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weird as the garmin connection with the phone is normally rock solid - the only time it might not be is if you are using a beta os. What phone are you using. if its android the issue is likely with the need to ensure that the connect app is allowed to remain in the background - this is a common issue for connectivity issues with smartwatches connected to android phones - the android os kills the smartwatch app that is running the background causing the disconnection issues. HR - when you were taking the measurement was that during an activity and were you using the watch to track it - if so what activity.

If it wasn't during an activity that isn't unusual as the watch is a power downed mode, while its still reading continuously its only use a couple of led's - not all of them. And if taking from the watch face or even from the widget glance it may not be the latest reading as they, especially the watch face, only updates at a set periodic frequency. If you want to do this outside of an activity - run the snapshot as the 2 min fully activates the sensor; and or fully open the HR widget and give it a couple of seconds - the reads should become way more accurate. of course its always possible that you just don''t get on with that sensor - as optical HR sensors are impacted by skin tone, body comp, hair, tats, where you place the device - essential to get it between your wrist bones, how much you tighten the strap, the size and weight of the device (and when tracking an activity the type of activity), no one knows quite how well any one device will work with any one person (its a bit annoying that way - however generally apple, huawei and to a slightly lesser degree garmin sensors tend to work well with most people).

the best watch is the one that best meets your needs and is a price you can afford. Also note that apple watches are locked to iPhone and cannot work with android; and similarly wear os (pixel, samsung, oneplus, ticwatch etc) are locked to android and cannot work with iPhone. Should also look at garmin, coros, polar, suunto, amazfit, huawei and fitbit - will all work with either android or iPhone. Best option might be to talk about what you want out of a smartwatch from a) smarts, b) health, c) tracking fitness - talk about what types of activity and level of data; d) any of useful info - i.e. battery life, torch, offline maps, scuba diving, tracking golf, shootiing, hunting, track flight hours, climbing (indoor or outdoor), high speed/pressure sports like surfing, kite boarding etc etc. These days you name it and their is likely an option that will cover what you want - its just the cost where you may have to compromise.

I think you need to understand HRV - to take a HRV recording you have to be inactive as being active impacts your HRV, hence while it will only show stress during the day for inactive periods - if being exercising it will only show it a certain period post activity as that impacts HRV too, so has to wait for your ANS to recover from the activity before it can start to show it again. If any watch is showing you HRV during active periods its giving you garbage as they don't understand how your ANS is impacted by activity. All day stress is really only useful in terms of looking at your daily average as a trend - there are too many factors that can otherwise impact it. If you want more info about the stress metric and HRV would suggest starting with Firstbeats white paper on the stress metric (considering they are the first ones to introduce that metric). Re the HR - were you actively tracking an exercise session or just looking at the HR widget - if just looking at the widget track an activity as in 24/7 mode its running at reduced power for HR, when tracking an activity it pushes up to full power mode.

actually technically the apple watch doesn't measure HRV continuously - it only measures it every 2 to 5 hours and it will take the readings more frequently when you are sedentary or in specific conditions like when you are sleeping, or when AFIB mode is active (this can increase the HRV tracking feature to every hour or so). But the during the day readings are of very limited value - its the variation to the trend over time that is way more important. The really important HRV readings are those that are done during your sleep period as there are less factors that can influence the readings. This is a line worth reading - it is potentially biased as his showing why his software is better - but the underlying concepts are valid. And while it has been updated , as its a couple of years old now and hence why the original data didn't include apple watch cause at that time their HRV was absolutely useless, and since then all of the brands have also improved their HRV reporting etc (garmin's for example is now continuous during the night) - it doesn't change the underlying message / principle. Taking readings during the day is of very very limited use.

As you say you understand how HRV and ANS work then you should understand why there are gaps in Garmin's Stress readings and shouldn't be surprised by them, but as you stated you were surprised, it made me assume that haven't fully researched the subject / grasped how HRV and ANS work. PS - can't remember if I stated already that for garmin you can get a direct HRV reading at any point by running the 2 min health snapshot - this will show your the HRV value on the watch - but can't display on the watch face (at least not with standard watch faces). Can pull up at any time via the health snapshot app or the health snapshot widget. But coolest thing is the ability to see a list of them in connect web - the individual reports are all pdf, but the web shows a list of them and you can also see a list of main attributes (customizable) so can your RMSSD for each recording so pretty easy to spot a trend from this if performing them regularly at a specific time. \[Within the PDF file it also includes a SDRR value\].

I am fully aware you can pull HRV during a workout (mine is set to) and know the reason - but that is very different to pulling during 24/7 where far more factors are at play than there would be during a workout. Also its a bit painful to use that activity HRV data as while its logged in the fit file the garmin connect app/web doesn't currently show that data, which of course means you have to use a 3rd party app - and currently I can't be bothered to mess around with multiple apps. And yes most garmins running the elevate 4 or 5 HR Sensor still offer the HRV during workout (for main activities). Note that if the watch offers the performance condition data metric, which can set on data screen and get alerts for it - and while its not a purely HRV related - it does include HRV along with pace and HR to provide a real time assessment of your deviation to your baseline VO2max. And while I know this is more than just HRV I feel that to a degree its sort of incorporating what HRV logging does i.e .how your body is adapting to the training load of that session. Worth noting that all of the 4 fitness brands - garmin, coros, polar and suunto all only do HRV as overnight not during day (Suunto does offer resources which is sort of like garmin's body battery and also sort of does take stress (based off hrv) into account) - for the same reason - too many drivers could be impacting it; Coros does offer a manual record too like Garmin does. Also when you think about it the purpose of Apples all day HRV is around recovery - the other brands provide a host of other metrics that do a similar think i.e. Garmin's recovery metric; training status, and training readiness --- basically providing that data is an easier to use , simplified format (and all include HRV as part of the data that is used to determine their values).

HRV logging - its on in case I ever need it /want it - if you don't log it you can't go back and get it. Yes needs chest strap as optical HR generally isn't accurate enough to get an accurate R-R interval detection. Apps - garmin connect app store only shows the apps that are available for you watch. What I loved about the connect iq web version is you could see all the apps and then send a message to a dev to extend to your model as generally they didn't always update for new models. However since they have stupidly closed the web version of the store its now much harder to find those apps (use web search now). Alpha HRV wouldn't help you anyway as it also requires a chest strap in particular the polar h9 / H10 or garmin hrm pro. They tend to only recommend these straps as these have been validated by platforms that do HRV during an activity and thus are known to provide accurate r-r intervals. Performance Condition: [https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-2CF5620C-E585-4E0A-9CC3-9565533EEE4D/EN-US/GUID-7556D1C8-1685-43B9-A091-D43D2F719F1F.html](https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-2CF5620C-E585-4E0A-9CC3-9565533EEE4D/EN-US/GUID-7556D1C8-1685-43B9-A091-D43D2F719F1F.html) V4 does have it has a metric, so you could pull it in as a data field on your tracking screens on the watch. But that is about as good as its going to get unless you go chest strap. Always find its a compromise finding right watch - and as already stated don't really know of any watch that does what you want - as stated tech's not really there yet to set it up the way you want. Samsung features require latest samsung phone (though its normally possible to sideload onto other android phones but can be slightly challenging) - also they have heavy region locks so would also need to know that its not locked in your country/regioni cause if it is then there is no joy - can't do what you can with garmin where ccan spoof to unlock feature and once unlocked will work anywhere (i.e. ECG).