very disappointing

Ever the optimist, I thought this would be a good purchase since I was looking for a heart rate monitor that was convenient (ie didn't have a chest strap). The watch seemed to work fine until I used it during a workout on my stationary bike. At one point, it said my heart rate was 212, in which case my chest should have exploded. At other times, I couldn't get a reading at all.

Then a few times when I was wearing it sitting at my desk, I'd check my heart rate and find that it was 37. Now I have a low pulse rate and low blood pressure, but that's ridiculous. So I went back to wearing my Ironman watch and put it aside. I took it out this morning and the battery's dead!! It's less than a month old!!

I plan on returning it and hopefully getting my money back.

Rating:


Works as advertised...with 4 out of 5 fingers

I wanted a cheap wristwatch heart monitor for my son's science fair project. We had tried a chest-strap Polar model, and frankly the strap was just too inconvenient for our purposes (the experiment involved measuring heart rate on several volunteers, and moving the strap from one person to another was just too much of a hassle). Picked up the Mio for less than thrity bucks, and it filled the bill nicely. Note that it doesn't technically even need to be on your wrist to get a reading---you can just hold the watch in two hands. However, as with a lot of heart monitoring devices I have seen, it's ability to pick up an electrical signal varies from person to person. There were one or two subjects in our study who simply could not get a reading off the Mio. After a few minutes it would finally connect, but only after trying several different fingers. Can't comment on the durability, since we've only had it a month or two. But for our purposes, it worked pretty well, and the price was right.

Rating:


Strapless heart rate monitor watch

I have only owned this watch for about a week, but I really like it. I also own a strap type heart rate monitor and like this for times when I am not so interested in continual heart rate readings. I am a fitness nut and so like the combination of both watches. I have since used this watch for everyday and is nice to periodically get a heart rate. The other features of the watch are nice too. The settings are easy to use and the display is good. I would recommend this watch for this particular use.


Rating: