Any noticeable improvement in HR monitor from S0 to S3?

[HuckleberryBoo]

i had a series 0 for about 18 months. I am mainly interested in the Apple Watch for fitness tracking, but I found the HR monitor to be horrible. I’d be in the middle of a workout and the HR reading would go from something like 140 to 40, and then I would repeatedly get messages that it couldn’t read my HR even though it was snug on my wrist, I’m not the least bit hairy, don’t have tattoos on my arm, don’t get excessively sweaty, etc. After about 2-3 minutes it would work again. The worst exercises were ones where I was using my arms, like rowing or pushups. But I would even have trouble on the elliptical cross trainer. I had the unit replaced under AppleCare+, but the replacement had the same issues.

I ended up selling that watch. Now a year later, I haven’t found a smart watch or fitness tracker that I like better than the Apple Watch, so I want to give the S3 a shot. Has anyone noticed that the heart rate monitor has improved over the years?

 

[Julien]

No

 

[Otflyer]

i had a series 0 for about 18 months. I am mainly interested in the Apple Watch for fitness tracking, but I found the HR monitor to be horrible. I’d be in the middle of a workout and the HR reading would go from something like 140 to 40, and then I would repeatedly get messages that it couldn’t read my HR even though it was snug on my wrist, I’m not the least bit hairy, don’t have tattoos on my arm, don’t get excessively sweaty, etc. After about 2-3 minutes it would work again. The worst exercises were ones where I was using my arms, like rowing or pushups. But I would even have trouble on the elliptical cross trainer. I had the unit replaced under AppleCare+, but the replacement had the same issues.

I ended up selling that watch. Now a year later, I haven’t found a smart watch or fitness tracker that I like better than the Apple Watch, so I want to give the S3 a shot. Has anyone noticed that the heart rate monitor has improved over the years?

Don’t know if my S3 HR monitor is anymore accurate than my S0 but, the HR monitor on the S3 has been proven to be 97% accurate. It is as accurate as a chest band monitor.

 

[midkay]

I don’t think it’s changed at all. At least, the hardware. In terms of software I have actually felt like since watchOS 4.1 or 4.2 the accuracy took a hit. I seem to noticeably more often get missed readings, incorrect readings, or not enough data to build a heart rate graph. It’s always been occasionally inconsistent but now it’s very often flaky. Kind of annoying, hope it’s just some subpar machine learning result or something and they can fix it up soon.

 

[Darrensk8]

I don’t think it’s changed at all. At least, the hardware. In terms of software I have actually felt like since watchOS 4.1 or 4.2 the accuracy took a hit. I seem to noticeably more often get missed readings, incorrect readings, or not enough data to build a heart rate graph. It’s always been occasionally inconsistent but now it’s very often flaky. Kind of annoying, hope it’s just some subpar machine learning result or something and they can fix it up soon.

How’s your heart rate workout recovery data? Mines not really working at all. I’ve literally tried everything to sort it.

 

[Pseudo-Fed]

For the best HR readings from watch only, shave a patch, snug it up one notch, and wear a wrist band just above the watch on the forearm during activities. This will help, but no wrist based optical HR is great or tracking all activities.

I use the Scosche Rythym Plus, which is an external optical HR sensor and it is consistent and accurate for all types of activities....

 

[Darrensk8]

For the best HR readings from watch only, shave a patch, snug it up one notch, and wear a wrist band just above the watch on the forearm during activities. This will help, but no wrist based optical HR is great or tracking all activities.

I use the Scosche Rythym Plus, which is an external optical HR sensor and it is consistent and accurate for all types of activities....

Absolutely, the frustration is It’s reading during workout just not after. The sensor lights don’t even fire once workout is completed

 

[HuckleberryBoo]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Sounds like it won’t be much better than my previous experience. But I ordered one a few days ago, and I’ll try it out a few times and see how it goes.

 

[mk313]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Sounds like it won’t be much better than my previous experience. But I ordered one a few days ago, and I’ll try it out a few times and see how it goes.

I agree with the previous post. If you haven't tried wearing the watch band one button closer than you do during normal wear, try that. My first run was all over the place (like you described) but for my second run I tightened up the strap and got solid readings. Now, I just tighten it one hole before every run & i get rock solid HR readings every time.

 

[dokindo]

I saw no improvement from S0 to S3 in HR tracking.

So I got a TICKR, and it’s awesome. Put it on before my workout and get reliable, consistent results no matter what the activity. Nothing to turn on/off, other than putting the strap on.

 

[oeagleo]

I'd say invest in a chest type HRM, it's the only way to accurately monitor Heart Rate data, if you're serious about the athletics. I use a Wahoo Tickr-X, and love it. Beautiful heart rate graphs. I also use a Scosche Rhythm+ for when I don't want to wear the Tickr, usually when I go for an indoor walk in the malls, and have a long sleeve shirt. It's just about as accurate as the Tickr, and also gives beautiful, uninterupted graphs that export to other software through RunGap, and give great graphs on those applications. I'm talking Garmin Connect, and Suunto Movescount.
Spend the bucks if you're serious.