Charge 6 pairing with Garmin Edge 1030 and fitness software does not work (heart rate monitor)

[MatzFatz]

Pairing the Charge 6 heart rate with my Garmin Edge 1030 does not work. I followed these steps from Fitbit Help Center:

1. Swipe down from the clock face and tap HR on equipment.
2. Follow the instructions on your workout machine or fitness app to connect a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.
3. When Charge 6 connects, a screen appears on your tracker, asking to share your heart rate. Tap Share.

But: My Charge 6 does not show "Share". Also tried it with  a cycling software on my computer, which shows an error and asks me to "cut the power of the device"... I did a couple resets (either directly on the Charge 6 or via cable reset) to no avail.

The Garmin Edge is able to connect to the Charge 6 without problems (it shows on the Garmin as connected), but does not show my heart rate. And, as stated above, the Charge does not offer "share". Instead the "show heart rate on device" button goes back to idle.

The Charge is not connected to any other bluetooth device or phone as I understand that works only while being connected to just one device. It´s running on the latest firmware.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Triletics]

Charge 6 doesn't work with Edge 1030 (in fact, with any bike computer).

[MatzFatz]

Thanks for your reply. But should'nt it work with training software like Zwift or other?

If not, but even if not working with just the Edge, it is useless in my opinion: why use a wearable and still need to put on the heart rate belt?! 

Sad, but then I'm gonna return it.

[Triletics]

@MatzFatz the problem is that Fitbit implemented a non-standard (well, not industry standard) handshake between devices. If you tried to use Edge with a chest strap (although, I believe you'd do it via ANT, not BLE), it's pretty much seamless. You pick HRM on Edge, connect, and it's done. Fitbit implemented a different way of handshaking and, as far as I know, there is also encryption added which isn't something that devices like bike computers or many fitness machines support. It will work, ie. with your mobile phone (I paired it with Strava, but had some issues with Zwift and Rouvy though - connection established but not readings coming to the app). Basically, Fitbit didn't do the homework to check how other watches implement broadcasting so it works with almost all the equipment.

[MatzFatz]

@Triletics like you wrote it seems to come down to handshaking via ANT vs. BLE. I just read a little about other products like Samsung Galaxy Smartwatches eg. that do not seem to work with Garmin - and vice versa. Guess in my case only a Garmin watch or tracker would solve the issue.

[davidtua]

@Triletics Thank you, I thought I did something wrong somewhere