heart rate values totally wrong after update 18.22

did a run today with my forerunner 955 (update version 18.22 from today):

first km slow: pace 6:04 min/km, av. heart rate 151

then 5 km fast with pace 4:51 min/km; av. heart rate 133 ?? (my common hear rate at that pace should be 180-190)
a sudden drop of the heart rate appeared approximately at the change of pace

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  • Thank you!

    I thought so too, but this is with a new battery. I'll try replacing the strap. It's about a year old now, so I don't want to jinx Garmin. I'll let you know then. It's a Polar H10.

  • I think the issue I was experiencing with my garmin was due to a crash a few minutes into the run. I haven't experienced the issue since the 18.23 update. I did a couple runs with just the watch on a couple slow days. Seemed pretty stable.

  • All, 

    Thank you very much for your feedback so far on the Optical Heart Rate performance. In addition to what is already mentioned in The Heart Rate Sensor on My Garmin Watch Is Not Accurate, I want to add a few steps to ensure that you're receiving the best wrist heart rate performance. 

    • Try tightening the watch to ensure the sensor has good contact with your skin. A snugger watch fit is preferred for activities. The watch should still be comfortable to wear.
    • Try wearing the watch on your opposite wrist. Signal quality may improve on the opposite wrist, and may improve performance.
    • Warm up prior to your activity. This will increase signal quality by enhancing blood flow and ensure your activity starts with a strong, accurate signal.
    • When your activity begins, refrain from frequent adjustments to the fit of your watch on the wrist. This can reduce the quality of your heart rate signal, when the sensor is repositioned or the sensor lifts away from your skin.

    Please test these suggestions out on your next few activities. If the accuracy is not improved, please now reach out directly to Garmin Product Support. Feel free to share the results here as well, but we will need to add you to our current internal report for further investigation. 

  • I would like to know why Garmin, instead of continuing to offer us copy and paste advice with which it clings to straws, does not fix a recurring problem throughout the forum, if the frequency worked on our wrists with the previous watches (I had 945 ), now with 955/965 it doesn't work correctly so it's me who doesn't work anymore? Should I wear the watch on the other wrist? Do I need to warm up before running? They seem like advice from a healer from the wild west to me, they are inconceivable things for a company that considers itself the best in the sports and fitness market, all of us who spend hundreds of euros or dollars or any other currency, have been training for years, know how to use a watch , at this point they write in the product description that they are not sure whether their heart rate sensor works on all people and strict recommendations for use are needed. We're crazy now, the only important thing is profits.

  • I had a 945 and than 955 and in both I noticed problems on HR sensor after some months of purchase so brand new to me worked ok and than like deteriorating the data.

    I am not sure if related to the sensor itself loosing precision or because GARMIN added other features on the next FW releases like the Power W etc.

    I had problems in september and also in january so with complete different temperatures. 

    I noticed now that HR is very much affected by Power change....for example on a very short incline uphill of 100ft(30mt) the HR jumps high and goes down quick if the same in on downhill. It wasn't for sure like that

    Is the HR calculation in FW linked to Power....who knows....

  • Thanks for replying. Like you, I've had 3 years of 945 and now since November 955. For me it hasn't degraded over time but it flattened out changes in pace and therefore HR peaks, but overall it worked better than 955, in racing I've always used the band, but at least when walking it was OK. I agree with you on the correlation with power change, but these watches are designed precisely for this, it's like saying that with a Lamborghini you don't have to go on the track at full throttle, it seems like a paradox to me. It is clear that in the 955 series a different sensor has been mounted and above all a ring that encloses it and is slightly thicker, avoiding direct contact with the skin of the wrist unless you press it by tightening the strap tightly, even the absurd one.

  • Finish of a 10K race yesterday, managed to sustain a HR of 204 for 90secs and then do a sprint (for me) finish. This follows on from another recent race where I hit 195, which considering I'm 55 this month and my previous high has been in the low 180's, so 204 is quite something. 

  • 1. release watches that work absolutely solid and deliver useful measurement results.
    2. render them useless by developing buggy firmware with more and more gimmicks and accumulating bugs. Ignore your own beta forum, ignore the bugs, publish firmwares anyway.
    3. blame the users and tell them that they are incapable of wearing the watches properly since the update.
    4. ???
    5. profit

    Brilliant

  • I'm sorry Sierra but what you write is so irrational that probably the best way out would be to get the Reddit community and industry sites interested in the topic.
    You are currently explaining to us that we should warm up and change the hand on which we wear the watch ? Really ? Do you have your customers, users as idiots ?

    Why the *** did you enable OHR in case I use an external sensor that works properly ? By which you do not know which sensor makes the measurement ?
    I report a problem with the measurement (heart rate spikes) when I do a workout on the bike ... you write that it is cold and this causes the problem. Why doesn't Apple have this problem ? Why such a problem Polar and others ?
    When will you finally take care of the problem SERIOUSLY instead of advising us to WARM-UP ???!?!

    For me, the problem occurs both when measuring from the chest (Polar H10) during running training.
    And in OHR during cycling training.

  • WHY IS ALL OF THE SUDDEN WARMING-UP A PROBLEM? WHAT HAS CHANGED?