Do CHEAP Heart Rate monitors actually work? | Coospo vs Wahoo Tickr (Polar H10, Garmin HRM Pro)

Heart Rate monitors have become common place in endurance training and most, if not all athletes have some way of tracking HR during training and racing. Whether you use a Polar H10, Wahoo Tickr, Garmin HRM Pro or something else, unfortunately some of these options can be pretty pricey, so do you really need to pay the extra $$$ to get a monitor that delivers on what it’s intended to do,that is provide you with HR data consistently and accurately?

DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid to promote any of the brands mentioned in this video. COOSPO were kind enough to send out some HR monitors for me to test and I decided the best use of this opportunity was to experiment with the devices compared to my current setup (Wahoo Tickr) and give you the raw data and my findings. As sport scientist, I highly value the integrity of my opinions and recommendations, and as such I will be transparent in my thoughts and will not recommend or offer a positive opinion if I’m not truly satisfied, through the collected evidence, that a brand/product is something I would actually use with athletes or myself. I will in addition only partner (for any personal gain) with brands/products that I truly believe in the use case and would be willing to purchase myself regardless of any sponship opportunities.

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Timeline:
00:00 Intro
01:09 Unboxing the Coospo HR Monitors
06:17 Testing the HR Straps in the Lab
11:47 Was the CHEAP strap any good?
14:17 So what now?
18:12 Summary

[ossenaar]

Using the Coospo H808S for over 3 years and works great, accurate and as good as more the expensive brand names. Friends and I have compared. Pairs quickly with my Garmin watch. More accurate than HR tracking through my watch. HR strap monitors have become much cheaper over the years. I paid 30% more than the current price.

[dimonthon]

I use Coospo H9Z with a rechargeable battery. Also have a Coospo H808, as in the video, I have been using it for a couple of years without complaints.

[gordonv.cormack]

After 30 years and a dozen or more Polar HRMs, I switched to Coospo H808S two months ago. It just works, where my H9 didn't. The H9 seems excessively sensitive to high tension electrical lines, and also to strap cleanliness. The H9 often gives preposterously low readings or preposterously high readings (suspiciously close to 180 -- 3 phase 60 hz electricity?) Previous Polars didn't have these problems, and neither does the Coospo. And the Coospo was 1/3 thr price of the H9.

[roguemedic]

The advantage of the chest strap monitors is that they are reading the electrical activity of the heart - the same information being looked at in an ECG, but without all of the details in an actual ECG (also without the variety of views [leads] to show what is going on in different parts of the heart). The chest strap monitors are just looking for the electrical activity from the contraction of the ventricles (the main pumping chambers of the heart. The arm monitors are picking up the blood flow (pulses), not the electrical activity, so they are measuring something that CAN be different from the electrical activity.

If you workout to the point where you become lightheaded, or pass out, you may have more contractions of the ventricles than pulses at the point where the arm monitor is located. You may still have carotid pulses (in the neck), but this is not a place to put a strap that might affect blood flow and oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. For most people, this difference should not be a big deal, but if you have an arrhythmia occasionally or more often, this difference is probably an important reason why you are using a heart rate monitor and you should ONLY use one that measures electrical activity (or use both together).

I got a Polar H10 and a few months after I started using it, the rate started dropping after I started to get my heart rate above the 130s. I tried adjusting the strap and nothing helped. the accuracy kept decreasing when I was over 130, which is the part of the workout I am most interested in. I had to decide if I would buy another chest strap from Polar (possibly several each year, if they failed at the same rate as the H10 I had) or buy a cheaper heart rate monitor. I read all of the reviews of the problems with the Polar chest straps. I think I had a Polar a couple of decades ago and had no problems with that for years, but lost it. I read the reviews of the other heart rate monitors and got a Coospo.

Coospo chest strap heart rate monitors are reported to have a problem with using a lot of batteries, but I figured batteries are much cheaper than chest straps. The problem I have had with the Coospo has been managed by making sure the chest strap is communicating with my phone before I start working out, because it will sometimes need to have the battery removed and the same battery put back in OR go into the Bluetooth settings and reconnect the monitor. It is annoying to do this, but keeping a quarter (to open the monitor battery compartment) and a spare battery handy can help. I bought a 6 pack of the batteries when I bought the Coospo. It is over 2 years of regular use and I still have a couple of unused batteries, so the problem does not appear to be that the Coospo burns out the batteries, but that there is some problem that seems to require the battery to be removed and put back in. I don't know if it is something similar to rebooting a computer.

The Polar still works for things that do not get my heart rate into the 130s, or higher, but I don't really care about what my heart rate is at those rates. I do clean the chest straps for both by just keeping the chest strap on occasionally when I take a shower. I never put either through a washing machine, or folded the sensor/rubber contact of the chest strap.

I like the Coospo, although the necessary fiddling is annoying, especially when I forget to make sure it is connected with my phone and I don't notice it it not giving me a heart rate until after I started my warmup. The Polar worked fine for a few months, but I expect more for that price.

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[lswt]

I was about to spend $160 on the Garmin hrm pro bc I wanted accurate HR. Thanks for saving me $110!
I just hope it holds up

[skycrafts]

I use the Polar H10 - it was the first one I bought years ago and it does the job very well. If I was buying one today I might go for a cheaper secondhand H10, but would be happy to go for the bargain Coospo. They both pick up electrical impulses from the heart, so I wouldn't pay more for anything fancy. (Only other thing I'd think about was the water resistance rating, if I was panning on doing triathlons/swimming).
But also, using bluetooth, the cheaper ones can be linked to a whole range of apps/watches/equipment which can show a huge amount of information/metrics etc. It's the apps that tend to do this not the HR monitor itself.
Thanks for the video

[ken]

I use the Polar H10 in order to be able to change the battery. Previously, I used the Polar T31 which worked fine except there is a finite life span.

[EricS-ufmv]

I'm still using my ancient HR strap that shipped with the Garmin Forerunner 305. Do you remember that thing? The big red & grey brick gps watch. That HRM strap isn't even BT or Ant+ but it still pairs flawlessly to my FR765 and provides rock solid HR data. Garmin doesn't even make this strap anymore but it's bulletproof - unlike my friend's HRM Pro that leaks sweat/water into the battery compartment. He's gone thru 2 units 3 yrs.

[jetBlue]

Polar H10, recommended by my coach when we tracked my HRV

[zaahierstanley]

I am using a Bryton HR monitor and cost around 30 dollars brand new ...

[chrisvarelabenitez]

My Coospo isn’t connecting after several weeks lol loved it until now . Pretty spot on with my COROS pace 2 watch

[latebloomer]

Thanks for this vid. Now I can buy cheaper heart rate monitor with confidence.

[jdav]

Polar H10. Pretty unhappy. Drops out consistently even with new batteries. I live in the country, with lots of irrigation infrastructure and it seems to drop out when I pass certain items that may be broadcasting. I am going to purchase another type (maybe Wahoo) to compare.

[biglouch]

What I'm trying to figure out.. is why wouldn't you edit out the bits where you're just faffing about? Does that bring any value to me the viewer? I feel like this video could've been like 5-8 minutes.

[aidanmgillett]

I know this makes me seem like a knob. But, it’s Pro- nun- ciation. Pronunciation. Miss pronouncing mispronunciation is so common and hugely ironic. Now that’s out of the way. Loving the channel, loving the content. Legend. And sorry for the knobness.