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

Is that Tomtom data imported into Garmin Connect? [edit] nevermind I see that's mysports now lol [/edit] Do you have any examples of your Garmin device doing a similar run?
Also I'm curious - if you had a good experience with the Tomtom why did you switch to Garmin? My experiences with the Tomtom Spark were not great, but to be honest it was their awful software that made me switch to Garmin, not the hardware which I thought was okay at the time. I thought it tracked fine for running, but it was far worse than my experience with Fitbit when it came to trying to track my crossfit type sessions.

Those are simply tomtom data in tomtom mysports yeah, just cropped/saved the relevant graph (couldn't see how to make the activity public ;) ).

When I just had the garmin I wore both for a bit and noticed the same. TomTom adjusting faster then Garmin, but don't know which runs those were anymore. Was thinking about doing some test runs with both watches the last few days, but just had a HM this sunday (Berlin) and still recovering from that :P Hopefully later this week I can start again. Just thinking about the best way, guess doing a few runs with each of the watches... Same workout (interval), 2 or 3 days.

About the switch, was looking for some more functionality... a next step. The FR235 and Spark were both contenders, but the FR235 was nicer wrt design, more functionalities, etc. Also, with TomTOm moving to their own sensor with the spark things haven't improved either.

Thing is, the experiences I had with the MultiSport cardio made me believe that proper OHR functioning WAS possible. Instead, a newer and more expensive watch was a step backwards...

And another two graphs, they follow each other pretty damn well.

Garmin says it gives you the option to "run without a strap". https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/sports-recreation/running/forerunner-235/prod529988.html

Without wanting to get pedantic about it it certainly implies that the sensor can replace the strap. If thats not accurate then its misleading. As it stands at the moment, its not accurate.

Garmin, you should put your energy and money in trying to fix the problems of the product instead of hiring people to write in this FORUM.

There's a difference between function and performance. The built-in optical HR sensor on the FR235 is a functional substitute for a basic chest strap HR monitor[sup]†[/sup]. It does not imply that the performance or quality is equivalent or better in every use case or circumstance.

As a commuter, I think it is perfectly valid for anyone – including but not limited to bicycle manufacturers – to claim you have the option to “leave your car at home and reduce your carbon footprint” by riding a bike to get from point A to point B, but it doesn't mean you'll get there as fast or stay as dry and comfortable.



I don't work for Garmin – or any other company in the GPS navigation and fitness wearables markets for that matter – and I don't have shares or other financial interests in it. As a fellow customer (with just one Garmin product in my name) and consumer, I simply dislike people who think their values and/or satisfaction is important to others and expect to be appeased, as opposed to being told bluntly where to go (e.g. to the local Fair Trading office) if they're unhappy. I have no interest in ‘making’ you feel any differently about Garmin or anything else as you do now; for all I care, stay agitated and/or angry, and use the opportunity to see what your FR235 tells you about your heart rate trends.

This is a discussion forum for Garmin customers as peers and equals – who are not, and ought not be assumed to be, sharing common values and goals and stand ready to support each other in solidarity. If you don't like being shot down by your fellow customers, then perhaps you need to rethink your participation in open discussion.

[sup]†[/sup]As opposed to, say, the Garmin HRM-Run or Wahoo TICKR RUN which also capture motion analysis data.

You attack the person who wrote it and do nothing for the common goal of making the product better or direct the company to fix the existing problems.

There's a difference between function and performance. The built-in optical HR sensor on the FR235 is a functional substitute for a basic chest strap HR monitor[sup]†[/sup]. It does not imply that the performance or quality is equivalent or better in every use case or circumstance.

As a commuter, I think it is perfectly valid for anyone – including but not limited to bicycle manufacturers – to claim you have the option to “leave your car at home and reduce your carbon footprint” by riding a bike to get from point A to point B, but it doesn't mean you'll get there as fast or stay as dry and comfortable.



I don't work for Garmin – or any other company in the GPS navigation and fitness wearables markets for that matter – and I don't have shares or other financial interests in it. As a fellow customer (with just one Garmin product in my name) and consumer, I simply dislike people who think their values and/or satisfaction is important to others and expect to be appeased, as opposed to being told bluntly where to go (e.g. to the local Fair Trading office) if they're unhappy. I have no interest in ‘making’ you feel any differently about Garmin or anything else as you do now; for all I care, stay agitated and/or angry, and use the opportunity to see what your FR235 tells you about your heart rate trends.


This is a discussion forum for Garmin customers as peers and equals – who are not, and ought not be assumed to be, sharing common values and goals and stand ready to support each other in solidarity. If you don't like being shot down by your fellow customers, then perhaps you need to rethink your participation in open discussion.

[sup]†[/sup]As opposed to, say, the Garmin HRM-Run or Wahoo TICKR RUN which also capture motion analysis data.

That depends on what you mean by constantly. My FR235 sometimes give inaccurate readings for my heart rate, run cadence, GPS position, etc. but it certainly is not always inaccurate.

Heart rate
In the first minute or so after the optical HR sensor being activated – whether by the HR widget, or when the watch is primed to start tracking a workout activity – the HR reading is usually inaccurate, first ‘defaulting’ to 72 bpm[sup]†[/sup], then laggardly stabilising. However, especially in the context of a workout activity that lasts ten or more minutes, under-reporting the HR for two minutes at the start does not make the HR monitor constantly inaccurate; furthermore, given it is known behaviour, the user can (and I usually) activate the HR sensor a minute or two before starting a tracked workout activity.

Cadence
Every three or four runs, I see one or two cadence readings of ≥220 spm – sometimes in the middle of a stretch when I was running 178±5 spm, and other times when I was walking at around 120 spm – just seemingly random outliers, which throw the maximum cadence on record out (with negligible impact on the average cadence) for the tracked runs. However, that does not make the cadence reading constantly inaccurate.

GPS Position
In terms of instances where there is an obvious delta between my actual position and the position reported by the watch's GPS capability, this happens far more frequently than inaccurate HR and cadence readings, because of inherent limitations in GPS accuracy. For example, see this annotated route map, on which the blue line shows how I actually travelled, while the red line is how the watch reported it. You could argue that because the limitations in GPS accuracy is a characteristic of the technology employed, there is in fact inaccuracy in the readings constantly.

If I deemed the tracking of my position by GPS to not be fit for purpose, I would return the product for a refund in accordance with the provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, instead of jumping up and down demanding that Garmin improve the performance of the hardware I've already bought, or that the company gives me an additional tracking device free of charge so that I don't have to voluntarily give up the other utility I could obtain from my watch. My ability to get/have a watch (and/or whatever other gear) that satisfies my requirements as a consumer is not an entitlement, either legally or morally. If I'm not prepared to accept what is on offer in the market, then I can damn well keep my money in my pocket and go without the technology – either way I will be less than satisfied, but it is nobody else's concern, and I don't expect any sympathy or anyone else in our society that consider it unacceptable by community standards of the day.

[sup]†[/sup]Sometimes seemingly in a counter-intuitive manner, for example going from some other number such as (blinking heart icon) 55 up to (solid heart icon) 72, and then slowly back down to around (solid heart icon) 55 while I'm just sitting at my desk, instead of (blinking heart icon) –– for ‘not ready’, to (blinking heart icon) 72 for ‘just starting to find my bearings, please wait’ to (solid heart icon) 55 for ‘I think I got it now, that only took me 45 seconds to turn in a proper reading’.