HR monitoring issues

[gozierdt]

I've about had it with my Surge. It gives meaningless HR data during exercise. For instance, today I was on the elliptical, the Surge was reading 142, then within 30 seconds with no change in my position or workout intensity, it was reading 78. Then back to 121 after a minute or so.  It continued to jump all around. This has been a consistent issue with the device. I've read the help articles, changed the wrist position and band tightness, nothing helps much. That, coupled with the fact that I have to use my phone or PC to even adjust the time, is making me look at the other systems on the market. I like the Surge, but it's just not accurate enough for me.

[Dando]

I have a very similar problem, although mine is with weights based or cross training. No matter what I do with the watch (wearing it up my wrist, or changing the tightness), I just can't get a solid reading. Typically it provides me a low reading of about 60 BPM, but if I stand for one minute without exercising it jumps to what I assume my HR is (around 120+ BPM), but then as soon as I commence exercising again, the surge just loses any accuracy in HR reading. I'm just about done with it too - might be a great bit of kit if you just want to take a hike or go for a walk, but I think it verges on false advertising. Really disappointed so far.....

[mango14]

Do you have the latest update? i was under the impression that update fixed this specifically.

I tested the other day with my wife's surge and it seemed to do pretty good with HIIT -- much better than when i had my surge a year ago!

[Dando]

Hi Mango14 - yeah, I have the latest updates. It seems to work fine with a treadmill run, although I'm not sure of the accuracy (I'm yet to test it on an outdoor run as I'm on vacation), however doing any sort of body weight, or resistance training (I'm assuming its the flexion in through the forearm) just renders the HR function completely useless. I did a 40 minutes session which left me exhausted the other day and my according to the Surge I only peaked over 100 BPM twice an burned only 150 calories. It keeps providing a measurement throughout the workout, but its not even close to an accurate reading. I can tell this is the case because as soon as I rest and hold my arm still, the reading spikes from 60-80 BPM up to 120-160 BPM depending on what I am doing.

[gozierdt]

Hi Mango 14,

I also have the latest update. I've been trying a competitor's watch the last couple of days, and I'm seeing much more stable HR readings, more in line with the perceived exercise level I'm feeling, and accurate when I do manual HR count. It doesn't jump around 30-40 bpm like the Surge. I agree with Dando, any exercise movement that involves flexing the wrist seems to throw the Surge off- and I've tried many positions along my arm.

Calorie count on the second watch is also more in line with the time/level I am exercising. I realize the calorie count can be just a difference in the algorithm used, but the second watch seems to match what I expect from the level & time of exercise better. I'm coming to the conclusion that the FitBit exclusive HR monitor sensor still needs some serious hardware and/or software tweaking.

[Fatboyslim1]

hi
New to surge and forum.
My surge tells me my heart rate - which at rest is about 65bpm has surges of really high heart rate(180bpm) when at rest. Should I be worried?

[mango14]

i've not bought the surge yet -- care to send me the name of the watch you have better results with?  

[SunsetRunner]

FWIW - another viewpoint (I acknowledge some folks have terrible HR accuracy issues) - I've had zero issues with my Surge's HR accuracy regardless of the activity I'm engaged in: weight training, Spin, running. I've worn a chest strap and manually tested HR to double (triple and quadruple) my results. The only thing I've noticed is a minor delay between what the chest strap is reading, and what the Surge is reading. And by minor I'm talking 2 or 3 sec. delay.

[Triciapop3]

Hey Zen, how do you wear your watch to get accurate readings during resistance training?

Sent from my iPhone

[SunsetRunner]

I just wear it around three fingers up like has been suggested. If it starts to slip, I tuck a little absorbant fabric under the buckle side to keep it stable and in place. I've had good results with it so far. 

[Kmano]

I'm getting strange readings as well.  Is there a way to calibrate the HR sensor?  Comparing the sensor to the old fashion pulse count w/ stopwatch:

Resting HR - 49 BPM (sensor) compared to 53 BPM

Walking to work in the morning - 129 BPM compared to 89 BPM 

Cycling (constant speed/cadence) - sensor fluctuates between 120 BPM and 160 BPM compared to ~ 140 BPM 

Fitness training - sensor fluctuated between 60 BPM and 180 BPM compared to a consistant ~150 when measuring myself.

Bottom line is the HR sensor is beyond useless for the type of activity I do, which is basically anything active.  I'm going to return it for the Garmin Vivoactive unless there is a solution.  I've tried all the suggestions regarding positioning, wiping sweat away, I even shaved the hair off that part of my arm.