New heart rate monitor: chest strap or wrist-based?

Post date: 2020-02-27 13:24:19

I'm in the market for a new heart rate monitor, but I'm not sure whether to go with a model that uses a chest strap or reads the rate from the wrist.

I've used Polar HRMs quite a bit in the past, but always chest strap-based models. All my experience with wrist-reading monitors was that they didn't work nearly as well.

My plan is to use the HRM just during workouts, and I don't care about steps or any of the other common features in fitness trackers, but I do want good accuracy and responsiveness so I can effectively move between different cardio zones for base training or intervals.

Normally I'd go to Consumer Reports for this sort of thing, but they haven't updated their HRM buying guide since 2016. Wirecutter has a fitness tracker guide, but it doesn't talk much about the responsiveness of the active heart rate or compare to chest strap models.

What models have y'all had success with? It doesn't appear they make it any longer, but I'm somewhat inclined to get the Polar FT7 since it includes a chest strap and was one of CR's previous top picks. However, if one of the newer Polar models (like the A370 or M200) will really do a good job of accurately reporting active heart rate, I'm not opposed to that. But if wrist-based is good enough these days, maybe I should be open to FitBit or some other brands.

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