Apple Watch Ultra Heart Rate During Workout

Update :

I went for a run just now and had no issue beside getting grey (heart rate icon during the beginning of the workout - after 3 mins ish) for maybe less than 10 seconds.

Session was 55 minutes and heart rate recording didnt fail this time!

I will try again soon and will test again.

Watch on Right Wrist, digital Crown Left Side (I dont thik this is make any difference but I want to believe the latest OS update improved things - 10.0.1 (21R360).

E.

I’m sorry but that ‘scientific explanation’ is nonsense. Why did my AW S7 NEVER do it, even though I go on the same run every week at the same times of year?

mine still does this and it screws my VO2 Max calculations up.

I don’t know if it’s the Ultra’s size because I have quite slim wrists, but my AW7 NEVER DID THIS. The only solution is a chest strap or turning the watch around to your inner wrist when you run which works but not perfectly

I’m new to the Ultra club (Ultra 2) and am VERY frustrated with the HR monitor issues. I retuned one and am on my second one now and the problem is even worse. My Series 7 does a MUCH better job. The problem for me is during runs (which make up the bulk of my exercise time). I talked to Apple support when I had my First Ultra 2 and the specialist told me to try wearing it higher on my wrist. This doesn’t really work for me because no matter how tightly I wear it it always, during runs, moves toward the wrist bone. I also like to have the digital crown facing my wrist bone and my guess is that it is the crown protector hitting up agains the wrist bone that is the source of the problem. (that said, I tried a run with the digital crown facing the other way and the results were only marginally better). This morning I was researching independent HR monitors and then thought: this is ridiculous. My $799 watch should be able to do this on its own! I fear I will have to return it and see what next year brings.

Sorry to hear you have issues too, yep unfortunately quite frustrating.

I went for my second run after latest OS update and everything went smooth, still scratching my head trying to understand what could be wrong if you are experiencing this issue.

Apple is advertising Ultra as “Ultra Sport Watch” and to be honest, I can’t believe they are still suggesting the customers about how they wear the watch or other small things, I don’t think this would change much (what about I’m in the middle of a Ultra Marathon in the Desert with the hit, the sweat and whatever?)

The watch should be able (without hesitation) to perform the basic HR reading during a workout.This is my personal opinion.

My Garmin Fenix Pro 7 Solar is still stellar rock solid, never failed on HR recording.

My Ultra one frequently would just stop working during a workout for no reason other than when I increased intensity of my workout. I even had it replaced through Apple care. I eventually got it work most of the time by moving it up a little higher on my wrist and/or using a sweatband I found on Amazon. Now whether it was a software issue or a hardware issue I don’t know. I bought an Utra 2 and so far have not experienced the same problem I still make sure it is a little higher on my wrist and doesn’t slide down during my workout and I don’t have to use the sweat band. I also clean the back with alcohol before I workout.

Don’t anyone think that we should be wearing the watch just like any other brand as per normal for it to work? Paying so much for a ultra watch for fitness and health that don’t really work normally is ready disappointing, I’m definitely going back to Apple Store for them to give me a solution since it’s still within apple care warranty period.

There is clearly something wrong with the Ultra in this respect. There’s a big thread on MacRumours about this too:

my AW7 never, ever did this so the whole ‘blah blah… heat… blah… blood-vessels… blah blah… you’re wearing it wrong’ is just guff.

I use a Polar chest HR monitor now but slightly miffed I had to spend another £50 and then have to remember to put it on, and clean it after each run. On the macrumours thread someone claims an Apple tech said they were aware of the issue and trying to sort it, but not sure how true that is. It does sour my Ultra experience though, as I love it otherwise, but it’s not fit for purpose if it can’t check your HR on a run.

[Edited by Moderator]

I don’t agree with this either, I’ve been using Suunto, Polars, and Garmin for outdoor running in really cold temps , I mean 15 degrees and lower, runs for 20 years and have never had heart reading issues

Hello,

I have had my Ultra 2 now for almost 2 months now. I don’t run; I row for cardio. My first workout was problematic (not recording heart, and I posted that in this forum). Since then, I have been more intentional about making sure the watch was tight and in contact with my arm. I can’t say it’s been flawless since then, but close to it. There have been a few short gaps missing.

So, my hypothesis is this: I think the large size of the watch can prevent good wrist contact and thus heart rate recording. And my guess would be that it is worse when running compared to things like rowing, because there would be much more jostling in the former. And this may be most pronounced for those with smaller wrists. (My wrist is not super small, but it’s not large either.) So I wouldn’t put it as, “You’re wearing it wrong.” Rather, I would say it is a design flaw (or characteristic) related to the size of the device. And folks with smaller wrists should be aware. If this is true, then I’m not sure what could be done about it. Perhaps software tweaks could make the sensor more sensitive?

Anyway, I could be wrong about this, but it’s just a thought based on my experiences.

I'd this problem yesterday for first time since I have the watch, not a particular cold day and I did some heating before starting the activity, so I don't think the explanation given here is valid for my case. I'm having other problems like sleep not tracking some nights and altimeter being off by a good margin when it used to work flawlessly. I'm hoping this is a 10.1 software issue and gets fixed soon...

But the thing is…I wanna remind to the Ultra watch trailer that is the Apple advertisement for the watch itself which shows different scenario in some semi-challenging conditions.

The watch should just keep and record these data without any problems.

Its just not good.

So i seem to have found a fix. I shouldn’t have to do this in my opinion but every time before i go for a run i take the watch off clean the back of it clean my wrist and turn watch off and on and its been perfect. Bit of a nightmare but seems to have stopped messing around

Not the answer you’re looking for, but I’m pretty sure it’s hardware based and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I ended up buying a basic $40 heart rate monitor chest strap on Amazon, and it works fine with that and I get my heart rate metrics after my workout and I can just move on.

You can call a class action lawyer and just ask what they think. If they think there’s a case there, they will take it on and there’s very little you need to do other than demonstrate the issue, show that it’s wide spread, and convince them what your loss is.

Given all the use cases for the watch, damages probably won’t be that high for inaccurate heart rate in some workouts, especially when you can mitigate with a $40 heart strap, but that’s how you’d do it.

If they think there’s a case there, they would take on and do all the hard work. You might get $25, but they’d make millions (a % of the total damages awarded).