Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
Well, if we're comparing one-off anecdotes, my Garmin soft strap HRM recorded 700 hours of rides in 2018 and never dropped out once. Replacing the screws took 2 minutes using the proper screwdriver. Seeing that Garmin claims a battery life of around 1,500 hours, I don't see this as an issue for most anyway. I bought the Garmin because of battery issues with previous HRMs-- as the Wahoo is ANT+/BT and has LEDs, there's simply no way the battery will ever last as long as the Garmin.
Will I buy a Wahoo when the Garmin finally gives up? Who knows. Maybe. I know I don't like how the TICKR strap attaches.
I recently got a Wahoo TICKR when my Garmin HR unit suddenly died. I also do not like that the Wahoo strap need the HR unit in place to be warn. That's one point where Garmin has an advantage, so my solution was to 3D print a "dummy" sensor to use to hold the strap on until I actually need the sensor in place. It actually works well to hold the strap together until I need the sensor.
Originally Posted by
WhyFi
I no longer have a Garmin HRM, but this ^^^ was what I suspected the problem was - JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws/screwdrivers look very much like Philips, but they're not the same. A Philips driver will often pop out of JIS screws, which are more common than you'd think. I actually need to pick up a set of JIS screwdrivers to do a little camera lens surgery.
Even still, with the Garmin sensor cover, the plastic under the screws is very thin and can break along the outer edge rendering the cover useless. That's happened on one of my older ones. I complained about it when seeking warranty for the one that died, but who knows if they will update that cover.