If you've noticed that your Garmin watch has started giving you some strange heart rate readings, you're not alone. Following a recent software update, several Garmin Fenix 7 owners have reported anomalous readings during the day, with their recorded heart rate appearing to suddenly jump or drop by as many as 30 beats per minute, and stay there for a few seconds before returning to normal, for no apparent reason.
Since the update to software version v10.43 last month, a sizeable number of Fenix 7 owners have posted on Garmin's forums describing the issue, which has been observed at rest, and while tracking workouts.
"I have the same issue," wrote one watch owner. "Heart rate suddenly drops to 50-60 bpm when walking – for up to 20 minutes – then jumps back to normal – around 100."
The issue certainly isn't universal (it's not something I've witnessed with my own Fenix 7S), but there have been enough reports for the company to take notice, and a representative has requested more feedback from anyone else having the same problem.
"We are looking into the issue further," wrote Garmin adviser Chris. "There has been no official response from engineering at this time but I continue to gather examples to add into the tracking case."
There's no fix available yet, but if you're having the same issue, create a forum account, then send Chris a direct message explaining what's happening. Once enough data has been gathered to identify the source of the problem, hopefully a fix can be created and rolled out soon for all watch others affected.
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