Heart rate monitor issues

Yoder 1 month ago

About 75% of the time when going out on a run the hr my 970 shows is as much as 20-30bpm too high. Normally within .5mi it straightens itself out and starts showing the correct hr.

This isn't the normal issue with Garmins where the hrm is wonky when it's cold outside. I'm used to that.

This week though it didn't straighten out until I was on my third mile! And that was after stopping the run multiple times and restarting the watch!

Anyone else seen this issue?

0 Yoder 23 days ago

Just bumping this to see if anyone else has this issue. If not I guess I'll be forced to pursue a replacement watch, but I don't trust a replacement 970 either.

0 spruitp 21 days ago in reply to Yoder

Neither on my wristheartrate or my belt (Polar H10) . On your wrist, if you wear it too loose or even too tight it doesn’t give reliable readings.

0 Yoder 21 days ago in reply to spruitp

Thanks but that's not it. It's way too predictable. 75% of my runs start out like this but straighten out right around .35mi, then it's perfect the rest of the run and there's been no change in how tight it is. Also all the rest of the day the hr is spot on, and it's accurate during the night too with no change in fit. I never take my watch off except to charge it and then it goes in the exact same place on my wrist with the same tightness, yet the only time it screws up is the first .35mi of most runs.

0 Chuckcoffee 18 days ago

I have to say really disappointed with the hr readings from the watch. I though with a better sensor than 965 that they would be reliable but not the case. I bought the HRM 200 heart strap and use that. I have always relied on heart rate straps for activates. They only last a couple years before crapping out. The HRM200 is detected very quickly on my Rowerg. Price is good at 119 Cdn and i can replace the strap $49 Cdn without replacing the sensor. I would have bought the 600 but read a lot of issues with breakage on the snaps and poor rechargeable battery performance.

The wrist readings will always be lower than the strap readings by 10-20 beats. How does Garmin continue to have these issues given new sensor technology?

0 Yoder 18 days ago in reply to Chuckcoffee

It's crazy. Because of another issue I've had with the 970 screen going black I've been wearing both my old fr935 using wrist hrm, and the 970 paired with my coros armband. Consistently my old 935 is within a couple bpm of the coros armband, so it makes me wonder if there has been any advancement in technology at all!

I stop every once in a while and physically count bpm on my neck for 10sec, then multiply by 6 and when the 970 is working the wrist hrm is accurate, it just consistently takes .3-.5mi for it to figure out my hr.

But the 935 is 4 releases old and it is as accurate as new devices today!

It's really sad that no one from garmin has commented.