Last Updated on December 20, 2020 by Afsar
Are you looking for the best heart rate monitor for your next workout session? You are in good luck. Today we are reviewing top ten best heart rate monitors. These heart rate monitors have one simple job: to monitor the heart rate.
If you are an outdoor lover or may be a fitness conscious person, you may want to monitor the heart rate. No matter whether you are running, kayaking, lifting or just jogging, you want to know the heart rate. This will help you to determine whether to slow down or speed up.
Keeping the heart healthy is not an option, but mandatory. If you are exercising vigorously, you may get ripped at a faster time, but you put your heart in danger. This is why it is crucial to grab the best heart rate monitor and keep things healthy.
A wide range of athletes or fitness concerned people loves to use heart rate monitor. There are several types of heart rate monitors available. We will guide on how to choose the best heart monitor for you.
Best Heart Rate Monitor – Short Comparison Chart
| Image | Model | Type | Editorial Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Wrist-based | 4.8 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Polar H7 | Chest-strap | 4.8 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Fitbit Charge 2 | Wrist-based | 4.5 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Fitbit Blaze | Wrist-based | 4..4 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Wahoo TICKR | Chest-strap | 4.5 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Beets BLU | Chest-strap | 4.2 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Suunto Ambit3 | Wrist-based | 4.5 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Under Armour Jawbone UP3 | Wrist-based | 4.4 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Mio ALPHA 2 | Wrist-based | 4.2 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
  | Jabra Sport Pulse | Headset | 4.2 | Shop now at Amazon.com |
Top 10 Best Heart Rate Monitor 2021 – Hear Rate Monitors Review
Garmin Forerunner 225
Perhaps the most dominant brand in the realm of fitness tracking devices, Garmin has one of the best heart rate monitors in this world. Garmin Forerunner 225 is an excellent wrist-based heart rate monitor. Not everybody loves to run with a strap, and if you are one of them, you will simply love this masterpiece. Garmin Forerunner 225 uses a built-in sensor, which can measure the heart rate at the wrist.
Despite the high price, it’s totally worthy to grab this beautifully crafted device. You will be getting a colorful graphic interface which will show your zone & beats per minute at a glance. You will also get more features like the GPS. By using Garmin Connect, you can view the distance on a map. You can also save, plan or share your activities with the free online community. There’s just too many good things in this fantastic heart rate monitor.
Pros:
- Wrist-based heart rate
- Beautifull & colored graphic interface
- GPS feature
- Garmin connect – save, plan and share your activities with free online activity
- Accelerometer provides distance and pace data
- Can count steps, calories, and distance throughout the day
Cons:
- Slightly high price
- HR monitor doesn’t work smoothly in indoors
Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Sensor
If you want a heart rate monitor close to your heart, it’s better to choose chest heart rate monitors. Polar H7 is undoubtedly one of the best chest strap heart rate monitors on the market. Usually, chest strap heart monitors provide more accurate data than wrist heart rate monitors. Polar H7 provides live and accurate heart rate data. It uses Bluetooth connectivity to connect to your smartphone’s app.
Polar H7 is a lightweight and highly comfortable heart rate sensor with a companion app. You can use this polar heart rate monitor with some of the other polar products and even with some other gym equipment. One of the best thing about Polar H7 is its strong battery life. There are a handful of useful features like calorie counter capabilities, heart rate monitoring and more.
Pros:
- Live and accurate heart rate
- Uses Bluetooth technology
- Connects to iPhone, iPad, and Android devices
- Waterproof
- Calorie counter capabilities
- GYM link to connect with other polar devices and some gym equipment
- Polar smart coaching
- Heart rate training
- Plan, train, analyze and share on free fitness training app
- available in different colors
Cons:
- Replacing the battery is slightly annoying
Fitbit Charge 2 Heart + Fitness Wristband
Fitbit Charge 2 is more than a heart bit monitor with packed with fitness activity features. As you can see in the picture, Fitbit Charge 2 is a wrist heart rate monitor. It comes with PurePulse heart rate feature to continuously offer perfect heart rate monitoring. You can use this device to check the calorie burn of the day. It also comes with an OLED display, where you can see the call, text, and other notifications. It can automatically track your sleep and wake you up with a silent vibrating alarm.
Best Heart Rate monitor with long battery
All of these features allow you to easily understand and analyze your fitness level to increase body fitness with the help of cardio fitness score. If you are a runner, who is in need to check your pace, the GPS of Fitbit Charge 2 will be very helpful for you. You can track your all-day activity like steps, distance covered, calorie count and more.
Pros:
- PurePulse Heart rate
- Calorie burn check
- Check call, text and calendar notifications on the OLED display
- Check how well you sleep
- Wake up with a silent vibrating alarm
- Personalized cardio fitness score
- GPS feature to check real-time stats: pace, distance, etc.
- Guided breathing sessions
- Multi-sports tracking ability
- High battery life (up to 5 days)
Cons:
- sometimes it takes time to sync
Fitbit Blaze Smart Fitness Watch
Another excellent fitness watch from Fitbit is Fitbit Blaze. Fitbit Blaze is a smartwatch with a comfortable design which offers a large and easily readable display to check the heart rate with more additional features. While exercising, it is important to check the heart rate without any hassle. You can easily check it with PurePuls continues on this wrist-based heart rate monitor. If you are a multi-sports oriented guy who loves paddling, running, biking and more, you can completely rely on this tracker. You use the GPS (by phone nearby) to track or map your routes and see other stats also.
There are other features like Fitstar workout where you get step-by-step instructions to complete the moves easily. In a nutshell, Fitbit Blaze is an excellent smartwatch with heart rate monitoring ability. It has a good battery which can last up to four days with a large display of all the information you need.
Pros:
- Comfortable design
- Easy to read large display
- Long battery life – up to four days
- Connects to iPhone and Android
- Map routes with GPS nearby phone
Cons:
- Not waterproof
- Slightly big for skinny people
Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor
Do you want a good heart rate monitor, but don’t want to break the bank? Wahoo TICKR is one of the best cheapest heart rate monitors from Wahoo fitness. This is a chest wrap heart monitor which can connect with your iPhone and Android to show the stats. The personalized heart rate training allows you to see real-time heart rate, training zones, and calories burned on your smartphone. Wahoo TICKR uses BlueTooth 4.0 and ANT+ to connect to the smartphone app. You can also integrate to Apple watch and other third-party compatible apps. Pairing with Wahoo RunFit or Wahoo 7-minute WorkOut allows you more functions and features. Tracking your heart rate has never been easier than Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor.
Pros:
- Very cheap price
- Bluetooth 4 and ANT+ connectivity
- Connects with Wahoo RunFit and a lot of more third-party apps
- Integrates with Apple watch
- Real-time heart rate data
- Training zones and Calories burned data on mobile app
- Battery can be replaced easily
- IPX 7 rating up to 5 feet
Cons:
- No GPS feature
- Battery life could be better
Beets BLU Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor
Beets BLU is another great chest heart rate monitor with an extremely low price. Beets BLU uses Bluetooth connectivity to connect to the app. Beets BLU can be connected to iPhone or Android within seconds. This chest heart rate monitor consumes a very low energy to ensure you use this for a long time. You can use this for up to one years. This cheap recorder works with a wide variety of apps like Endomondo, RUnkeeper, Map My Run and more. It’s cheap, has
It’s cheap, has a long battery, and connects smoothly. These apps will show heart rate; calories burned, current heart rate zone, and more other beneficial stats on your smartphone or tablet. Different apps will show different additional metrics and pieces of information also.
Pros:
- Extremely low price
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Easily connects to both iPhone and Android
- Long battery life up to 1 year
Cons:
- Battery could be better
- Slightly snug fit if you are a big guy/girl
Suunto Ambit3 Sport HR Monitor
If you are serious into the sports world and ready to splash some cash for a premium product, Suunto Ambit3 is a great product for you. Suunto is a heart rate monitor watch with lots of cool features. This heart rate monitor is available in several colors. No matter whether you are running, swimming or kayaking, Suunto Ambit2 can be very helpful to you. You can track your performance or analyze your sleeping cycle.
There is a Suunto Movescout app which can be used to plan your workouts. From the app, you can adjust the watch also. The smart sensor can record heart rate while you swim. What’s more, you can add photos to the movement to create a Suunto Movie to share with your friends. Suunto Ambit 3 tops a lot of people’s favorite “best heart rate monitor” list.
Pros:
- Available in different colors
- Long battery life
- Record heart rate even when swimming
- Add photos to movement to create a Suunto Movie
- Sync with smartphone
- See calls and notifications on watch
Cons:
- High price
- Slightly big
Under Armour Jawbone UP3
Jawbone’s UP3 is one of the highly lauded fitness trackers for its super cheap price. Despite the fact that few users find the data dubious, a lot of users rely on this device to keep track of their fitness activities. The patented multi-sensor technology can automatically track your resting and passive heart rate.
Jawbone UP3 is a fitness wristband which can monitor the user’s heart rate throughout the whole day. This fitness tracker band comes with tons of features like advanced sleep tracking, smart alarm and more. It can track your sleep and use the Smart Alarm to silently wake you in the optimal time of your sleep cycle.
Jawbone UP3 doesn’t come with any display; rather it connects with your iPhone or Android over a wireless connection to show stats. The smart coach feature helps you to take good and healthier choices every day with motivation to stay healthy. What’s more, the price is very reasonable.
Pros:
- Advanced sleep tracking
- Wireless connection
- High battery life – up to 7 days
- Connects to Android and iOS
- Smart alarm can silently wake you up
- Smart coach offers personalized guidance
- Idle alerts will remind you to keep moving if you are sitting too long
Cons:
- issues with clasp
- durability could be better
Mio Alpha 2 Heart Rate Watch + Activity Tracker
Mio Alpha 2 is a wrist-based heart rate monitor which offers quite accurate heart rate reading right from your wrist. Mio Alpha 2 is available in three different beautiful colors. You can use this tracker to track your all-day activity including steps, calories, and distance. Mio Alpha 2 has a water resistant of up to 30m. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 to connect or sync with most popular fitness apps.
You can store up to 25 hours of workout data. Mio Alpha 2 is a great heart monitor, but other features don’t add points to its high price. There are other heart rate monitors with low price which does more than just heart rate monitoring. What’s more, you can connect with the Mio PAI app for personal activity intelligence.
Pros:
- Available in different stylish colors
- Can store up to 25 hours of workout data
- Water resistant up to 30m
- Connects with Mio PAI app
- Bluetooth Smart 4.0 connectivity
- Track steps, calories, and distance
Cons:
- Expensive
Jabra Sport Pulse Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset with Built-in heart rate monitor
Jabra Sport pulse is slightly a different type of heart rate monitor than regular ones. This is basically a wireless earbud with the feature to offer heart rate data to your smartphone. You need to use the Jabra Sport LIFE application to calibrate for a better fit with heart rate measurement. You get to do three sophisticated fitness test too. The earbud itself is IP5 certified, so the dirt, sweat, drop, and the temperature is tested. If you are serious about monitoring heart rate, I would say this one’s data is dubious, and suggest you choose another one.
Pros:
- Heart rate monitoring with Jabra Sport Life application
- IP5 certified
- Connects with most popular fitness applications on iOS and Android devices
- Control music or calls directly from the headphone
Cons:
- data is dubious
Types of Heart Rate Monitors
There are two types of heart rate monitors available in the market. They are:
Chest-strap Heart rate monitors: This is a wireless sensor in the chest wrap style which can detect your pulse electronically and send back the data to the app on your smartphone. Then the app on the smartphone will display the heart rate. Chest strap heart rate monitors are slightly uncomfortable at the beginning stage of use, but once you start using these HRM, you will start to feel comfortable. Please note the chest strap monitors provide more accurate heart rate data than wrist-based heart rate monitors.
Wrist-based Heart Rate Monitors: As the name suggests, a wrist-based heart rate monitor is like a watch which can detect the pulse and show heart rate data with other additional stats. Most wrist-based heart monitors will come with either a small or large display. Besides heart rate monitoring, these devices can provide more rich data like sleep analyzer, calorie burn and more. Wrist-based heart rate monitors are easy to wear, and they are comfortable too.
Heart Rate Monitor Features
Heart rate monitors have one simple thing to do: provide data on your heart rate. A typical heart rate monitor will offer you continuous, average, high and low heart rate data along with high, low and target heart rate during your workout, run, paddling session or hike time.
Target zone: Usually, a heart rate monitor offers up to 3 target zones. However, advanced models can have 3-6 target zones. These extra target zones allow you to for multiple target zone to reprogram your HR monitor. You can do this for a different type of workouts or outdoor activities. If your heart rate monitor has single target zone, you will have to reprogram it every time you decide to do other types of exercise.
- Warm-up zone: Where you are just starting to work out. In this stage, the pulse rate is elevated but stays between 50 to 60 percent of it’s maximum. Due to the low risk of injury, this is recommended range for beginners.
- Fat-Burning zone: You heart starts to work at 60 to 70 percent of its maximum level. You will start to do more intense workouts.
- Cardio Zone: Your heart rate is 70-80 of it’s maximum at this stage. This zone allows you to strengthen your cardiovascular system and helps you burn more calories than the last two zones mentioned above.
Sport watch: Wrist-based heart rate monitors acts as a sports watch. You get to use as a clock, alarm, countdown timer and more.
Stopwatch: You can use the wrist-based heart rate monitor as a stopwatch.
Speed, distance, pace calculator: Most wrist-based heart rate monitor can connect with the phone to provide data from GPS for speed, pace, distance. You can see the pace or distances you covered with more detailed information.
Calorie counter: Find and estimate the calories burned during the workout. If you are focused on weight-loss, this can be very handy to you.
Notification: A smart wrist-based heart rate monitor with display might show call, SMS or other notifications on it.
Battery: Heart rate monitors uses a battery to function. A good heart rate monitor will have better battery life with an easy to do replaceable system.
Who Should Use Heart Rate Monitor?
Ever wondered who should use heart rate monitor. While most people will be benefitted from using a heart rate monitor, it’s the fitness concerned people, and outdoor lovers use them regularly. If you are working out or going for a run or for paddling session, you will be highly benefitted from using heart rate monitor. Runners, joggers, hikers, paddlers also use heart rate monitor.
Conclusion
I hope these heart rate monitor reviews will help you to land the best heart rate monitor for your type of workouts and activities. Remember, you need to consult with your doctor about the intense workout you want to do. If you are not sure about the workout or activity or exercise you are supposed to do, you should always talk with your doctor, physician, chiropractor or instructor. Heart rate monitors are designed to help you track your pulse rate, fitness level, and more important things. My suggestion for wrist-based heart rate monitor is Garmin Forerunner 225, and for chest-strap heart rate monitor: Polar H7 is best among others. I hope my advice will help you to land the perfect heart rate monitor for your daily workouts.
Afsar is an avid kayak blogger born near the coast. He has a passion for kayaking and started as a child. He has paddled in various conditions and locations and promotes responsible kayaking. Afsar’s blog is widely read, and they are a respected voice in the kayaking community, offering valuable content on kayaking trips, gear, tips, and tricks. Afsar collaborates with other bloggers and brands and continues to inspire others through their writing and social media.