Heart Rate Extremely Inaccurate, Microsoft Says Band is Entry-Level Device

[rambo47]

I checked my band at the gym today on the treadmill. The treadmill has the handholds that measure heart rate and display it on the main screen. I was getting some insanely inaccurate readings on my band. I NEVER got my heart rate to 200bpm, but that's what the band was reporting. The treadmill said 162bpm.

Does the band use some sort of algorithm to predict/estimate heart rate based on some kind of sampling? I was under the impression that the heart rate calculations were just a basic sensor reading.

Perhaps a firmware update will improve the inaccuracy of the heart rate sensor.

 

[DroidUser42]

The treadmill has the handholds that measure heart rate and display it on the main screen. I was getting some insanely inaccurate readings on my band.

My findings is that the band can be confused by motion. While your handholds may be stationary, your arm is flexing. I found that if I grabbed my shirt and held it there (causing my arm to be immobile) that I got good readings.

Perhaps a firmware update will improve the inaccuracy of the heart rate sensor.

That's my hope.

 

[realwarder]

I checked my band at the gym today on the treadmill. The treadmill has the handholds that measure heart rate and display it on the main screen. I was getting some insanely inaccurate readings on my band. I NEVER got my heart rate to 200bpm, but that's what the band was reporting. The treadmill said 162bpm.

Does the band use some sort of algorithm to predict/estimate heart rate based on some kind of sampling? I was under the impression that the heart rate calculations were just a basic sensor reading.

Perhaps a firmware update will improve the inaccuracy of the heart rate sensor.

This may sound completely nuts, (because it made me feel stupid afterwards), but I was exercising the other day and my HR was going to 190 then 200 then finally 210 and I was like 'this is so far wrong'... and guess what, I was reading the Calorie count corner, not the heart rate corner.

I don't know if the numbers are positioned differently in the different modes and that confused me, but it's something to be aware of even if that wasn't the situation in your case.

 

[DroidUser42]

This may sound completely nuts, (because it made me feel stupid afterwards), but I was exercising the other day and my HR was going to 190 then 200 then finally 210 and I was like 'this is so far wrong'... and guess what, I was reading the Calorie count corner, not the heart rate corner.

Yeah, you have to be careful and read the right number.

I don't know if the numbers are positioned differently in the different modes and that confused me, but it's something to be aware of even if that wasn't the situation in your case.

You do realize the Run mode is configurable? Go into the health app on your phone. Primary is the big numbers. I think you can even drop the calorie counter if you want and replace it with something else - maybe pace.

Not sure why Exercise mode isn't configurable.

 

[pil71]

i have used the Band for about a month. My exercises are mostly kettlebell complexes. Initially I was concerned that KB will cause damage to the Pulse sensor, but that did not happen. I use sweat band to cover the microsoft band and it also seems to improve my HR accuracy. I see very similar readings of the max pulse, calories, etc between Microsoft Band and Garmin. They are not a perfect match, but very close.
Just share my experience.

 

[DroidUser42]

I see very similar readings of the max pulse, calories, etc between Microsoft Band and Garmin. They are not a perfect match, but very close.

From what I can tell the charts tends to be averaged and it seems take care of the worst of the problem. The biggest issue I've seen is the spot readings you get on the display - such as you'd see if using it to determine the need to adjust your intensity during the workout.

 

[tigtigtig]

I'm using MS Band for a week. During resting or low activity, the HR is shows is quite accurate. But for exercises, especially anaerobic ones, it shows abnormally high values. During walking, it may jump to 140 and show average 115, during elliptical it goes up to 180 while elliptical device itself measures 150s max. During a run it spiked to 202, which I believe is impossible as I was running with a comfortable speed and I?m in a good athletic shape.

Very disappointed. That's not what I expected. Next step will be either exchanging or returning it.

Igor

 

[Jaylen Smith]

For me the heart rate seems pretty accurate when I'm idle.

However, as soon as I start warming up the heart rate will jump from 65 to 150 bpm in a matter of seconds.

At this point I have no confidence in those readings.

According to a workout earlier this week my average heart rate was 148 bpm with a peak of 182 bpm. I wouldn't mind these results but I'm a 50 year male there is no way my heart rate averaged nearly 150bpm for over an hour.

I average about 115 - 130 using my polar chest strap - depending on the workout.

 

[willgill]

I'm one of those seeing poor matching between my Garmin 310Xt with strap vs the Band.
Since the HR sensor is optical, I think the issue is either
1. Hairy wrists
2. Ambient light entry
I never considered myself that hairy, but I did notice I have fairly hairy arms and wrists. Please hold the ape jokes.
I shaved my wrists to see if that makes a difference.
Also, if that doesn't do the trick, I may just add a soft gasket around the metal frame of the sensor to shield external light.
I'll post results in the coming days.

 

[dbregman]

I was thinking that a gasket might help. The sensor on the Surge has a more pronounced rim around it. Let me know the results.

 

[willgill]

Yesterday I compared my Microsoft Band to my Garmin 310XT GPS watch with HR chest strap. I did 45 minutes of an hour spin class (showed up late). I wore the Band display down and snug enough where I didn't see light leak. I took the graphs and merged them. The red is the Garmin and the purple the Band. I believe I have the graphs pretty well matched up respective to their displayed X and Y. I suspected wrist hair may contribute to inaccuracies so I shaved my wrists. I'm a lightly tanned white male 6' 1" 208 (for any demographic reference).

I know there were times when I glanced at both devices and the Band showed higher but the software seemed to smooth or omit those spikes out in the final output. Surprising there were several times where the Band was way too low and I know it was low.

I'll keep experimenting with different variables such as display up, band tightness and possibly adding a gasket around the sensor.

 

[pil71]

i wear sweat band around it and my calories are very close to calories per HR strap (Wahoo). HR is slightly off, but somehow calories are pretty close.

 

[Yu Cheng]

Oh man, maybe you played recreational tennis only.

 

[Yu Cheng]

I'm using MS Band for a week. During resting or low activity, the HR is shows is quite accurate. But for exercises, especially anaerobic ones, it shows abnormally high values. During walking, it may jump to 140 and show average 115, during elliptical it goes up to 180 while elliptical device itself measures 150s max.

Sadly, that's the current technology, it happens to any wrist-bound devices using light to monitor blood flood. The chest-strap is still arguably the only accurate instantaneous hear-rate tracker.

 

[PhalanxPunx]

I posted this yesterday in a different thread but I'll say it again as this one seems to be taking off.

I went to the gym this morning for the first time with my band and I repeatedly checked it against the HR monitor on the treadmill and I found that the entire time (45 minutes) the discrepancy between the band the treadmill was between 0 and 5 BPM. I'm not doubting anyone's word on here, just relating my experience thus far. I will continue to watch this and see if anything changes. I will post again if I see it change beyond that.

I guess it just depends on the person/body type/build/etc...

 

[willgill]

I did another test today and put the results below. I had the day off so I was getting my wife's vehicle's oil changed. The facility is about a mile away so I ran home and then ran to the facility when it was ready. On the way back I waited until GPS locked on all three of my devices, the Microsoft Band, Garmin 310XT GPS watch and my cellphone running Endomondo.

I wore the Band display down on my left wrist fairly snug but it still jostled ever so slightly. The heart rate on the Band shows nice steady increase of my HR followed by a slope back down. However, it's too high. The BPM ramps up to 181BPM! In reality, Garmin 310XT maxed at 145.




All three devices tracked GPS very accurately. I had to stop for a few seconds to retie my shoe. All 3 devices showed a quick dip in pace to 0. All 3 tracked the same course very well.

I don't know if this is a factor, but I work in hematology and know my hemoglobin is on the high side. I usually run 16.1 to 17.3 depending on how much I've been training and my hydration level. People that smoke, athletes and dehydration will increase your Hgb. (hemoglobin).

I didn't include my Endomondo (cellphone) heart rate because it's the same as the Garmin 310XT. The ANT+ chest strap feeds both the phone and the watch. I ran a boring "J" route where all 3 tracked well, so I didn't post the maps.

 

[Shripad Lale]

My observations about the band are almost verbatim similar to yours. I have been working out with the Adidas MiCoach Chest Strap and iPhone dongle for the past 3 years, and pretty much 'know' my heart rate based on the level of exhaustion I feel. But just to check, I wore my Adidas MiCoach chest strap and the band to my recent run. I usually walk up a steep hill and then run on the plateau at the top. While climbing the hill, my heart rate typically reaches 130. In this case, the band continued to show 80. Later on, as I ran, the band caught up with the chest strap reading. After reading all the posts, and repeating my observations with a chest strap, I feel that the band just takes more time to 'settle' down to the actual heart rate. It is designed to measure steady increase and decrease in HR, but cannot respond to sudden variations, like climbing a hill or doing weight training at the Gym. Once I know this, I am actually quite ok with it, since I am more concerned about working out for long duration at too high a heart rate. It would be nice if the band was dead on accurate, but even if it is not, I would be ready to sacrifice that accuracy for the convenience of getting rid of the chest strap and a phone it is tethered to.

 

[Kronus24]

I usually walk up a steep hill and then run on the plateau at the top. .

When you did this hill climb did you set your band to exercise mode(run or workout)? Doesn't seem that you did because you said "as I ran, the band caught up with the chest strap reading" which it would take up to 9 min to catch up. The band is actually very accurate to Chest straps once you set it on the right mode.

Microsoft Band heart rate sampling frequency
•Exercise modes (Run and Workout): Heart rate records every second
•Sleep tracking : 2 minutes on, 8 minutes off. Repeats throughout duration
•All other times : 1 minute on, 9 minutes off, and repeating the cycle

 

[poit57]

I just got my Band on Friday and did about a 55 minutes workout and a 35 minute run yesterday. I previously had an Adidas miCoach chest strap, which I always felt read too high. The chest strap would always show my resting heart rate around 84 while my heart rate during workouts would average around 155 and shoot up to 210 during intense intervals. The Band has been showing my resting heart rate around 70, which is closer to when I manually count my own pulse. During my workout yesterday, my average heart rate was recorded at 140 with a high of 176, and my run averaged 146 with a high of 180.

 

[paullubbock]

If you have some constructive to say, then respond.