As a society, we’re becoming ever more fitness-conscious thanks to the proliferation of smartwatches and fitness bands. By now, it seems everybody has something to monitor their daily steps, track sleep and check their resting heart rate. You might think that would have eliminated the need to use a standalone heart rate monitor (HRM), but the reality is that chest strap HRMs are as popular today as ever. And for good reason: The best heart rate monitors do a better job than any smartwatch at helping you manage your workout and to exercise more effectively.
Make no mistake: We’re not disparaging smartwatches and fitness bands. They do what they do very well. But a standalone fitness band is compatible with more kinds of sporting equipment (like treadmills and elliptical machines, for example), is potentially more accurate, more comfortable and delivers more detailed data than you can ever get from a Fitbit or Apple Watch. While most standalone HRMs strap to your chest, you can also find bands that wrap around your forearm and even earbuds that measure your heart rate via your ear. We’ve rounded up the 6 best heart rate monitors to help you choose the one that’s right for you and your fitness needs.
- Best Heart Rate Monitor Overall: Polar H10
- Best Heart Rate Monitor for Triathletes: Garmin HRM-Tri
- Best Heart Rate monitor with Memory: Wahoo TICKR X
- Best Smartwatch with Heart Rate Monitor: Apple Watch Series 6
- Best In-Ear Heart Rate Monitor: Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds
- Best Optical Armband Heart Rate Monitor: Wahoo TICKR Fit Armband
Best Heart Rate Monitor Overall
Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap
When runners think of a standalone heart rate monitor, odds are they think of the Polar H10, a virtually iconic chest strap monitor that’s known for superb accuracy, a comfortable fit and all-around versatility thanks to Bluetooth and ANT+ compatibility. It would be fair to say that unless you have unique needs, the Polar H10 is an all-around good choice.
If you don’t like changing batteries, you’re in luck because the H10 has about 400 hours of life, which could easily add up to six months or more of use (like most heart rate monitors, it uses a non-rechargeable button battery). It also has enough built-in memory so you can store a workout locally—that lets you leave your phone at home as long as you sync it after the session is over. It’s also waterproof and stays firmly in place when you’re swimming. If there’s anything you might not like about the H10, it’s that you need to wet the electrodes before putting it on, and you’ll want to store the sensor disconnected from the strap to keep it from running down the battery.
Best Heart Rate Monitor for Triathletes
Garmin HRM-Tri Chest Strap
It’s a little more expensive than the run-of-the-mill heart rate monitor, but the Garmin HRM-Tri is laser focused on a very specific niche: dedicated triathletes who are already invested in a Garmin wearable like a Garmin Forerunner 945 or Fenix 6. That’s because this HRM works with ANT+ only—no Bluetooth. But in exchange, you get an accurate, comfortable chest strap monitor that is just as good at tracking your heart rate underwater as above. That’s not something every heart rate monitor can claim.
It comes with a generous amount of on-board memory (20 hours) to store all your data while you’re under water or just not wearing your watch, and synchs automatically when back in range. It tracks a lot more than just heart rate, too—a concoction of cadence, vertical oscillation and ground contact time is worth its weight in gold for runners who can interpret the data to eke out better performance. And Garmin estimates you’ll only need to change the battery about once every 10 months.
Best Heart Rate Monitor with Memory
Wahoo Tickr X Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap
The Wahoo Tickr X is a versatile heart rate monitor that stores up to 50 hours of data, so you can go weeks without carrying your phone or downloading your data—and despite having more than twice as much memory as the Garmin HRM-Tri, it’s a lot cheaper. That’s probably because you can’t swim with it, but you can track cycling in addition to running, where you can track metrics like cadence, vertical oscillation and ground contact time in addition to your heart rate.
The Tickr X isn’t notable just for its onboard storage. It has dual ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity, and has the advantage of supporting up to three Bluetooth connections at once. With about 500 hours of battery life, you might be able to go a full year before you have to swap out the battery. It also includes some thoughtful conveniences, like status LED lights that let you see at a glance if the HRM is on or off.
Best Smartwatch with Heart Rate Monitor
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple’s latest smartwatch is a viable heart rate monitor, though like all wrist-mounted fitness bands and smartwatches, it uses an optical sensor which is generally less accurate than the electrical pulse sensor you’ll find in chest straps. Positioned way out at the end of your swinging arms, the watch has to content with a lot more motion, vibration, and “noise” than a chest strap. Even so, it’s more than accurate enough for casual use, and works with most iOS fitness apps. If you need an ANT+ connection, you’re out of luck.
The real reason to get an Apple Watch Series 6 is for the smorgasbord of features it delivers—in addition to the HRM, it includes an SpO2 sensor for blood oxygen level readings, an ECG to test for atrial fibrillation, fitness tracking, sleep monitoring and all the usual notifications and smart watch features. If you’re really serious about training, odds are you’ll grow dissatisfied with the Apple Watch and get a chest strap eventually anyway. But for casual exercise, the Apple Watch is an easy you’re-already-wearing-it solution for Apple users. The most significant downsides: one-day battery life and the need to carry your phone with you to download heart rate data in real time.
Best In-Ear Heart Rate Monitor
Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds
Jabra makes excellent audio gear, and the Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds are solid true wireless earbuds—they sound excellent and fit comfortably in most peoples’ ears. But what sets the Elite Sport apart from most similar earbuds is that these have optical heart rate monitors built in, able to read your heart rate through the blood passing through your ears, not unlike the way smartwatches and fitness bands read the blood flowing at your wrist. Jabra didn’t invent ear-based HRMs, but these earbuds are among the most accurate and reliable in their class.
Like most true wireless earbuds, you need to charge these frequently; you get about three hours of runtime, and they can be recharged several times from the charging case, for a total of 9 hours on the go. They’re also IP67 waterproof, which is what you’d expect for earbuds designed to be used while exercising. Like any smartwatch or fitness band, this isn’t a solution for truly diehard athletes. Conversely, it’s also not the best choice for extensive music listening sessions with its short battery life. But if all you need is a simple HRM for your daily workout, the Jabra Elite Sport can get the job done while doing double duty as earbuds.
Best Optical Armband Heart Rate Monitor
Wahoo Tickr Fit Armband
Not everyone wants to wrap a band around their chest—it can be uncomfortable, and some people prefer a solution that attaches to a different part of the body. Wrist-mounted fitness bands are less accurate than chest straps, but there’s a a way to compromise: an optical (not electric-pulse) armband sensor like the Wahoo Tickr Fit.
Not only does it wrap around your arm rather than your chest, it is innovative in other ways. It uses a rechargeable battery, for example. That’s a two-edged sword; most chest straps last for many months before you have to replace the battery, while the Tickr Fit has to be recharged every 30 hours or so. And thanks to both Bluetooth and ANT+, you can connect to just about any kind of device. The good news is that in routine use, it’s roughly as accurate as most chest bands, so it’s a solid alternative for people who want an armband. Just keep in mind that it has no on-board memory, so you’ll need your phone with you at all times to record your heart rate data.
Why Choose a Dedicated Heart Rate Monitor?
For the most part and for most users who choose a standalone HRM, this comes down to accuracy. Dedicated heart rate monitors—particularly chest straps—are more accurate than HRM sensors built into other devices like smartwatches and fitness bands, which we’ll discuss in more detail ahead.
There’s more to it than just accuracy because, for most people, fitness bands and smartwatches are accurate enough. But dedicated HRMs have a couple of other advantages:
- Most standalone heart rate monitors support a wireless standard called ANT+. This is much older than Bluetooth and there’s a lot of sports equipment and exercise machines that support ANT+ but not Bluetooth. Having a standalone HRM with both ANT+ and Bluetooth support gives you the most flexibility to work out where and how you like.
- Many offer a long battery life so you can go weeks or even months without replacing or recharging the battery.
- Some HRMs have their own memory and can store multiple workouts, so you can exercise without your phone and still record your heart rate data in real-time.
What’s the difference between Electrical and Optical HRMs?
When choosing a heart rate monitor, you actually have to make some decisions before you get down to the brass tacks of picking a specific brand or model. For example, do you want a dedicated HRM or one that’s integrated into a smartwatch or fitness band? Assuming you opt for a dedicated model, you still have to decide if you want a traditional chest strap or one that attaches to your arm or ear. The real distinction here is that chest straps use electrical pulses while most other varieties—wrist-mounted fitness bands, armbands and earbuds—use optical sensors instead. What’s the difference?
Chest straps measure electrical signals in your body generated by the contraction of your heart when it heats. Optical sensors, on the other hand, emit a beam of light into your skin and reads the reflected light coming back out to measure your blood flow. Both techniques work (and work quite well) but electric pulse sensors are substantially more accurate.
Not only are electric pulse sensors better at maintaining a consistent and precise reading, but they react to rapidly changing heart rates more quickly. That’s particularly important to athletes who want to measure their heart rate as it varies through a workout and during recovery. Because optical sensors tend to lag behind real-time a bit, chest strap-style HRMs are preferred by serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts.
What if you’re not training for a triathlon, figuratively or otherwise? If you aren’t going to analyze your data to see how to extract your peak performance from a workout, then use whichever kind of HRM is most convenient, rather than the most accurate. That might mean wearing a fitness band or smartwatch, or relying on a standalone HRM armband so it doesn’t interfere with your sport bra.
