Cyclingnews Awards: Heart rate monitors
We crown our favourite heart-rate tracking apps based on features, specs, price, ease of use, comfort, reliability, and more
Next up in the Cyclingnews Awards, our collective pulses are racing for the exciting(!) world of heart rate monitors. Okay, maybe they're not all that exciting, but they are very useful in the context of sport, performance, and even everyday health. And while some are really simple in their operation – literally measuring heart rate and passing it to a bike computer or smartwatch – others bring aboard a potentially life-changing mix of features and functions, such as sleep tracking, atrial fibrillation detection, stress management and more.
Our guide to the best heart rate monitors is one I first wrote in the spring of 2022. In doing so, I spoke to all the main chest-strap heart monitor manufacturers, plus a few of the wrist-only options, and got my hands on the latest models from Wahoo, Garmin, Polar, Whoop and (many) more.
In the time since, I've acquired more still, including more smartwatch options from Garmin and Apple, I've spent many a ride wearing at least two at a time, and I feel I'm in a pretty good position to not only understand what makes a good heart rate monitor but also decide which is the best.
Of course, as with most products, there's not a best-for-everyone option but for the 2023 Cyclingnews Awards, I've taken the dozens I've used and filtered them down to just three winners: a 'value' option, a 'best overall', and an 'honourable mention' based on their features and specs, price, ease of use, comfort, reliability and more. I'm even going to take in that oft-unquantifiable metric of 'personal preference', because that in itself can be quite a significant sign.
Best value
Polar H9
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Some heart rate monitors try to live life in the fast lane, packing in the features and tracking all the heart-related metrics you've never heard of. Others take the slow lane, keeping the price down and the functionality simple, but focussing on doing the simple things well. The Polar H9 is one of the latter. It's not the cheapest on the market; the Wahoo Tickr beats it on that front, nor is it the most accurate; that claim is widely attributed to the more expensive Polar H10, but in a balance of accuracy, reliability, battery life, durability and personal preference when it comes to actually choosing one to wear, the H9 wins my vote.
The Wahoo Tickr is a similar – and cheaper – option that, if cost is the absolute deciding factor, will also serve a similar purpose. The reason the H9 gets my vote in spite of the higher price is due to the reliability of connection - I've had literally zero connection drops in over a year of use, whereas the Tickr has suffered a handful; and also the durability of the strap, which is still as-new, whereas the Tickr is showing signs of corrosion at the button poppers at the front.
The Polar H10 is a slightly more accurate option, with an extra BLE channel which may be useful for those training indoors, but given I've had no accuracy or connectivity issues in more than a year of testing the H9, I'd suggest saving your money and sticking with the cheaper model.
Best overall
Garmin HRM Pro (Plus)
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
It's the most expensive, and it definitely won't be the right heart rate monitor for everyone, but the Garmin HRM Pro is a genuinely excellent, mega-function chest strap that can do a LOT more besides just counting beats. The caveat here is that the HRM Pro has now been superseded by the HRM Pro Plus (an ironic name given the similarly-named Pro Plus caffeine tablets and the effects caffeine can have on the heart). I've not used that one, but it does everything the Pro can do and more for the same price, while also replacing the tiny-screw battery replacement with an easy-access option. So if I were buying now, I'd get that.
The other caveat here is that both the Pro and the Pro Plus are more geared to multi-sport athletes, so if you're only ever on a bike, you'll likely be better off with the Polar above. If, however, you own a Garmin watch and care about tracking metrics (like stride length or cadence) from other sports like running, swimming or XC skiing, then the Garmin strap is the go-to.
Purely from a what-can-it-do point of view, the Garmin HRM Pro, and thus the HRM Pro Plus, is the best heart rate monitor out there. I think that the extra features are worth the added value for those that will use them, but whether that's you will depend on your circumstances.
Honourable mention
Whoop 4.0
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Whoop 4.0 is a heart rate monitor like no other. In fact, the wrist-based optical heart sensor is just a small part of the overall Whoop package. The bulk of the value comes from the accompanying smartphone app, which uses complex algorithms to track your daily 'Strain' and balance that against your 'Recovery' to give you a picture of your current state of fatigue and training readiness. It also monitors health metrics such as respiratory rate, blood oxygen, resting heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature.
It also gives you sleep recommendations, can wake you up at a variable time as soon as you've recovered adequately, and can even track the effect of external variables on your sleep performance, such as whether you ate dinner late, hydrated appropriately, drank alcohol, or even had your pet dog in the bedroom.
The optical sensor is never going to be as accurate as an ECG-based chest strap, but it does track fairly well for most activities, and given you'll probably already be wearing it when you start your ride so you never need to worry about remembering it. Unlike a Garmin watch, you don't even need to tell it you've begun working out, it knows based on your elevated heart rate.
Proof that it works can be found when looking at my recovery score after I rode the Chasing Cancellara sportive on Friday 26 August (on under 2 hours of sleep) and caught Covid on the way home.
There we have it. Our heart rate monitor winners in the 2023 Cyclingnews Awards are chosen. Don't forget to check out the rest where you can find award-winning bike computers to pair with your new heart rate monitor and ride off into the sunset with a brand-new road bike.
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Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton.
Josh has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews. On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years.
He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000.
These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.