Garmin Vivoactive 3 heartrate monitor not pairing in Android beta. It isn’t seen by Zwift at all, despite pairing successfully to the phone itself and within the Garmin app. Pairs successfully in Windows 10 game.
I run into this issue some times when my HR strap is paired to another device. Could it be possible that the HR strap is paired to your Windows machine and preventing it from connecting to your Android device?
Good idea, but nope! I’ve confirmed it’s not paired to anything but my Android device. My hunch is that it has to do with the way the smartwatch (Garmin Vivoactive 3) is broadcasting heart rate over Bluetooth, though heart rate is successfully captured by my Garmin Edge and by the Zwift game in Windows 10.
I could be wrong, but I think all Garmin devices are ant+ only, and have no bluetooth compatibility. The Zwift Abdroid beta only utilizes bluetooth for pairing even if your phone has a built-in ant+ receiver.
That’s generally true for their bike computers, pedals, and cadence sensors. Garmin’s watches, however, use Bluetooth (only).
Take my comments with a grain of salt as I don’t use Garmin watches, and DC Rainmaker’s review is a little dated, but it seem as though the watch will broadcast the heart rate only in ant+. Look specifically at Reply #538 and #644 to his review. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
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I believe that the only time Gamin watches use Bluetooth is to communicate with the phone (making it a smart watch), I don’t think it broadcast the HR in Bluetooth, I think it uses ANT+.
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I can confirm my Garmin Fenix 3HR Broadcast only in ANT+. Bluetooth is just used to send stats to my phone.
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You guys are correct. I was just chatting with Garmin support about a separate issue, and the support person stated that the watch broadcasts heart rate in ANT+. So, that’s that! Thanks all. Sorry for the confusion.