Samsung Galaxy Watch plagued with Pedometer (step counter) and Heart Rate sensor issues

Is your new Samsung Galaxy Watch not counting steps? And/or, the device’s heart rate sensor is not working properly? If so, then find solace in the fact that you are not the only one facing these issues.

Here’s how some of the affected users word the glitchy behavior:

My galaxy watch works just fine except for the fact that about every 2 to 5 days the heart rate sensor wont pick up my heart rate. The light doesnt even come on to try to read it. I have to turn off my watch and turn it back on to get it to work.

After the update of Samsung gear s3 to Tizen 3.0.0.2. Sensors are not working. Also battery drainage is very high

Moreover, what’s now coming to light is that both of these (i.e. buggy step counter and heart rate sensor) are known issues. The confirmation regarding this came from a Samsung forum moderator this week. Following is what they exactly said:

The pedometer and heart rate sensor may not work properly on some watches with a specific software version. The issue will be resolved by a software update

Here’s their complete statement, which also includes a workaround:

As you can see in the screenshot above, the moderator has said these problems are with some units running a specific software version.

The further said the issue will be fixed in an upcoming update. They, however, didn’t confirm when the update in question will arrive. That means, users might even have to wait for whatever is causing the glitch to be fixed.

In the forum thread where these problems are being discussed, another Samsung forum moderator has shared a link to a support page on the official Samsung website. If you head to this link, you’ll see that Samsung has officially confirmed the problem as well (and as also provided a temporary solution).

So there you go. While many Samsung fans have already avoided the new Galaxy Watch due to lack of MST (reports here: 1,2,3,4,5), now the new units have been diagnosed with major problems.

Clearly, it’s a bad start for the new Galaxy Watch.

Let’s hope Samsung fixes these problems as soon as possible. Meanwhile, share your Galaxy Watch experience with us in the comment section below.

Update (September 17): Here’s what a Samsung moderator recently said on the matter at the South Korean company’s EU forums:

For anyone experiencing issues with Steps Tracking, Heart Rate monitoring or any other unusual behavior in your watch’s activity tracking, you can send diagnostic info directly to our software team for them to more closely investigate what’s going on for you. (The data is anonymized, and only held for the duration of the investigation of the report.)

On the watch, make sure that Settings > About Gear > Report Diagnostics > Toggle On

As soon as you experience the issue (or within 15 minutes of it happening), on your phone, launch ‘Galaxy Wearable App’ > More (3 dots) > Contact us > Error Reports > Input Symptoms > SEND

PS: Even users of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (which was unveiled alongside Galaxy Watch) are also facing some speaker-related issues. You can read more about it here.

NOTE: For more Samsung-related news, head here.

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