Polar H10

I’m a big cyclist and enjoy keeping track of different stats, so a HRM was a must. I’ve tried different ones from Garmin and wanted to branch out. That led me to the Polar H10. I’ve had it now for about 4 years and it continues to work flawlessly.Key features• Connectivity: 5/5 easy to connect and pair with my garmin computer, garmin watch, and iPhone• Waterproof: 5/5 - I live in FL and sweat A LOT. The sweat and moisture haven’t affected it’s performance at all• Accuracy: 5/5 - but I haven’t necessarily measured it against a “gold standard.” It picks up my HR and never drops it.• Battery life: 4/5 - the trick is to remove at least one lead (unbutton one of the two) so that it’s not constantly trying to read. This will improve battery life significantly• Comfort: 5/5 - I don’t really notice it when I’m riding* Value: 4/5 - premium price but for premium product• Durability: 5/5 - has lasted 4 years and still goingBottom line:This is an excellent, accurate, and functional HRM at a fair price for what it has to offer.

The strap works great when it works. I've had it for over a year and it goes through batteries pretty quick. It claims 400 hr but no way. When I think it's the battery again, it's not. It just doesn't want to connect. This is really frustrating when you want to start your workout but are delayed trying to connect this thing and it won't. The great reviews are right after purchase, and I would give a great review too the first few months of use. I'm not sure where to go from here because it works with my concept rower when it works. I'm going to look at other options.I went through all the troubleshooting to connect and after 30 minutes it’s working again. I want to use this as it has the best accuracy. If you can put up with the Intermittent connectivity issues, it really is a great product.

Update 10/22/24. Too funny! After 3 months I got another automated email telling me to do the same things I told them I did to get it to work.Polar was literally and figuratively the first name in heart rate monitoring and they've been reduced and degenerated to this. Pathetic.Update 7/20/24:Before I wrote my last update I'd chatted with their bot which told me to send them an email requestion support. I got an email back from Katerina who I'm sure was an email bot. I sent them an email describing the problem. THEN a few days later they send me a survey email asking to rate their customer service. This company and their product ... Dumpster Fire!Update 7/16/24: That's IT, I'm done! I've bought three of these cursed things because I need the functionality of the Flow app. First one went south after about a year and a half - wouldn't connect. Second one stopped connecting after a year. Third one I bought a month ago. First it started reporting lower than actual heartrate, then it started working OK. Then (as others have reported) I had to take 10 minutes before every workout to reset the blasted thing in order for it to connect. Finally it just stopped pairing altogether. Google "H10 won't connect" and you'll find all kinds of ticked off customers. They've stopped phone and even chat customer support and now offer human support only by email!!? Here's a one of the PO'd customers on Reddit: "Done with this piece of garbage - their response time to my email was more than 2 months"I think they're having coding issues and it doesn't exhibit itself in the same manner for different phones. Maybe their code will not keep up with OS updates on some phones or whatever but something's messed up. I like customers cannot get the flow app to update. Used to be great but useless now. What planet are these people on?I can only think that the positive reviews here were as typical .. people get the product and fire off a review after a day or two. Do Not Buy!!Prior review:Very accurate when it pairs and works but the Einstein programmers at Polar really set up a convoluted pairing/connect method that requires you pair through the flow app and can be stubborn as hell sometimes requiring the sensor to be unpaired and reset. It's aggravating as all get out, and as reported by other users will just flat out fail to pair eventually. I generally have to say a rosary to get the damned thing to pair, then perform the stations of the cross in order for the app to recognize the paired device and continue repeating Hail Marys hoping that the results will be accurate as sometimes the flow app will register up to 20 beats fewer than my actual heart rate. If I get it working then I throw a pinch of salt over my shoulder in the hope that the pairing won't drop. Also as reported by other users, I think Polar know their stuff is messed up but won't own up to it. They used to have phone support but I'm sure they got overrun and now they just do chat support where I get a lot of "I understand your frustration" but no solution. Unfortunately once you get it to work this is the most accurate sensor on the market and I need the functionality of the flow software. So since my first two flat out failed to pair after a year I just had to buy my third one. So plan on it being a once a year throwaway product.And if you're really self-loathing go ahead and try to load the Beat app as well as the Flow app. See if you don't start swearing. When I connect to the Beat app it actually breaks the flow app. And don't you DARE try to use another wearable. If I pair my Galaxy watch.. Fuhgedabahdit! I'll be trying to reconnect for the next half hour. So before you buy this thing read the other reviews like the one where the guy has to a lot 10 minutes in advance of his workouts because he has to repair it to his iPhone every time.....If Polar had any integrity they would post these issues and at least indicate that they're working on them on their website instead of just posting we did another update and it fixed some issues etc. I can't wait for the wearable technologies to mature so I can bail on this company. This is the most irritating product I own. I might suggest that Polar drug test their CIO and programmers before they hire them.