What is Reddit's opinion of Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor (Soft Strap)?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

> In other news, I got a Forerunner 230 for Christmas and a $25 Amazon gift card. I've been thinking about getting a heart-rate monitor for a little bit but have a little more reason now. What's a good one for <$50 that you guys would suggest?

Garmin has their own heart rate monitor strap for use with their products. Right now it's about $40 on Amazon, down from $70 on Garmin's site. I got the 230 about two weeks ago with this strap and it's been working well for me so far.

The strap is only uncomfortable when sitting down, well at least for me it is. Hardly notice it when running. Not sure exactly which strap I have but it was the one that came with my Fenix 2. It has the little running guy on the plastic bit. Having the heartrate metrics from the monitor really adds that extra dimension to my training. Especially when doing any kind of threshhold work. I would highly recommend looking into getting one. I know on Amazon you can get a garmin one for under $50. (https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Premium-Heart-Monitor-Strap/dp/B00BI9X1QM)

I use a Garmin Ant+ Heart rate band, connected to a Bluetooth dingle to my PC, I then use software called Golden Cheetah to read my pulse.

Golden Cheetah is FREE and I'm sure other ANT+ Bluetooth devices will also work.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BI9X1QM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZmwiFbSBC8Q0G

I'm looking to finally pick up a heart rate monitor and I think I might have one. I've been looking at this one but I wasn't sure if there was a better, or more suggested, one for <$50 on Amazon. Any input is appreciated.

*I run with the Forerunner 230

The connectivity confuses me with the wahoo setup. It says that it "works seamlessly with 3rd party apps like Strava, etc.", but does that require an extra device, then? It says it works via bluetooth so I would think you wouldn't. If this is the Garmin HRM you're referring to, it says it needs a garmin watch or something in order to pair

Just FYI idk if the HRM is compatible with the 235. I have one of these bad boys.

Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor (Soft Strap) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BI9X1QM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DbNKCbJA0DMB6

Amazon.ca price just dropped like $40

Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor (Soft Strap) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BI9X1QM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nWNyBbF0E15A4

Do you know if I can add something like this to my AW?

It depends on which Garmin chest strap. I assume it's the standard one here. You can buy the Garmin replacement, but I got the Polar one since it gets better reviews. Might need to trim the rubber a bit on the connections.

Cheapest I could find in the 10 seconds I searched. http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Premium-Heart-Monitor-Strap/dp/B00BI9X1QM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1452177223&amp;sr=8-12&amp;keywords=heart+rate+monitor

The Premium HRM on amazon is the same price.

Garmin (Soft Strap) ~ US$ 71 and Polar H7 ~ US$ 84 seem good contenders.

Edit: Formatting.