Sense won't track my heart rate accurately

[CZ22]

I bought a Sense in February this year and am finding the heart rate is really erratic when I run .. sometimes my maximum heart rate is 170 bpm which it is not.  I have checked it against a heart rate strap.  I am trying to contact Fitbit but keep coming up against  a brick wall.  Has anyone else had this problem and if they have what did you do?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Jabteeth]

Greetings CZ22

I to am a distance runner and have a Sense since this time last year. I have owned several Fitbit watches for several years in fact. Yes, definitely the heartrate is not accurate. Mine will commonly show 160+ and if I have a strap heart monitor on, it will be 120ish. I don't have an exact answer to it, except that this is common with many watches during exercising. It can be due to where the watch is placed on the arm as well as the amount of movement that it gets during exercise. My other smartwatches have issues as well, some better and some worse. (Fitbit GPS is likewise not as accurate as other athletic watches with GPS built-in.) So keep the watch snug to the arm above the wrist (closer to the heart) and minimize movement of it on the arm.  Lastly, make sure the skin side of the watch is clean as well. If it builds up a lot of stuff from sweating over the weeks just wipe it down good. Hope this helps. Happy running!

[Jdsenter]

@CZ22 Had the Sense for over a year, don't compare it to others, just compare it to itself over time. No wrist device is going to compare to a chest strap or medical device. That being stated it does average out to be close enough, but never perfect. The trending is what really matters after all, at least that is what my Doctor says.