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18.20/19.18 HR bug still here

afarnedi
9 months ago
  1. Hi, despite the information received from @Garminsierra that the bug was 'probably' fixed in 18.20, I have to say that today  I had a run after a couple of weeks of recovery after a flu and I was running with +30sec X minute slower than my normal pace and HR was around 140 BPM. All of a sudden, out of the blue, without changing my pace despite the very relaxed feeling, HR jumped at 185bpm, that's also exceeding my max HR possible for my age and my training level. I had to deactivate WHR and switching it on immediately after to get it working properly. After further 10 minutes same situation. Now, the thing is, i could also accept this and just don't care about that obvious bug, if not that all statistics are very much dependant by HR. I'm referring to vo2max, performance condition, rest hours, endurance score, suggested daily training etc etc...well Garmin, I'm sure you know that's probably the BIGGEST bug ever since here the whole reliability of the watch is under discussion. this is a sport Watch, probably the best out there, but if HR is not working properly, well, we're far from being an entry level watch. Furthermore, a friend of mine was running with a 69€ watch and HR was just perfect, consistent, stable and reliable. 
  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Marcin

    Believe me; I've tried almost every possible way of wearing my watch, tight, loose, 2 cm above the wrist and so on...there's no unique way to wear the watch to have consistent and reliable results. you think you have found the solution, and the following run, same conditions, you have bad results. Garmin is working on that but I'm afraid it's a hardware issue, otherwise, it would have already been fixed

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Marcin

    Below is shown exactly what the difference looks like when the watch is tight worn versus when it is more loose (time 07:20)

    youtu.be/NboP5iID9Ik

    The watch may additionally have a problem when someone has a darker skin color and a lot of hair on the hand so you can try shaving the hair under the sensor.

    I noticed that if I did a light warm-up the watch had quite a problem measuring heart rate as compared to the heart rate strap. After I did a solid warm-up, the watch responded adequately even on sizable intervals training. Nevertheless, I personally use a Polar H10 to measure my heart rate.

  • 0 8 months ago

    once again someone complaining about WHR… this is endless and serious people in Running have understood in the meantime if you want to have reliable readings use a strap or an optical sensor on your arm, not on your wrist. If you don‘t like this, look for another watch. I think it already got much better then it was a while ago and i’m happy with my readings. Its so personal anyway. For some it works just fine and my day to day readings are spot on. For training i use a strap on my chest or/and on my upper arm. This is not a bug but a weakness of the overall position of the watch on a wrist where it is prone to move constantly during exercise.  

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to afarnedi

    Do you have hairy hands?: If so you might want to try shaving the bit under the sensor to see what happens.

  • +1 8 months ago

    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. 

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Garmin-Sierra

     

    Maybe worth trying but let's not kid ourselves...there is something wrong with it. Too many people reporting the issue and...it was fine when DC Rainmaker originally tested/reviewed it. He stated the optical HR monitor was pretty spot on. It needs resolving asap to return user confidence.

  • 0 8 months ago

    lol forerunner 265 user here.

    Came here to this section to see similar issues with optical heart rate.

    Garmin I don't think you can fix this. It has been months !

    Please just sell us your HRM chest strap at a discount to compensate this BS.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to DPSK

    I already got one at full price

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Pete1336

    They tried for sure. What used to be a sudden spike is now a sudden drop LOL

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Marek

    No way i am going to pay for an overpriced strap.