Garmin vs Polar accuracy ?

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RachelRuns9
RachelRuns9 Posts: 585 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just picked up a Garmin Forerunner 310XT after using a Polar FT4 for the past year. I set it up, put in my information, connected my HRM, updated the software, and set out for a run.

It reported my heart rate to be a substantial difference of 10-15 BPM lower than it had been on the exact same run the day before with the Polar (a run which I do about twice a week and always has the same stats).

It also reported burning 389 calories on a 4 mile run. The Polar reports burning 520 cals for that same run.

Any others experience these polar-to-garmin transition pains, and how did you come to terms with the discrepancies?

It's really important for me that the heart rate reading is accurate since that determines my pace and training. I've tried googling and searching forums about this and get a lot of contradicting information. There are a lot of claims about Polar being known for its accuracy, so that's making me weary.

Replies

  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    Does the Garmin use a chest strap?

    Does either device ask for more detailed information than the other?
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I haven't really compared heart rate to heart rate but yes once I got a chest strap for my Garmin Edge 500 (biking), it gave me much lower calorie burns than my Polar FT4. I have no idea which one is correct.
  • RachelRuns9
    RachelRuns9 Posts: 585 Member
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    Does the Garmin use a chest strap?

    Does either device ask for more detailed information than the other?


    Yes, they both use a chest strap - and no, they both just asked for age, height & weight.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    Garmin > Polar
  • MichaelJ75
    MichaelJ75 Posts: 16 Member
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    How about going for a run and in the middle, stop for 15 seconds and take your pulse. Compare your results to Garmin and Polar. That should give you an idea of which is more accurate.

    My Garmin gets wonky on me sometimes. Reports HR that is way to high, like I should be dead high. That usually only happens when I have not washed the strap recently (gross, I know).

    I have compared the reported HR of my Garmin to the hand held HR monitors on a treadmill and found them to be pretty close.
  • MichaelJ75
    MichaelJ75 Posts: 16 Member
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    I have compared the reported HR of my Garmin to the hand held HR monitors on a treadmill and found them to be pretty close.

    I just did this again, and my HR as measured by the treadmill was the exact same as my HR as measured by my Garmin 210.

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