Looking for advice on heart rate monitors

donnysoule

I have to say, I have the Microsoft Band and I love it... and, tracking wise, it seems to be VERY accurate

azkunk

sheepotato wrote: »

azkunk wrote: »

Thanks, I will check them out. I am trying to hold out for the Apple Watch to see how it compares to the current fitness trackers before I pull the trigger. I was going to get a HRM in the meantime but now I am rethinking it based on the type of activity that I do and the information that I learned here.

If you are considering an Apple Watch, you could look into a pebble. I got one for swimming but there's are pedometer apps and a version of runkeeper that works with it. It syncs with iphone and android phones. https://getpebble.com/pebble there's info on it, it's $100 with usb recharable battery and swim.com has a code for 15% off so mine was about $84 with free shipping.

That's really affordable, I will look into it.

azkunk

donnysoule wrote: »

I have to say, I have the Microsoft Band and I love it... and, tracking wise, it seems to be VERY accurate

Thanks Donny. I am an Apple girl through and through and would probably have issues connecting to my Mac/iDevices.

brianpperkins

What device, if any, is best suited to track your activities depends upon what you do and what details you want to track. For running and cycling, a HRM can be useful. For walking, including hiking without much of an additional load, a step tracker can be useful. Most of the sleep tracking features track restlessness at night ... more accurately they track movement at night and interpret that as restless or awake.

None are the perfect fit for all people. My Fitbit is great for tracking some things, sucks for others. The same is true for my GPS/HRM combo. The newest batch of trackers tries to span all features ... but the basic limitations of each component remains. HRMs remain useful only for certain steady state cardio activities ... motion trackers remain useful only for tracking the motions they are programmed to interpret as steps ... GPS is only good for tracking how far, fast you moved outdoors.

FitPhillygirl

azkunk wrote: »

Thanks, I will check them out. I am trying to hold out for the Apple Watch to see how it compares to the current fitness trackers before I pull the trigger. I was going to get a HRM in the meantime but now I am rethinking it based on the type of activity that I do and the information that I learned here.

I am also waiting on the release of the Apple watch first quarter of 2015. Right now I am still using the Polar FT 4 HRM that I've had for over a year now. Luckily it has performed well over that time. While it doesn't sync with my iPhone 6 Plus, there are apps out there that you can use to record the data if you needed to.

missADS1981

I use and swear by my polar ft7. make sure the chest strap is tight and also wet it with some water otherwise sometimes it wont read in the beginning until you sweat. i love mine

I have this one