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:
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Wearing watch above wrist, exactly as shown in the manual;
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Using silicone band that came with the watch;
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Slightly tightening the strap to eliminate bouncing/sliding (but not so tight as to cut off circulation);
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Cleaning watch/sensors (and not wearing thick sunscreen or whatever underneath);
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Having light/white skin with no tattoos;
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Doing a good warmup;
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Working out indoors so excessively hot/cold weather should not be a factor;
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Not using wrists to grip handlebars during a ride (I rest my weight on my forearms);
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Confirming software is up to date (“Software is up to date — Version 19.18”); and
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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
