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Heartrate so inaccurate that my watch is basically useless for training

Matt S.
3 months ago

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

  • 0 1 month ago in reply to Adrien

    Yeah, it is almost like it is a scam internet site. The only solution is to just return a watch that we think that is faulty. Not an elegant solution, but it is obviously the only one.

  • 0 1 month ago

    Adding my voice to this. I purchased my FR265 around March 2023, and the HR was great, though I almost always used it in conjunction with my Polar Verity Sense, an OHR arm-band. I did perform some tests to compare the Sense and 265 HR sensor readings on a few exercises, but focused on rowing, which was very problematic for my older OHR watch. At that time, everything looked great with the 265 HR data.

    Fast forward, and after an update, the 265 would often not connect to the Sense, and I started getting crazy inaccurate HR readings. Fortunately. I was able to fix the 265/Sense ANT+ connection issue, so this is not affecting me seriously, at the moment.

    This is obviously a software issue as many people report, as did I, that the watch was initially very good at tracking HR, but no more. I could go back to my old Fitbit and (now) Google if I wanted that level of service.

  • 0 1 month ago

    Just wanted to add my voice. I've also been having problems with my 265 for about 4 months. Initially it was super inaccurate spikes or dips in the hr data, and now it doesn't even seem to connect to the heart rate signal in general. I'm a miler, and so interval workouts are my "bread and butter". Watch works fine at paces slower than 7 min/mile (I guess?) but anything even remotely close to threshold, much less repeat paces, and the watch doesn't have a clue. Been really frustrated with this total lack of problem fixing from Garmin. Anyone know the accuracy of Coros Pace 3? Thinking about switching if this problem isn't fixed soon or there's continued poor communication on update timeframes from Garmin. Any other watch suggestions for a miler/2 miler looking at about 45-50 mpw's and 2-3 track sessions a week.

    Also noticed on this board that some claim that software 17 is more accurate. Any way to switch to this (currently on 18.23), and is it really superior. 

  • 0 1 month ago

    What I noticed is in my scenario soft reset somehow fixed problem but only for some time. 

  • 0 1 month ago

    Coming back to this after the 18.26 software update. I've only done 2 runs since the most recent software rollout, but the heart rate data seems significantly improved for me. It locked onto my heart rate right away, as opposed to the seemingly garmin standard of needing 5-7 minutes, and remained consistent despite several stops/restarts during the run, which also threw off my data in the past. Will be doing an interval workout on the track later today which would typically go disastrously wrong for the 265 hr data. Will update with results. 

  • 0 1 month ago in reply to 2518204

    I never had those major issues that people are mentioning in this thread, but I will be testing the accuracy of the OHM today, compared to the HRM Plus Pro, paired to Nine Run Club, and I'll post my results too. 

  • 0 1 month ago in reply to Adrien

    Tested the 255 music against the HRM pro plus. Granted, it was a steady state, from walking to running steadily. Apart from a slight lag, the 255 was on par with the chest strap. So much, that I am not going to use the strap anymore when doing just easy runs. I will be testing the 255 during intervals too of course, but this will take some time..

  • 0 1 month ago

    Watch is doing so much better. No idea what Garmin did but the latest software update (18.26) seems to have fixed the majority of the issues. Data looks great on steady runs, but can be a little inconsistent in interval training. Did a speed sessions with 600's, 400's, 300's, and the watch didn't track it super well but was still light years ahead of how the data was looking 2 weeks ago. At least looks like the optical monitor is latching onto something resembling heart rate. Also, only takes 15-30 seconds for the watch to latch onto the hr signal. 

  • 0 1 month ago

    In one recording, I thought that version 19 had fixed it... then I did another run today. Congratulations, Garmin, you managed to get the heart rate right, just when I finished my run.




  • 0 1 month ago

    I’m right with you. Took down my response because I thought the watch was finally working but then today decided to not only lock onto cadence, but after that lock onto some completely random signal around 120 bpm. Cmon Garmin.