Heart rate monitor- chest strap vs watch?

Sailorwind
Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm thinking its time to get an HRM and am having some trouble investigating which to buy. I'm not sure I'm understanding the differences between the chest strap and the watch, though it looks like the watches still use a chest strap? I'm not sure I want to switch my nicer watch to an HRM watch unless it does more than the phone app with a chest strap does. I also don't want to spend more than $50.

I think I'm leaning towards a polar h7 but am not actually sure how it differs from the other polar HRMs. Help?

Replies

  • knightreader
    knightreader Posts: 813 Member
    love my polar ft4. not sure on the differences between the 4 and 7, but if i remember correctly, the 7 did more than i needed it to.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    A really great blog on the topic

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

    The chest strap still needs a watch. The watch only models are less accurate for calorie estimations.
    What are you planning to use it for?
  • Genetic_Drift
    Genetic_Drift Posts: 12 Member
    The chest strap measures your HR, the watch receives the measurement from the chest strap. I'm not sure if there are watches without chest straps, but they would likely be less accurate. Some fitness wrist or arm bands just use movement rather than HR.

    I use a Polar H7 and pair it with an iPhone 4S. The free Polar Beat app is really good, and apparently you can use it with the FitBit app to sync directly with MFP (I just enter in the calories manually from Polar Beat). The H7 and H6 are just the strap and the transmitter which plugs into the strap. The H6 will only transmit to a phone or other Bluetooth device, whereas the H7 can transmit via Bluetooth but also to some gym equipment and some Polar watches/other receivers. Personally I find I only use the phone pairing, but it depends on what you want.

    http://www.polar.com/en/products/accessories/H7_heart_rate_sensor

    The only reason I could think of wanting a watch version is if I wanted to swim with it. Even then, I don't think I'd use it all the time as a substitute for a normal watch.

    Hope that helps.
  • bomftdrum
    bomftdrum Posts: 270 Member
    love my polar ft4. not sure on the differences between the 4 and 7, but if i remember correctly, the 7 did more than i needed it to.
    This. I love my polar ft4.
  • 280tofit2014
    280tofit2014 Posts: 52
    I use the polar ft4! It uses a watch and chest strap but it's comfortable and easy to wear and very accurate! I went to the docs office to have my heart rate checked by a "professional" tool and by the HRM and they were both identical, so you can trust it!
  • dezstern
    dezstern Posts: 2
    I have a polar bluetooth chest strap, use it on every ride, run, gym day, and MMA training session I have. I love it. Battery lasts a looong time, and there's no need for a watch. It goes directly to my phone, with whatever app I'm using (I use ISmoothRun - iPhone).
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    It really does depend on what you want out of a HRM. A chest strap with watch receiver will be the most accurate for calorie burns (yes, nothing is 100%accurate, they are all estimates but based on my success, the estimates from mine are pretty accurate). The watch versions without straps are good to periodically check your heart rate but you typically have to push a button to get a reading at that point in time so it's not as accurate for calorie burns.

    I have a polar F4 and love it. I wanted to know calorie burns cueing exercise a well as know where my heart rate is. I need the watch so I can easily check my heart rate during my spin classes and dance fusion class and having a Bluetooth only option going to my phone wouldn't give me that functionality. I don't wear the hrm watch full time. I wear it while exercising and once I'm home from the gym and showered I put my nice watch back on.

    Good luck!
  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
    For those with the ft4 or 7. What does the watch part do that is different from the phone app?
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    I don't have a phone app since I have the watch version so can't tell you how that reads but with the watch, when you first get the HRM you set it up with your stats (age, height, weight, gender). When I start exercising, I press the start button and during my workout the watch displays my heart rate, calories burned and time-you push a button to scroll through those things. There's other stuff like "zone training" that I don't use and part of why I got the f4. I just wanted the basic info. I can tell by where my heart rate is if I'm working efficiently or hard enough.
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    For those with the ft4 or 7. What does the watch part do that is different from the phone app?

    Hi there!
    I have both, FT7 and H7. The H7 has more features and training options. You can set a variety of training targets (heart rate training, training for speed, distance, calories...). It also uses the iPhone's GPS, and it maps it pretty well (within yard range on the track, as far as mine goes...). The watch/chest strap combo will record your training for time, calories, heart rate. That's about it. For the watch type, you will have to buy an extra device to hook it up to a computer. The H7 will sync the results with your online account on the Polar website automatically, when you log into the phone.
    Personally, at the moment, I like the chest strap only H7 better. The watch keeps getting in the way of some lifts, and the kettlebell kept bouncing against it, too. Of course, I have to have my phone with me at all times, but the Bluetooth will transmit, even when the cell signal is low. No problem there. I took the H7 swimming, with the phone on the bench nearby, and the chest strap stayed nicely tucked under my sports bra top.
    There are some wrist watch only type HRMs, but it has been my experience, that any wrist watch will get uncomfortably tight over time, and if you open it up a notch, it loses your heart beat. Also, many of the wrist watch types do not have a stop watch function. If that's something you need, read the small print.

    I have recently seen the H7 for about $50 bucks. Just make sure, that you have a phone that has the appropriate Bluetooth signal. For iPhones, that is 4s and newer.
    Hope that helps a bit!
  • cwrig
    cwrig Posts: 190 Member
    There are 2 or 3 GPS watches out now that have optical heart rate monitor built into the watch. With these there is no need for a chest belt. These watches do not estimate your HR with accelerameter; they measure your blood flow with an optical signal so they provide continous data just like the chest strap type. When they work; they are just as accurate as the chest strap; But they are first generation technology and have a couple bugs. IF a lot of sweat gets between the watch and your skin, they tend to fail.

    So; such watches do exist that provide continous HR by themselves, but they are very new, pretty expensive and may have reliability problems is they get wet.

    Here is one of them:
    http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/products/your-sports/running/tomtom-runner-cardio-gps-watch/white/

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