Garmin Vivosmart HR (1)

   I got “Garmin Vivosmart HR” activity tracker for testing.  One of my interest is 24/7 heart rate monitoring and its accuracy. This activity tracker is not only tracking steps, but also monitor the heart rate 24/7 using wrist based heart rate sensor on the device.  There is a model with GPS named “Vivosmart HR + (pulse)”, however the model I got is just active tracker without GPS.  The retail price is USD $129.99.  (The original price was USD $149.99, it is on sale now!)  There are a couple models which have wrist based hear rate sensor and it is the lowest cost model from Garmin.  Since I have been using Garmin products with Garmin Connect, I do not plan to switch to the other vender for now.  Therefore, I do not have much choices.

   As I mentioned in my previous posts, I was considering to get one of them with the wrist based heart rate sensor for the next Mt. Whitney hiking to collect more data.   One question I have is about the accuracy.   Based on the some reviews on the internet, it is probably reasonably accurate for cardio / aerobic training.  There might be some cases that the reading could not be very accurate.   So the first thing I want to check is to compare the heart rate reading with the chest band heart rate sensor.  My primary usage to monitor the heart rate is running, hiking and cardio in a gym.   So I am expecting the accuracy is reasonable.  For the test method, I am thinking as follows:

• Cardio in a gym – Elliptical
• Cardio in a gym – Stair Master
• Indoor running (treadmill running)
• Outdoor running – Jog
• Outdoor running – build up
• Outdoor running – Interval
• Hiking

   I will wear the chest band heart rate sensor with pairing with Garmin Forerunner 910XT to compare with the number from Vivosmart HR.  I may capture a several times for each category to make sure the result is consistent.  It will take a several weeks to conclude what it looks like.   I will post the test result in the future.

   I am still considering to get a new GPS watch with the wrist based heart rate sensor since it can cover all expected function just one device.  Currently, I have been using Forerunner 910XT and Vivosmart.   Forerunner 910XT is mainly used for running and hiking and Vivosmart for the daily activity tracking and indoor cardio activities in a gym.   It is nice a single device can cover all.  However, I will try to use Vivosmart HR for a while how it goes.  The both device will give me almost all data I want to capture for now.  I also do running, therefore, I am interested in some features in a high-end devices, such as “Fenix 3 HR” and “Forerunner 735”.  They can do “Lactate Threshold estimation”, “VO2max estimation” and “Collecting more running dynamics with the new heart rate monitor”.   But they are very expensive for me and I am not sure if I really want to get one of them.  If I do not care those, I just need a low-end GPS watch for hiking and running.  Anyway, I will do more research for them and getting the wrist based heart rate monitor testing result first to make this decision.