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FR 945 vs Fenix 6 OHRM

3704102
over 5 years ago

Hello from the Fenix 6 side! I just had a quick question for the FR 945 owners. There has been A LOT of discussion on the F6 forums regarding the very poor (almost pathetic) performance of the optical heart rate monitor on the F6 during any activity outside of running and now sometimes for resting heart rate. Unfortunately, Garmin has been almost radio silent on the issue, so I was wondering if this is limited solely to the F6, or do other Garmin watches that utilize the same sensor also suffer from poor HR readings.

What I have found in my experience is the F6 gives very low HR readings during almost any activity. Sometimes it can be well above 150 bpm and the watch is reading 80 bpm. However, sometimes it appears to "catch" my pulse correctly, but if my HR changes at all (say going downhill on a bike or during strength training) it just hovers at the higher value forever! It is incredibly frustrating. I have come to believe it is almost a random number generator at this point.

So how has your experience been with the FR 945 for activities OUTSIDE of running. Does it seem pretty accurate? Do you see rapid increases and decreases during activities that generate that kind of HR pattern (interval training, strength, HIIT, etc) when using the watches ORHM?

P.S. Before someone says I just need a chest strap, I have one and wear it, but for over $800 the ORH sensor on the F6 is just unacceptable. 

TIA!

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  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to talsela

    A-OK here.

    talsela said:
    It would be nice if you added "for me" at the end

    Since it's clearly not the problem you want people to believe it is, (just look at your own poll you submitted here) you're the one who should say it doesn't work well for you.  Didn't you say you went from the 645 to the Fenix 6?  Now you're telling people in the 945 how to answer?

    talsela said:
    there were a few threads about this but it seems nobody is writing in them anymore. That could either be because the problem have been fixed for many people or because people gave up on complaining here. I believe it's the latter:

    Based on what?  Please tell us why you feel people who own the 945 gave up, but F6 owner's continue their quest.  We're all dying to here the logic on this comment.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    To be honest I'm just tired of the continual bickering that always results. It's simple:

    WHR works for some.

    WHR doesn't work for some.

    Move along. Nothing else to see here.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to who knows

    I think that adding "for me" is equally required for both those who complain about an issue as well as those who claim they don't have it. Neither these nor those can tell which is the bigger group and decide to present their case as the majority. The poll was answered by 15 people so that's hardly something to rely on IMO, which brings me to the second point.

    who knows said:
    Based on what?

    I won't argue about the importance of logic, after all I keep claiming that I believe many people who feel their OHR is doing a good job might be wrong simply because they haven't put it to the test much and I have yet to find one willing to do an extensive test and post it. They're entitled to feel what they feel and not "prove" it, and I'm still entitled to take their feeling with a grain of salt just like you're entitled to take my feeling about the issues not having been resolved with a grain of salt.

    The FR945 seems to be a forum with significantly less traffic than that of the Fenix and that's all I based my feeling on. I tagged a few that had issues in a previous thread and 5/6 replied that nothing has changed for them, and one additional person outside this group added he's had problems (I'll disclose that he's an acquaintance of mine that I've reached out to to ask about his experience). By the way, when I looked for people who've complained in the past there were a few that I couldn't tag and a few more that are now Former members. Makes me wonder if that's another sign of giving up.

    who knows said:
    We're all dying to here the logic on this comment.

    I'd appreciate it if we could both agree to disagree about things without using a hurtful writing style that suggests other people are stupid.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to talsela
    talsela said:
    I keep claiming that I believe many people who feel their OHR is doing a good job might be wrong simply because they haven't put it to the test
    talsela said:
    I tagged a few that had issues in a previous thread and 5/6 replied that nothing has changed for them

    I've read your post in both forums.  I clearly understand the specific issue you're having with your watch.  I read how you tested your watch and what works OK and what doesn't.  You've stated you believe the new Elevate 3 sensor is inferior to the previous sensor versions, but it's unknown if it's software or hardware related.  I got it, but here's the issue I'm having with your more recent post.  You're taking any and every post about the Elevate 3 WHR sensor not working correctly and saying "Look how many threads and post there are that supports what I'm saying", even when some of the complaints are unrelated to what you're experiencing.  The WHR sensor will be affected by optical noise, crossover (cadence lock), sensor location, low perfusion, skin tone, ambient temperature, etc.  If you read some of the post you've included, many of these can be dismissed as one of the issues I mentioned.  You can't exclude these possible challenges the sensor faces and just say the new sensor is faulty.  GPS faces challenges with buildings, overhead foliage, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions, etc.  These factors must be taken into consideration when someone post that their GPS track is off.  You wouldn't simply say the GPS chipset is faulty, but this is what you're doing when it comes to the Elevate 3 WHR sensor.  The bottom line is you have no way of knowing if any of those challenges affected those posters.  So, my question to you is why are you referencing these post to support your argument?

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I had both F6 and 945. F6 even in titanium form is too heavy and bounces a lot on my wrist. No issues with OHR on my 945 to speak off. The latest software update killed the battery life but that is a different issue.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 3704102

    I have no issues with the 945 OHR. I have hardware rev D version.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to who knows
    who knows said:
    You're taking any and every post about the Elevate 3 WHR sensor not working correctly and saying "Look how many threads and post there are that supports what I'm saying", even when some of the complaints are unrelated to what you're experiencing

    I understand that you and a couple of others are very eager to prove that the 24/7 OHR issues I described in my poll exist only in my imagination and that's fine, but (A) 3 of the 6 mentioned 24/7 readings, but more importantatly (B)  refers to general performance both in activities (except running) and in 24/7 mode:

    3704102 said:
    very poor (almost pathetic) performance of the optical heart rate monitor on the F6 during any activity outside of running and now sometimes for resting heart rate
    3704102 said:
    do other Garmin watches that utilize the same sensor also suffer from poor HR readings

    So all 6 posts I referred to are very relevant in this thread.

    who knows said:
    If you read some of the post you've included, many of these can be dismissed as one of the issues I mentioned

    I gave them another read and don't see why you think you can dismiss them for the reasons mentioned.