# Does anyone use a Mio Link or Mio Alpha HRM?



## Dirt Gnome (Apr 28, 2014)

I was looking into getting a HRM without a chest strap and I found these two:

Mio Link
Mio Global Link Review: A Wrist-Based Continuous Heart Rate Monitor - Forbes

Mio Alpha
MIO Alpha BLE Review & Rating | PCMag.com

Does anyone have any experience with these or are using them currently? I know you get what you pay for with this sort of thing... But at $100 the Link seemed like the right price lol. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## cowarch (Jul 1, 2014)

I was looking at the Mio Link as well! Not only is it reasonably price it looks pretty nice as well! 

I spoke to the person at the store and he said it's accurate but sometimes has issues connecting to device, way more comfortable than a chest strap but not quite as reliable. Worth a try and it looks kinda cool!


----------



## petercarm (Nov 5, 2007)

I have a Mio Link. I have used it paired to a Suunto Ambit 2 and Garmin Vivofit via ANT+. I have used it with an Android smartphone and Tomtom Multisport GPS watch using Bluetooth Smart.

Pros:
- Less sensitive to drying out/static/low humidity dropouts (compared to chest strap)
- Less obtrusive for long term wear

Cons:
- Time lag. You can't use it for any intervals work. The lag is 15 seconds. Really annoying if you are planning on getting any feedback from heart rate during your ride. 15secs is the combined delay for the Suunto/Mio Link combination; other combos may vary slightly.
- Band tightness. For biking, the muscle activity in the forearm means you have to crank up the band tightness to get a clean reading. This ends up tight enough to give concern for circulation issues.
- No/misleading R-R information. This is the beat to beat interval information that gets used in some watches' higher exercise functions. I think the Mio/Suunto combination is particularly poor because the Mio seems to pre-process a dirty signal and then deliver a signal that is unnaturally clean. The Suunto watch does not distinguish this fake cleanliness of data and some functions will be distorted because of this: Peak training effect (PTE) and Recovery time.
- The dropout behaviour is erratic. It can read high or read low and require a marginal repositioning on the arm to come back to reading correctly. In contrast I find chest belts are either there or they drop out - I don't get many false highs on chest belts.

Notes:

I generally don't use the Link any more. It is easier to just scoop a handful of water onto a chest belt HRM and get on with it. In all functional respects the chest belt is better. Having to recharge the Link, compared to a coin cell powered chest belt is also a pain.

Chest belts do dropout in low humidity conditions and they can dropout heavily until you have got a sweat on on a ride. The Link also drops out, but more erratically based on positioning on the wrist, particularly in a sport like cycling where the arm muscles are tensed. Chest belt dropouts in low humidity conditions are the only reason I reach for my Mio Link now.

For curiosity, I'd quite like a GPS watch that could acquire both a chest HRM and optical HRM and process the signals to eliminate time lag and identify dropouts in either signal.

I've paired the Link via Bluetooth Smart to an Android phone and to a TomTom Multisport GPS watch. Bluetooth Smart HR data to a single device can run concurrently with sending a signal via ANT+ to multiple devices. I can't comment on whether it is specifically down to the Android (4.3 Galaxy Note 2) implementation of Bluetooth Smart but the pairing seems specific to an App. Paired to one App, you can't easily supply HR data to another App and re-pairing tends to involve unpairing in the first App first. This can also affect pairing to other devices. ANT+ is a lot more flexible (simplistic) which seems to work well in this application.


----------



## no sweat (Aug 21, 2014)

First post here... wanted to make it something useful.

You can get $50 off a Mio Alpha (for sure) and possibly also on a Mio Link (which would be half off...) using the promo code "NewMio" here

Other promo codes here

I broke down and ordered the Alpha... mostly in anticipation of that awful season with crappy roads, snowed in trails and no daylight... I figure I'll make the dreaded indoor exercise regime as efficient (and mercifully short) as possible....

No commercial interest in Mio... I have an order placed, that is all.


----------



## Pegleg81 (Aug 6, 2014)

I purchased mine primarily to use on my indoor trainer. I used to keep it 2 inches above my wrist per Mio's recommendations on wear, but now I just wear it like a watch and have had no problems for my Carmichael training intervals (10-min elevated HR intervals). But there is a 10-sec. delay, and as a newbie in the training scene, I don't find that too bothersome. I suppose that it can be a bit bothersome as you might end up overshooting your targeted HR range, but the convenience of being able to wear it on my wrist makes it worth it. I have tried wearing it 2 inches above the wrist when mountain biking, but it did slide down to the wrist, so I think that wearing it 2 inches above the wrist is impractical in mountain biking. I will be wearing it on my wrist and will test it to see how it works on the trail. I will probably forget about this post, so if you're interested in the result, pm me.

If you go to the comments in dcrainmaker's review, it seems that HR readouts can vary depending on a person's wrist physiology.


----------



## mapex101 (Oct 30, 2013)

I have been using a mio alpha for the past 3 months without issue. Love it and it works as good as my old polar chest strap.


----------



## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

As an alternative to the Mio for those that are interested I recently got a Scosche RHYTHM+ Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart Optical HR band that I am very impressed with. This can go on the wrist but I prefer to wear it on my upper arm. In fact I can wear it discretely underneath a t-shirt without it being seen and so far I am impressed with its accuracy.

Scosche RHYTHM+ Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart Optical HR Band In-Depth Review | DC Rainmaker has a review.


----------



## Riken (May 27, 2008)

does the scoshe have the 10-15 sec delay as the mio?
does it come in ant+ only?
thx


----------



## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

The Scosche is Bluetooth and Ant+. I have no trouble connecting it to a Garmin 800 with Ant+ and Cyclemeter with bluetooth on an iPhone5. Both even work at the same time. 

As for delay I've no idea.


----------

