FR235 HRM and Sleep Data Comparison

Second run today...

Red: Garmin FR235
Blue: Polar H7

Beta 3.13



This was more of a steady pace recovery run.
- In the first half of the run, the FR235 was quite often jumping up with its HR reading
- The second half was much better

and here's some Sleep Data comparison from the first night...

I used the iPhone app "Sleep Cycle Alarm" to compare. The data looks pretty similar... The FR235 hit the falling asleep and waking up time really good. I didn't think it would :)

I also checked GPS accuracy for my two runs so far, since for those 6k runs the FR showed about 0.1-0.2 Km less than what my phone recorded.

The iPhone is less accurate, even on open terrain the phone is sometimes quite off the track, while the FR gps is always spot on (except when going through tunnels).

I double checked with maps24.eu and it's measuring functionality which confirmed the FR has really accurate GPS.

This is about in line with what I see too. I think the 3.13b software helped the HRM a little. Here are 2 comparison runs:

My previous watch was a M400 with the H7 heart rate strap.

3.10 software:


3.13b software:

Have you had a chance to check the other activity tracking functions, such as steps.

And, does the HRM work constantly?

I'm considering this device to replace my Fitbit Charge HR, that whilst isn't anywhere near as sophisticated, does have permanent HR measurements.

It will also replace my Suunto running watch, so good to see there's good GPS accuracy.

thanks

Very nice and very interesting! Thanks for posting!

How do you find the battery life? This seems to be a point-of-issue for many people.

Havent checked other like steps. I thought about doing this, having two options: using the iPhone with a step counting app (I had tried some before and all gave very different step count) b) using one of those 1$-step counters I have somewhere laying around.

It's probably also kind of complex as there are many movements of the arm involved. Some magazine is always doing a "tooth-brushing" test to see how many wrong steps are counted during arm movement.

I might just try to compare this on a normal walk... will post here if I do this.

EDIT:

out of curiousity I just walked a bit around the house. Stepcount:
FR235: 313
1$-device: 341
runtastic pedometer app: 370
Argus app: 310
Pacer app: 317

Don't know what to make of this, haha... just that the runtastic app seems more sensitive to movement.

After all I think it just comes down to what kind of regular arm movements you have in your daily life... Like a cook or painter would probably get easily to many steps counted due to arm movements...

For me personally daily activity tracking is a nice to have gadget but probably will become more and more uninteresting after some time (hell I already know without a device that I could move around more ��). For me it's more interesting to have an accelerometer to estimate indoor-runs. Though I still have to see how it will work on the crosstrainer (elliptical) I have down in the basement.


EDIT2: yes, it has a 24/7 HRM. Though it seems to record in intervalls. As the manual says it collects more measurements when inactive. I hope they will include a setting in afuture firmware to disable 24/7 HRM but still turning it on for activities automatically. Until now there's only on or completely off.

Very nice and very interesting! Thanks for posting!

How do you find the battery life? This seems to be a point-of-issue for many people.

No worries. I might as well share my tests for other to see. Maybe could be helpful for Garmin as well to see a lot of people doing such kind of testing to improve their algorythms.

I find it (battery) disappointing. Having smart notifications and constant connection to the phone turned off, but using 24/7 HRM and having done 2 GPS runs (just under 2 hours in total) the battery has drained from 100% to about 45-50% in just 24 hours. Gives me about two days of battery life only, just as other have reported.

Ok, it's a new gadget, so I play around and push buttons often, e.g. checking heart rate... but still it is quite incredibly off from specs.

I would expect around 4-6 days at least! If they won't fix this I will return the watch.

I find it (battery) disappointing. Having smart notifications and constant connection to the phone turned off, but using 24/7 HRM and having done 2 GPS runs (just under 2 hours in total) the battery has drained from 100% to about 45-50% in just 24 hours. Gives me about two days of battery life only, just as other have reported.

Ok, it's a new gadget, so I play around and push buttons often, e.g. checking heart rate... but still it is quite incredibly off from specs.

I would expect around 4-6 days at least! If they won't fix this I will return the watch.

Yeah agreed. I'm ready to pull the trigger but think i might wait until the new year to see if these things can be sorted out. My Charge HR (activity tracking) / FR 220+Mio Link (running) combo overall works perfectly. But it would be great to consolidate them all into a single device at some point.

Fingers crossed it gets better, both for those who've already bought a 235 and because i want one! (one that works)

Yeah agreed. I'm ready to pull the trigger but think i might wait until the new year to see if these things can be sorted out. My Charge HR (activity tracking) / FR 220+Mio Link (running) combo overall works perfectly.

I would suggest to wait a couple of months and see what happens. If the issues don't get sorted out quickly I might just return it. Could still get it again IF and when the issues are fixed.

But it would be great to consolidate them all into a single device at some point.

Yeah, actually I was first interested in just an activity tracker. I bought the Polar h7 strap this fall and it works great with the polar beat app. I find it useful that data gets synchronized to polarpersonaltrainer where I could monitor training load and recovery estimation.

However I preferred to ditch the phone for excercise. Also I wanted to be able to track my tennis trainings, which is a bit uncomfy having an iphone wobbling around in your pocket ;) So I needed more than just an activity tracker.

After reading some reviews on accuracy of optical sensors from mio I got a little fixed on that. I don't have problems with my chest strap and I don't find it uncomfortable, but in many occasions I would forget the strap at home (gym, when travelling, etc). So this would be my major motivation for an optical sensor.

I had first preordered the Polar A360, but I ended cancelling the order since ditching the phone for running meant I wanted a GPS watch.

So the FR235 seemed to have all I was asking for. GPS, activity and sleep tracking, distance estimation for indoor runs, additional features like VO2max estimation and recovery advisor. And I like the design, compared to the monstrous Polar V800 for instance.

I personally find the "knob" of the optical sensor a little uncomfy. At the end of the day I can feel it on my arm and it leaves a mark. I will try to wear it a tad more loose when not excercising.

Though I am seriously considering going for a GPS watch with a chest strap. FR230 would be first choice then. :) Have to read up on its battery life.

Fingers crossed it gets better, both for those who've already bought a 235 and because i want one! (one that works)

haha yeah, we all hope so... except maybe the Polar and Suunto people ;)