Which Heart Rate Monitor Is The Most Accurate? | Triathlon Taren 

Thank You so much! I've been wondering this for so long now.

Garmin says the watch needs to be one to two finger’s width above the wrist bone. I found that helped a lot with accuracy.

Great video! This proves my thoughts! Solid bro!

thank you for this video.. I was also confused when running and my fitbit was reading near 160 bpm.. but I was not even sweating at one point. Gonna start using that chest strap from now on.. Especially useful for these HIIT routines that requires quick on demand bpm reads.

Wahoo have seriously good customer support. I've had one or two issues and without batting an eye they sent me a new unit.

Great timing on this video!!! I use a Garmin Fenix 5x and wear the Wahoo TickrX HR strap and I'm glad to see it is not just my watch. I forgot my HRM on 1 run in the past and was baffled at how high my HR was. Today, I ran the Pittsburgh Kids Marathon (1 mile distance) with my 6 year old daughter and decided to not wear my TickrX and just rely on the Fenix5x. Well after the run, which we ran in 14:38, It showed my max HR at 165 which was ridiculous. Hopefully in the future watches these issues can be resolved, if possible.

Thanks for the review!

Thanks, man helpt out a bunch!

Fenix 5s plus here with tri hr strap. When not using the strap (empty on holiday) I notice that the wrist position is hugely important for accurate readings. In some cases my HR seemed to drop to the 90-100 range when climbing over 1000m vertical/hr. This changed to my normal 160ish HR when I put my hands on the handlebars in stead of on the hoods.

thanks for this video solved a lot of questions

Thanks for all the helpful information. Currently using only wrist heart rate monitor fenix 5s+. I've noticed its reading my HR a bit high when trying to do an easy run.

Thank you! my wahoo chest HRM will be delivered tomorrow. I have started low heart rate training for my runs. I just can’t rely on my garmin wrist HRM as I felt and you just proved it’s often not accurate.

Interesting topic. A few months ago I carried out an experiment. I have a tacx heart rate strap and a polar m600 watch. I monitored my activity, walking, cycling, jogging, resting and sleeping for 24hrs. The watch was almost identical to the strap, 1bpm lower but only on the odd occasion. Maybe because my watch is made by Polar rather than your garmin who are experts in mapping and GPS rather than cardio-tech.

Thank you Taren for this; I have the Garmin 935 w/ chest strap; was nice to see you’ve confirmed my observations. I train with chest strap but it can feel restrictive for my breathing. Do you wear when you’re racing?

I am using Garmin HRM tri and Garmin HRM run dual (because it has bluetooth and makes it easy for zwift). Both are very accurate. My watch is the Garmin Fenix 3 since 3.5 years. I do agree with you that chest straps are the best

Thank you for the video. I was using my Apple Watch for the run and I also felt my HR was inaccurate. Im looking at getting a Polar H10 strap. Keep the great videos :)

I have a Wahoo Tickr X and a Garmin Fenix 5S. I pair them for bike/run and get a much more accurate HR tracking

Really nice video. Does any of these gadgets show if you have any kind of cardiac arrhythmia?

Currently have an old Garmin ant+ chest strap that pairs with my Garmin 310xt. Have a real problem with it slipping down while I'm running. Working on that...

I just bought an FR935 and use it with my trusty first generation Garmin HRM which is still fairly accurate. I also have an HRM Run from my 920XT bundle. The original Garmin soft strap went haywire in less than a year and I got a third party strap replacement.

Great content. What app did you used to show the HR data?

Great comparison. I am not an athlete by any means but wondering which one is best for Jumping on a Trampoline...thoughts?

Great video! What do you think the monitor on a quite good treadmill in a gym? Are they accurate?

I’ve found my wrist hrm on the garmin 245 music, quite often over estimates my heart rate, to the point it was saying I was running for 30mins in zone 5! Even though it felt easy and could still talk

There has to be so many people like me who are new to HRM and considering the purchase? How do you not have links to purchase? You should be able to capitalize on all the click through’s generated from the link. Which is well deserved for sharing quality content. 👍

Suunto has never skipped a beat (no pun intended) both with the HRM and the watch itself. Although at the moment they are transitioning Mobile apps and online communities so have been having the technical glitch/bugs but they are getting on top of it quickly enough. All in all a great watch manufacturer.

I use an apple watch and have noticed that unless I tighten the strap it's wildly inconsistent, however with the strap tight it seems ok. Although I don't compare it with anything else, a sense check with RPE tells me that it's not far off I think. The learning is for apple watch you need to tighten the strap for your run; I have 2 settings, one for normal wear and a tighter one for exercise. I'd imagine that's also the same for any wrist based HR monitor as the top of the wrist frankly isn't a great place to be taking pulse rates from.

You should have plotted the difference to better visualise and analyse the accuracy. If we assume that the chest strap is 100% accurate, then you can try to fit this difference to a gaussian normal distribution and compute the variance, as a quantitative measure of accuracy. I would be curious to see how that would come out. Personally I feel that my fenix 5 optical HR is too inaccurate for most sports I do, therefore I always couple it to a garmin chest strap for activities.

When you were doing the test workouts, how snug was the watch band on your wrist?

What's the best HR monitor chest strap? I do interval exercises and my vivosmart hr isn't fast enough to catch the jumps to 195bpm in real time. I have years of data with garmin so I'd like to stick with it, but trying to stay on a budget a little bit. Looks like most options point toward --> vivoactive 3 and hrm-dual..... :/

i like my Tickr X and Garmin 735xt. In this sport stuff you don't really need medical grade heart rate information, some variance is going to happen which to me is totally fine. Your charts look close enough to me.

Thanks for this. I use the Garmin Tri HRM. It seems to be accurate but I haven't compared. Sometimes it has trouble syncing with 910 (yes I checked battery) but I have to reset battery in order to sync (sometimes). I never wear it in pool cus I honestly don't believe it is waterproof.

I have noticed similar things. Curiously, I often find my FR935 seems to match my HR to my cadence.... Wonder if I wear my watch too loose? The Tickr does not have that problem

Since Christmas I've been using my new Apple Watch 4 Nike+ and to be honest I love it. It syncs with Zwift, Strava, Nike+ etc. and no issues with run, bike or swim, measures HRV... and when I'm not training I have Mickey Mouse, Woody or Buzz Lightyear to tell me the time :0)

i want to ask you , i have fenix 5 and tickrx , can i use Advanced Running Dynamics like Garmin HRM-Run (HRM4) , thks

While I use a chest strap now, wrist monitors can be very accurate. The caveat is that these sensors require firm contact with the skin, and have other limitations due to being optical. I've found that for best results, you really have to wear the device pretty tightly. What also helps is wearing the sensor on the palm side of your wrist.

How did you get the heart rate data from your Tickr X to your computer? A certain app perhaps?

I use Garmin Fenix 3HR, when I bike or run without the Garmin strap, it always register about 15 beats lower.

With Mi Band you can also measure your heart rate constantly (continuously) using Mi HR app

I use a garmin 735xt. I own a garmin chest strap but don’t bother using it due to the inconvenience factor of using an additional chest strap.

Hey there. I use a Polar F7. Yes, it's old, but it's all I need. Gives me time in zone. Beeps if I'm out of the zone, etc. Basic. Polar no longer makes a HR monitor in the $100 price point. WTH? What do you use your Wahoo with? It doesn't have a watch? How do you keep an eye on it when working out? Man, this sport has really changed in 15 years!

How do u read tge chest strap while exercising?? Sry im new working on that ironman

Was that a Lazer Bullet 2.0 helmet you were wearing on your ride?

Your watch and forearm strap didn't look like they were tight enough. DC rainmaker gives top marks to forearm straps.

New sub, noob and from Oz. Does the watch need some sweat moisture to start reading accurate? And I've seen people using the wrist strap around their bicep for added tightness and presumed accuracy...?

How about watch strap tightness? Yours seems quite loose.

I could see that you wear your watch on the wrist. I think that garmin advise to wear it above the wrist, it could make a huge difference in accuracy due to not moving or trying to take reading on the bony part of your wrist.

My Wahoo Tickr sometimes takes 20 minutes before I get accurate readings on a cold day despite using conductive gel. Until then it just sits on one number and doesn't budge.

Let me start by saying that I love your material, passion and the care you have for us Traniacs shines through everything you do. This video, however, should have been scrapped. Please know that I understand what it takes to put yourself out there only to be criticized. This comment is meant with love and respect for all your other delightful work. So here goes: If your Garmin didn't save the workout, then wait another week and do a proper test. If the Polar HRM is the gold-standard, then use it. I believe there's a place for non-scientific comparison videos like this, but there has to be a minimal standard that can be easily achieved here. The ride showed the right result: Strap HRMs are good enough for 95% of us. I bet that the run would show the same result, only that two different runs a week apart are two different runs, even if you run the same exact course. This is a great subject for a video and we're coming up on the one year anniversary, so - redo!

I use the TickrX chest strap and have a Fenix 5x watch. Found exactly what you did. At times on the runs the Fenix would have my heart rate up to 20 BPM over what the chest strap was reporting. But I could tell from how I felt the chest strap was accurate and the watch wasn’t. I found putting the wrist strap very very tight helped a bit but it was still off on more strenuous workouts like track run, or tempo runs. So I always use the chest strap myself, it’s a worthwhile investment if you’re focusing on running at certain heart rate zones.

Is this armband adjustable for someone with very very thin arms?

I’m here because my Garmin 945 drops down by over 30/40 BPM later during runs when I’m sweaty. Removing, cleaning the sweat on my shirt, and putting it back on isn’t working! I have a chest strap in the mail, but I expected more for $600...

I use my FitBit for my HR. I want to get a chest strap for more accuracy and to link to more devices/apps, but am strapped for cash and my HR isn't important enough to spend the money on right now.

In many ways HRMs are very much like power meters. They may differ from one another by a little, but what matters most of all is that the one you have is consistent and reliable.

Polar is best for heart rate. Garmin watches have a better setup and GPS. BUT you can use a Polar cheststrap with a Garmin I think. So do that.

thank you

What music do you listen to on the bike?

Can you make a review about Garmin GPSMAP 66 Series installed in a a bike w/ HRM and Cadence/Speed Sensor. Thank you and God Bless Taren =)

Watch should sit snug on the wrist, just above the wristbone for more accurate readings. I saw you did’nt wear it like that. But a great informative video, thanks!

Is it not dependant on WHAT THE CHEST STRAP IS STEAMING 2 ??. U only tested the bike app.and the chest strap against the watch.

Is it possible the watch was to lose and hence it’s movement?

My 735xt chests trap VS watch... Have the watch tight enough and bit sweaty wrist and its actually very accurate. " loose" /moves and its no good at all for bike or run

Hi great review, I have suunto baro 9 and when running my heart rate is all over place , is the wahoo chest strap compatable with suunto watches? Thanks

Can you try the garmin hrm tri/run?

Hi taren I use tomtom spark I’ve never had a problem with it’s accuracy and I do know with wrist hrm how you wear it is extremely important and I noticed you just lifted the side of the watch to show the lights, well if that’s the way you wear it then absolutely it’s inaccurate on the run, on the run the strap must be tight and should not be able to lift, shift or rotate it Watches take a while to get use to for this very reason and mine has been as accurate as my doctors hrm

Hello, can you test these in to the gym?

My wahoo tickr has been nothing but a pain in the ass. It gives me anxiety before every bike ride cuz its so intermittent. 10-15 minute battle to try and make it read properly, and it freezes up.

Maybe it depends on the model... My wrist HRM is terrible!! FR935. I've cycled up a 5% incline, getting out of the saddle and everything, an my wrist HRM says I'm at 90 BPM!

Wahoo and Fenix 3 and they work great

Does Garmin have a monthly fee?

should include the garmin hr monitor strap in your test

I have found the Apple Watch series 4 HR monitor tracks perfect with my Wahoo TICKR Fit for cycling. Unfortunately the Apple Watch has no support for Garmin Edge or Wahoo Element units. I can however use the Apple Watch with Zwift just fine.

I use a Garmin chest strap...thanks for this video

I had a Fitbit Alta Hr for 3ish years and I found that more accurate than my galaxy watch. I don't know why the galaxy watch is so off. At least the Fitbit showed me closer to the effort I felt I was putting in. For soccer watches probably are not good for. I did soccer for pretty much for the whole summer and my heart rate was very high (Fitbit). But now with my Galaxy watch doesn't show it going as high as it did on my Fitbit. I don't think I can test either

What is the name of watch

Yes so true heart rate monitors are still the standard. I agree. Thanks fo the confirmation.

Wahoo tickr for me always reads low compares to garmins HRM tri.

Garmin recommends that you wear the watch fairly tight, and higher up on the wrist.(to keep the sensor in constant contact with skin) I had problems with mine until I figured out the fit. It is much more reliable now that I put it on as recommended. Might be worth a try. My (older )polar chest strap monitor was a piece of garbage. It regularly doubled my heart rate, and was generally unreliable. Have had issues with the garmin chest strap as well, most likely due to static issues, but those are much less common now that it's not winter.

The new fenix6 heart rate monitoring is a little better, chest strab isn’t holding on because the latissimus dorsi to big by genetics and 20 years of weight training the arm alternative is interesting

Guess I will get a Polar H10 , instead of a smartwatch and continue using my smartphone on the bike.

I just bought Garmin Forerunner 35. HRM is absolute joke, it makes up result in software based on exercise you are doing! I had it on my hand and moved it up and down to simulate exercise - HR went up steadily up to 130 bpm. Then I stopped moving my hand - it went down steadily (as I were resting). My actual HR was 75 bpm all the time! I can't believe it, it's ridiculous.

No polar h10?

Try to make test on lower temperature. All HRMsfrom watches are useless, only from the chest has reliable data. Try to test them in rain, same situation. In this conditions there is nothing challenging for them, so they are almost te same.

You should've analyzed the heart rate data from your ring!!!

2015; Wow, we have fitness watches with heart monitors.. 2021; Turns out the heart rate monitor on the wrist watch is poo 💩.. Heart strap and a watch with no heart rate monitor is the way to go! Or turn it off and save ya battery!

you didn't specify the time frame of these changes.

any idea WHY the watch would be pretty accurate on the bike but not very accurate on the run?

my watch always match my chess strap so no issues with me on those two

Your watch is no way near tight enough. You shouldn't be able to pull it up like that and see the green lights

Fooled me again! I thought we were going to make a fairly scientific comparison but nope! If the data didn’t save, don’t post the video!

Even if the conclusion is correct your test is so sloppy. You didn't even measure the arm band for the run. And wth was that broken arse graph?