Series 4 vs series 3 heart rate monitor

[MatthewUT44]

Good afternoon!

I had an apple watch series 3 since April of this year. The heart rate sensor has been really hit or miss. When I sweat a lot in the summer, my heart rate readings spike either up or down. It's been never consistent. Also sometimes it greys out. Now since the weather is colder the heart rate sensor does the same thing. I wear long sleeves to keep my wrists warm but the heart rate keeps spiking. Is the heart rate monitor on the series 4 any better?

 

[PatrickNSF]

I believe so. Every review I've read – DCRainmaker, DesFit, TechyAgent – claims that it's the best optical HRM available (or something to that effect).

 

[sdwaltz]

You're probably wearing the watch a little too loose. Tighten it and see if it gets better.

 

[Magnificent]

Actually, I have never had an apple watch before series 4 so I can just share my experience that I had with my series 4.
Nowadays, because of the winter session I am not able to test the heart rate monitor of the series 4 but in my last run on November my wrist was to sweat and when I raised my wrist to check my heart rate there was no any data. In that run session I checked my heart rate from time to time and I saw occasionally my heart rate.
I suppose it may be because of seat or my third party app's bug.
At the first opportunity I will try it again with the native activity app.
I will write my experience here again.

 

[cote32mt]

Good afternoon!

I had an apple watch series 3 since April of this year. The heart rate sensor has been really hit or miss. When I sweat a lot in the summer, my heart rate readings spike either up or down. It's been never consistent. Also sometimes it greys out. Now since the weather is colder the heart rate sensor does the same thing. I wear long sleeves to keep my wrists warm but the heart rate keeps spiking. Is the heart rate monitor on the series 4 any better?

I had an AW3 and cracked the face after owning it less than 3 months, rendering it unusable. I didn’t have it repaired or replaced because I could never get the HR monitor to work consistently, the main reason I got the watch in the first place. I tried everything (except seeing an Apple genius). I eventually tried again when AW4 came out, and I’ve never noticed even the slightest glitch. In one exercise session I wore a chest strap monitor in addition to the AW4 and the readings were within a beat or two of each other. I wore it on a winter hike, 7-deg F day, with it obviously under a coat sleeve, and it functioned in that use case as well.

 

[no-comment1001]

The difference between my S0 watch - where the HR sensor was also hit or miss - and the S4, is like day and night! Much improved IMO.

Good afternoon!

I had an apple watch series 3 since April of this year. The heart rate sensor has been really hit or miss. When I sweat a lot in the summer, my heart rate readings spike either up or down. It's been never consistent. Also sometimes it greys out. Now since the weather is colder the heart rate sensor does the same thing. I wear long sleeves to keep my wrists warm but the heart rate keeps spiking. Is the heart rate monitor on the series 4 any better?

 

[gsucyclist]

I personally have had issue with the built in HR monitor. I typically run in the early mornings when its still dark out and when its warm it seems to work OK, but now that its colder its hit or miss. Sometimes it works fine for a bit and then tell my HR is super high which I know is not the case. Sometimes it registers super high for the first 20 minutes or so at the start of my run and then levels out. I'm not too impressed to be honest. I realize that its an issue that is inherent with optical HR sensors, but not everyone seems to have this problem. I went back to wearing a chest strap which has always been reliable

 

[Newtons Apple]

For me the S4 HR sensor is superior to the previous ones.

I have always had trouble when running or even just walking and look at my watch during the exercise and the HR was at 00 or worst like 65, about half what it should be.

My S4 sensor has not lost track of my HR, not a single time so far.

 

[Rooskibar03]

Interesting. I think the sensor on my S4 is worse than my S2. That one never missed a beat, S4 has no heart rate data for 3 of last 5 workouts.

 

[rcarter3636]

I always had trouble with weightlifting and tennis heart rate data on my AW3 until new software release in September. I then ditched my chest strap as it was spot on without. Now I have the AW4 and I now have the same good data with the optical heart rate monitor.
I believe it had more to do with the software and not hardware. I just bought a AW2 on a great deal for a back up and will be testing it against the AW4.