And a little retro NBA look at the gym. If your arms are moving during a workout, tighten the band snugly. There were no high readings on the Watch except the Heart app said the highest rate was 98 BPM which did not show on the P7. I too have opened the Apple HR app and it will jump up to the expect rate. All Rights Reserved. One seems to give very good results while I work out. Then find your pulse and hold two fingers over it, pressing firmly. It’s kinda BS that Apple cannot fix this. Then multiply your pulse count by two to get your heart rate per minute. I raised my Apple Watch again and swiped up to view the heart rate glance. I had no sunscreen on. So many people have reported inaccurate heart rate readings on their Watch that Apple has walked back some of it’s claims. I used the ecg on my series 4 last year when the bpm was detected at 232 after merely just throwing a football stayed like that for a while, luckily I used the ecg while this was happening, after a couple trips to the hospital and a years worth of cardiologist appointments I was diagnosed with SVT with Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome, My Electrophysiologist was able to identify the condition from the ecg.I had corrective catheter ablation procedure on March 12, 2020 so far, so good after 3 months of my heart healing from procedure. The other one is very erratic during exercise. I just don’t want to kill myself trying to accomplish a green circle. It was possible that the Apple Watch was giving the athlete a false reading, so the trainer took Houle’s reading manually. Don't panic if your Apple Watch, Fitbit, or any other monitoring device signals a fast heart rate — it does not automatically mean you have hyperthyroidism or another serious problem. The Heart Rate app on the watch shows a small graph of recorded heart rates, or you can visit the Health app on your iPhone ($899 at Amazon) to view a larger, more detailed version of the graph. If you believe the Apple Watch is a health device, it probably matters if the heart rate is grossly inaccurate. very inconsistent i had an irregular heart beat scare and bought this watch to monitor my heart rate, the watch jumps from 60 to 136 in an instant never had a problem with fitbit blaze think its time to ditch the apple watch as the uncertainty is too stressful. I do sweat a lot and I’m sure that doesn’t help but for $300+ it should work. the monitor is crap. I started wearing a wrist sweatband just above the watch to keep the sweat off. ECG’s were showing lots of PVC’s (downward spikes) that required two separate ablations last year. I’ve tried wearing it on the inside of my wrist. I have used the Apple Watch 2 since Christmas Day and I’ve noticed that every time I workout I’ll glance at it and the heart rate isn’t showing and it looks as if it’s trying to get the heart rate. I don’t think I’d every upgrade to a new Apple Watch for a while. Enjoy this tip? Subscribe to the OSXDaily newsletter to get more of our great Apple tips, tricks, and important news delivered to your inbox! Thinking new FitBit Versa! Count me in… this Apple Watch heart rate monitor stinks. Now after reading this article, my watch isn’t that tight, and I can see the green lights on the back while working out. For example 210-35bpm I felt dizzy then. I agree with most of these comments the HR portion of the AW is a disgrace. This increases the frequency of heart rate monitoring. Just as long as you don’t have a heart rate that is sitting over 100 all the time I would say just mention it to your doctor and get checked out if you are really concerned. When my timer went off, I got message that my green goal was done – 5 minutes. When i do cardio, the heart rate accuracy is good. If you want accurate heart rate monitoring, look elsewhere. For the most accurate heart rate readings, you will want to be sure you’re wearing the Apple Watch fairly snug against your skin, which is a bit easier with the Apple Watch Sport bands and various bands with magnetic latches rather than some of the other bands, particularly the link bracelet. After taking an ECG reading, the ECG app will check for sinus rhythm or AFib. When Will Apple Fix The Scary Heart Readings on the Series 3 Watch. Don't Miss: What a High Heart Rate Warning Means on Your Apple Watch In general, a good resting heart rate falls between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm), while the target active heart rate will be somewhere between 100 and 175 bpm. Thank you Apple and thank you Dr.Koo in Eatontown NJ. As hinted at earlier, it’s also possible that some software issues may cause the Apple Watch heart rate monitor to be inaccurate, so be sure you install WatchOS updates when they’re available for Apple Watch to get any potential bug fixes or improvements to the devices capabilities. I use to have a Fitbit charge hr and that never was off. A question from Jim: I purchased an Apple Watch 5 and the heart rate monitor is totally out of accuracy.I purchased it for the heart function of the watch as I have a very low resting heart rate. The number cant be seen? The Apple Watch 163 BPM heart rate is too high compared with 84 BPM Polar P7 chest strap displayed on NuStep (Photo S. Pate) By Stephen Pate – The Apple Watch is a great fitness wearable but it records wildly inaccurate heart rate readings. Why you’ve never really been able to figure out what to do with what your watch is telling you about your heart rate. I have had readings taken multiple times but all logged to one time, say 14.13 but with very different ranges. If I remove these extremes, I get an average time time lapse between measurements of approximately every 5 minutes. I’ve had three case files opened, returned and a new watch sent. I’m practically dying and my HR is lower than when I’m walking? I was relieved to see this article as I was a bit alarmed. I have gotten readings of 180+ while jogging that drops to 70 within seconds. thank you! The first thing to check is the Watch band fit. I run and teach indoor cycling and the HR monitor goes up and down like a roller coaster. Apple Watch features a heart rate ... but keep in mind that this may have an affect on an accurate heart rate reading from your Apple Watch. I figured maybe certain movements where my wrists are bent move the watch or perhaps I’m sweating too much were the issues. Why does everyone assume that the off readings are and inaccuracy of the watch vs something wrong with your heart? Publisher of NJN Network, Stephen has covered pop, jazz, folk and rock music since 1964, and spent 2 decades as the founder of serial IT startups. You can turn on heart rate notifications when you first open the Heart Rate app on your Apple Watch, or at any time later from your iPhone: On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app. Searching for a solution, don’t want to give up yet. By continuing to browse the site, closing this banner, scrolling this webpage, or clicking a link, you agree to these cookies. My watch is a much more advanced ‘at hand’ personal digital solution because of it in so many ways, but one of the first things I noticed was how HR accuracy and consistency was improved. Whatever band you use, just be sure it fits snug for the best results. Apple Watch connected to Polar P7 heart readings agrees with P7, shown next to the NuStep heart icon (Photo S. Pate). Over the past year I’ve learned how to fix the heart rate errors in Workouts. Swipe left when you see the heart rate chart. Apple promotes the Watch as a fitness device and heart rate is the key to everything. I thought there was something wrong with me. No lotion on any part of my body since yesterday afternoon. And I am not a sweat-er. Enter your email address below: Apple Watch helped identify heart problems for me too. I wanted to leave a review with Apple itself couldn’t find anywhere to leave a product review. Mine is all over the map…very inconsistent. When I Bought it I was given a month to try it and that was the reason I stayed with it, Because it was within one or two beats from heart monitor if not completely the same . I have recently bought the Apple Watch series 2 Nike edition. If you’re worried about the accuracy of the HR monitor you can easily compare it to a true manual HR reading the way a nurse takes it. And guess what…I’ve been diagnosed with afib! The next reading is double that rate then it drops back down. Connect your chest strap on the Watch at Settings…Bluetooth…Health Devices. I will continue to monitor to make sure I don’t have a heart issue but I don’t think I do as I just had a heart stress test a few months ago with no issue. I could not feel any irregularities so I manually checked my BPM and it was closer to 55BPM. For example, a future Apple Watch update could discard the very first heart rate glance reading which is typically the inaccurate one, and only show the accurate BPM after that. I use a Polar H7 chest strap for indoor workouts and the Apple Watch readings will usually be close to it. During the 20 minute Stepper Workout in the photo below, the Watch agreed (93 BPM) with the Polar P7 (92 BPM – mid screen above time 12:18). This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. @RR – This is great advice for comparing the heart rate accuracy of the Apple Watch versus manual readings like what is done in a clinical setting (well, minus being hooked up to something that monitors HR), thanks for sharing that! I too had a scare with my heart and bought the apple watch 4 to help monitor and the inconsistent readings bring me more anxiety than anything haha. So I’m very curious to know how often other people’s hearts are measured? So who knows for sure. I’m on software version 3.0.3. Simple as that. It almost always reads at 1/2 of actual heart rate. It seems like the Workout app is slow updating. I workout and can take my own heart rate and it would be about 180, but my watch will read 79. heart rate monitor feature of Apple Watch, get a surprisingly good quality knock-off Apple Watch Sport band from Amazon, install WatchOS updates when they’re available for Apple Watch, How to Measure Heart Rate with Apple Watch, How to Enable Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications (AFib) on Apple Watch, How to Change Refresh Rate on Mac Displays, WatchOS 5.1.2 with ECG & Irregular Heart Rhythm Alerts Released for Apple Watch, How to Hide MacOS Sierra Update Banner from the Mac App Store, Enabling a Pixel Brush in Pixelmator to Draw Pixel Art on Mac. It’s been pretty accurate for me but occasionally had the partial readings eg 46 then it quickly adjusts to normal 70-ish. Qardio, Omron, Nokia and other Blood pressure devices can handle irregular heartbeats and provide accurate BPM. The built-in heart rate monitor feature of Apple Watch is great for exercise and monitoring general heart health, but from time to time you may notice the heart rate number reported back seems unusual given your present state. So disappointed with the accuracy of this watch. Another frequent reason why Apple Watch may offer inaccurate readings is if the Apple Watch light sensors on the back of the device are obstructed, whether it’s grime, heavy dirt, film, undried lotions, or sunblock. I have several family members who have A Fib.. and these measurements make me wonder if I might be starting to get it… Maybe when the watch has trouble measuring, it just measures continuously… Thoughts? So if you have an irregular or occasional quick pulse watch will report say 96 BPM then immediately report the correct BPM. Tap High Heart Rate Notifications or Low Rate Notifications, then set a heart rate threshold. I have only had this watch for 5 days so, after I tighten it up, I guess we’ll see. Learn about the accuracy and limitations of the heart rate sensor. Deliberately bought AW when I had a week off to test it.