Wrist HR awful

I have been having issues with wrist hr. It used to work great until a few months ago.

Right now it's hopeless. Be it if I train outdoors or on the treadmill.

Is there a wider issue or is it potentially just mine.

  • Been working fine for me, but I did have a brief problem once that went away after I restarted the watch. Have you tried a restart?

  • I have not.  I don't think it's been restarted for ages.  Thanks.  Will see how it goes.  

  • You are not the only one. 

    See here just one of the threads on the issue: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-965/386942/forerunner-965-hr-issues-after-update-20-29#pifragment-1279=2

    Garmin keeps closing the threads and ignoring the issue. 

  • Must be my wrist, on the 935, Fenix 7 and 965 its never accurate, except when I'm swimming its pretty close.  I wear the HR Pro when running

  • All my watches have been ok.   Good enough for all but intervals.  

    The 965 was also good until a few months ago.  I also normally wear a chest strap but on this occasion I forgot it.  

    It's a bit of a pain that the whr is so wonky.  

  • Who would have thought it. Restarted and it worked great.  

    It did update yesterday as well so maybe that helped.  

    Garvin says restart once a week so will try that going forward. 

  • Same problem here, since around a month I've been having training when it showed 204 for 1 hours after which it shows 80+ hours of recovery, even though it was an easy training on a treadmill....

  • Same problem here, during easy training on a treadmill or indoor cycling it shows 204 HR for 1 hour for example, after which it shows 90+ hours of recovery even though in reality training was easy... Not really what I would expect from Garmin. I borrowed watch of my partner and it was actually working fine (even though it was more of fashion watch)

  • Occasionally during the exercise suddenly the heartrate drops to about half, and after a while (like 10 - 30 minutes) it returns to the right value again. The result is that all parameters calculated using the heart rate as input are useless. I have this problem ever since I got the 965. Is it a software bug, or is my watch broken? I always have it firmly strapped to my wrist.

  • Yes, it' a bug and one common to other (all?) Garmin models, including my Epix Gen 2. I decided to ask ChatGPT about it. Here is part of its response, comparing Garmin watches to other brands.

    Why Other Brands Perform Better

    • Apple Watch:
      • Focuses heavily on consumer-grade activity tracking with robust algorithms for OHR. It uses advanced machine learning to interpret data.
    • Polar:
      • Known for heart rate monitoring, Polar’s sensors and algorithms are fine-tuned for high accuracy.
    • Coros:
      • While less popular, Coros watches often show fewer reports of OHR issues, potentially due to a more streamlined algorithm focus.

    What Garmin Could Do Better

    • Algorithm Refinement:
      • Garmin could deploy more frequent updates to specifically address OHR issues under common use cases like treadmill walking and stationary cycling.
    • User Testing:
      • Broader beta testing with diverse users could help refine their algorithms for more real-world accuracy.
    • Transparency:
      • Acknowledging the problem more directly and outlining a roadmap for fixes could boost user trust.

    For now, Garmin users experiencing these issues often rely on external chest straps or arm bands for consistent heart rate monitoring. If you're still encountering these problems despite following best practices, it might be worth raising the issue directly with Garmin support for a detailed response or workaround.