Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap – ANT + Bluetooth, Waterproof HR Sensor for Men and Women

7 reviews for Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap – ANT + Bluetooth, Waterproof HR Sensor for Men and Women

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jose garcia – January 23, 2024

   Excelente producto

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Lectrichead – January 30, 2024

   I went looking and while others were really good choices too; when it comes to accuracy Polar heart rate sensors and straps are highly rated across the board, compatible with pretty much everything, and are durable.

   I was particularly impressed with the in-depth research and testing they do with their equipment, neutral comparisons that they make with other comparable HR sensors as well as certified medical heart rate monitoring.

   I started leaning toward the Polar H10 , which are the 5th generation of Polar’s Heart Rate tech, which started in 1977.

   According to Polar’s testing against medical-grade heart rate equipment and other heart rate sensors – the ECG H10 sensor detects HR within 2 ms accuracy at 92.9% for running, 99.3% for cycling, 95.3% for weight training, 95.6% for all activities combined.

   Amazing accuracy, and very much as good or better than the informal tests I have done of previous HR sensors and straps that I have had – my tests being comparing them to other equipment as well as manually using the old tried and true ‘two fingers on the neck or wrist and a watch’ method.

   This sensor IS quite wide and extends across a large part of the strap, this entire section is the HR sensor area.

   The H10 can do two Bluetooth conenctions, with ANT+ both will connect to multiple ANT+ channels and there is a proprietary GymLink connection also – which connects to some fitness devices.

   The H10 can be used with any device underwater.

   The H10 has an internal memory that can save one training session on its own and can be accessed with one of the Polar apps like Polar’s Beat app.

   The H10 works with pretty much everything and anything that we use for fitness nowadays. Anything that receives Bluetooth (Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth BLE) or ANT+ and the Gymlink 5 kHz signals. It will output Bluetooth and ANT+ at the same time and even two Bluetooth devices at the same time.

   This of course includes watches by nearly all manufacturers as well as nearly all bike computers (not including non-smart old-style bike speedometers/odometers without ANT+ and Bluetooth), and any smartphone. This list is extensive.

   The HR sensor is not rechargeable but uses the common 2025 battery, Polar says that it lasts 400 hours. One thing you may want to do to extend battery life (recommended by Polar themselves and individuals who have used it over time) is to pop up one of the sensor pod’s connectors out of the strap so that it goes to sleep, I have tested it many hours after I have stopped an activity and taken off the chest strap, and sometimes it still is transmitting. So this is something to keep in mind.

   The battery is easy to change, via what looks at first glance to be a quarter-turn battery hatch that you turn with a coin to open but it actually is quite different, as it snaps open with a little tab. The battery door is of course sealed with an o-ring and everything seems very tight and secure.

   The total weight with the strap is 60 grams with the sensor pod itself being 12 grams by itself.

   The soft strap is very easy to put on, wet it with a little water so the sensor can get good contact with your chest skin (you can wait for a little sweat to do it for you but then the sensor may not read well until that happens). You position the sensor monitor pod itself in the front of your chest, which puts the long wide sensor strap in a very good position all across your chest. This sensor area is quite extensively wide to give you that nice accuracy.

   You could even position this fairly inaccurately and it may still probably work – whether you positioned it by accident or deliberately as perhaps the strap does not fit you well for whatever reason. Some people do have problems with chest straps for many reasons, so I think those who do might find this works better than other chest straps with smaller sensor areas. It even works if you get it too low or too high on your chest, within a reasonable range.

   There are little rubbery dots on the strap itself to keep it in place. Does this actually make it work better? I don’t know, but it seems like a great idea. I have never had one move on me so I can’t say whether this makes any difference to me personally, but perhaps to others who have issues with HR chest straps staying in place, it might be just the thing to help.

   The latch snaps into place easily with one end snapping directly into the other end, to take it off you push a button on the latch and it disengages easily. The button is slightly recessed so you never accidentally pop it off (at least I have not as yet) and also won’t get squeezed even by a tight jersey or compression shirt.

   The strap is very adjustable, with a conventional adjustable loop system to tighten or loosen it. There are two size options for the strap when you order – XS/S and M/XXL. The smaller one covers chests 20-30 inches (58-71 cm) in diameter while the larger one goes from 30-45 inches (67-95 cm).

   While riding or running or lifting or anything else I can’t even feel it unless I consciously make myself aware of it.

   The Polar H10 sensor monitor is easily cleaned with a little dish soap and water, and a quick wipe to dry it. The soft strap is also very easy to clean with soap and water, or you can put it in a washer – though I recommend using a small washer bag to keep it from snarling and getting bent around other things, and maybe air-dry it instead of using a dryer Make sure you take the sensor off first of course.

   The soft strap now comes in not only the standard black but a burgundy with a design on it.

   The H10 is fully waterproof and can be used underwater for swimming and other things, up to 30 meters deep.

   And you don’t need your watch or phone with you for swimming or anything else, at least for one session as the internal memory can store one workout. To set this up you use the Polar Beat app so you do have to connect it to your phone first, set it up and then you can use the strap without the phone present or nearby. When you are finished you reconnect and download the sensor data to the Polar Beat app, which can upload it to a few other sites or allow a download.

   The Polar Beat app also can be used to keep the firmware updated, check battery power, etc. And there are a number of workouts and such that you can use it for. The Polar Beat app can also estimate your Vo2 Max, you find this in the app under Upgrades (not sure why – as it’s a free option) and then under Fitness Test. It estimated mine at 49, somewhat above what other fitness services estimates mine at but very close.

   Also, the Polar Flow app is another app with training and syncing to other services.

   And of course any other device you sync it to will have it’s own abilities when connected to the Polar H10.

   You can even test your HRV (Heart Rate Variability), which is a good test of your health and recovery.

   You could use this as a 24-hour monitor with the right app, I suppose, but the H10 is really meant for exercise. But if you wanted to test your HR and HRV over an extended period of time you could. I think it would be comfortable sleeping, depending on the person, but it’s not really made for that and it’s possible that the sensor area might dry out over such a long period of inactivity.

   Lastly, I was going to include some comparison charts between the H10 and other HR monitors that I have but, outside of a few dropouts by optical heart rate sensors because of arm movement – which is to be expected, they all performed within pretty much identically. I had to really go data point by data point comparisons to see much difference.

   So in conclusion I would very highly recommend the Polar H10 – you are not going to be disappointed in accuracy, comfort, usability, connectivity, and compatibility.

   UPDATE Spring 2023 – For the last few months the output has become increasingly erratic with low heart rate readings. I have tried to wash the strap as much as I could and added extra moisture to the sensor pads, and even electrode gel. Both things seemed to help for a while, yet the strap became more and more intermittent over time, despite washing and using the electrode gel. It had to be thoroughly washed in the washing machine after each use for it to have any chance of working halfway decent. Once I started biking outside a few times it went in the opposite direction and started sometimes showing super-high HR readings.

   I was going to send it back to Polar for warranty but it seemed obvious that it was the strap and not the sensor itself, and instead of paying the shipping cost to send it back for warranty I decided to just buy a cheap replacement strap.

   That did the trick and it works perfectly and reliably again. The replacement maybe isn’t as nice as Polar’s but the important thing is that it works, I will see what the durability is for it.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Eva – February 6, 2024

   El H10 registra en forma muy precisa la frecuencia cardíaca. Tengo un polar M600, que tiene sensor de FC, pero me aparecían algunas bajadas en la FC durante el entrenamiento que no me parecían lógicas. Pensé que estaba fallando. Con el H10 no he notado esto. Por otra parte, pensé que no podría sincronizar el sensor H10 con el M600 (porque eso es lo que aparece en el manual), sin embargo, si lo he podido sincronizar y ahora registro la FC con el sensor. He notado que cuando se sincroniza el sensor H10 al reloj, se inactiva el sensor del propio reloj. Creo que no es posible registrar la FC con ambos (solo para comparar), aunque en alguna parte de la configuración me pareció que se podía elegir un registro dual. Posiblemente alguien más sí lo ha podido hacer.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Sergio Meneses – February 7, 2024

   The battery lasts a very long time. This was bought with a university course in mind. Real time heart-rate, very lightweight and with an adjustable belt to resize and tighten if needed to. The electrodes need to be wet a little bit before the item is worn for it to work properly, keep that in mind.

   The bluetooth works as intended and requires the use of the Polar App. the only issue is the localization function on the App which will, at least inside a gymnasium, not be very helpful when it comes to locations and distances. All in all, the center piece of this review remains the heart monitor, which does a pristine job.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Eva – March 11, 2024

   Tudo ok…muito bom produto

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Armando – March 20, 2024

   todo perfecto

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Lectrichead – March 28, 2024

   UPDATE after one year: Over time, the unit started to eat through batteries MUCH faster. No idea why. As an experiment, I tried removing the battery after each use, and this solved the problem. So from now on, I just pop out the battery when I’m done, which isn’t too inconvenient. You can always check the battery level in Settings, within the app. Overall, after one year, I am still very pleased with the unit.

   What I use this for – I’m a rower. I primarily use this with my Concept 2 rowing machine, and it connected right away with the PM5 on my machine. It also works flawlessly with Concept2’s app for this, called ErgData, which records your workouts on your phone and then uploads them to the Concept2 Logbook online.

   The “Polar Beat” App, and website profile – To use this HR monitor, you’ll need to download Polar’s “Polar Beat” app, and create an account which will automatically sync your workouts to your account which you can see in more detail on the website. I have an Android, I’ve had no issues with the app, and I think the overall layout is clear, user-friendly, and not too bulky. I’ve also had no connectivity issues, and RARELY ever have a loss of connection or hiccup in any readings. However, I would not trust any data related to distance or pace. As seen in my screenshot, my phone interpreted my straight path down a street as totally zig-zagged. The distance and pace is not accurate as a result. But I’m assuming this is my phone’s GPS which is wrong, and probably(?) not the app. Luckily, I am not a runner so I personally don’t care about this issue, but just pointing out that it may be an issue for some.

   Regarding accuracy: The accuracy of calories burned and heart rate training zones is not only based on HR, but if you know your Vo2 max and anaerobic threshold, you can input these, as well as other data, into your profile via the website to increase the overall accuracy (as seen in my screen shot). Also on the website you can analyze your individual workouts in more detail, and see a handy calendar view of them.

   Strap sizing – I have a 34” chest circumference. The M-XXL, when loosened to its maximum *un-stretched* length, is 35” long. When stretched, this extends to 45” or so. So if unless your chest is larger than 45”, you should be fine with the M-XXL. Also, the “turquoise” is totally BLUE in color, not aqua or greenish at all. :p

   Personal use and opinions –

   This HR monitor has quickly and completely taken my health and fitness to another level. I seriously regret not having purchased one sooner!

   I’m a high-intensity kinda person when it comes to exercise. I got hooked on HIIT once I tried it years ago. I never, ever used to bother with endurance stuff (long sessions with LOW heart rates), until I got this HR monitor, and I was advised that I needed to do more endurance work to increase my baseline aerobic fitness. It took a LOT of patience for me to slow down, and actually keep my HR between 130-140. Turns out I had truly never worked out at such low intensity. Despite thinking this low intensity stuff was useless, I stuck with it, and I was flabbergasted at the results. Within just a week of beginning long, steady state daily rows (45m-1hr):

   -my resting HR dropped by about 5 beats.
   -my blood pressure dropped to completely normal levels (I’m 35 with an excellent bill of health, but doctors could never understand why I had BP readings that were always high. Apparently, I just needed a little more aerobic fitness!)
   -and this was totally unexpected: my mental stress levels decreased dramatically. I suddenly had more patience during the day, and even better appetite control. It felt like I was taking a chill pill.

   And this was just after ONE week.

   After a month: Aside from feeling a noticeable improvement in quality of life… My pace in rowing (at the same HR) has already improved a lot since I began, which is direct proof of an improving cardiovascular fitness. Further: I recently completed a really tough hike which I hadn’t done in about 7 years. Result: it was a LOT easier this time because my HR drops much more quickly now, so I felt almost *instantly* rested as soon as the elevation would level out. Without the use of a HR monitor to control my workouts in order to properly build this baseline aerobic fitness, NONE of this would have been possible!

   (And by the way, the Polar Beat app recorded that entire 4 hour hike flawlessly, as my phone was tucked away in my jacket pocket with the screen off and locked, and I never had to fool with it or double-check it).

   Look, just buy this. Whether you’re experienced or a beginner, don’t ever, ever trust your “perceived exertion.” It is NO substitute for actual data. I wasted SO many years doing that, and robbed myself of a higher level of fitness!! To achieve fitness, you need a combo of high AND low intensity, not just one or the other. And to do this, you need a HR monitor. It’s SO simple: choose your workout and just stay in your zones! 🙂

   Hope this helps!!