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Giving up my FR235 oHRM ( at least for now..)

DANIELPEPE
over 9 years ago
Hi everyone,
I want to share with you my frustration with the new FR235. I am a runner, heading out at least 3 or 4 times a week, including speed workouts, intervals, etc..
I mainly got this watch to get over the chest strap... but no luck.
It's been a month since I got it, so from what I have read in the forum firmware has improved a bit... but still the HRM seems to be a problem.
I tried moving up the watch to avoid wrist bone, also changed reading to be every second... but no luck.

Today I did a half-marathon and my HR was far too low for the first 12Km!!!

Only workouts somehow similar in HR readings are easy runs.
The real pain came in today, I did a half-marathon and my HR was far too low for the first 12Km, then it kick in at 165???
That's it for me. I can relay on this.

So bottom line if you need to measure HR (like quite many runners AFAIK) my advice is DO NOT BUY THIS ONE.

My only hope is that since Garmin has included this oHRM into other models, they will able to fix this in the future.
For now. I will have to continue using my old chest HRM... :(

D.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Yeah, it's pretty worthless. Folks on here will argue that all wrist based devices are bad. I'll argue that I've used others that are much better and were a lot cheaper. Some will say it's user error, we should be wearing it higher on our arm or backwards. I'll argue that right on the box it says "Wrist-based Heart Rate" not "Forearm".

    Some people just like to argue, so they'll post 8 paragraph long defenses of Garmin.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    I totally agree. I've used several different oHRM's, and knowing their capabilities vs. a chest strap or arm band, I can say that Garmin's Elevate technology is by far the worst. You'll have your poster's (and support) telling you an update will be out soon to fix it, but there has been ample time to update the software. I believe the issue is with the hardware and that can only be fixed with the next generation of devices. Those of us "stuck" with this sensor will have to wait until someone comes up with a comparable device to the FR235 and move on. The oHRM is so inaccurate that I have turned off 24/7 tracking and I use a chest strap for ALL workouts. In hindsight, I could have saved money and bought a FR230 since that's what my FR235 has become anyway.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    I don't rely on the ohrm for anything related to working out lol. It's dead on accurate for 24/7 monitoring though. I've confirmed this many times. If I'm working out, the chest strap is on. I don't mind chest straps though.

    I still like the product for the all day monitoring. I can't compare any wrist based monitors to the Garmin other than the Apple Watch, which was just as inaccurate during workouts for me.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I don't rely on the ohrm for anything related to working out lol. It's dead on accurate for 24/7 monitoring though. I've confirmed this many times. If I'm working out, the chest strap is on. I don't mind chest straps though.

    I still like the product for the all day monitoring. I can't compare any wrist based monitors to the Garmin other than the Apple Watch, which was just as inaccurate during workouts for me.


    I've used a Garmin Forerunner 235, a Fitbit Surge and a Tomtom Spark. They all had the same issues with tracking heart rate if I did anything that wasn't just a a steady type of run.
    For anything else they were all hopeless, though the Spark was by far the worst.
    In the end I was like you - using the strap when exercising and using the optical on the 235 just for all-day heart rate information. But even then due to the low sampling rate I wasn't all that happy with the data.

    So I gave up and decided to get the Fenix 3 - but NOT the HR model. I just don't think the wrist based optical HR is ever going to be all that good, and I didn't think it was worth waiting another month for the HR model, especially since I could get the top of the line non-HR model cheaper.

    The Fenix 3 watch is an amazing piece of kit though, and at the end of the day the main reason I didn't use chest straps before was because I had to take my phone with me. Now I don't need to do that and I'm getting all the advanced running metrics as well.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Mine has been right on the money. The only time it wasn't, was user error/my fault. The band has to be stretched a bit tight and just below your wrist. If it is it at all loose, it fails. I was swollen from consuming Chineese. food that was loaded with MSG. I was bloated like a dead fish. As I ran I had to keep tightening the band, as the swelling subsided,, otherwise my Heart rate was totally whacked. As I tightened the band my heart was in line with my 305.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I was bloated like a dead fish.


    I am trying to stay on task. But I have to say, I love the quote above...
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    All 3 of my FR225's and my current 235 = all hopeless for OHRM!
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Garmin! You should do something!

    Since there is almost a consensus about the main feature of the Forerunner 235 that is NOT Working, would you agree that Garmin at least should send a HRM strap for each FR235 buyer?

    Mine works once out of 5 runs with the profile runner. With the other profile the same thing... When rowing in a Concept2 Model D with PM5 is the same... And after the latest firmware update (4.10), the broadcast feature stopped working with the PM5.

    I believe the main problem would be software and its interpretation of many situations from the sensors like accelerometers and the wrist HRM. Even the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 can read the HRM + Oxygenation levels from the sensors. So, hardware is not a problem.

    Support is useless in this case... If you complain about something not working... They request that you send the FR235 to them. It will take almost 40 days without the product (at least here in Brazil). And even if they replace the watch, the problems are not going way because everything points back to a future software upgrade...
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Since there is almost a consensus about the main feature of the Forerunner 235 that is NOT Working,
    What, ‘consensus’ of a few dozen (and I'm being generous in that estimate) users who complained vocally or maybe even bitterly here, among how many FR235 owners? What percentage do you think that makes?

    would you agree that Garmin at least should send a HRM strap for each FR235 buyer?
    No. If you think the device is not fit for purpose, and are in a position to convince your local Fair Trading office or similar government agency of that and enlist its help in getting a refund, then return your device – and get you money back, say goodbye to what the FR235 can and does offer, and buy something else that represent a different compromise. Being better satisfied is not actually your entitlement as a consumer.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    My whole reason for getting this watch is to not have to use a chest-strap, so no... I don't want Garmin to give me one.

    I want them to do all they can to improve it as much as they can though so that I can actually use the product as intended. It doesn't have to be perfect, I know it isn't, but it has to be usable and reliable.

    And there is no reason to compare it with a Note5, completely different device with completely different (technique of) sensors.