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My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money
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I recently bought a new Garmin 255 (couldn't wait for the new 265!).

I only recently started trying out the built-in optical HRM on runs (haven't tried it on bikes yet). I typically use a Scosche wrist HRM for running, as my prior Garmin 945 built-in optical HR got really terrible once I started moving, even if I cinched it down really tightly.

So far, the Garmin 255 seems like its giving my Scosche a run for its money on HR data for running! I have to use it long-term before ditching the Scosche, but for sure, this 255's HRM is a ton better than the 945 was and my early data so far looks like it's matching my Scosche. And I'm wearing the Garmin 255 on my wrist, whereas the Scosche is on my forearm (I have to put at arm sleeve over it to keep it from sliding around.)

I looked on DCRainmaker, apparently Garmin did upgrade the optical sensors for the 255 and their pricier prior models, but the 945 didn't have the upgraded sensor.

Just a heads up if anyone has a new one - give the built-in HRM a try, if it's good, chime in.
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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I wouldn’t trust wrist optical HR numbers even if they came from a brand new Forerunner 295. Chest straps with electric pods are accurate, optical sensors aren’t.
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [Michal_CH] [ In reply to ]
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Michal_CH wrote:
I wouldn’t trust wrist optical HR numbers even if they came from a brand new Forerunner 295. Chest straps with electric pods are accurate, optical sensors aren’t.


The Scosche is optical and is super accurate once you find the best spot for it on your arm.

I think the newer-gen Garmin 255 is even better than the Scosche. (But might be limited in that you can only use your wrist. My Scosche sucks on my wrist!)
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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The sweet spot for my scosche is my upper arm just above my elbow with the sensor right in the middle which is where the brachial artery is

Took a while to get the right tightness on the strap but it’s perfect pretty quickly

I had much more trouble w forearm both low and high

I just bought a 945 so I won’t be going the 255 route

My 935 is average at best w running-it does stop tracking step rate after a good warm up usually
Last edited by: dtoce: Feb 24, 23 14:43
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, the latest sensor in the 945 LTE, 255, 955, and fenix 7 watches is the bomb.I quit wearing my external HRM for regular training runs because it is so good. I will probably wear my external HRM for races and hard training efforts, but no big justification for it yet.
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
Yes, the latest sensor in the 945 LTE, 255, 955, and fenix 7 watches is the bomb.I quit wearing my external HRM for regular training runs because it is so good. I will probably wear my external HRM for races and hard training efforts, but no big justification for it yet.


I think it's so good it even works in the pool. Not as well as on land, but surprisingly well. I've found that in the pool, overcinching the watch doesn't help - should be tight but not crazy tight. It's not always super accurate, but it works most of the time, and I've manually checked my HR after pool intervals to check that it lines up. Also lines up when I do pool running. Impressively good tech.

I feel like Garmin it's almost a missed opportunity that Garmin didn't market how much better the new LEDs are, but then again, I can understand how consumers who aren't as forgiving about occasional HR glitches might start flooding their help desk because their measures HR values aren't perfect. Still, it's like an order of magnitude better than the not-so-older gen stuff ,which was completely useless once you started moving.
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Re: My Garmin 255 HRM is giving my Scosche a run for its money [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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lightheir wrote:
I think it's so good it even works in the pool. Not as well as on land, but surprisingly well. I've found that in the pool, overcinching the watch doesn't help - should be tight but not crazy tight. It's not always super accurate, but it works most of the time, and I've manually checked my HR after pool intervals to check that it lines up. Also lines up when I do pool running. Impressively good tech.
Agree, it is very good in the pool as well. But not as big a quantum leap as for running - the prior gen was also good in the pool. My pool HR is exactly what I would expect from RPE; I don’t question it at all. (Still just OK in the bike, but that is a tougher nut to crack.)
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