Best HRM?

dramaqueen45

I got a Polar H7 and it has worked about three times. I am going to return it for a refund. Can anyone recommend a reliable one that will work? And yes I did try everything that the support site suggested, including changing out the battery, turning the blue tooth off and back on, uninstalling and re-installing the app on my phone, making sure it was on correctly and the nodes were wet, etc, etc.

dramaqueen45

Bump

jacksonpt

Garmin, Suunto, and Polar all make pretty reliable products... just choose the one that has the features you are looking for.

And just something to keep in mind... when you crank out as many products/items as Polar does (or any big company), there are going to be a few duds. Just because you got a dud doesn't mean Polar products should be avoided.

ThePoeToaster

I've used Polar hr monitors for 20 years. I can't believe you have had problems with one. See if they'll trade it.

dramaqueen45

Thanks. The only thing I have not tried yet is updating my iphone to iOS 8 - I received a notification that it's ready to update, but I don't have enough memory on my phone to do it so I've been putting it off. I don't know if that would help or not.

MeanderingMammal

Lack of memory on the phone might be an issue then. Unlikely to be the iOS version.

dramaqueen45

Okay. But it did work like I said- about 3 times; just don't know why it would work with current phone memory and then just stop.

FatFreeFrolicking

Polar FT4! I've had mine for over a year and have never had any problems. I love it!

jacksonpt

Is it the strap, or the app that is the problem? Do you know?

mdove3411

I am wanting to get a fitness tracker but I am undecided on which to get? I have questions about them. I was looking at the Garmin Vivofit then I read that it doesn't track your calorie burn for all workouts only steps/jogging. Is this true and if so which one does count the calories burned in a wide range of workouts? I am doing research and I don't know If I am understanding right but it seems like if its paired with a HRM then it will tell you the calories burned during a workout... is this true?

jacksonpt

mdove3411 wrote: »

I am wanting to get a fitness tracker but I am undecided on which to get? I have questions about them. I was looking at the Garmin Vivofit then I read that it doesn't track your calorie burn for all workouts only steps/jogging. Is this true and if so which one does count the calories burned in a wide range of workouts? I am doing research and I don't know If I am understanding right but it seems like if its paired with a HRM then it will tell you the calories burned during a workout... is this true?

Please don't hijack this thread - your question isn't relevant to the OP. Additionally, there are 100s of threads about various trackers, pro and cons, etc.

dramaqueen45

Not sure if it's the app or the strap. I just know that I didn't have any issues the first three times or so and then it would not pair. Actually, I had an issue on about the third time, reset the blue tooth by turning it off and on again, and then it worked. After that time I tried that again the next time it didn't work but it didn't help.

mdove3411

jacksonpt wrote: »

mdove3411 wrote: »

I am wanting to get a fitness tracker but I am undecided on which to get? I have questions about them. I was looking at the Garmin Vivofit then I read that it doesn't track your calorie burn for all workouts only steps/jogging. Is this true and if so which one does count the calories burned in a wide range of workouts? I am doing research and I don't know If I am understanding right but it seems like if its paired with a HRM then it will tell you the calories burned during a workout... is this true?

Please don't hijack this thread - your question isn't relevant to the OP. Additionally, there are 100s of threads about various trackers, pro and cons, etc.

Excuse me! I am not hijacking a thread! I actually am wanting to know the same thing she is & that is which is best? Why must you have an attitude? I see plenty of people coming in and asking questions under others threads that are on the same subject matter. I was simply looking for help and you have to be smart! OP I'm truly sorry if I offended you.

MeanderingMammal

dramaqueen45 wrote: »

Okay. But it did work like I said- about 3 times; just don't know why it would work with current phone memory and then just stop.

Memory fills up, it might have hit a threshold.

I know my Garmin needs to have it's memory flushed at times, equally my phone stars to underperform if the onboard memory reaches about 80% full.

Mind you, it sounds like you have a defective unit.

jacksonpt

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

dramaqueen45 wrote: »

Okay. But it did work like I said- about 3 times; just don't know why it would work with current phone memory and then just stop.

Memory fills up, it might have hit a threshold.

I know my Garmin needs to have it's memory flushed at times, equally my phone stars to underperform if the onboard memory reaches about 80% full.

Would that affect bluetooth pairing?

Legit question, not trying to be a smartass... bluethooth pairing with mobile devices never seems to work as well as it should, at least IME.


OP, try going into the bluetooth settings on your phone and "forgetting" the polar, then rediscover/repair. I had to do that a few times with my bluetooth keyboard for my ipad before it would connect reliably.

MeanderingMammal

mdove3411 wrote: »

I was simply looking for help and you have to be smart! OP I'm truly sorry if I offended you.

Pretty much every second post in this forum is about "what's the best HRM"... Just browse it, the answers are all pretty much the same.

Of course very few people actually have experience of more than the one they have, so you get lots of uncritical "I've got X and it's greeeaaaatttt!!!!!" type responses.

Nonetheless, this is about an H7 that doesn't work, so it's not really the right place to start yet another HRM discussion.

KarenBarber99

I got the polar FT7 watch/HRM. I've only had it a couple of weeks but I love that it gives me the true calorie burn for my activities. I'll be curious to see how well the calories line up with what MFP reports. I chose the FT7 because it has the ability to upload my stats via the Flowlink accessory. (Though it was annoying to have to buy the Flowlink separately.)

MeanderingMammal

jacksonpt wrote: »

Would that affect bluetooth pairing?

Legit question, not trying to be a smartass... bluethooth pairing with mobile devices never seems to work as well as it should, at least IME.

In theory it shouldn't, but mobile devices do tend to be a bit variable about bluetooth implementation.

What I'm thinking is more likely is that the app may not have space to page in and out of, so it's manifesting as not pairing. It's difficult to tell without a solid description of the issue.

jacksonpt

If that is the case, then it should be a fairly easy fix. Delete some apps, move some vids/pics to some other storage location, and see what happens.

dramaqueen45

Okay- thanks again for all the help. I THINK I may have figured out why this isn't working well. I went to app crawler and looked at the reviews and the app that I've been using with Polar H7 (Polar Beat) is rated at about 4.4/10. I thought - that's it- it's the app that is the problem! I have now installed Endomondo (rated like 9.8/10) on my phone to sync with the HRM and I did get it to sync yesterday- so we will see if it continues to work.

DavidS52

jacksonpt wrote: »

If that is the case, then it should be a fairly easy fix. Delete some apps, move some vids/pics to some other storage location, and see what happens.

You slammed mdove for not being on topic for asking a question related to the topic and yet you are resolving someone else's problem on their HRM / Phone that does not answer the topics question. You are more off the topic then she is / was. That's really messed up if you ask me.

DavidS52

jacksonpt wrote: »

mdove3411 wrote: »

I am wanting to get a fitness tracker but I am undecided on which to get? I have questions about them. I was looking at the Garmin Vivofit then I read that it doesn't track your calorie burn for all workouts only steps/jogging. Is this true and if so which one does count the calories burned in a wide range of workouts? I am doing research and I don't know If I am understanding right but it seems like if its paired with a HRM then it will tell you the calories burned during a workout... is this true?

Please don't hijack this thread - your question isn't relevant to the OP. Additionally, there are 100s of threads about various trackers, pro and cons, etc.

Really? are you serious, you are doing exactly the same thing in your other discussion. Get real.

MeanderingMammal

DavidS52 wrote: »

You slammed mdove for not being on topic for asking a question related to the topic and yet you are resolving someone else's problem on their HRM / Phone that does not answer the topics question.

Question, vs implied question.

The original question identified a preamble that was along the lines of "current product doesn't work"... It's clear from the ongoing discussion that the current product does work, but was subject to a different problem.

I don't recall any recent threads about an H7 not working because the app in use wasn't appropriate for it. As upthread, pretty much every second thread at the moment is about whether a Fitbit One is better than a Garmin 920XT or not.

MeanderingMammal

dramaqueen45 wrote: »

I have now installed Endomondo (rated like 9.8/10) on my phone to sync with the HRM and I did get it to sync yesterday- so we will see if it continues to work.

Endomondo is a good package, and worth the £20pa for the premium version as it has dynamic training plans, deep analysis and of course it adds the HR trace to the route information.