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Heart rate monitor?

So now that Android 4.3 is out and we supposedly have BT 4 LE support, I'm wondering if anybody has found any good heart rate monitors that work with the Nexus 4. I looked at the Polar H7, but one reviewer has already indicated that it still doesn't work with the N4. So, anybody know of any good ones that do work?

There are already applications that do the trick and they don't have any need of 4.3
Just type heart rate at play store.
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RASTAVIPER said:
There are already applications that do the trick and they don't have any need of 4.3
Just type heart rate at play store.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk 4
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Having to hold your phone and keep a finger steadily on the camera isn't even close to being as useful or battery efficient as bluetooth connecting to something strapped to your arm.

Yeah I need something that monitors heart rate while I am cycling for several hours, running, or otherwise working out. Something compatible with strava or edmondo that isn't expensive as hell (the Polar H7 is the cheapest while being accurate - but it is reported incompatible with the N4.)

Try Runtastic Heart Rate. Its works really good!!! I been using it for along time. You dont need any extra accessories. Just put your finger on the flash light; it will do the rest.
FEATURES:
* Measure your pulse with the camera on your smartphone
* See your HRM results in a graph
* Variety of different, instant measurement types: resting HR, maximum HR, and HR before/after cardio
* Upload, store, and analyze your exercise results on the runtastic fitness site, www.runtastic.com
* Share your HRM results via your social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and E-mail

Ugh...what's the best way to explain to several people that you don't want to hold your finger on your phone for several hours while you ride your bike?

While being fantastic the new Bluetooth standard is also very buggy and a battery hog, so using one for a few hours along side another athletic assistant app would result in either a dead battery or a dead network board due to the heat.
Although rudimentary the light method is very accurate and easy to use, just use benchmarks and stop to take it rather the stream of data you are looking for.
Your best bet is to get a real heart rate monitor that saves to SD so you can compile at home, trying to get an accessory for a phone will only cost you twice as much for half as much efficiency.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Runtastic Bluetooth
I've been using the Runtastic Smart Bluetooth Monitor for the last few weeks and I really like it. I don't notice the strap hardly at all when I'm running. The app is great too and mine came with a free upgrade to Runtastic Pro.
http://www.amazon.com/Runtastic-Heart-Rate-Combo-Monitor/dp/B00B84JQSE

Heart rate monitor

My doctor told me today I should get a heart rate monitor with an alarm. So I can easily look at my wrist, see I'm getting stressed out and chill myself out. I figured this may be my excuse to get a smartwatch, but I want to make sure it will do what I want before spending the money.
So.. if I got, say, an Asus Zenwatch, is there an app I can run that will notify me when my heart rate is high? The one my doctor uses has a red LED that lights up above a set number and I'd like to closely duplicate that - NOT necessarily having my HR always visible, but the alert always visible. Thanks in advance!

qoncept said:
My doctor told me today I should get a heart rate monitor with an alarm. So I can easily look at my wrist, see I'm getting stressed out and chill myself out. I figured this may be my excuse to get a smartwatch, but I want to make sure it will do what I want before spending the money.
So.. if I got, say, an Asus Zenwatch, is there an app I can run that will notify me when my heart rate is high? The one my doctor uses has a red LED that lights up above a set number and I'd like to closely duplicate that - NOT necessarily having my HR always visible, but the alert always visible. Thanks in advance!
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I think you should ask your doctor exactly what he recommends. So many problems here.
1. zen watch uses ekg by touching the bezel with your free hand. Nothing automatic about it. I suppose if you get in the habit of catching yourself feeling stressed and checking your pulse, this might work, but reviews say it's not accurate.
2.No android watch automatically does continuous monitoring. Moto 360 includes an app to do spot checks. I don't know if that software has an alarm function.
3.There are a few 3rd party apps that will check your pulse at some interval. No idea if they have an alarm function.
4.Most importantly: if this is something you are seriously counting on for your health, an android wear watch as a hrm is a bad idea. Not the gear live, the 360, nor the gw-r have highly reliable PPG sensor. Also, some people are able to get good, reliable readings at their wrist. Many are not.
PPG/optical heart sensors for continuous reading suck a (relative) lot of power thanks to the LEDs shining onto your skin. The best consumer ones for exercise use on the market last 10 hours, max.
A chest sensor (back to EKG) lasts MUCH longer. I can't see wearing that all day, though. If your doctor's plan is to get you to use something for maybe a week so you learn when you're stressing, I can see dealing with this for a while. But as a long-term solution? No, thanks.
I'm very curious to hear what exactly your doctor has in mind. I think a fingertip pulseox reader that you can slip on as needed would strike the best compromise of accuracy and convenience.

qoncept said:
My doctor told me today I should get a heart rate monitor with an alarm. So I can easily look at my wrist, see I'm getting stressed out and chill myself out. I figured this may be my excuse to get a smartwatch, but I want to make sure it will do what I want before spending the money.
So.. if I got, say, an Asus Zenwatch, is there an app I can run that will notify me when my heart rate is high? The one my doctor uses has a red LED that lights up above a set number and I'd like to closely duplicate that - NOT necessarily having my HR always visible, but the alert always visible. Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
I just release an app for continuously checking heart rate in background : http://forum.xda-developers.com/android-wear/general/app-heart-rate-os-android-wear-google-t3031964
It's new so more features will come, you might want to check if it suitable with your case

qoncept said:
My doctor told me today I should get a heart rate monitor with an alarm. So I can easily look at my wrist, see I'm getting stressed out and chill myself out. I figured this may be my excuse to get a smartwatch, but I want to make sure it will do what I want before spending the money.
So.. if I got, say, an Asus Zenwatch, is there an app I can run that will notify me when my heart rate is high? The one my doctor uses has a red LED that lights up above a set number and I'd like to closely duplicate that - NOT necessarily having my HR always visible, but the alert always visible. Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
None of the current batch of android wear watches can accurately measure heart rate, let alone continuous measure, due to their sensors and the algorithm being used. Mio alpha/ mio fuse are the only accurate wrist band available in the market. You may wanna check it out.

I've got both a Mio Link and the Gear Live and have used the Mio for the last year during my runs. I wore both on my last run, and at steady state they aren't any more than 2-3 BPM apart. It's a different story when heart rate is going up or down. The Mio tends to track heart rate more closely (maybe a few seconds lag from reality). If I stop running and my heart rate starts to drop from the 150s, the Gear just stays in the 150s while the Mio shows it accurately. Could be the one LED vs 2 LEDs on the Mio, it puts out quite a bit more light. I'm also sweating pretty heavily by that time. Sweat and weaker lights, all other things equal, would give inaccurate readings if any at all.

I highly recommend everyone read this article and view the related video there too.
And also read why Apple decided against heart rate and other health sensors in their watches.
None of these wearables work like a chest monitor, the wearables are doing a lot of guess work and are not what you need if you want accuracy or something to show a doctor. I typically use my LG G Watch R during workouts, but I also have a real chest monitor, for when I want to see the real deal.
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Darnell_Chat_TN said:
I highly recommend everyone read this article and view the related video there too.
And also read why Apple decided against heart rate and other health sensors in their watches.
None of these wearables work like a chest monitor, the wearables are doing a lot of guess work and are not what you need if you want accuracy or something to show a doctor. I typically use my LG G Watch R during workouts, but I also have a real chest monitor, for when I want to see the real deal.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
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That cnet article implies the PPG sensor is gone, but the wsj report that it's based on doesn't say they've axed it, just other functions like glucose monitoring. Nothing on the apple website about heart rate has been removed, either.

sirrelevant said:
That cnet article implies the PPG sensor is gone, but the wsj report that it's based on doesn't say they've axed it, just other functions like glucose monitoring. Nothing on the apple website about heart rate has been removed, either.
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You mean the ZDNet article.
If you have WSJ access, read paragraphs 1 & 2 of this article. It's pretty clear, they wanted a heart rate monitor and decided against that, and against a host of other health features.
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Thanks for all the input guys, I guess a smart watch wasn't in the cards for now. I'm more concerned about constant monitoring than absolute accuracy. I ended up buying a Fitbit Charge HR over the weekend. There's no alarm like I hoped for, but I can easily look at it and get what seems to be a relatively consistent reading. I don't think this is a permanent solution but it'll work for now.
Now to start digging up Fitbit hacks. Thanks again!

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
You mean the ZDNet article.
If you have WSJ access, read paragraphs 1 & 2 of this article. It's pretty clear, they wanted a heart rate monitor and decided against that, and against a host of other health features.
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No access for me. Is this it?
"But these features didn’t perform consistently on some people, including those with hairy arms or dry skin. Results also varied depending on how tightly the person wore the Watch, they said. Instead, Apple opted for more pedestrian pulse-rate monitoring, these people said."
(from bgr.com)

sirrelevant said:
No access for me. Is this it?
"But these features didn’t perform consistently on some people, including those with hairy arms or dry skin. Results also varied depending on how tightly the person wore the Watch, they said. Instead, Apple opted for more pedestrian pulse-rate monitoring, these people said."
(from bgr.com)
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No, that paragraph is near the very end.
They were looking to make a far more advanced heart rate monitor. They may mirror what is in other wearables, but it's nothing like they envisioned. And a given that present wearable heart rate monitors are not medically reliable. This article reflects more of the WSJ article.

I agree that if you put one of these hrm on 1,000 people once or twice, the accuracy probably isn't that great. When you run almost every day with one, you pretty much figure out how to get accurate readings. I've been using that Mio Link for at least a year and a half, and I can say when it's connected to my watch (probably 95% of the time) it's pretty dead on. The whole range, from about 55 to 200. The only unknown is the time lag, as I don't have a reliable means to measure that.

Anyone use both a smartwatch and fitness band?

I have a Sony smartwatch an thinking about picking up a fitness band. Looking at the Garmin vivosmart because of its touch screen yet slim profile. Also does notifications. But main reason because android wear sucks at fitness stats. But I can't help but feel having both is a bit redundant. Anyone out there using both? Together? Separately for different occasions?
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What specifically are you looking for that you can't get out of programs like Endomoto, Runkeeper, and Ghostrunner?
So, i ask, because before my SW3, i had (and returned) a Garmin 920XT (same software line as the VivoSmart). While the 920XT was functional, i couldn't find anything it did that justified the price over the SW3. While its not a great program, Google Fit keeps track of steps, and the aforementioned programs track and record fitness activities just great (Ghostrunner can export to Runkeeper or Strava). Perhaps you are in need to the really serious stats that the Garmin RUN-HRM, but then i would point you to the 920XT, and not the Smart...

Divine_Madcat said:
What specifically are you looking for that you can't get out of programs like Endomoto, Runkeeper, and Ghostrunner?
So, i ask, because before my SW3, i had (and returned) a Garmin 920XT (same software line as the VivoSmart). While the 920XT was functional, i couldn't find anything it did that justified the price over the SW3. While its not a great program, Google Fit keeps track of steps, and the aforementioned programs track and record fitness activities just great (Ghostrunner can export to Runkeeper or Strava). Perhaps you are in need to the really serious stats that the Garmin RUN-HRM, but then i would point you to the 920XT, and not the Smart...
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It's not running activity that my Sony SW fails to take care of, it's the daily day to day fitness aspects such as steps taken, distance, inactivity, etc. And it's not a direct reflection on the Sony. It's android wear and it's terrible implementation of fitness tracking. The sony just actually benefits for running/biking because of the gps. But I wish it did the things I mentioned a second ago. It does steps but can't trust it at all.

For what its worth (again, having had the Garmin and going to the Sony), the Sony does no worse than the Garmin in terms of step accuracy (as in, its not). My 920 would count any bump (driving was particularly bad). Between google fit and runkeeper i get my same total information i did using garmin connect, so it works. But certainly, YMMV.

I'm using a Moto 360 and a Fitbit. The Fitbit is nice because you can use it to connect to MyFitnessPal to update and compensate for how much working out you've done. Currently Moto 360 has to be linked with the Jawbone UP app, which kinda blows.

I use a vivosmart to compliment my wear watch. In the end I didn't think the integration with my health ecosystem worked well enough and I am a heavy Garmin user as I am a keen cyclist
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spencer_uk said:
I use a vivosmart to compliment my wear watch. In the end I didn't think the integration with my health ecosystem worked well enough and I am a heavy Garmin user as I am a keen cyclist
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I had bought that and returned as I thought it was redundant having two things that displayed notifications. But now I'm tempted to get it again. Just sick of android wear an its lack of fitness tracking. I was going to get the fitbit flex because its the most minimal at $100 but than the vivosmart is just as minimal an actually shows you your info. So I don't know what to do.
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I went for the vivosmart as I am already in their ecosystem as I use their cycle computers. Also I like the fact I can stick on an heart rate monitor with it when I go running
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[Q] Does anyone care about GPS quality and stability?

I've seen entire reviews who don't even mention this important component: the GPS.
One might say that it rarely use it... but let me tell you that you might need it and if it lets you down it might be in the worst moment of all:
in the woods (my 'favorite' situation)
while in vacation, after a day spent on traveling, you reached your destination and you need to find that place you booked
trying to impress your friends with the fact that you just started jogging
The latter might seem the silliest of all, but when your recorded run looks like in the screenshot below (taken from my old ZE550KL), you know that you have a piece of junk worth 300 dollars in your hands and surely you can't rely on it in the woods or while exploring the world.
View attachment 3934820
So, yeah... please record a walk or run (any running app will do) with your new Zenfone 3 and share your results here. :highfive:

You just turned me off

You may need to check better or replace it. My GPS works very well, 2/3 seconds to catch the satellites and rock steady while using it, no matter what geo-localized app I use.

My GPS works very well too

My Z3 GPS works just fine, very responsive.

Wear for running? Google Pixel Wear?

So I am in the market for a new smartwatch/fitness band and I am intrigued but not sold on the Ticwatch E/S. They seem like quality devices at an affordable price, but I'm not sure they check all the boxes for me.
What I want is to run with my strava app without my phone, meaning leave my phone at the house. I also like to listen to podcasts and music while I run meaning I need some onboard storage. I also need the sensors (gps, gyro, heartrate etc..) to be fairly accurate and decent battery life 2-3 days would be awesome!
Does anyone have a good recommendation? Also what are the odds we will see a Pixel Wear device at Google I/O? I have a google store credit, but there are no watches available on the store at the moment.

GatorsUF said:
So I am in the market for a new smartwatch/fitness band and I am intrigued but not sold on the Ticwatch E/S. They seem like quality devices at an affordable price, but I'm not sure they check all the boxes for me.
What I want is to run with my strava app without my phone, meaning leave my phone at the house. I also like to listen to podcasts and music while I run meaning I need some onboard storage. I also need the sensors (gps, gyro, heartrate etc..) to be fairly accurate and decent battery life 2-3 days would be awesome!
Does anyone have a good recommendation? Also what are the odds we will see a Pixel Wear device at Google I/O? I have a google store credit, but there are no watches available on the store at the moment.
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I run with my Urbane 2 all the time. There is a spreadsheet over on Reddit that lists info for all AW watches. A lot of active users as well that could answer about the Ticwatch in the AndroidWear subreddit.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...3bkyp1UzT0S5Iahy3W9dAQf_sfc/edit?usp=drivesdk