# Recommendation for Heart Rate Monitor on watch, no strap



## jaks (Feb 2, 2005)

Looking for a watch that shows HR in real time while riding. Need good accuracy, decent display, good comfort while riding offroad, and not a whole lot of other functions that I wouldn't use anyway. Hopefully not too expensive.


----------



## masm71 (Dec 24, 2010)

In my personal experience I have not found a watch with wrist Heart Rate measurement that is accurate enough for serious sport.
I think thats why some are named Fitness devices and some Sport Watches.
If you want accurate Heart Rate reading you need the Strap.

My personal experience:
Microsoft Band II: not enough accurate (especially when you are swetting)
Polar V800 with Strap: very accurate Heart Rate reading (now HRM even can be used when swimming)


----------



## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

my understanding, after reading up a bunch about this, is that the Mio stuff is the only wrist option that approaches the accuracy of a chest strap. However, the mio watches will JUST do heartrate, but can connect via ant or bluetooth to other devices.

I have the Mio link, which I got for a song at an REI garage sale, which works great, and connects to my phone and head unit. Might look at the alpha 2 for fitness tracking. DC rainmaker has a super review of it

If you are looking for GPS on a watch, using a chest strap is still the best way to go.


----------



## zgxtreme (Mar 25, 2007)

My Fenix 3 HR is showing to be rather accurate. Should it start to lag, I kept my Garmin chest strap and will link them up.


----------



## OldManBiker (Nov 5, 2016)

Ever heard of a company called FitBit? Check 'em out.


----------



## crashmo (Jul 18, 2004)

Fitbit Surge - robust and dependable device. Also links up to Strava if that's your thing, so you record your ride and get stats. You can see your HR in real time during the entire ride if you wish and it seems fairly accurate (have used it for over a year, with 150+ workouts and 75 bike rides). Cheaper than a Garmin and tracks your sleep and steps too. I am a fan.

As for accuracy vs. chest strap - I suppose it's a matter of deciding just how dialed in your activities need to be, and how serious an athlete you are. For most recreational cyclists, I'd wager the accuracy of the Surge is totally adequate.


----------



## ziggy2528 (Aug 2, 2013)

I've just bought a Garmin vivoactive HR watch. Been using it for 2 weeks and as far as fitness I love it. Has gps that's as accurate as the bike computer. Heart rate has been accurate for the most part. I've tested it against stationery bikes at the gym and it's always within a few bpm. I did see an occasional spike where I'm holding a steady pace, bpm is steady @ 130 but then I see 180 . It doesn't last long enough to screw max hr but it did happen. Best part is leaving it on and tracking hr while sleeping and knowing if my resting rate is 60 and I do a hard ride the day before the hr never drops below 70. Means I need a day of rest. Also pairs with Map My Ride ( probably strava to) so I track hr, gps , distance, speed etc.. Also has training zones 1-5 and can be displayed while riding. Really a great watch. I'm sure u could Google and read reviews and functions yourself.


----------



## jkidd_39 (Sep 13, 2012)

ziggy2528 said:


> I've just bought a Garmin vivoactive HR watch. Been using it for 2 weeks and as far as fitness I love it. Has gps that's as accurate as the bike computer. Heart rate has been accurate for the most part. I've tested it against stationery bikes at the gym and it's always within a few bpm. I did see an occasional spike where I'm holding a steady pace, bpm is steady @ 130 but then I see 180 . It doesn't last long enough to screw max hr but it did happen. Best part is leaving it on and tracking hr while sleeping and knowing if my resting rate is 60 and I do a hard ride the day before the hr never drops below 70. Means I need a day of rest. Also pairs with Map My Ride ( probably strava to) so I track hr, gps , distance, speed etc.. Also has training zones 1-5 and can be displayed while riding. Really a great watch. I'm sure u could Google and read reviews and functions yourself.


I also got the vivoactive hr for Christmas. I have been comparing it to my garmin hr strap and my garmin 520. The hr is pretty damn close. Might be 4-6bpm off of my heart strap.

Why not just wear a heart strap? I snagged a garmin hr strap for $22 a few weeks ago. Hard to beat that price compared to a $180 watch.

I'm a garmin guy and the whole sports watch thing imho is 2nd string compared to a cycling computer with a hr strap. (Wife got me the VA hr for xmas fyi)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk


----------



## zgxtreme (Mar 25, 2007)

ziggy2528 said:


> Also pairs with Map My Ride ( probably strava to) so I track hr, gps , distance, speed etc..


On my Fenix 3 HR it auto updates to Strava shortly after in syncs with Connect on my phone. So with the Vivoactive HR I'm sure it would as well.

I still have my HR Strap from my Edge 500 days so I just connect that to my watch when I'm riding. You're right though, I love the constant HR data.


----------



## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

The Mio slice is interesting. I believe Brookstone is selling it early and other places in Feb. I wonder if it's a better wrist unit than past models or is mostly about measuring with their PAI model vs focused on steps like many products. The unit follows:

Mio SLICE Heart Rate & Activity Tracker

Knowing wrist models are probably not best and not liking my experience with chest strap I also watch Apple apps. The apps for an Apple watch might make it worth going to the platform vs just find a good wrist unit.

All this stuff will become obsolete and that's another reason I have not jumped on board with a bigger purchase. Maybe I'm missing something in my homework but if spending but the apps available make an Apple Watch look good. That's got sports monitoring and client apps for things I use all day long in business.


----------



## B. Rock (Mar 9, 2011)

I'm on the other side from the PO - I am looking for a watch to display heart rate from a strap, but ideally also sync with my phone to get text info/alerts. Seems like the Polar A360 is the only one I've found thus far, but that can't be the only one.

Edit: preferably something that works with a bluetooth one as I already have a Polar H7. Otherwise the Garmin Vivosmart is a viable candidate too, but works on ANT+.


----------



## jkidd_39 (Sep 13, 2012)

B. Rock said:


> I'm on the other side from the PO - I am looking for a watch to display heart rate from a strap, but ideally also sync with my phone to get text info/alerts. Seems like the Polar A360 is the only one I've found thus far, but that can't be the only one.
> 
> Edit: preferably something that works with a bluetooth one as I already have a Polar H7. Otherwise the Garmin Vivosmart is a viable candidate too, but works on ANT+.


The garmin vivo active hr can read from a hr monitor. You can choose the chest mount and pair it to your watch.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk


----------



## B. Rock (Mar 9, 2011)

Correct...that's the one I meant for the Garmin option. Been looking at too many, got them mixed up. But as I said, ideally looking for bluetooth so I don't have to buy another chest strap HRM.


----------



## DG41F (Dec 17, 2008)

My garmin forerunner 235 has wrist based HR, can also pair with an Ant+ HR strap and gets texts and what not via Bluetooth from my phone.


----------



## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Scosche Rhythm+ and your favorite watch.

Sent from my E5803 using Tapatalk


----------



## OldManBiker (Nov 5, 2016)

I have looked at other "types" of means to achieve heart rate monitoring other than the chest strap I have now by Garmin until I am blue in the face. :skep: I have a Garmin Forerunner 230 watch that has all the bells & whistles EXCEPT a heart rate monitor thus, my reason for the heart strap. Each time I THINK I've found a watch that will give me as good of monitoring as my chest strap I keep finding something that says nothing you find will give as accurate as the chest strap. Is the chest strap a pain in the patootie to put on during a cold day? Yes. Do I hate having to wet the 4 contact points on the strap to ensure a solid reading? Heck yeah. But it's worth it to me if I can't find anything as accurate. I'm not a very high tech individual maybe like most who take my heart rate readings to then work up or modify my riding habits and/or workout. I just enjoy being able to see after a good, hard ride that I did maintain a steady increased heart rate for a certain period of time. Heart disease runs rampant in my family and at 53yrs old I guess it's just more like a safety blanket for me to see that I'm getting in good exercise that is making my heart as healthy as it can. FWIW, I found a wrist strap called Mio Link that appears to be quite popular especially if you want ANT & bluetooth capability that connects straight to apps like Strava, Wahoo, etc.


----------



## DG41F (Dec 17, 2008)

That's why I like my forerunner 235. I get daily hr readings that are pretty accurate but if I want something better I just put on a strap for zone training. It's not necessary but an option. With the constant reading I am able see how my resting hr is affected by training which is almost as important as hr during training.


----------



## Negotiator50 (Apr 21, 2012)

AndrwSwitch said:


> Scosche Rhythm+ and your favorite watch.
> 
> Sent from my E5803 using Tapatalk


I have used this setup with Fenix 2 and it has never failed me.


----------



## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

^^^
TBH, I have some trouble with it not reading my heart rate during some efforts out of the saddle. Have you noticed anything like that?

Sent from my E5803 using Tapatalk


----------



## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

FWIW, I've been very happy with the Apple Watch by itself and with the Abvio Cyclemeter app. The Abvio apps are pretty much same but default to a sport depending on the one you buy. I like there being many activities such as alpine and Nordic skiing in addition to biking and hiking.

The one issue with being so please with just HRM performance is this is winter. Having just done biking, alpine and Nordic skiing I realize there's always been a cuff or at times glove pressing the watch to skin. That might be different in summer with bouncing around and the watch in the open.

To me it seems the Series 2 watch is as good or better than any of the wrist types associates have but with benefits that are good for my day job.

For my wife for sure and me too.... There's the benefit of something she's pleased to use all the time. In addition to all the software utility, the Apple Watch is as good being somewhat dressed up for white collar work as it is for a workout. This is the first time I've bought a sports watch or sports quantify device and just kept using it.


----------



## B. Rock (Mar 9, 2011)

FWIW, I ended up with the Vivoactive HR: it has GPS tracking, and to my surprise - does sync with ant+ AND bluetooth devices. Pairs well with the phone (S7), looks fine while being worn at work, and the optical sensor works well enough for things like skiing/snowshoeing that I don't wear a strap for those activities which is kind of nice. For cycling I put on the strap and it pairs almost instantly. Screen is easy to see during a ride too which is nice.


----------



## jeremy283 (Jan 22, 2017)

I was looking for a good wrist HR monitor as well and concluded the Fitbit is best. I have the Charge 2 and it works great. When reviewing chest & arm strap HR monitors they seem to be not all too popular themselves.

I feel the strap HR monitors are just overpopularized compared to items like the Fitbit anymore. I think the Fitbit works just fine if not better than most strap HR monitors.


----------



## jamesdavil767 (Aug 19, 2020)

wahoo fitness tracker heart rate, monitor. Also, this tracker is compatible with the strava. Plus, the wahoo tracker has an affordable price. And this tracker is ideal for the runners as well as cyclists. Other than that, the wahoo tracker comes with an LED light.


----------



## Sickboy37 (Oct 9, 2020)

I used to always use a Garmin strap...until i picked op a Fenix 6x. Very accurate and one less thing to remember before your ride.


----------



## EKram (Oct 30, 2020)

I use Polar products. Vantage M or M460. Why? Polar is all about HR accuracy. I imagine there are other excellent products out there, different features and such. And passionate users depending on what they value in a device.

Try HRMUSA for some info on many products. Used them for years and their CS is tops. https://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/pages/heramo


----------

