Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread, have any of you experienced it?

[Windows Central Question]

Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I've had my band for several days, the only issues that has jumped out is the heart monitor. It doesn't change much, even during heavy exercise. I thought I might have a bum band, but it sounds like others are seeing the same thing.

 

[Jazmac]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Where did you hear this?

 

[Noahma]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Mine seems to be fairly accurate. I have yet to bring it out on a bike ride, but normal actions seem to be very close to what I calculate.

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Where did you hear this?

That it's inaccurate? How about the Heart Rate Extremely Inaccurate, Microsoft Says Band is Entry-Level Device thread.

My own finding is that depending on the motion involved, it can be highly inaccurate.

 

[Nate Silver]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Mine seems reasonably accurate, within the limitations of Optical HR devices. I seriously doubt that any wrist worn tracker is going to challenge a heart rate strap for accuracy when a person is moving vigorously, at least not with the current generation of the tech. My Surge is certainly no better than the Band, might even be worse.

 

[Harrie-S]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Also lets be fair. If you go to a hospital and get a condition test (riding a bike) they put all kind of sensors on you and hook it up to a machine. Are you really expect that a wrist devices will get the same accuracy even when used in all kind of no controlled situations?

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I seriously doubt that any wrist worn tracker is going to challenge a heart rate strap for accuracy when a person is moving vigorously,

I wouldn't rate my walking though the mall as 'vigorously'. And I did a quick test after the firmware upgrade, but after getting a reading of 150 compared to my Polar's 113, I gave up. I don't know what kind of accuracy you think is reasonable, but 150 vs 113 is unacceptable to me when doing a activity as common as walking.

 

[Nate Silver]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I wouldn't rate my walking though the mall as 'vigorously'. And I did a quick test after the firmware upgrade, but after getting a reading of 150 compared to my Polar's 113, I gave up. I don't know what kind of accuracy you think is reasonable, but 150 vs 113 is unacceptable to me when doing a activity as common as walking.

I agree with you, that's out of whack for sure. Haven't noticed that sort of problem with mine, just the typical failure to respond to rapid changes, or lack of response for non-cardio based exercise.

 

[enahs555]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I did three sets of tests on a treadmill today. Each for a mile, with run tracking turned on with the GPS off. When the treadmill said one mile, by Band said 0.97, 0.98, and 1.01 miles. Quite accurate without a GPS, I would say. I also grabbed the heart rate monitors on the treadmill a dozen times each run, and it was in agreement with the Band at the given time. I.E. the band would say 163 and the treadmill would say 169, etc. Always within 10 of each other.

Do you guys have the Band it loose, maybe?
I moved mine up on the arm and keep it decent tight so it does not bounce around. I have also played with it on backwards, so the screen is on the same side as my palm, and it still seems to get the same results.

 

[jwpear]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I've been experimenting with the placement of my Band on its HR accuracy. I was pretty disappointed with how poorly it tracked with my strap when on the treadmill. It seems to do reasonably well on the bike and during weight lifting. I was baffled with its issues on the treadmill.

This past Saturday, I decided to follow the advice of others and try wearing mine further up my arm--toward my elbow. My Band was about my index fingers width above my wrist bone. That's as far up my arm as I could push my large Band. I did the treadmill for 15 mins or so. It was within 3-5 bpm for most of the time. I was pumped about this success. But at around 12 mins, when I quickly ramped up intensity by pushing the incline to 10 degrees, it struggled. It never really caught up until I moved on to weights.

In the shot below, you can see my HR gradually ramp up as I ramped up intensity. It was nearly dead on with my strap and with the manual pulse I occasionally took. The 155 mark was the last point the strap and Band were in synch during the treadmill.



And below is a shot of the treadmill, with HR from my strap, just before I ramped up the incline. It's dead on with Band.
-pic would be here if upload wasn't failing with 500 error on server--

I read an article, on Fitbit's site of all places, that mention we have more blood flow in our arm than our wrist. It suggested experimenting with placement on the arm, particularly during exercise, to improve accuracy.

Help Site - Heart rate FAQs

My question: why am I not getting this sort of info from the Band team? Ridiculous and irritating.

 

[11B1P]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I have also played with it on backwards, so the screen is on the same side as my palm...

That is not backwards. It is perfectly fine to wear it that way.I wear mine like that all day, every day, during exercising and not exercising.

 

[Jazmac]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I agree with you, that's out of whack for sure. Haven't noticed that sort of problem with mine, just the typical failure to respond to rapid changes, or lack of response for non-cardio based exercise.

I work part time in health care and we have those electronic pressure monitors in our health screening process. However when the doctors see them, they use a manual cuff because they don't accept the results of the Omron 5. Doesn't mean that the readings are wrong, but they do vary. It is the nature of these devices. Why people believe the Band or any other pressure tracking device will be any different is amazing to me.

 

[oldpueblo]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I think the band may lag a bit on screen but when you look at the logged activity it looks more accurate. Could be anecdotal.

 

[onlysublime]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I've had my band for several days, the only issues that has jumped out is the heart monitor. It doesn't change much, even during heavy exercise. I thought I might have a bum band, but it sounds like others are seeing the same thing.

you want to test whether it's accurate? count yourself and then compare to what the Band says.

At rest, count your pulse for 10 seconds and then multiply what number you get by 6. That's your resting heart rate. You want a more accurate count? Count your pulse for 20 seconds and multiply by 3 to get your resting heart rate. According to the National Institute of Health, the average resting heart rate for children 10 years and older, and adults (including seniors) is 60 - 100 beats per minute. Well-trained athletes is 40 - 60 beats per minute

Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. You want to stay between 50 percent to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. This range is your target heart rate.

I see too many of these comparisons of device X is more accurate than device Y. But they're using one of those 2 devices as the baseline where the actual baseline is measuring your own pulse.

 

[wpguy]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I work part time in health care and we have those electronic pressure monitors in our health screening process. However when the doctors see them, they use a manual cuff because they don't accept the results of the Omron 5. Doesn't mean that the readings are wrong, but they do vary. It is the nature of these devices. Why people believe the Band or any other pressure tracking device will be any different is amazing to me.

Just my own observations of all BP screenings: I really don't understand why medical personnel expect accurate BP readings when the patient's BP is checked first thing upon sitting down in the exam room. I often have to tell the intake provider my numbers are high because of the hike from the waiting room, and a recheck near the end of the intake interview will yield expected numbers. They do it a little begrudgingly, and are then surprised at the difference.

 

[Nate Silver]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Just my own observations of all BP screenings: I really don't understand why medical personnel expect accurate BP readings when the patient's BP is checked first thing upon sitting down in the exam room. I often have to tell the intake provider my numbers are high because of the hike from the waiting room, and a recheck near the end of the intake interview will yield expected numbers. They do it a little begrudgingly, and are then surprised at the difference.

My doctor always does this as a matter of course. He also forgoes the fancy BP machine in favor of the old fashioned cuff and stethoscope.

 

[Broomcorn]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Glad I read this before recommending it primarily as a hr monitor. Looking for to the 2nd gen devices

 

[oldpueblo]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

It's accurate enough for me.

(Don't judge, it was a quickie)

 

[kenjancef]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

I did a little test earlier this evening. Since I hurt my foot last Monday (actually, the first day I got the Band), I can't run, so I did a stationary bike tonite. About 3-4 minutes in, the Band read about 172, and the machine said 110. I read about making the Band a little tighter if readings were inaccurate, so I did that. Checked on-and-off for the 30 minute ride, and all times the Band and machine were 2-3 beats off.

I'm still new with it, but I'll do more testing...

 

[Jazmac]

Re: Glad to hear the inaccurate heart rate is widespread

Just my own observations of all BP screenings: I really don't understand why medical personnel expect accurate BP readings when the patient's BP is checked first thing upon sitting down in the exam room. I often have to tell the intake provider my numbers are high because of the hike from the waiting room, and a recheck near the end of the intake interview will yield expected numbers. They do it a little begrudgingly, and are then surprised at the difference.

Its called "White Coat". That uptick is very common in a waiting room where the unknown and or undue worry of a test result or exam always causes your BP to spike. It would be interesting to see the numbers on those people waiting on test results on the Maury show. Might even be a better test of how well the Band works. lol.