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The original was posted on /r/running by /u/PreviousCaptain1758 on 2025-04-07 14:17:00+00:00.

I’m a dark skin black woman, 25, 5”2, 55kg and I run around 4-5 times a week.

I used the apple watch SE for 4 years before upgrading to the Garmin 265s in February of this year. My main reason for leaving the apple eco system is that I was convinced my heart rate was just so off.

Whenever I would race a 5k my average heart rate would be 200bpm (about 3-5bpm off my max heart rate) and around 180-198bpm on most other runs. Obviously this is very high and I was convinced I was fitter than this.

I’ve seen a slight improvement since switching to garmin. With an average HR of 166bpm on an easy 10mile run.

I’ve seen some people on here say they only noticed a discrepancy of around 5bpm when using a chest strap compared to an optical watch sensor. I’ve assumed that most of the people in these discussions are fairer skinned.

TL/DR Basically my question is, for other black people, have you noticed a difference in the heart rate measurement when using a chest strap compared to a watch?

Obviously non-black people feel free to weigh in with your own experience and expertise!