WATCH 5's BPM is inaccurate when cycling.

[lstoch]

WATCH 5

I have had my bpm checked against a stress ECG by my cardiologist.  The result of the test was that the watch is accurate when I'm running.

However, the watch registers a maximum BPM of around 210 and an average of around 175 when cycling - clearly an issue, particularly as I'm 71 years old and feel no discomfort or exhaustion when cycling.

I have a loop recorder that has been inserted in my chest.  This gives my cardiologist detailed data of pulse rate and any heart irregularities.  At no stage has the highly accurate loop recorder indicated a heart rate exceeding 150bpm.

My questions are:

• is anyone else experiencing unrealistically high BPM recordings when cycling?
• might the vibrations in the handlebars be causing bpm error readings?

I hope someone can provide some information in this regard.

Regards

[betancd]

Samsung watches have been known to not have the best heart rate or GPS tracking but are generally just good watches. I recommend you check out the YouTube channel "The Quantified Scientist" who compares watches using scientific data including exercise and sleep. I believe he addresses your issue in one of his episodes.

[lstoch]

Thanks so much for your response.  I'll definitely take a look.

[Dan2023]

No wearable is as accurate as a medical diagnostic device and the professional teams that operate them, which is why all wearables have a medical disclaimer. But for their size and weight, they can often provide interesting health benefits and information.

[lstoch]

Thanks, but an error of around 60 BPM renders the watch useless.

As I said, when bench marked during a stress ecg at my cardiologist, the watch's BPM was spot on.

I don't really expect 100% accuracy.  Perhaps an error of around 5% might be acceptable.  More than that is just unacceptable.

Hence my question whether the bike's vibrations might be causing the error.

[bill-e]

If you're talking about actually riding a bike on the road then what I would do is ride an exercize bike and compare.  There have to be lots of vibrations going through the handlebars causing miniscule bouncing of your sensor/hand interface which only makes sense that it would affect something. 

[lstoch]

Thanks - I have no doubt that a stationary bike would create no problems.  Much like running on the treadmill during my stress ECG.

I'm kind of coming to terms with the fact that it must be the vibrations when riding offroad and on poorly maintained roads.

It would be interesting to know whether anyone else is experiencing this problem.

[Cycleguy]

Yes. I am having the same issue on poorly maintained roads. If I take my hand off the handle bar long enough for another read out it registered alot lower BPM. I use the Samsung cycling app with the watch.

[lstoch]

thanks for the feedback.  misery likes company.

it would be great if someone would shed some light on this and provide a solution.

[Samsung_Moderator · Accepted solution]

Thank you for reaching out and welcome to the community. I can certainly understand your concern with your Galaxy watch 5's BPM showing inaccurate when cycling and would recommend submitting an error report. This will allow our team of engineers to get a hands-on look at the symptoms you are experiencing. Give this link a try for the steps to submit a proper error report: https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Samsung-Apps-and-Services/How-to-submit-an-error-report/td-p/247...

If you are unable to submit an error report, please reach out to our Samsung Health team directly using the contact information in this link: https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Samsung-Apps-and-Services/Samsung-Support-Acknowledgement/td-p/2...