Question about heart rate monitors

doniem

Hi all, I have a question about heart rate monitors and I'm hoping someone will help me out with an answer.

I've spent the last few days looking at hrm's online and I have gotten a bit bogged down in the ant+ vs Bluetooth setup's.

Basically if I'm right the gist of what I'm reading is that both require a chest strap and hrm but an ant+ hrm will only communicate with a watch from someone like garmin and a Bluetooth smart hrm will only communicate with smart phones.

I was hoping to get 1 that will do both as my fiance would like to use the watch so she can see her heart rate in the gym at a glance whereas I want one that will sync with my phone for hiking and cycling when its tucked away in a backpack. Is this feasible? I have a galaxy S3 and she has an S4 if that makes any difference.

rom

You have two options:

1. Go Bluetooth LE
2. Go ANT+

1. Generally more expensive. Limited by options here. Cheapest option is Motorola Motoactv watch with a compatible bluetooth LE HRM. This will work with your phones pending that the S3 is the bluetooth LE model version.
2. Go ANT+. defiantly cheaper and you have more choice. A cheap garmin are easy to get. For the phone you will need a dongle to connect the ANT+ HRM if for the S3. It will also mean that you have to root your phone http://www.selfloops.com/resources/tech-guides.html .For the S4 it should be supported.

Which is better ANT or BT low energy. I am undecided. Having worked testing bluetooth devices for a number of years I still go with ANT+. Simply because it is cheaper. A HRM is about 1/2 the price. Also the new garmins are still ANT+ for senors so until there is adoption by garmin for BT then I would stick would ANT+

NOTE: The strap needs to be adjusted each time before use. Similar to when someone else drives your car and moves the seat it can prove very annoying unless you are both the same size.

TFBubendorfer

Things are actually quite a bit more complicated than that.

- you are correct, generally you get BLE on phones and ANT+ on Garmins and the like, but just to muddle up the waters there are some watches that support BLE and there are some smart phones that support ANT+.

- Polar has recently moved to BLE, so if you have one of their more recent watches then a BLE HRM will do what you want.

- Wahoo has an ANT adapter for smart phones to give ANT support for phones that do not support ANT+ natively

- there is at least one HRM that works on the wrist rather than the chest and supports both ANT+ and BLE: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/01/mio-link-first-look.html


Personally I use an ANT+ HRM (from Wahoo) with a Garmin watch and am happy with that solution, it works for me. In the longer term, I'm pretty sure that the market is heading towards BLE. If you can't find an HRM that supports both (I'm sure I saw one somewhere, but can't find it now), you could always buy one each, just to save yourself a lot of hassle. They don't cost the world.

sconhome

Further on from TFB's post there is a Polar H7 transmitter which broadcasts over BTLE and 5mhz which means the Samsung S4 (jellybean 4.3 software) will pair with it and with the dual frequency it will be 'visible' to most gym equipment.

Regarding dual ANT+ and BT Smart you have the Viiiiva but worth checking it is compatible with Samsung as most of the 1st generation BTSmart only work on iphone.

doniem

thanks for the replies, i think going by what ye have said ill have to keep it simple and get herself an ant+ device and go with bluetooth for myself. Any advice on the garmin forerunner 50? I've seen a few going for about €50 second hand but i also noticed they are around since 2007. Has the technology moved on massively since then or will it be fine for use in the gym and jogging?

doniem

AKW wrote: »

Further on from TFB's post there is a Polar H7 transmitter which broadcasts over BTLE and 5mhz which means the Samsung S4 (jellybean 4.3 software) will pair with it and with the dual frequency it will be 'visible' to most gym equipment.

Regarding dual ANT+ and BT Smart you have the Viiiiva but worth checking it is compatible with Samsung as most of the 1st generation BTSmart only work on iphone.

Just so im taking you up correctly i could pair the h7 with a watch using ant+ and an S4 using BLE simultaneously?

rom

You probably want to get a 2nd strap. My OH loves me and all but I don't think she would use my constantly wet HRM strap. The transmitter just clips off. BTW many straps work with both BT LE and ANT+ HRMs

My original post was suggesting the cheapest option but if money is not a problem you have lots of options. I presumed that you were on a budget as you wanted to share.

Ferris B

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Personally I use an ANT+ HRM (from Wahoo) with a Garmin watch and am happy with that solution, it works for me.

Thomas. I'm not sure which garmin you have but would you know if the 610 works with this HRM strap from Wahoo. The strap I got with watch is acting up and am looking fro a replacement. There's very little info on Wahoo website.

doniem

rom wrote: »

My original post was suggesting the cheapest option but if money is not a problem you have lots of options. I presumed that you were on a budget as you wanted to share.

No, you are spot on, I was hoping to get 1 device to suit us both and save a few euro's in the process. I didnt quite grasp your 2nd suggestion in your 1st response initially (sorry i'm a bit slow on the uptake today)
"2. Go ANT+. defiantly cheaper and you have more choice. A cheap garmin are easy to get. For the phone you will need a dongle to connect the ANT+ HRM if for the S3. It will also mean that you have to root your phone http://www.selfloops.com/resources/tech-guides.html .For the S4 it should be supported."

I actually have a USB OTG cable already & my S3 is rooted. If i buy the Polar H7, the Android ANT+ Combo mini and the garmin forerunner 50 Ill be set essentially. Maybe a seperate chest strap to prevent marital breakdowns?


Sorry this is a bit long winded but i appreciate everyone taking the time to reply and offer yer advice.

rom

Ferris B wrote: »

Thomas. I'm not sure which garmin you have but would you know if the 610 works with this HRM strap from Wahoo. The strap I got with watch is acting up and am looking fro a replacement. There's very little info on Wahoo website.

Just get a polar strap. It works fine with the wahoo or garmin hrm.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Replacement-Beets-BLU-Monitor-BBHRS1/dp/B00DCV0A2C/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1393547047&sr=8-12&keywords=polar+hrm+strap

TFBubendorfer

Ferris B wrote: »

Thomas. I'm not sure which garmin you have but would you know if the 610 works with this HRM strap from Wahoo. The strap I got with watch is acting up and am looking fro a replacement. There's very little info on Wahoo website.

I have an old Garmin 310. The Wahoo HRM strap will work with every ANT+ device, including the 610.

There's actually quite a bit of history in this, but don't read all the following if you're easily bored:

I used to have a standard Garmin strap but that started acting up (lost signals, spikes, etc). I eventually bought a Polar strap and clipped the Garmin transmitter into the Polar chest strap (note that the Polar transmitter is incompatible with a Garmin watch). Unfortunately last December the Garmin transmitter gave up the ghost (corrosion issues - quite common with this) and I got the Wahoo strap as a replacement because it was the cheapest chest strap I could find. My initial plan was to clip the Wahoo transmitter into the Polar strap like I had done with Garmin's, unfortunately the design makes it impossible (there's some plastic blocking the Polar's clips from snapping in), so I just use the Wahoo HRM as is. I'm perfectly happy with it, though.

Crikey, that came across even longer and more convoluted than I thought it would.

Ferris B

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

I have an old Garmin 310. The Wahoo HRM strap will work with every ANT+ device, including the 610.

There's actually quite a bit of history in this, but don't read all the following if you're easily bored:

I used to have a standard Garmin strap but that started acting up (lost signals, spikes, etc). I eventually bought a Polar strap and clipped the Garmin transmitter into the Polar chest strap (note that the Polar transmitter is incompatible with a Garmin watch). Unfortunately last December the Garmin transmitter gave up the ghost (corrosion issues - quite common with this) and I got the Wahoo strap as a replacement because it was the cheapest chest strap I could find. My initial plan was to clip the Wahoo transmitter into the Polar strap like I had done with Garmin's, unfortunately the design makes it impossible (there's some plastic blocking the Polar's clips from snapping in), so I just use the Wahoo HRM as is. I'm perfectly happy with it, though.

Crikey, that came across even longer and more convoluted than I thought it would.

So am I correct in saying your current solution is a wahoo transmitter with wahoo strap. My own garmin strap/transmitter is behaving just like yours did so I am looking for economic solutions to sort it out. As you mentioned to me in donadea, ' learn from my mistakes'. I guess I'm going that now.

TFBubendorfer

Ferris B wrote: »

So am I correct in saying your current solution is a wahoo transmitter with wahoo strap. My own garmin strap/transmitter is behaving just like yours did so I am looking for economic solutions to sort it out. As you mentioned to me in donadea, ' learn from my mistakes'. I guess I'm going that now.

That's correct on both counts - Wahoo and mistakes.

I ordered mine from amazon for £25. Like I said, it was the cheapest I could find. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0042WO62U/

Ferris B

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Wahoo and mistakes.[/url]

Sounds like a good title for a log:)