Apple Watch Ultra 2 heart rate monitor is inaccurate

Ultra2 Heart Rate monitor issues. I have been using my U2 watch since December 24. It allowed me to pair with my preferred fitness app (Smart Gym) and not have to bring my iPhone into the gym. All had worked great until 2 weeks ago, at which point, the Heart Rate Monitor suddenly became wildly inaccurate. 40-200 bpm. I am in my late 60s and my heart cannot sustain 200 bpm. Being a workout (weight lifter/cardio) person for years, I know when my heart rate is elevated by the ability to easily communicate with others. So the U2 HR monitor was way off.

I “called” Apple Support after I followed all the recommendations in the Apple library. Spent an hour or so with them, doing the same things. Then scheduled a Genius Bar appt, where they unpaired and repaired my watch, plus doing all the same things done on the Apple Support call. No improvement noted, but the Genius Bar Rep scheduled a followup call from Apple to check on improvements and told me that Apple would have to involve the “Health” group to move this along. He expected that the Health group would replace my watch. I have the full Apple protection system which allows for express replacement (of which he reminded me).

Got the Apple call today. My cat (big Maine Coon) stepped on my phone while I was on hold as the Rep was getting the Health dept on the call. I “called” Apple support back, was moved to a Supervisor, who told me she was not involving the Health dept. She continued to explain why this was so, but I was never convinced of the accuracy of her approach. She did run a diagnostic on my watch and told me it would be 5 days before I heard back.

For now, I am going back to the Polar OH1 optical arm band for HR measurement. While I love the U2 watch, if it cannot accurately perform the HR measurement, its usefulness is greatly diminished. Hopefully, the watch will be replaced and all will be right.

Apple, if you are monitoring this, I request that your CSRs support each other vs. what I heard today.