Validation of nocturnal resting heart rate and heart rate variability in consumer wearables

Abstract

Modern wearable devices report several heart rate‐based nocturnal health metrics, including resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV). The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of nocturnal RHR and HRV from five wearable devices (Garmin Fenix 6, Oura Generation 3, Oura Generation 4, Polar Grit X Pro, & Whoop 4.0) against an electrocardiogram (ECG) reference. Thirteen healthy adults (6 females) wore an ECG reference and multiple wearables simultaneously during sleep, totaling 536 nights. Interdevice accuracy varied significantly (p < 0.05). For RHR, Oura Gen 3 (Lin's Concordance [CCC] = 0.97, mean absolute percentage error [MAPE] = 1.67 ± 1.54%) and Gen 4 (CCC = 0.98, MAPE = 1.94 ± 2.51%) demonstrated the highest accuracy, outperforming Polar's poor (CCC = 0.86, MAPE = 2.71 ± 2.75%) and WHOOP's moderate agreement (CCC = 0.91, MAPE = 3.00 ± 2.15%). Garmin was excluded from RHR analyses due to methodological inconsistencies. For HRV, Oura devices provided the highest accuracy; Oura Gen 4 (CCC = 0.99, MAPE = 5.96 ± 5.12%), Oura Gen 3 (CCC = 0.97, MAPE = 7.15 ± 5.48%). WHOOP showed moderate accuracy (CCC = 0.94, MAPE = 8.17 ± 10.49%), followed by poor agreement from both Garmin (CCC = 0.87, MAPE = 10.52 ± 8.63%) and Polar (CCC = 0.82, MAPE = 16.32 ± 24.39%). Oura devices showed the highest agreement for RHR and HRV, and WHOOP showed acceptable agreement, whereas Garmin Fenix and Polar demonstrated lower concordance, highlighting the importance of continuous validation and providing valuable benchmarks for clinicians, researchers, and consumers.