When I simply check my BPM it appears to work normally.
But when I start a workout the displayed heart rate slowly rises, even when I am sitting still.
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I put on my Polar H10 heart rate chest strap on and used the Polar app to watch my heart rate from my Samsung phone.
Then with the watch NOT connected to the phone I started a new 'Other' exercise on the watch using Samsung Health.
While sitting still my Polar H10 showed a BPM of 50 to 56 while the Watch slowly increased and showed a reading of 130 to 150.
I let that continue for quite a while with no change in the error.
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Today I held the watch on the inside of my forearm ~1inch below the bend in my elbow and started a new 'Other' workout.
It worked perfectly; it did not slowly increase for no reason and when I did some light jogging in place it went up and when I stopped it went down.
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But when I returned the watch to my wrist and did the same thing it would fail: slowly increases on its own, while I am sitting still and does not go back down.
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Is there any fix for this problem?
Thanks to all who read this and those who offer information.
I tried to replicate the 'workaround' but I could not! It is still going up during a 'workout' even when I am sitting still.
Looks like I will be returning this watch unless I can narrow down a more reliable solution/workaround.
I did notice that after the elevated HR reading during a workout it takes a few minutes for the watch to give correct HR reading after the workout has been stopped.
My guess is that it's simply a software issue. I have had the Watch4 Classic (sent it in for a refund after a replacement motherboard and a replacement sensor didn't do the trick), and it also had all sorts of issues regarding heart rate monitoring. Worked flawlessly during a manually started workout, gave flat lines during an automatically detected workout and the "continuous" measurement didn't even work outside of any workout. It's just a hot mess, and since the past 10 updates didn't fix it for my Bluetooth model (the LTE version got less updates because they don't play the "beta tester" like the Bluetooth models), I doubt that it will ever be fixed. If you still have the option to refund it and you want a device with reliable heart rate monitoring, go for the refund.
This will probably be my last post on this topic, (unless I receive replies that warrant a conversation).
I have received a few emails asking me to mark this as solved, it is not solved.
The problem continues.
The watch has gone a couple days with the Heart Rate set to 'Measure Continuously' and when I am not doing anything it appears to work correctly.
BUT when I start a 'workout'; from that point it does not work.
A workout might start out ok or it might go high right away. But once it goes high it will usually stay high. It has gone as high as ~130 when my actual HR is in the ~60 range. That was tested using my 'Polar H10 Heart Rate Strap'.
After I stop the 'workout':
if the reading was very high during the workout then it will not be able to read normally for several minutes, if at all, ( I might have to change the HR reading to manual and back or restart but even then it isn't guaranteed).
So, something is happening during any 'workout' that does not happen when simply reading Heart Rate.
1) Is it a firmware, software issue?
2) Is it a hardware problem that is revealed only when in workouts?
3) What is happening during a 'workout' that does not happen when just reading my Heart Rate during the day?
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Since it appears to work when not in a workout I expect that a hardware diagnostic would not find anything, ( I have read several reports of people getting nowhere when sending their watch in for 'repair').
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I have also read about how inaccurate the Galaxy Watch 4 HR reporting is.
I decided that was ok, I don't need hyper accurate HR monitoring.
But when my actual HR is in the low 60 BPM but the watch is reporting 120+ BPM then the watch becomes UNUSABLE for any 'workout' recording.
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So, again, what is happening during a 'workout' that does not happen during reading of Heart Rate when not in a workout?
Just want to update this thread to say that my Galaxy Watch 4 classic is now working during workouts; 'hiking' and 'cycling' appear to be tracking heart rate correctly now.
I have made two changes:
1) changed the watch band to an elastic one so that:
----a) the watch is held in a better position
----b) I can move it higher up, farther from my wrist, if needed.
2) I installed the latest update from Samsung, version ending GWB2.
I believe that the elastic watch band contributed most to the solution though I don't know what changes were made in the last firmware update.
