A bug/mistake in how the sleep score for mental recovery is measured in Watch 4

[aaadutch]

I have used the Watch for sleep monitoring for 10 days now and I've noticed something peculiar about how sleep score is measured. I've had good scores, between 67 and 82 so far. The variety seems mostly caused by differences in "mental recovery" which is based on REM sleep - it ranged from 0% to 80% for me, much more than the other aspects.

Last night I had my shortest sleep, less than 6 hours, and only 3 sleep cycles (normally I have 4 or 5); yet I had my highest overall sleep score so far (82). I saw that this is due to the score for "mental recovery" which measures REM sleep. Last night I had the highest score for mental recovery so far. Why? 

I had noticed before that sometimes, when I have had plenty of REM sleep, I still get a very low score for mental recovery. (e.g. 1 hour 52 min of REM sleep but mental recovery score 0%). I have now discovered why: if the watch registers that you wake up shortly after REM sleep, this is "punished" with a low score. Last night I slept late and short so I had no awake moments after REM, resulting in a high score. In nights where I had "awake" episodes after REM sleep, my mental recovery dropped steeply below the required 60%. The watch assumes that I have been disturbed in my sleep.

That's a bug/mistake. It's part of the normal sleep cycle to awake very shortly after an REM episode.At the end of REM sleep, sleep is always the lightest. But the watch assumes that you have been actively disturbed in your REM sleep. This causes the "awake" moments to have too much influence on the mental recovery score and total sleep score.

[DavidMoors]

My Watch 4 often fails to record sleep at all, and when it does, usually for only 2-4 hours in the later part of the night. Only a couple of times has it recorded a full night in several months.
Any device that uses heart rate to monitor sleep is unlikely to be as accurate as you seem to expect.
I've tried Fitbit, Garmin as well as the Watch 4. The Garmin reports that my bedside table sleeps for several hours after I've removed it from my wrist 🙃

[Hanovercuban]

Good hypothesis.  I have been getting low mental recovery scores despite long  REM times (2hrs.) and a high % of that night's sleep (24%).  I do wake up in the middle of dreams in the morning often, and as you suggest, this may be lowering the mental recovery score despite the volume of REM sleep.

[Splobber65]

Nice job figuring this out. I'm noticing the exact same phenomenon. Plenty of REM sleep but awful mental recovery scores. I've only noticed this in the last couple of months. 

Is there a spot for official bug reports here?

[Stubey]

I have a galaxy watch 5 and have the same issue and generally my rem sleep score is low.

[theVitus]

Hi, I have the exact same problem and filed a bug report - got the: "Update app and test it again for a time" message.

I'll keep at it and let you know if anything comes of this.

Vitus

[Aliabbashussain]

This problem needs to be resolved as I have seen the exact issue. I think that the programme should work solely on percentage of Rem in sleep rather than if you wake up during or after a Rem cycle as this would be a better reflection of mental recovery.

[Hanovercuban]

Did you see any improvement?

[Hanovercuban]

I agree with your assessment.  Ever since the last system update and a revised look and feel to the sleep data, my scores have fallen 33% but I am sleeping just as well .  Also, the index to compare one's score with one's age cohort disappeared.Very disappointed.

[theVitus]

Hi all, for sure as result from my bug-report (just coincidence) that was an update 2 weeks ago (dated July 29) of the app and for me at least it now shows the score/mental recovery accurately.

Cheers

Vitus