What is Reddit's opinion of
Garmin Heart Rate Monitor?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
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18 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
I ended up getting one of the Garmin chest straps which pairs instantly with the bike and no complaints so far...although it was $16.99 when I bought it on Feb 3rd, so price seems to fluctuate a lot. Garmin on Amazon
I use a basic Garmin HRM you can get on amazon and a generic ANT+ usb stick to pair it to the PC. Garmin sells a USB ANT+ stick, but its twice the price or more usually.
I had some issues at first pairing it to the PC, so you may consider just getting the garmin ANT+ stick instead of generic to maybe ensure easier pairing, especially if you find a good price. I googled around until I figured it out though.
EDIT: The HRM also works with a lot of phones and things like that, my setup with the USB stick is to use it on stream. I recommend reading a bit before buying, there are a few ways to set it up.
This one except that it wasn't nearly that expensive, more in the $20-30 range I think....
That's interesting to hear about the accuracy, I've found that it's pretty delayed so when I'm doing shorter intervals by the time it's catching up I'm already changing effort rates. For slow 'n steady efforts it's not too far off
Definitely worth getting in my opinion. Without it I feel like I don't really know how I'm doing -- it's feedback that I use to know when I'm truly pushing myself vs. 'gee it really seems like I'm sweating now!'
You don't need to spend $60 either. This chest strap from Garmin is simple and bulletproof. Never had an issue connecting, and I use it on both my Peloton and road bike. https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-10997-00-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B000UOD5QM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1538344960&sr=8-4&keywords=garmin+heart+rate+monitor+chest+strap
3/4 of my family has this $21 Garmin and have no problems with it.
I have found the wrist based HRM's to be pretty unreliable. Ended up getting one of the Garmin chest straps which pairs instantly with the bike and costs between $16-$22.
If your phone connects to ANT devices, and you have a mount for your bike, then you can get up and running with good accuracy with Garmin's cheap chest band ($24): https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-10997-00-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B000UOD5QM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488844619&sr=8-2
I've never done this, but I've been using a rowing machine with an HRM all winter, and I'm learning a lot. I'm gonna at least give it a go when I can get out on my bike again!
Rant about the rant.
1 - He repeatedly talks about the 945 costing $150 more with the HR straps "you really need", yet that's the Tri-bundle. He compares those costs to his Suunto which came with the equivelent of the $21 Garmin hard strap.
2 - He compares apples to oranges WRT the FR 45 vs FR 35 by misrepresenting the FR35 price. The FR35 debuted at $200 and spent a long time there, and most of it's life at $170 or higher. CamelCamelCamel never forgets, but this youtuber apparently does.
The FR45 is unarguably much more than the 35 was, and it debuts at the identical price.
3 - The idea that the FR 10 "basicly did the same thing [as the FR35]" is ridiculous on its face. It was not introduced at $100 as he claims, it spent most it's life above $125. Yes, there is no longer a Garmin with GPS under $170, but those at $170 have optical HR, better battery life, smartwatch features, and some metrics like VO2max.
4 - Comparing a black on white single field screen to a white on black complex one is disingenuous at best. I have no trouble seeing 7 datafields on my Fenix (black on white) all the way from sunup to sunset.
5 - Nobody forces you to buy both the swimming HR straps with the 945. The watch comes without either if you like.
6 - None of the serious watches have a touchscreen. "You're paying for it" is a lie.
7 - "new watches don't actually do anything more" is a lie, so he qualifies it with "unless unless unless" IF YOU DON'T NEED THE FEATURES THEN THE FR945 ISN'T THE APPROPRIATE WATCH FOR YOU.
He's completely ignoring the fact that these Firstbeat metrics are for STRUCTURED TRAINING and trying to replace coaches for many athletes who want structured training. The alternative is coaches, subscription services, or (awesome but) complicated solutions like Golden Cheetah.
This whole rant so far boils down to "I see something shiny I don't need and I wish it was priced lower. It has more features than I personally value or need, but I still want it."
8 - He wants optical HR + Music, pace, distance. FR45, not FR945 is what he should be looking at.
9 - "2 or 3 or 400$ more". Bogus, none of the new ones are that much more expensive than their parents, not even the Spartan.
10 - FINALLY at the end he argues than people buy more watch than they need... at the 9 minute mark.
11 - He's wrong about having more data than the great 80's athletes. He is underestimating the data a coach and trainer who monitor your metrics provided these athletes. THAT is what the Firstbeat metrics he rails against are attempting to provide.
12 - The irony of saying "buy a coach" when for many people Firstbeat-guided structured training can replace a coach is hilarious.
I've been using this one for years. Worka great & super affordable.
For what it's worth, my standard-issue Garmin chest strap HRM has been rock solid.
Garmin has a good one for about $25 on Amazon.
This is the one: Garmin Heart Rate Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UOD5QM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_EHVNKPYRbHwPe
Hello! I use a Garmin Heart Rate Monitor for nearly every stream. I'm not sure on the specific range, but it definitely works anywhere within the room I stream in. I've had 0 issues with it, and there are a couple of youtube videos on setting it up.
The easiest way to broadcast it on stream is to use Golden Cheetah. You can make the background transparent fairly easily in OBS, resize the number to how you like it, etc.
It requires two items to work. Currently one is on sale, but it should hopefully be around the 50 dollar budget. The two devices needed:
Also to anyone curious, the waistband is quite adjustable. I'm fairly tiny and its smallest setting is good for me, however it can expand quite a bit. It fits nicely under clothing, and is not intrusive.
As someone who uses a lot of heart rate monitors I can tell you that your Apple watch can be up to 10bpm off easy. Easy. If its not worn tight enough itll be off 5bpm, if the sensors wet thats 5bpm, watch slightly off center thats 5bpm off.
Not to mention when you look at your heart rate you will either see a high number and stress which raises it more, or see a low number and stress and now its a high number and you stress.
The only heart rate monitor you should trust are heart rate strap monitors and those still can be completely inaccurate if they arent kept soaking wet.
The only use the apple watch heart rate monitor is good for is knowing what general heart rate zone your in. Especially since times where you really want to know your heart rate during exercise wrist worn heart rate monitors can easily be 20% off. 160bpm is a heavy cardio zone and at 160 your wrist worn heart rate monitor can have a reading of 128-192bpm.
Proof This is my resting heart rate on my Garmin Vivosmart 3 (which has a heart rate sensor as accurate or more compared to the apple watch AFAIK) vs my Suunto Ambit 2. Shitty filter to make the Suunto easier to read because juggling keeping both the backlight on the suunto and the vivosmart from timing out and turning the display off and focusing the picture was a fucking ordeal.
Garmin Heart Rate Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UOD5QM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PvVgAb15DA0SY
That's the one I got, $18. It pairs to your watch and then it will show your hr, zone, vo2 max, etc on/ after runs
This is a good hrm: https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-MAIN-61562-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B000UOD5QM
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