Bad idea for a HRM for android?

jahnlaw

Don't get me wrong. I love the concept of using a chest device to track my calories on my phone.. It s just from the online reviews they don't seem as reliable as the dedicated HRMs.

What do you think? Do you have any experience with them?

jahnlaw

No one?

Laura_Ivy

The title got me kind of confused...is it an app on your phone that tracks your heart rate? How does it work...that sounds cool but I'm not quite sure how that would work!

76tech

No one?

Probably not, but for the record, I love my Garmin Forerunner 305. There's a lot to be said for something that can be wrist mounted. Trying to read an iPod on my arm doesn't work well when running, but the Garmin is right there.

I would imagine this problem translates to an Android device also. Not sure how helpful this is for you...

jennifero469

I was wondering the same thing. I track my runs on my iPhone, and thought a HRM that works with it would be great. Now I'm not sure. I haven't seen anyone else using one.

wellbert

the oens that use the cameras? cute toys... slightly better than finger on vein i guess.

twhitney

You've peaked my interest. Must download it!

taso42

You mean the kind that are a chest strap that interact with the phone via bluetooth? I considered one for a short time - the Polar Wearlink Bluetooth. But at the end, I went with a dedicated unit. I didn't want to risk ever getting into a situation where I had to sit and futz with my phone for a half hour before I could start my workout.

If you get a standard Polar there is a fringe benefit that they are compatible with many gym machines.

If you get a GPS-enabled Garmin, you'll end up with pretty much all the functionality you would get from a phone-paired one. (Polar makes GPS-enabled ones as well, but Garmin seems to have the better rep on the GPS side).

Jeniroosen1

You mean the kind that are a chest strap that interact with the phone via bluetooth? I considered one for a short time - the Polar Wearlink Bluetooth. But at the end, I went with a dedicated unit. I didn't want to risk ever getting into a situation where I had to sit and futz with my phone for a half hour before I could start my workout.

If you get a standard Polar there is a fringe benefit that they are compatible with many gym machines.

If you get a GPS-enabled Garmin, you'll end up with pretty much all the functionality you would get from a phone-paired one. (Polar makes GPS-enabled ones as well, but Garmin seems to have the better rep on the GPS side).

I agree. For a little more than the cost of the bluetooth chest strap ($80 - $100) just go with a Garmin Edge or Forerunner 305. If you don't bike, I'd go with the Forerunner but if you ride at all, get the Edge as you can pair it with cadence too. I have the Edge and I am able to record my miles even though I'm riding my trainer (piece of equipment that turns my road bike into a stationary bike) because I have the cadence sensor.

You can then use Strava or Garmin Connect (both free) to track your courses.

IronmanPanda

You mean the kind that are a chest strap that interact with the phone via bluetooth? I considered one for a short time - the Polar Wearlink Bluetooth. But at the end, I went with a dedicated unit. I didn't want to risk ever getting into a situation where I had to sit and futz with my phone for a half hour before I could start my workout.

If you get a standard Polar there is a fringe benefit that they are compatible with many gym machines.

If you get a GPS-enabled Garmin, you'll end up with pretty much all the functionality you would get from a phone-paired one. (Polar makes GPS-enabled ones as well, but Garmin seems to have the better rep on the GPS side).

I agree. For a little more than the cost of the bluetooth chest strap ($80 - $100) just go with a Garmin Edge or Forerunner 305. If you don't bike, I'd go with the Forerunner but if you ride at all, get the Edge as you can pair it with cadence too. I have the Edge and I am able to record my miles even though I'm riding my trainer (piece of equipment that turns my road bike into a stationary bike) because I have the cadence sensor.

You can then use Strava or Garmin Connect (both free) to track your courses.

You can pair the 305 with the cadence/speed sensor as well.

76tech

You can pair the 305 with the cadence/speed sensor as well.

And the footpod to track treadmill workouts.

jahnlaw

Thank you. Sorry if my title was confusing -I was going for interesting.

I'm glad you figured out what I was asking. I was looking at two chest straps models from Zephyr and Polar that uses Bluetooth to talkthe with thechest phone but both had some reviews that gave me reason to pause. I'm going to start looking at the Polar and Garmin wrist models with chest wraps that were mentioned. I like the feature you mentioned about them interacting with the gym machines (WHICH ALWAYS SEEMS OVERLY GENEROUS WITH CALORIES BURNED)