Inexpensive HRM?

DST513
DST513 Posts: 140 Member
edited September 24 in Fitness and Exercise
ok so i have been looking at different HRM's. Can someone tell me what a good inexpensive one?

Replies

  • EDBENAGLIO
    EDBENAGLIO Posts: 424
    got mine at walmart for 49.99 with chest strap
  • wdugger
    wdugger Posts: 19 Member
    If you have and ebay acct, there's one about to end for .99. Ebay is a good place to start.
  • B2BB
    B2BB Posts: 222 Member
    Costco $50 :-)
  • DST513
    DST513 Posts: 140 Member
    ok can you guys give me brands when you put the price. also is the hrm affective without a chest strap. basically can you just buy the watch and get a good reading?
  • blondie_0506
    blondie_0506 Posts: 110
    I have one that I bought for 50 bucks and it doesn't work that great! It calculates the same calorie burn if im sitting just like if I'm working out! I need a good one too!!
  • pandafoo
    pandafoo Posts: 367 Member
    if you look at amazon, the 2 bestselling HRMs are also the most reasonably priced:
    -omron hr-100c: $32.00
    -timex t5g971: $46.04

    i have the polar ft60 HRM - more expensive but the features are worth it. plus, polar is considered the gold standard in HRMs and is very accurate.

    also, if the watch comes with a chest strap, you'll need to wear it - the chest strap contains an electric sensor and the watch picks up the signal from it and gives your HR as the output. there are some models that don't require a chest strap but you sacrifice accuracy with those
  • B2BB
    B2BB Posts: 222 Member
    I dont know the brand name of the one I have but its from Costco with a chest strap, I like it and I think its more accurate with it. I teach fitness classes and know if a lot of people that use it and like it too. http://www.facebook.com/Burns2bBeautiful
  • sbilyeu75
    sbilyeu75 Posts: 567 Member
    The one I got at walmart was crap. I replaced it twice within 5 months and then decided to spend the money and get a polar.
  • blondie_0506
    blondie_0506 Posts: 110
    The HRM that I have, you have to touch it for the hr to be read out...are there any that keep the HR on the screen and show the cals burned at the same time?? I want the best one!
  • Levedi
    Levedi Posts: 290 Member
    I just got a New Balance N4 at Target for $70 and it has a chest strap and is easy to use. I don't know if it's inside your price range, but it was cheaper than a lot of the others I saw around here and had good customer reviews. The cheaper ones seemed to break too much. (I'm in SoCal so prices are really high. It might be cheaper in your area.)
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I wish I had back all the time I'd spent trying to find an inexpensive HRM. In the end, I decided that this was for my health and just spent the money to get a Polar FT4 from Amazon. Every inexpensive one I looked up had too many bad reviews and comments about them giving inaccurate readings from one day to the next and just general unhappiness from the folks that had them. The Polar has been great for me and has seemed to be really accurate from work out to work out based on what I'm doing each time.

    Also, I hate having to be distracted with doing anything with my hands while I work out because it just distracts from what I'm doing and throws me off my pace. So having to constantly touch my finger just perfectly to a little spot on a watch on my other wrist sounds horrible to me. Plus, with the Polar FT4 constantly monitoring my HR the whole time it give you not just your highs and lows but it also tells you how long of the workout you spent in the proper zone. I actually discovered that I needed to modify my workouts a bit because I was spiking my HR way too high and taking myself out of a more productive workout zone.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories