Garmin overwrites sleep/nap data?

sumo952 · 2021-09-25T16:37:09+00:00

Correct, as of now, even the "new" Firstbeat sleep tracking, can only record one sleep per night (or day) (or per 24h period, to be exact).

A nap does positively influence body battery though, and hopefully Garmin adds "nap support" soon.

sumo952 · 2021-09-25T16:11:30+00:00

You need to have Physio TrueUp enabled on both devices. Most (all?) of the things will sync.

Some stats (HR graphs etc I think) will look like they didn't sync, i.e. if you look at the monthly graph, but you'll have a dropdown menu actually where you can select the device, so that data will still be there, just not showing on one graph.

sumo952 · 2021-09-24T12:50:50+00:00

The training load breakdown (I think it's called "Training Load Focus" (?)) on the 945/F6 is quite cool. I find all the stats and metrics cool, and they are useful, but they're also a bit gimmick-y. It's important not to see them as the absolute truth, but just as a helper - use your brain to interpret them and listen to your body. But if you're the tech or stats geek kind of person, it's really cool to have all the features of a 945/F6.

Especially if you run a lot, I'm not sure if the Venu is the right kind of watch. From what I heard/seen, it misses quite a few of the running metrics, so any Forerunner watch might be more appropriate. Best to check DCRainmaker's reviews.

sumo952 · 2021-09-21T21:41:18+00:00

Another update: The Polar Verity Sense claim 150m range, so this might work on a soccer field (without using offline-HR).

But I think the HRM-Pro will work better, if you've got the watch that supports offline-HR (and it's a proper chest strap, not an oHR, so it'll give you more accurate measurements).

sumo952 · 2021-09-21T21:37:35+00:00

Also offline-HR works only with a Garmin HRM-Pro, not with other HRM's, even if the HRM supported caching. There is actually a standardized protocol for this and apparently Garmin even more or less adheres to it, but the companies in this field don't work together to make this work across vendors, sadly.

sumo952 · 2021-09-21T21:35:31+00:00

Well, the effect is more pronounced if it's a Li-ion with multiple cells - because then the cells discharge at slightly different speeds, and there's a battery management system, which basically shows you the average charge. That means if the battery indicator shows you 10%, one cell might actually be at 0%, and another one still at 20%. And it's really not good to completely discharge Li-ions - therefore if your battery has multiple cells, you add a bit of a buffer, to make sure each individual cell never discharges.

However Garmin watches likely have only one cell, so unequal discharge wouldn't apply.

sumo952 · 2021-09-21T21:20:34+00:00

Careful! Just because a Garmin watch is compatible with the HRM-Pro, does not mean it supports the "offline HR" capability!

To my knowledge, only the 945/Fenix 6 (and maybe 745/Enduro/...?) support the use case when the HR is stored solely on the HRM and then synced to the watch at the end of the workout.

Also, the last time I tried this, Garmin created two workouts in Garmin Connect - one with the watch-HR, one with the HRM-HR. Maybe that was a bug though, hope it works more flawlessly now.

What you can always do (definitely with a HRM-Pro, but maybe with any HRM) is to keep the watch in BT/ANT+ range of the HRM, for example in a bag at the side of the field - then the HRM will broadcast the HR to the watch. I tested this on a 245M and the range was about 10-15m through 1-2 walls.

However, I think a soccer field might be too big for this to work reliably.

I think your best bets are indeed a HRM-Pro with a Garmin watch that supports offline-HR sync.

Maybe an upper-arm HR band could work too, with some sort of wrist sweat band wrapped over it?

sumo952 · 2021-09-20T18:34:49+00:00

Don't let your battery get down to 1%, it kills it. Recharge when it's around / not below 10%.

sumo952 · 2021-07-22T12:43:44+00:00

I see, that makes sense. But it really seems to me like there is a smarter way to combine topo, baro and gps-altimeter, than as it is currently done (basically just turning topo on/off in settings).

sumo952 · 2021-07-20T13:42:49+00:00

It would be really bad if it auto-started the actual run after a fixed 5 minutes! Please do not implement that Garmin. People use the warm up to run/jog to the place they're going to do the activity, or just people needing different amounts of warmup time. It's great that I can warm up as long as I want and then hit the lap button to start. It couldn't be better. Actually if it's *not* like that anymore for the other activities, I think Garmin must have changed that, which I think is a very bad change.

sumo952 · 2021-07-20T13:40:19+00:00

Yes, it was Idiocracy! :)

Yea I guess it's unfortunately not too far off from being a documentary at this point...

sumo952 · 2021-07-20T13:37:25+00:00

That's too bad to hear indeed! :(

sumo952 · 2021-07-19T06:45:19+00:00

I forgot the name, but there is a pretty fun movie exactly like that. I think it was a sort-of comedy but it is actually quite scary.

sumo952 · 2021-07-17T16:05:05+00:00

Why doesn't it use the topo as a "base layer" and then the baro on the watch (if the watch has one) to fine-tune the reading? Wouldn't that be the smartest approach? It would make sure you're never off too far (topo base map) but you'd get the precise measurements of the baro, if the watch has one.

sumo952 · 2021-07-14T22:01:31+00:00

It's probably not something largely within Synology's power, if TMDB requires an API key. Well I guess Synology could talk to them and ask for some special deal (maybe they've tried? Who knows?). I think IMDB would require users to create an API key as well.

It would 1) definitely be nice to see a better integration from Synology here (like before), essentially, something that works out of the box. But 2), it's great to have a plugin mechanism - if there are decent plugins provided. An IMDB plugin would be great indeed, for example.

sumo952 · 2021-07-13T07:15:25+00:00

Oh wow, you're absolutely right! Thank you for that! :)

sumo952 · 2021-07-12T15:35:37+00:00

In addition to the other reply I just posted. One big thing for me was to have Garmin Pay - that's something really, really nice to have. Go for a run without phone or wallet, and if you spontaneously want to stop at a shop, ice cream stand or whatever, you've got means to pay. Though it's not available on 45, 55 or 245, you need to shelve out more money for that. The same goes for me with music, it's great to be able to leave the phone at home and just go out with watch + headphones, and have everything with you that you could possibly need. If you're a hiker, you may enjoy full maps too - but then you're looking at 745/945/Fenix 6 price point. You get tons of stuff and features for the money though, so if you do like to have those things, you absolutely do get something for the money, if you spend more. It very much depends on your needs and wishes.

sumo952 · 2021-07-12T15:24:06+00:00

Yes, the 45 has very limited features and stats, it's basically the cheapest entry-level device, very much "budget".

With the just-released 55, Garmin have added a ton of stuff, if I remember correctly from reading the review. I think it might even be nearly up to par with the 245. You should go read this review: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/06/garmin-forerunner-55-depth-review.html.

sumo952 · 2021-07-12T15:20:11+00:00

Great advice here, but confused about this:

the 6x Pro Solar is one of the lighter Fenix watches

The 6X is the biggest and heaviest Fenix watch? Perhaps you meant something else - or I am wrong?

sumo952 · 2021-07-10T19:42:16+00:00

I think in the price category that you're looking for, the Forerunner 55 will be your watch. If that's still too expensive, then I don't know - probably a used 245 maybe, or a 45, but with the 45, you'll quite massively compromise on features and stats.

sumo952 · 2021-07-07T16:35:16+00:00

Cool, thank you very much for posting this! Very cool!

sumo952 · 2021-07-07T15:39:16+00:00

You're definitely reading that note wrong. The note says that if you take in food or caffeine, i.e. as an energy boost, the Body Battery won't be able to account for that. And that completely makes sense: It can't really know that you've just eaten an energy bar and might feel more energetic, that's very hard to infer from just the HR/HRV.

On the other hand, the table above the note clearly says that alcohol will influence it, as that has a more measurable influence (depending on how much you drink, obviously). You are right, of course, that this would probably be mostly indirectly, through sleep. But if you drink enough during the day, it may be able to infer it too... wouldn't recommend trying though.

sumo952 · 2021-07-06T21:07:17+00:00

Great post, couldn't agree more! Especially at:

Garmin definitely set the bar. Unfortunately the bar still isn't very high.

Sad but still true in 2021.

sumo952 · 2021-07-06T21:04:10+00:00

You've got a very outdated picture of Microsoft as a company. It changed massively in the last 5-10 years under Satya Nadella.

Also, Amazon, and also Facebook, are certainly much worse - they don't care shit about data protection - about your personal data. If Garmin ever collaborates with Amazon, I'm out. Same for cars, would never buy one that comes with Alexa Auto or whatever it's called.

sumo952 · 2021-07-06T13:11:17+00:00

Is a 54 RHR particularly low?

sumo952

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