Does anyone have a recommendation for a good heart rate monitor?

[scote]

I am looking for recommendations for a good heart rate monitor that I can wear for at least 24 hours and get an accurate graph of my HR.  Ideally it is something that I can upload to the computer to graph ups and downs at different times (sleep, work, home, exercise).  Something that I would like is for it to integrate with Fitbit and/or wellnessFX.

Any thoughts?

[Dominique]

If you need to do this repeatedly, you may want to consider the Basis B1 Band. Here is a detailed review:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/07/basis-b1-review.html

For occasional needs, a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) heart rate sensor could be sufficient, provided you have a compatible smartphone to record the data. I made such an experiment with my Mio Alpha HRM watch and a couple of apps running on my Nexus 4. You can read about it here:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Get-Fit/Sleep-efficiency-vs-heart-rate/m-p/50075

The experiment "only" lasted for about 7 hours, but I could have done it for 24 hours if I had wanted to. The biggest challenge is probably to make sure the phone used to record the HR data remains charged during the entire period. Since I did it during my sleep, it was easy to connect the phone to the mains and keep it on the night stand.

A BLE HRM chest strap (eg. the Polar H7) could be used to the same effect. Chest straps are much cheaper than the Mio Alpha.

[Dominique]

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@scote wrote:

Something that I would like is for it to integrate with Fitbit and/or wellnessFX.

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I'm not familiar with wellnessFX, but automatic integration of heart rate data with Fitbit would be a tall order. This is because Fitbit hasn't really be designed to accommodate extensive HR data.