Please recommend some great Heart Rate Monitors?

[Kapalua]

 I'm looking hopefully for something with GPS to also verify my fitbit force distances measured. I would prefer just an attractive sports looking wrist watch design without the need for a chest strap. Also, the ability to see real time heart rate as well as log and record linearly the heart rate throughout the day is needed. Ability to synch with a good online software program woould be great too. Am I missing anything?

What do you recommend? Price is not a major consideration.

[WendyB]

If you want GPS I would look into a Garmin

I use Polar. Not sure if some of there models use GPS or not. But they are woth checking out as well

[Dominique]

What you want does not exist: an integrated GPS + HRM watch that doesn't require a chest strap and that also monitors your HR 24 hours a day (as opposed to only when you're working out). You'll therefore need to have several devices and make compromises.

If you want a wrist-mounted HRM (no chest strap), you basically have two options: the Basis B1 band and the Mio Alpha. Neither will do GPS, so you'll need a second watch. The Basis is supposed to monitor your HR 24/7, but many reviews say it fails to do its job at high-intensity levels. The Mio Alpha is very good at monitoring your HR at all activity levels, but it's not meant to do it 24/7. Although it has a more than decent battery life, you would typically use it only when actually working out. This is what I'm doing (I happen to have one).

If you want a watch that does both GPS and HRM, you'll need to have a chest strap. Companies that make such combos (watch + strap) include Polar, Garmin, Suunto.

I personally went for a two-watch, no strap solution: I have a Mio Alpha for HRM and a cheap GPS (Soleus 1.0) watch. You can find the Soleus for less than $70 on Amazon, which is a lot cheaper than the equivalent watch from Garmin (Forerunner 10). I'm very happy with the Mio Alpha. The Soleus has its shortcomings, but it does the job and is more accurate than my smartphone's GPS.

[Kapalua]

Thanks for the detailed answer. I should have said I only want to monitor HR during workouts.

If the device functions as an everyday watch as well, like the Garmin 220 does, so much the better. The reason I wanted GPS was to measure distance traveled, pace, etc., not for directions. Does the Mio Alpha measure anything else other than HR? If so what does it measure?

Thanks for your help!

[Dominique]

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@Kapalua wrote:

Does the Mio Alpha measure anything else other than HR? If so what does it measure?

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No, only HR. When not in HR mode, it's just a plain watch, and a very basic one at that (only hours + minutes). I don't normally wear a watch and I therefore take it off when not working out.

The nice thing about the Mio Alpha is it's BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), like recent Fitbits. This means although its built-in functions are pretty limited, you can use it with smartphone apps (provided you have a compatible phone, which means a recent iPhone or Android). And because BLE is energy-efficient (as the name implies), battery life is very good.

[Dominique]

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@Kapalua wrote:

If the device functions as an everyday watch as well, like the Garmin 220 does, so much the better. The reason I wanted GPS was to measure distance traveled, pace, etc., not for directions.

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I find the Garmin Forerunner 220 a bit expensive for what it is and what it does, and it still requires a chest strap for HR monitoring. If I were going for a watch+strap GPS/HRM solution and price weren't an issue, I'd rather go for the Suunto Ambit2/Ambit2S. OK, I'm biased as I live in Finland (Suunto is a Finnish company), but most reviews tend to regard Suunto as higher-quality / more reliable than Garmin. It's very popular among people who are into triathlons, for instance.

I think the Mio Alpha + a smartphone + an app offers better value as an HRM solution, and no chest strap is required (big plus for me). If you already have a compatible smartphone, Mio Alpha + app + cheap GPS watch still compares favorably with Garmin 220.

[LilBudyWizer]

Personally, I would recommend you start with a smart phone app. It's cheap and easy. If you have and Android 4.3 or iPhone 5 or later phone they support Bluetooth Smart/4.0/BLE. Well, definitely the iPhone and most like the Android. If they support Bluetooth Smart then they, pretty well, support ANT+ as well. You can get a Motoroal ANT+ HRM strap for like $20 on Amazon. Even if you have an older phone you can get a Zephyr HxM Bluetooth 3.0 strap so apps can log your heart rate.

You can use limited versions of most apps for free. So you can switch apps at no cost until you find one you like. You can't do that with GPS watchs. They are dedicated devices and, pretty well, only ever do what they did when you bought them. Using something evolves you opinion on what you want. So, to me, it's a good idea to figure out what's important to you and not before you start shelling out the big bucks. The Mio Alpha is $200. A Garmin 620 is like $350. It's a crying shame to find a $350 watch is something you don't actually care to use. So, to me, it's best to learn on a smartphone.