I read some comments on the web, that Google Pixel devices had Bluetooth problems after updating to Android 13.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I have made an additional test:

    - Removed the HRM Pro from Garmin Connect App on my smartphone

    - Removed it from the Bluetooth connections on my smartphone

    - Installed Garmin Connect App on my iPad (iOS 16.2), which has different hardware and a completely different Bluetooth stack then my smartphone (Samsung OneUI / Android)

    - Connected the HRM Pro with the Garmin Connect App on the iPad

    Result: The connection was also unstable with the iPad.
    Always connects, the connection lasts for around 5-10 seconds, then it is "not connected" again for some seconds, connects again and so on. Just the same as with my smartphone.

    What is really irritating me, is that this bug only affects the Bluetooth connection!
    ANT+ connection with my FR255 is rock solid. Use it at least 3 times a week and it has NO connection problems. Data is transmitted just fine.

  • +1 over 1 year ago

    Update for everyone reading this: It might have been a battery issue after all.

    In Garmin Connect App and on my FR 255 the battery for HRM Pro was shown as „OK“.
    But during yesterdays run, an alert came up „Battery of HRM low“.

    I changed the battery today, also doing the „reverse polarity for 30 sec“ trick.

    Connected the HRM Pro freshly via Bluetooth to Garmin Connect App and now the Bluetooth Connection is stable again. For the moment at least, I will observe it and if needed, write an update.