PolarVerity Sense - Optical Heart Rate Monitor Armband for Sport - ANTPlus and Dual Bluetooth HRM - Waterproof HR Sensor with only One Button (Verity Sense, M-XXL,Grey)

I moved away from Wahoo Tickr chest straps as they just stopped working this year and late last year. It is my opinion of owning two (more so for running), but there have been a lot of complaints about accuracy online. I can no longer rely on them personally but I have been more than happy with other Wahoo products. Also the chest straps can get loose and slip and cause chaffing in warm weather. Wrist based optical monitors have rarely worked for me being equally inaccurate or worse. So I bought the Verity Sense based on recommendations and I can say for sure, wearing this on my bicep, I have not seen one single blip. It is very accurate and dependable. If you just want to broadcast your HR to your wrist based device (overriding the built in sensor) or bike head unit, then I can't think of an alternative as good as this. If you want all the bells and whistles built into the device, maybe look elsewhere.Pros:Doesn't slip and stays put.Cannot feel it once fitted.Gets out of the way and just works.Optical HR sensor works 100% for me (6 months plus) with no wobbles.Easy to adjust arm strap and you can buy replacements.Easy to connect app so setup was a breeze.Good for HR training because of the accuracy.Very quick to charge.I don't really need to wash the strap after every use (if at all to be honest) because it doesn't really develop an odour (unlike my previous chest straps).Cons:Lack of add-on features that some other advanced devices promote.Polar app is not pretty and software could be improved.Would like to see battery status on opening the app without starting a session.Start recording on app did not like to run in the background on my mobile device when I tried it, but I might try again so I can't say for sure if it is a persistent problem.Quite pricey.

I bought this to use with my treadmill. I had a stroke and the NHS are not very helpful. Been told it's a definate do not use to others saying it's the best thing to get fit. So I've got this as a heart monitor. It connects to the treadmill using Bluetooth and also the phone app at the same time. The monitor works really well, BPM, calories and duration in app but also readout on the treadmill. The readout on the app is colour coded. I put in my age and it works out the recommended heart rate needed while using the treadmill. This is 60% to 80% of the maximum heart rate for my age. Again, no help from the NHS. As I am warming up, the app colour readout is in a grey panel. When I get between 60% to 70% it turns blue. 70% to 80% it turns Green for optimal calorie burn within target range. Higher and it turns orange then red. The BPM is really stable, not rapidly bouncing up and down, and allows me to feel safe using the treadmill for about half an hour at a time. Nice quality and simple to use. Recommended.

This review is for the Polar H9 Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) in Black. I purchased the HRM to prep for a Half Marathon, my first ever, with the hope of using it for Low Heart Rate training. It has been an excellent choice for a beginner like me and has helped accurately track my heart rate during runs. This has helped me improve my runs over the 2 months I've used it so far.Build and Quality:The HRM unit and the strap come packaged as separate items. The HRM unit is compact and lightweight, made from a durable plastic and the quality feels solid. Just holding it in your hands you can tell that the plastic is strong enough to withstand any bumps, etc. It houses a CR2025 battery that you can get to using a prying tool. The 'Soft Strap' is just that, a strap with a fine-weave and feels velvet-feel to the touch. The quality seems good and like anything elastic its durability will depend on how much it is stretched. It is adjustable and is fastened using a hook into a loop and the HRM unit and strap are connected together with a pair of snap fastener buttons.Features vs Functionality:Polar HRMs are known for their accuracy and I can confirm this sensor is spot on. The H9 is accurate and also very responsive to changes in the heart rate with minimal lag. Where my Garmin wrist sensor would lag before reacting to heart rate changes, the H9 was pretty much instant. Although, for the strap to measure heart rate accurately, the conducting area on the strap needs to be made wet before use to begin with and the sweat then keeps it wet for the rest of the workoutThe strap is made from a comfortable and flexible material and sits snugly against the skin once adjusted appropriately. I've not had any chaffing and on tuns I don'teven realise I have the chest strap on. I don't particularly sweat too much so all I do it wipe the strap down after use and its good to go for the next workout. For sweaty runners, you may need to wash it more often which might impact its longevity.As for connectivity, the HRM is easy to connect to Bluetooth devices and once paired will automatically connect the next time as long as the HRM is snapped to the strap. I've also tested connecting two devices and both recieve the heart rates in real time. However, if you ever need to let your running partner to use the HRM then you'd want to unpair this from your fitness tracker first before they connect to it. Else it would send their heart rate to your tracker.The claimed battery life of 400 hours is great but difficult to verify. So what I do to ensure the battery lasts is to unsnap one of the button from the strap to break the circuit.Value for money:The H9 provides accurate heart rate data for a fraction of the price of the H10 as long as you don't need the memory of the H10. This as brilliant value for money, specially for beginners.