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Software version 5.07 Beta

Former Member over 8 years ago

">Download Here">Download Here

Quick Summary on ver 5.07 Beta
- HR Lock around 20sec - Some experience longer or no lock
- HR accuracy is off - Ver 5.04 Beta was better
- nofrills Watch face broke

Check scottj2 post further down...great feedback

* Will be heading back to ver 5.04 Beta on Friday...need accurate HR readings

Changes made from version 5.04 to 5.07:
Several Connect IQ 1.3.0 improvements.
Added support for broadcasting optical heart rate over ANT to other devices during an activity.
Fixed an issue in which text on some Connect IQ watch faces may not display correctly.
Several improvements to optical heart rate.

Changes made from version 5.03 to 5.04:
Several Connect IQ 1.3.0 improvements.
Known Issue: Some text on some Connect IQ watch faces may not display correctly.

I will note some of my experience with Software ver 5.07 Beta. Please share yours.

Software ver 5.04 Beta Experience - Will be updating my experience for Software 5.07 Beta
1. Installation – No issues with install
2. Cosmetically (watch face, screens) After install Nofrills watch face display problems.Might impact other watch faces.
3. Whatsapps notification – Working as it should
4. Heart rate monitor lock (time it takes the watch to lock onto your heart rate, any screen.) 5.04 Beta for me - 25sec avg to lock.
5.07 Beta
- first observation is that they have included "Wrist heart rate ready" prompt when HR lock is found when accessing activity (run, bike...) - This is like the "GPS ready" prompt. Nice little add on. Question is, does it lock onto your heart rate quicker.
- Average heart rate lock is 20sec (sampled 10 test). 5 sec improvement from ver 5.04 Beta
- * Update 19 July - HR lock within 20sec.
4.1 HR accuracy
* Update 19 July - Did a stationary bike session. My normal training and same plan. The HR was way off. Usually the watch would take 10-15 sec to catch up on a intervals. It kinda never did...it will only be accurate when i recover Zone 2...very odd. ver 5.04 Beta i never experience this. I intermittently tested my HR with the HR app on the phone, which was always close to my watch HR by 1 or 2 beats off.
Did a run and HR is off...it spiked and kept me in zone 3 when i just stared and warming up..super easy..should have been zone 2 easy. ver 5.04 Beta was more accurate for me.
5. Cadence lock
* Update 19 July - went on my first run today, no cadence lock detected.Although my HR and cadence values was not close. e.g HR 140 vs Cadence 167 spm. Maybe getting the values close would be a good test. Not Tested in Beta 5.07
6. GPS Fix – within 5~10 Sec - same as always..pretty quick Not Tested in Beta 5.07
7. Watch speed between menu – No difference
8. Battery life – Not fully tested
* Update 07 July - At what percentage does the "Low Battery" alert get displayed? Not Tested in Beta 5.07
9. Sync with phone – Working as it should…new little Sync icon added in the top left screen when syncing.
10. RHR - Not Tested in Beta 5.07
11. App Support\Issues - Not Tested in Beta 5.07

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Well that's interesting. Are you wearing your 235 between these runs and so the OHR would "wake up" periodically? It also interesting that nobody else on this thread is reporting this same behaviour hence my in general comment. My main point here though was that the user who put his 235 back in the drawer seemed to imply he got no HR whatsoever. That might be software related for him of course but again not in general else nobody would have a HR!

This is a glaring, known bug.

If one does not wear the watch daily and wears it only for runs/activities heart rate will not lock and record in an activity. I am on my second 235 with identical issues. A family member who wears their watch daily does not have the issue. Currently the only solution is to power cycle the watch. This bug entered around software 4.0/hub 2.7 (which were around the same time). Plenty of others are having this very problem. The green lights are on. the non-activity screens show a heart rate, but it will not lock when put into an activity.

0 lightmatter over 8 years ago

Firmware Upgrade seemed to kill my HR lock speed a few months ago (well before 5.07). It happened with the version where they "fixed" the HR starting at 72 every time. When it started at 72, it would lock within 10-15 seconds most of the time, 30s to 1 minute at worst.

Ever since that update, when I get up to put on my shoes/clothes to run, the watch decides to start the guess on my HR at random numbers in the 100+ range and takes several minutes to lock on because *MY HEART RATE IS NEVER OVER 100 IF I AM NOT RUNNING*. PERIOD. There is ZERO REASON for it to EVER show over 100bpm unless I'm running, or maybe tripping on LSD. I have found that the best way to get it to lock for me is to sit perfectly still for 1-2 minutes while I wait for it to figure out that HEY GUESS WHAT MY HR IS STILL 60-70bpm (when walking, ~45-55bpm resting) JUST LIKE IT DAMN ALWAYS IS IF I'M NOT RUNNING. Once it locks in, I can go run and it works just fine from there. If I start running before it locks, it takes forever or completely fails to lock at all ever.

I wear the watch 24/7, so there is very little excuse for it to need to guesstimate my heart rate when I get ready to run.

IMO, BRING BACK THE 72BPM BUG - IT WAS WAY CLOSER TO MY REAL HR.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Garmin WebUpdater Software for a clean software load

Firmware Upgrade seemed to kill my HR lock speed a few months ago. It happened with the version where they "fixed" the HR starting at 72 every time. When it started at 72, it would lock within 10-15 seconds most of the time, 30s to 1 minute at worst.

Ever since that update, when I get up to put on my shoes/clothes to run, the watch decides to start the guess on my HR at random numbers in the 100+ range and takes several minutes to lock on because *MY HEART RATE IS NEVER OVER 100 IF I AM NOT RUNNING*. PERIOD. There is ZERO REASON for it to EVER show over 100bpm unless I'm running, or maybe tripping on LSD. I have found that the best way to get it to lock for me is to sit perfectly still for 1-2 minutes while I wait for it to figure out that HEY GUESS WHAT MY HR IS STILL 60-70bpm (when walking, ~45-55bpm resting) JUST LIKE IT DAMN ALWAYS IS IF I'M NOT RUNNING. Once it locks in, I can go run and it works just fine from there. If I start running before it locks, it takes forever or completely fails to lock at all ever.

I wear the watch 24/7, so there is very little excuse for it to need to guesstimate my heart rate when I get ready to run.

IMO, BRING BACK THE 72BPM BUG - IT WAS WAY CLOSER TO MY REAL HR.

I would recommend using the Garmin WebUpdater Software to perform a clean software reload (Do not confuse this software with Garmin Express. This should delete all the data off of your watch also). Do not try to manually copy the GUPDATE.GCD software to the Garmin root folder to do the update. I believe this is what caused my HR issues which is similar to what you are reporting above.

Let me know if this helps....

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Firmware Upgrade seemed to kill my HR lock speed a few months ago. It happened with the version where they "fixed" the HR starting at 72 every time. When it started at 72, it would lock within 10-15 seconds most of the time, 30s to 1 minute at worst.

Ever since that update, when I get up to put on my shoes/clothes to run, the watch decides to start the guess on my HR at random numbers in the 100+ range and takes several minutes to lock on because *MY HEART RATE IS NEVER OVER 100 IF I AM NOT RUNNING*. PERIOD. There is ZERO REASON for it to EVER show over 100bpm unless I'm running, or maybe tripping on LSD. I have found that the best way to get it to lock for me is to sit perfectly still for 1-2 minutes while I wait for it to figure out that HEY GUESS WHAT MY HR IS STILL 60-70bpm (when walking, ~45-55bpm resting) JUST LIKE IT DAMN ALWAYS IS IF I'M NOT RUNNING. Once it locks in, I can go run and it works just fine from there. If I start running before it locks, it takes forever or completely fails to lock at all ever.

I wear the watch 24/7, so there is very little excuse for it to need to guesstimate my heart rate when I get ready to run.

IMO, BRING BACK THE 72BPM BUG - IT WAS WAY CLOSER TO MY REAL HR.

I never thought I'd be happy with a "bug", but I agree with you. The "72 bpm bug" is definitely the least of two evil's. Better yet, I wish we could go back prior to the 72 issue. EVERYTIME Garmin updates the 235, they make it worse. What's more disappointing is I'm reading threads where more and more users are now "settling" with this garbage Garmin has given us. "I just restart my watch 15 times a day and it works great." "I stand on my head facing a southern wind and I usually get a GPS fix within 10 minutes. No problems here." "If I want my 235 to read my HR I slam it to the ground 3 times, put it on upside down, and it works perfectly." Obviously I'm exaggerating, but it seems if we want to continue using our 235's, we're going to have to "settle" too and try to convince ourselves that we're happy with it. It's sad.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Just want to add my voice to the chorus here… I have a 235 that I only wear to track running and cycling activities. When I do, getting an HR lock is a hit-or-miss proposition. The only time I can rely on it is either after I power cycle the watch or when I am wearing the watch 24x7. I have a smart watch I prefer to wear, and as someone who regularly rides a bike, tracking steps is pretty useless. At this price point, and with this feature set, it should not be surprising that one may only want to use this device to train, GPS & HR tracking discreet activities, and not care about 24x7 step & HR tracking.

As stated previously in this thread, that the device works well after power cycling would indicate that the hardware is fine. All signs point to this being a software issue.

Oh, and to add icing on the cake, I have attempted on two separate occasions to file a ticket with Garmin's tech support, and in both instances, they went completely ignored. Crap customer service! Makes me think I'll go with a Wahoo ELEMNT instead of an Edge 520 when it comes time to pull the trigger on a cycling GPS. I hear their devices are pretty good and their customer service is top notch.