Wrist based HR monitors

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MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
Question on usefulness of wrist based hr monitors. Reading up on various watch reviews there is a lot of dubiety on these type of monitors over chest ones. They are fine for reading when say at rest but if hitting the gym and plenty arm/wrist movement they become inaccurate ? What is the consensus amongst the users on this board? Just another gimmick, nice to have but quickly forgotten ?
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Seem OK to me. Not perfect but what is? Beats wearing an S&M chest strap.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Mrs C has a Fitbit with HR, seems to work fine, it does say to tighten the strap a notch so it doesn't slip when doing activities though.
 
Depends what you need it for. (Garmin Vivosmart HR+ GPS) I use it to check on my heart rate for my commute rides. Plus I LOVE seeing just how low my resting heart rate is. Currently 57bpm.

I use a chest strap at the weekends, maybe a difference of one or two but if you keep the constant the same it doesn't matter.
 

Inertia

I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Question on usefulness of wrist based hr monitors. Reading up on various watch reviews there is a lot of dubiety on these type of monitors over chest ones. They are fine for reading when say at rest but if hitting the gym and plenty arm/wrist movement they become inaccurate ? What is the consensus amongst the users on this board? Just another gimmick, nice to have but quickly forgotten ?
I have a fitbit charge 2 which was cheap and seems pretty accurate. As @mjr says, it beats messing with a chest strap, which I quickly stopped using.

I think a wrist HR monitor like this isnt going away, at least for the near future. Its the simplest way to do it and people are comfortable with the similarity to a watch.

[edit] Ive found it useful as I sit down lot during the day. If it notices I havent moved much, it prompts me to get up and do some walking every hour.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I get more dodgy readings (spikes) and cut outs with my wrist based sensor than I do with a chest strap - especially when cycling, but generally the two follow each other very closely.
 

helston90

Eat, sleep, ride, repeat.
Location
Cornwall
I have a Garmin 35 running watch with built in HR and a garmin chest strap for with my 520, I checked the two on a turbo session the other day and they were within a beat of each other throughout.
 

Bonefish Blues

Banging donk
Location
52 Festive Road
Take a different path and use a Withings (now Nokia) watch. Elegant.

https://health.nokia.com/uk/en/stee...EbD-07djlxGypUay40PH6HhkKydztvcBoCugoQAvD_BwE
 
OP
OP
MrGrumpy

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
thanks for the feedback, still deliberating over an all in one device for running/cycling and gym sessions. Wrist based HR seems to be common amongst all makes these days.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Charge 2 HR is fine for monitoring average resting HR etc but I wouldn’t rely on it for any sort of serious training
 

nickAKA

Über Member
Location
Manchester
Charge 2 HR is fine for monitoring average resting HR etc but I wouldn’t rely on it for any sort of serious training

That's the opinion of DC Rainmaker (and others) on wrist-based HRMs too; fine for general use, not so good for high intensity efforts. If you don't mind wearing a chest strap (I prefer it to a watch TBH) it's the most reliable way to go.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
That's the opinion of DC Rainmaker (and others) on wrist-based HRMs too; fine for general use, not so good for high intensity efforts. If you don't mind wearing a chest strap (I prefer it to a watch TBH) it's the most reliable way to go.
I’m not bothered either way, not training for anything. Decided to get a wrist monitor and the Charge 2 happened to have HR

Good to know my resting HR is consistently in the mid 50s
 

BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
Mrs @BoldonLad was given a cheap (£20) “Fitbit” type watch. Out of amusement, and, because I like “gadgets”, I bought a similar one for myself. Quite impressed with how accurately is measured distance/steps, and sleep. No way to check HR readings, but, based on other readings, I assume it is reasonably accurate, at least in terms of rate of change, if not in terms of absolute readings.
 
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