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Wore my Polar H10 for the first time today.
It did what was asked of it perfectly well. I linked it to my ebike so I could see my HR on the display.
What surprised me, after reading so much about how inaccurate they (watches) are - every time I checked the display against my watch, they were pretty much in sync.
Over the whole ride there wasn't much difference to say anything is wildly inaccurate - watch said average 112/max 138, Polar said average 114/max 141. It's a now reasonably old Garmin Epix, so not the latest tech
Over a decent period, watches are OK. The real difference is when doing something like hill reps or interval training. In that case, the chest HRM reacts much faster to HR changes. The lag on a watch makes such training a bit of a lottery. Armband HRMs are somewhere between the two.
There's usually only 1-2 BPM difference between my Instinct 2, and my Coospo chest strap that's synced with the Explore 2 computer
My Garmin Epix 2 is wildly inaccurate if I forget my chest strap.
At the bottom of descents where I can feel my heart rate is 160+ and the watch says 110. Same on steep climbs.
The only time it is accurate is when I go for walks.
Cold weather is the enemy of wrist based pulse
Is there a chance your watch connected to your hrm?
Is there a chance your watch connected to your hrm?
I do have it linked to the watch, but had the connection turned off for the ride
Absolutely certain it is switched off? Sorry for asking but I forgot I'd connected my hrm to my watch when I first got the watch and promptly forgot as I also got a bike computer that the hrm connected to.
My watch is very accurate when I'm wearing my hrm but I then realised it is auto connecting.
Not trying to dispel your thinking just trying to help make sure your findings are absolutely spot on.