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Vivosport HR Seems to Adjust to Match Nearby Pulse Oximeter

Former Member over 6 years ago

I thought I had seen everything.

Today is day one with my new Vivosport.

I saw a 90 heart rate. I thought it was too high. I have noted posts questioning HR accuracy.

I got my ordinary, generic Pulse Oximeter and saw a high 70 HR number.

I looked at my Vivosport.

All of a sudden, the Vivosport HR display started counting down quickly and and stopped when it matched the number on my Pulse Oximeter.

I did this multiple times. A couple of times I verified the Pulse Oximeter number with a blood pressure device.

It is conceivable that the devices would interact. But to converge together on a HR reading?

Can anyone else reproduce this?

0 u2builder over 6 years ago

I think that the Vivosport is pretty accurate when one is at rest. However, with any sudden activity, such as standing up, or climbing a flight of stairs, it seems to "overshoot" quite significantly and then "settles back down" to the actual heart rate. I think this may be inherent in the way a wrist type sensor measures.

When one starts actual vigorous exercise the displayed heart rate seems to be "held" at a significantly lower level than the actual heart rate for quite a few minutes (the manual says about 10, but usually 15 to 20 for me) until it suddenly "jumps" to track the actual heart rate fairly well. I speculate this "damping " is to prevent an overshoot but I think it is too much and should be reduced or be user adjustable. This is entirely speculation on my part as Garmin does not seem to discuss this. However, many people comment on how long it takes to lock in. I don't dare rely on it to set my workout heart rate and am forced to wear a chest strap monitor on the treadmill because it seriously underestimates my heart rate for so long.