Related
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

Brand new Forerunner 265S HR data is way off

Leah P
9 months ago

I have tried emailing Garmin and not received any reply. I have tried submitting their support form (which supposedly emails them), but the form keeps not submitting -- with no indication as to what I'm doing wrong. Why is it this hard to get ahold of anyone to help me?? Anyway, posting here in the hopes Garmin will see this.

PRODUCT NAME: Forerunner® 265S

DESCRIBE YOUR QUESTION OR ISSUE AND ANY TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS ATTEMPTED
I have only had this watch for a couple of weeks and am extremely disappointed in the HR feature. I wear a chest strap while riding my indoor trainer, and I can see during rides that the watch frequently reads as much as 50 to 65 bpm below the chest strap, for nearly the entire duration of the ride, which is totally unacceptable, because it makes me suspect that the watch is reading way too low during other activities (like sleep, walking around) for which I am not wearing the chest strap. This has already happened several times and leads me to believe I need a refund or replacement.
Steps already tried to no avail:
  • Wearing watch above wrist, exactly as shown in the manual;
  • Using silicone band that came with the watch;
  • Slightly tightening the strap to eliminate bouncing/sliding (but not so tight as to cut off circulation);
  • Cleaning watch/sensors (and not wearing thick sunscreen or whatever underneath);
  • Having light/white skin with no tattoos;
  • Doing a good warmup;
  • Working out indoors so excessively hot/cold weather should not be a factor;
  • Not using wrists to grip handlebars during a ride (I rest my weight on my forearms);
  • Confirming software is up to date (“Software is up to date — Version 19.18”); and
  • Restarting watch several times.
I paid quite a lot for this watch and spent quite a long time setting it up, with extensive reference to the user manual. This watch is marketed toward athletes but apparently can’t do the one thing most athletes want it to do?! I realize an optical HR monitor is never going to be totally perfect, but telling me I’ve settled in the 90s throughout the ENTIRE duration of a 10-minute interval when my actual HR didn’t go below 150 or even 155 for a single moment is just . . . not even close to good enough. (I have screenshots if you can give me a way to send them.) And don’t tell me to use a chest strap all the time, because the point of the watch is to replace the strap, especially during sleep and outdoor activities. Am I supposed to wear a strap to bed every night?
I just retired my third Fitbit (Charge 5), and I can’t believe I am saying this, but that thing was WAY better at HR monitoring. When I got off the trainer and compared numbers, they were always almost a perfect match (average HR, highest HR, overall shape over an hour). I am immensely disappointed in the Forerunner 265S. Please send a refund. In the alternative, please send a replacement, but ONLY if you can guarantee that it will have a HR monitor with reasonably accurate readings (again, not necessarily 100% perfect, but like . . . it can’t read at 60% for large chunks of a workout, give me a break).
COUNTRY/REGION: United States
I consent to Garmin viewing my account, which could include logged activities, location, heart rate and related metrics and other personal health-related data, as needed to troubleshoot my issue.: YES
  • 0 9 months ago

    Consider tightening the watch. I know this is not something you would want to hear but It really fixes for me.

    I don't think any firmware is going to fix this HR issue.

    Last resort, I believe in the US you can return back if the watch doesn't meet your expectation ? Then just do it.

  • 0 9 months ago

    Thw watch has serious issues in HR tracking in some scenarios due to bad HR agorithm introduced in software update. Garmin knows about the issue (many people reported it for all newer watches) but it was not fixed and Garmin did not provide any timeline or confirmation when or whether this will be fixed.

    See this discussion: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-265-series/362213/heartrate-so-inaccurate-that-my-watch-is-basically-useless-for-training

    Write to Garmin support, since they keep ignoring the issue.

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Vizi

    Yeah, I came across that thread while looking for answers earlier. I did write to Garmin, and here's what they told me by email -- basically, the bad HR data is INTENTIONAL!

    Ok, to answer all questions here, you are looking at the all day HR data from the watch face which is not going to be accurate when doing an activity. That is by design, if you want to see accurate HR data, you will need to start a activity on your watch because of the algorithms produced by First Beat analysis. There are a lot of different algorithms working here depending on what activity type you are doing. 
    Once you start an activity on your watch, the HRM strap will be the HR detector, not your watches sensor so any type of HR irregulars will be coming from the strap if you see them once you start an activity. I am happy to go over troubleshooting if you do so irregulars from the HRM strap. But you have mentioned it produces accuracy so it shouldn't be a problem.
    I believe this has answered the inquiry. Looking at the ALL day HR data on the watch face will not be accurate when doing an activity and that is not a bug, it is by design. 
  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Leah P

    Yes, one of the reasons battery is good on Garmin watches is because HR tracking is not quite accurate when activity is not started. You can climb the 7 floors of stairs with activity off and on, you will get completely different HR results. In my opinion, this will not be changed.

    On top of it, for some time now there are HR problems even during activity, as people reported on that link. This may be changed/fixed if enough people push Garmin to do it. Otherwise, they seem extremely unwilling to do anything about it.

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Leah P

    To receive the most accurate HR data, you will want to perform the activity on the watch itself (press the top right button and find your activity type from the list). Different activity profiles have different algorithms. We are investigating reports of wrist-heart rate data concerns during activities and are happy to add you to that report if need be. However, we will first want to make sure you're tracking the activity on the watch itself. 

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Garmin-Sierra
    Garmin-Sierra said:
    We are investigating reports of wrist-heart rate data concerns during activities

    That was also said long time ago. When will the issue be fixed? Is there any time plan/commitment regarding this?

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Garmin-Sierra

    No timeline , no committment, We all know Garmin is well known to add more bugs while solving one. Apple/Fitbit is still better in HR accuracy

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Vizi

    We made an improvement on 18.XX and are still investigating reports since that update. I do not have a timeline for any type of change at this time. If you have not already contacted Product Support directly to be added to the investigation, please do so and let me know if you have any issues getting in contact. 

    Product Support

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Garmin-Sierra
    Garmin-Sierra said:
    To receive the most accurate HR data, you will want to perform the activity on the watch itself

    No, don’t tell me what I want. I want accurate HR data while not recording an activity, because I don’t want duplicate activities and I am already recording in Trainer Road. This is an incredibly expensive watch. It knows that I am exercising, it knows that I have an elevated heart rate, and it is intentionally giving me bad data?! I can’t believe my old Fitbits were better at this. I don’t work for Garmin. The Garmin is supposed to work for me. If I don’t push a button, it should still do its best to report my actual HR as best it can, not go into a snit because I didn’t obey Garmin's orders.

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to Garmin-Sierra
    Garmin-Sierra said:
    We are investigating reports of wrist-heart rate data concerns during activities and are happy to add you to that report if need be. However, we will first want to make sure you're tracking the activity on the watch itself. 

    Today I recorded two activities, strength followed by yoga. I recorded them both on the watch. I had the watch snug, two notches tighter than normal. During yoga, while holding butterfly pose for two minutes, I glanced at the watch and saw that it was reporting my HR as 0. That’s right, I died. Again, I was holding a pose, not moving, and was recording an activity. Care to explain why my brand new, fantastically expensive watch did this?! Unbelievable.

    .