How do I calibrate the Microsoft Band ECG sensor?

[john Dohoney]

Calibration of the Microsoft Band ECG sensor.

While on my rowing machine (Inspire CR-2) yesterday, it said my pulse was 208. I took it in a 15 sec interval on the radial pulse and it was 123. How do I calibrate this sensor? Today while weight lifting, it did seem accurate--ranging from 102-146. Is it how I am wearing it?

 

[realwarder]

Re: Calibration of the Microsoft Band ECG sensor.

While on my rowing machine (Inspire CR-2) yesterday, it said my pulse was 208. I took it in a 15 sec interval on the radial pulse and it was 123. How do I calibrate this sensor? Today while weight lifting, it did seem accurate--ranging from 102-146. Is it how I am wearing it?

Possibly. Make sure it's reasonably tight on the wrist when exercising. Loosen afterwards. Not super tight of course

Also, you could try switching to inside/outside of wrist and see if that helps.

 

[realwarder]

Re: Calibration of the Microsoft Band ECG sensor.

Note: it's not ECG either Optical HRM.

 

[DroidUser42]

Re: Calibration of the Microsoft Band ECG sensor.

There is no calibration. Some times it's accurate, sometimes not. How you wear it can affect it, as well as the type of motion. I'm sure your body's physiology plays a role as well, so what works for one person may not work for another.

 

[gadgetrants]

Re: Calibration of the Microsoft Band ECG sensor.

If you have the time and the inclination, there are a few really good threads here that started out with someone puzzled and frustrated with their HR experience, and then others chiming in to verify or disagree and discuss. Some of the better threads have screenshots of detailed comparisons of data from the Band running in conjunction with other (presumably pretty accurate) systems. Since the numbers I see align reasonably well for me with what I know from wearing a chest strap, I'm on the "it works pretty well" side of the discussion (which I think is the general consensus). But DroidUser42 is right -- there are lots of personal accounts that go both ways.

However, something important to remember: if you haven't, make sure to look at your workout on the Health app or the Dashboard and see if it looks out of wack. It might be the case that the Band had a brief misreading when you checked it, which seem to often get smoothed or dropped when your data sync from the Band (it's also the case that reasonable data on the Band sometimes look crazy on the Health app). But if what you see when the data sync looks dead wrong, it's likely you have a defective device.

-Matt