Activity trackers with optical HRM - good enough for sport.

[TPMB12]

Basically as in title, recommend a tracker that I can use to track heart rate but all the other 24/7 tracking. I'd like optical HRM as I've not had good results using chest straps.

If possible one that's ok for use cycling, zones etc when out riding/training, but also good for sleep, motion and any other useful monitoring.

Spend is up to £200 but I'd rather be closer to £100. Any ideas?

[fuaran]

I am using a Mio Fuse. You can probably get one for about £100 now.
As a heart rate monitor, it is generally pretty good. Seems fairly reliable and accurate for me, for both running and cycling. I've found it is a bit fussy for position, there is a particular part of my wrist where it works best. And it does need to be fairly tight.
But definitely more comfortable than a chest strap for me, I got horrible chafing from the last Garmin chest strap I used.

It can work as an activity monitor (or as a watch), but it is pretty basic. It is essentially just a step counter. Plus it will give numbers for distance and calories. I'm not sure about the accuracy for this, but it generally seems consistent. For running, the distance is usually about 10% less than my Garmin GPS watch.
It doesn't do any sleep monitoring, but Mio have promised that in a future update, don't know when.

It can connect to an app on your phone/tablet. Though the app seems fairly limited. It will let you view daily totals, and graphs for heart rate etc, but no way to export your data, or share it online etc. There have been some recent updates, so maybe it will improve.

[Thing2]

I've been using a Fitbit charge HR for a few months now, I'm in the US so don't know what the UK prices and availability is like there. It does the whole distance, step counter, sleep monitoring (which I don't use) type stuff too and is a bit smaller than the Mio. There does seem to be some fairly heavy filtering on the HR monitoring, which means the HR reading climbs and drops quite slowly though in a relatively steady state it seems to be within a few beats of a chest strap monitor.

[PaulF]

I use a Mio link - they're around £80.

It's just a monitor, it doesn't display your heartrate but does link to a Phone where you can use Wahoo!, Strava etc.. What it does display is a flashing LED which changes colour according which, user defined, heart rate zone you're in.

[tiermat]

I looked at the Mio Velo, but discounted it, can't remember why, possibly due to it's size.

I then, actually, decided that I didn't need a HRM, but just step and sleep monitoring, so initially went for a Jawbone UP.  When that broke I replaced it with a Garmin Vivofit, which is much nicer.  It is possible to use a BT cheststrap with the vivofit, but, honestly, have no interest in what my heartrate is...

I know that doesn't answer your question, but it is in the same group of things...

[TPMB12]

I have heard good things about the Mio optical unit, from reading the likes of DCRainmaker who rates them, but I also get the impression elsewhere that they are not very functional. What I mean is they measure the HR reasonably well but do not do much else, certainly not as well as other products. Anyone else think that?

I have heard a lot about the recent MS product that has so many sensors (originally about £200 but nor for £179 widely and cheaper no doubt if shopping around a bit). Garmin don't do optical activity/fitness trackers without a chest strap for the HR I think, shame on them.

So far reading around Mio and Valencell make the most reliable optical units for sport. Valencell supply other people  but don't make their own product, mio make for themselves and others but the tech is in conjunction with a big electronics company I believe - not an issue. There is another that seems to be receiving good reviews for sports HR monitoring and that is Epson. A big company that has developed their own optical unit that goes into only their own HRM and trackers (pulsense range). I heard that they are very good for battery life but use a 5s refresh for the HR. This is not an issue (since when did a sudden increase in effort produce an immediate rise in HR??) and they look nasty. They look like a cheapo version of a fitbit surge HR without an ounce of their goodish looks. I would say they look like the Beurer HRM and trackers sold in Argos or Boots for a little bit of money. These pulsense units from Epson do look like they have decent specs but are a little pricey I think.

As you can see I have done a lot of research but I just can not see anything cheap enough that grabs me enough to spend money. I was hoping someone might have something so good it is worth buying. Everything has its faults and if you could cherry pick the best features you would end up with a perfect product. For example I would go for the fitbit sleep monitoring (UP24 or UP3 models) with the Mio optical HRM function but with some functions from the MS and Epson units. The MS for all the unnecessary bits like perspiration sensor and smartphone connections. Epson for battery use I think. No such product sadly.

[PaulF]

I have heard good things about the Mio optical unit, from reading the likes of DCRainmaker who rates them, but I also get the impression elsewhere that they are not very functional. What I mean is they measure the HR reasonably well but do not do much else, certainly not as well as other products. Anyone else think that?

<snip>

Yes, that's a fair summary, the basic model is just a heartrate monitor with a display to show the zone that you're in. Personally I don't need a display of heartrate on my wrist, the zone is enough for me.

[TPMB12]

For me I like the look of the more expensive Fitbit units, is it the surge or the charge HR? However these do not seem sports targeted to me, is that right? What I mean is they look like they are more lifestyle tracking (sleep, steps, etc. with a bit of HR thrown in too). I get the impression if you wanted it for that AND to get targeted HR zone training and recording too then these will not do the latter requirement. On the other hand the mio do the latter ok but not the former.

I like the Jawbone UP range as they are more discrete and in my view seem to have a decent sleep function in there (with a wake up alarm when best to wake you in your sleep pattern???). The Fitbit I think do have units doing the sleep monitoring (not sure about the discrete sleep wake up alarm function) which I think the monitoring happens at the app stage (is that right anyone?).

As you can tell I am a bit confused now. I would like to track my sleep (important in wellbeing and to know whether you are truly sleep deprived or just a bit sleep deprived - parent of a toddler who does not sleep!). I would also like a vibrating alarm to wake me up in a gentle way when my sleep cycle best suits (before said toddler does it and so I do not wake my partner and toddler up with a loud "BEEP! BEEP!"). Then I would like to cycle (commute and the few times I get to go out on my own) at a pace that gives me most return for the effort in terms of fitness (using the HR zones). Then I would like a very reliable record of it all so I can learn more about my patterns and performance. Plus I am a gear freak who has been caught by the whole self monitoring / biosensor thing that is becoming big in tech circles.

[L CC]

I have a fitbit one which does the sleep tracking and vibro-waking (though I never use it). I too love the geeky stats bio monitoring of HRM but I don't think you can do them both from the same device with any great accuracy.
For me, I'm going to be putting a sports bra on if I'm doing anything, erm, bouncily energetic, so I may as well put the HRM on that...

[geraldc]

I've got the Fitbit Charge hr as an update from a Up 24

Re Fitbit Charge, For accurate measurement of heart rate, you need to remember to set it to measure exercise. In exercise mode it measures your heart rate with more frequency.

Up is better at measuring sleep, provided you remember to tell it you're going to sleep. It tells you what phase of sleep you're in, and the amount of deep sleep it registers does seem to tally with when you wake up most refreshed.

I don't really believe that UP stuff about the vibrating alarm only waking you when you are in light sleep. It was like clockwork for me. The Fitbit has a vibrating alarm you set via your phone.

I really like the Charge HR, but it's disposable, I don't think this thing will last more than a year. I've scratched it up pretty good in the 4 or 5 months I've had it. Wearing something 24/7, it's going to get bashed.
I wouldn't get a more expensive model, as technology will move on, batteries have limited numbers of charge cycles.