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

Heartrate so inaccurate that my watch is basically useless for training

I got my Forerunner 265 about a year ago and I have loved almost everything about it.  I love the touch interface, the AMOLED screen, sleep analysis, training readiness, etc.  But I have been trying to use it to track my training and the heartrate is so inaccurate that it is basically useless.  Today was a good example, I just wanted to go for a 40 minute run on my lunch break.  I took the watch off, cleaned the sensor, strapped it snuggly on my wrist in the suggested spot and headed out on a run.  My goal was to get some good Zone 2 progress.  Instead one minute into my run, I glance down and I'm in zone 5.  I check my heart rate manually and I'm actually in zone 1.  I let the watch calm down and try again.  Same thing.  I do this for two miles.  I eventually discard the run because it's so crazy.  But now I've run 2 miles that won't be recorded.  Not the end of the world.  But my lunch break is almost over so I try again.  Basically the same deal.  I keep stopping to let my watch try to get in sync with reality, but by the time I'm done my watch now thinks I was doing an interval workout.  Having gone through this frustrating process a few times, my mileage, my load focus, my max heart rate, my training load, basically everything are now all out of whack.  Can't get good heart rate data running, biking, rowing, or stair climbing Disappointed

Top Replies

All Replies

  • Today, I experienced strange behavior with the heart rate sensors on my 265 watch, as shown in the graph below. The heart rate suddenly dropped and then rose. my software version is 18.27.
    one assumption can be related to the area where the change in pulse occurred, as there were high voltage poles nearby.



  • Yeah - but are you going to fix it?

  • Yeah it still sucks after 19.18. 


    There is no way my heart suddenly jumped 20 bpm as ran slower. 

    I could tell it had started the run far too low - about 20bpm low. Then as usual it takes 3-4 minutes to actually give a somewhat real reading. The rest of the run after it decided to jump up was what I’d usually expect when wearing a hr chest monitor.

    Sort it out Garmin. I want a watch that can accurately measure my HR from the start of an activity. If you can’t do that, either give me a refund or send me a HR band  

  • My FR165 19.18 same. Watch show 120-130 bpm and my real is too high (160-180). Please Garmin FIX IT! Watch is useless for training!

     

  • what do you mean by 'fix it'?

  • Well, there is clearly something wrong either with the sensor or the software. They need to fix it. 

  • My first 2-3 months was all OK, but now few FW measurement HR is useless.

  • Agree, This is my third Garmin watch, and I bought it recently because I heard its heart rate sensors were good.
    Indeed it is not useful if it does not measure heart rate properly.

    here is my today activity, even worse than last time


  • I got an update in the last week, I just don't know anymore with this watch.  I might be swtiching to a different brand at some point.  This is the second time I have experienced this level of frustration with Garmin watches.  It's just soooo innacurate in so many respects, because they can't stabalize the sensor and or its software.  The same thing happened with the 245 a couple/few years ago.  Just like my 265 is now, my 245 was stuck in maintaning mode for months on end showing no signs of any real change.  I then go beat my suggested marathon time by 5 minutes.  Personally with my new 265, there are now enough workouts with the faulty readings/data points that it's going to take an eternity to get it on the correct side of things.  That's even if this update corrects things.  I don't expect perfection by any means, but I expect it to be usable...or don't include the features.