Tracking your fitness metrics during workouts is a great way to keep you motivated and accountable regarding your physical health. You can even use that information to guide your training, helping you progress. Just about every fitness tracker, smart ring, and smartwatch on the market these days can measure your heart rate with relatively good accuracy thanks to their optical sensors. However, standalone heart rate monitors still offer the gold standard for heart rate accuracy and reliability, especially during certain activities. After sweating it out with a range of heart rate monitors, we’ve narrowed in on the best ones to wear on your next run, swim, HIIT class, or bike ride.
Best heart rate monitor overall
Polar H10
The Polar H10 is a traditional chest strap heart rate monitor that uses electrocardiogram technology to gather precise heart rate data during workouts. It’s fully waterproof, offers a comfortable, non-slip fit, and plenty of connectivity options with a long battery life.
- Comfortable to wear
- Highly accurate heart rate for all types of activities
- Works with lots of apps and equipment
- Chest strap design may feel constricting for some
- Doesn’t deliver additional metrics
This monitor is typically the standard for accuracy and is frequently the strap of choice in exercise lab settings.
The Polar H10 is proof that while smartwatches and fitness trackers are capable of monitoring your heart, the chest strap remains the most accurate way to do it. This monitor is typically the standard for accuracy and is frequently the strap of choice in exercise lab settings. It uses ECG sensor technology to measure heart rate, which is a significantly better performer than optical sensors for high-intensity exercise like HIIT and interval running sessions.
Polar uses a soft-touch textile strap to improve its comfort during training sessions, and you can choose between three band designs. It matches that up with a silicone spot design to ensure the chest strap stays put even during intense exercise. The H10 can store a single training session, while the Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity powers mean you can pair the heart rate monitor to watches and other exercise equipment as well.
The Polar H10 uses a coin cell battery like those found inside watches, which will last for up to 400 hours or more than one hour of exercise every day for a year. Ultimately, it’s a supremely comfortable chest strap-style monitor that crucially delivers where it matters, and that’s serving up accurate heart rate data.
Best heart rate monitor for women
Garmin HRM-Fit
The Garmin HRM-Fit is a new take on a chest-based heart rate monitor. Instead of a strap that goes around the chest, it uses clips that attach the monitor to a sports bra band for a more comfortable fit. Beyond the new design, it uses Garmin’s standard heart rate monitor for accurate data.
- Provides precise data
- Comfortable and easy to wear
- Provides running dynamics with compatible Garmin watch
Chest strap-style monitors can be a bit of a pain, especially for those who wear sports bras. You’re limited on when and where you can put them on, and the added tightness around the chest isn’t always ideal. The Garmin HRM Fit offers a unique design that only uses a partial band. Instead of going all the way around the chest, it clips onto the bottom of a sports bra, so you don’t have two tight bands around your body.
Three clips hold the band firmly in place without damaging your sports bra. You can’t use it with long-line sports bras or ones that aren’t snug. But for most standard sports bras, it works extremely well and is a much more comfortable alternative to full chest straps. The strap material itself feels plenty soft and very durable, capable of holding up to years of intense workouts.
The HRM-Fit uses a CR2032 battery, which provides up to a year of battery life. It provides heart rate data that is just as accurate as a traditional strap and uses Bluetooth and ANT+ connections to share real-time heart rate data to your watch or compatible devices and apps. If you don’t want to wear a watch for a workout, it captures steps, calories burned, intensity minutes, and more, so you can sync that information later. It also captures running dynamics so you can work on your form, provided you use it with a compatible Garmin smartwatch.
Best armband heart rate monitor
Coros Heart Rate Monitor
The Coros Heart Rate Monitor uses an armband strap and an optical sensor to provide a more comfortable and convenient wearing experience for those who dislike chest straps. It provides accurate data and uses a rechargeable battery.
- Comfortable, secure fit
- Accuracy is consistent across exercise types
- Works with up to three Bluetooth devices at once
- Lacks ANT+ connectivity
- No data storage
- Lackluster battery life compared to other HRMs
The Coros Heart Rate Monitor is a great option if you find the chest-strap style monitor constricting but don’t exactly trust the readings from your smartwatch. The armband design makes it easier to put on in any situation, and it sits flush against your skin, so it won’t get in the way of your workout. It offers a snug fit with a textured design on the band, enabling it to grip your skin and stay put during any activity.
This Coros HRM uses a Bluetooth connection to easily pair with other devices. While Coros is in the name, you can use the sensor with most Bluetooth smartwatches and gym equipment that supports external heart rate sensors. It can even pair to up to three devices simultaneously. It features a rechargeable 55 mAh battery, which promises 38 hours of continuous tracking or 80 days on standby mode. That’s significantly less than the above monitors, but at least you don’t have to fumble with batteries.
When it comes to accuracy, the Coros HRM performs quite well. On runs, general gym workouts, and paired with indoor equipment, it held up very well against a Garmin HRM-Pro chest strap monitor. It even handled more high-intensity exercise, which is where optical sensors, particularly wrist-based ones, tend to falter.
Best rechargeable heart rate monitor
Wahoo Trackr Heart Rate
The Wahoo Trackr Heart Rate is a chest strap heart rate monitor with a rechargeable battery. An LED light displays the monitor’s status, it can connect to a wide range of devices and apps, and provides over 100 hours of active battery life.
- Comfortable and secure fit
- Rechargeable battery with long battery life
- LED light displays status
- Chest strap design isn’t for everyone
- Requires a separate app to see metrics other than HR
Most chest strap HRMs still use replaceable batteries, which can be a bit of a pain to replace. The Wahoo Trackr Heart Rate uses the traditional chest strap format but does away with replaceable batteries, instead using a high-capacity rechargeable battery. Unlike the Coros HRM’s rechargeable battery, though, the Trackr battery offers over 100 hours of active battery life, so you will rarely need to recharge it.
The Trackr Hear Rate offers both ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity for greater flexibility. It can connect to smartphones, fitness equipment, and most training apps and accessories. As you’d expect from a chest strap, the data is precise and accurate no matter the type of activity. Plus, beyond beats per minute (BPM), it can also share your Average Heart Rate, Max Heart Rate, and Total Calories in the Wahoo app and HRV in a compatible app.
The strap itself is comfortable to wear for a chest strap, with high-quality material on the band. The monitor itself can be removed for a more thorough band cleaning when necessary and easily snaps back on. It features an LED indicator, so there’s no guessing if it’s on, paired, or running low on battery. The IPX7 rating isn’t compatible with swimming, but it can handle plenty of sweat and rain with no issues.
Be sure to remove the module to wash the band on a regular basis to keep it working as it should.
Best heart rate monitor for swimming
Garmin HRM-Swim
Garmin designed the HRM-Swim specifically for swimmers. It features a no-slip strap and stores heart rate and interval summaries for transmission when you are out of the water.
- Grippy strap stays put
- Long battery life
- Accurate data
- No real-time data in the water
Swimming is one of the most challenging situations for heart rate monitors. Writs-based sensors typically won’t collect any data for swim-based activities and the Coros armband also isn’t compatible with swimming activities. The Garmin HRM-Swim, though, is made specifically for swimmers, so you can gather crucial data during your workouts.
The HRM-Swim features a unique nonslip strap that stays put even during wall push-offs. It stores heart rate data and interval summaries and then transmits that data to your compatible watch when you’re out of the water. It can also provide real-time heart rate data when you’re out of the water, so you can use this for your land-based activities as well. Data is transferred via ANT+ connectivity with no limit on the number of devices you can pair to.
This heart rate monitor uses a CR2032 battery. It provides up to 18 months of battery life if you are swimming three hours per week. Finally, the 5 ATM rating means you can even go beyond the surface for your swims.
The bottom line: What’s the best heart rate monitor?
Based on our testing, the Polar H10 is the best heart rate monitor for most situations and people. When it comes to performing across all types of exercises, the Polar H10 delivers the most accurate results. It also provides a more comfortable chest strap experience, great battery life, and plenty of connectivity support. However, if you aren’t a fan of traditional chest straps, the Garmin HRM-Fit or Coros Heart Rate Monitor are great alternatives for a different fit. Both provide excellent data accuracy and useful features for the right users.
Editor’s Choice
Polar H10
How we chose the best heart rate monitors
The writers and editors at Pocket-lint have been testing tech for decades, including plenty of fitness-focused tech products like heart rate monitors. We have hands-on experience with most of the monitors on this list, using them in a range of indoor and outdoor exercises to push the monitors to their limits. We also evaluated the monitors not only for accuracy but also for their comfort levels. Finally, we evaluated additional features like onboard storage, data gathered beyond heart rate, connectivity options, and battery life.
FAQ
Q: What is ANT+?
Advanced and Adaptive Network Technology, or ANT+, is a wireless transmission protocol similar to Bluetooth. However, unlike Bluetooth, ANT+ doesn’t require pairing. When you send a signal, the nearest ANT+ receiver is simply able to pick it up, allowing you to get started working out right away. It is widely supported in sports devices, allowing connection to Peloton, Garmin Edge bike computers, and more.
Trending Products
