Garmin Vivosmart HR ~ Broadcast mode report

Heart rate plot for a long run on October 1 with broadcast mode

I just wrapped up ......
   In the previous posting, I wrapped up my test report.  However, I have an update about the broadcast mode today.   Actually, I tried to capture the comparison data yesterday.  I did wear the chest strap sensor with Forerunner 910XT and Vivosmart HR and started my training.  But the chest strap sensor did not work.  The root cause was "dead-battery".  I have been using for more than 3 years.   This is the first time to have dead-battery.  The battery life for the sensor is pretty good!!

What does the data look like?

   Regarding the data, I do not see anything new.  The data pattern is similar as other data I already captured.   The red circled portions might not be a correct reading based on the past experience.  So nothing special I can report in this post.

Broadcast mode report

   I have a few things to report about the broadcast mode.  First of all, when we set as HR broadcast mode, the display will be only heart rate.  We won't  be able to change any other display.  This means we won't log any activity and check even if it is just a time.  When I tried to change the display to swipe the touch screen, it just asks if I want to stop the broadcasting or not.  If I stop it, then we can change the display, but the broadcast should be stopped.  Basically Vivosmart HR just becomes a heart rate sensor.   In the background the daily tracking such as steps and heart rate is still keep tracking.  Therefore, after synchronize the data to Garmin Connect, I can see the daily heart rate graph even if it is in broadcast mode.  But no activity tracking, such as running, walking, cardio and etc.   This is a big disappointment for me and it is inconvenient.

   I am expecting to improve this near feature.  For example, if I hike and tracking the hiking activity with broadcast mode, then I won't be able to check time during it.  I guess I can accept no activity tracking but I really expect to switch the display data during broadcasting.

   The other thing I want to highlight is that there are some heart rate data missed during the training.  The heart rate data missed in a few samples sometimes.  It is very rarely happening with the chest based heart rate sensor.  It is not a big deal, but I can recognize it happens during the training at least a several times when I see the display on Forerunner 910XT.

   The setup is really easy and it is the same operation when I pair the regular chest based heart rate sensor.  This time it is unexpected event.  Even though I did setup within a several minutes in the beginning of the training.

   Except those two things, it is very good feature.   I hope the display function is improved with a firmware update in the near future.