The Sunday after Christmas, my Garmin violently went off with high heart rate alerts. Ten of them, from around midday into the afternoon, on a day I’d walked 2,324 steps. All I had was a little throat tickle, so I took a test later that day. COVID. By Dec 29 the Oura Symptom Radar was flagging major signs too.
It hung around for about a week. Which, I happened to be wearing both the whole time, so this is what each one saw, and what each one missed.
Both of these get sold on sleep and readiness scores. Getting sick is when those numbers should matter most, and I’ve got the same body, the same days, and two devices to compare. No study, no lab, just my screenshots.
Links and models checked on 27 September 2026.
What I Was Wearing
The Garmin fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar is on my wrist day and night, and I’ve had it since May 2022. It’s set to alert me when my heart rate sits above 110 bpm while I’m not doing anything, which Garmin defines as being inactive for at least 10 minutes. The Oura Ring 4 is on my finger, reads me overnight, and hands me Readiness, Sleep and Symptom Radar in the morning.
Two devices, same body.
Dec 28: The Watch Went Off
The alerts started around midday and kept coming into the afternoon, ten in all, with my heart rate sitting at or above that 110 line for a few hours while I barely moved. I noticed. It wasn’t subtle.
The rest of Garmin’s page for that Sunday reads like a bad day too: stress at 75, Body Battery only charged 19 points, and a sleep score of 40, which Garmin calls Poor. The day topped out at 145 bpm without a single workout logged.
The same high heart rate alert is on Garmin’s cheaper watches too, the Forerunner 265 has it, so you don’t need a fēnix to get this part.
What the Oura Symptom Radar Said
Oura’s Symptom Radar had shown no signs for most of December. By Dec 29 it was showing major signs, and the app’s words were “major signs of something straining your body.” It flagged three things as high: resting heart rate at 78 bpm, breathing at 15.5 breaths a minute, and body temperature up 1.1°F.
It never said COVID. The test did. Oura says the radar looks at heart rate, HRV, breathing rate, temperature and activity together, and Readiness dropped right along with it, down to 48, Pay attention. For contrast, on Sep 24, 2026 it had me at 72 with no signs.
The Numbers Side by Side
| Garmin fēnix 7X | Oura Ring 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| The heads-up | 10 high heart rate alerts on Dec 28 | Symptom Radar: major signs by Dec 29 |
| Heart rate | 73 to 145 bpm on 2,324 steps | Resting 78 bpm, flagged high |
| Recovery score | Body Battery charged +19 | Readiness 48, Pay attention |
| Sleep score | 40, Poor | 71, Good |
| HRV | 24 ms, status Balanced | Not in my screenshots |
| Also flagged | Stress 75 for the day | Temperature +1.1°F, breathing 15.5 a minute |
What Each One Missed
Garmin’s HRV Status still said Balanced, at 24 ms. That’s cause HRV Status compares a seven-day average of your overnight readings against your normal range, so one rough night gets averaged in with six others.
Oura’s sleep score still said Good, 71. It grades the sleep, and by its math I slept fine through it. Readiness and the radar were the parts that noticed.
So the headline scores weren’t the ones that noticed. The alerts and the radar were.
The Two I Wear
Both are still on me. Here’s where to find them, and the rest of what I actually use is on the Shop page.
Garmin fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar
Mine since May 2022, and a big reason I like it is I don’t have to charge it every night.
- High heart rate alerts with a threshold you set
- Body Battery, stress, HRV Status and sleep score on one daily page
- Solar charging on the Sapphire Solar models
- Trade-off: a bit of a learning curve getting into Garmin, and HRV Status still said Balanced the day I got sick
Current price and availability shown on Amazon.
Oura Ring 4
The one that put three quiet numbers together into one plain heads-up.
- Symptom Radar, Readiness and Sleep in one morning report
- Reads resting heart rate, breathing rate and body temperature overnight
- Trade-off: the sleep score still said Good the night I was sick
Current price and availability shown on Amazon.
What I Took From It
Both of them noticed, just not through the headline scores. The watch’s alerts and the ring’s radar did the work, while HRV Status and the sleep score kept saying things were fine. Neither one is a doctor, and Garmin says outright its watches aren’t medical devices, but for spotting that something was off, the alerts and the radar got there.
The rest of what I track on myself lives on the wearables hub, starting with two and a half years of weigh-ins on the Garmin Index S2.