Review: Mio Velo wrist-based heart rate band

[Matt]

The common complaint I hear from anyone new to heart rate monitors is the discomfort of the chest strap. Although I have found that with time and moving to higher-end devices the chest straps have become more comfortable, they are still a bit of a pain.

 

The Mio Velo is a wrist-based heart rate band which uses an optical sensor to read your heart rate and packs in some handy Bluetooth-ANT+ features to boot.

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[Paolo55]

It;s too expensive in my opinion.  For less than half the price you can get the Schoshe Rythm, also does ANT+ & BT, but no ANT bridge.

Better battery life and you can wear it on your upper arm as well.

[SwissVan]

Interesting...like the concept of no chest strap.

How long before the main player watches offer this...

 

Battery life is the bug bear imo... like everything small and neat these days battery life / technology is holding things back 

[IceCreamMan]

TomTom cardio already has this in place. Can be had for 4 clip including all the gps functionality...

[Wez-O]

I've thoroughly tested this device and although I have no doubt that this technology will replace HR chest straps in the future, they still have some way to go.

Firstly, it is NOT as accurate as a chest strap and the battery is significantly less than 8 hours. And secondly, the new Apple Watch as well as the Tom Tom have the same laser technology and would therefore most probably prove to be more feasible options.

 

Finally, it is worth mentioning that if you have a weak pulse, "laser HR monitors" will experience far more inaccurate low readings than a chest straps and I've also heard rumours that wrist tattoos affect the accuracy of readings.

OTHERWISE, its a convenient and nifty little device that will prove useful to more casual cyclists. and the Bluetooth to ANT+ bridging feature is great if you looking to sync a cadence sensor to your phone etc.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

TomTom cardio already has this in place. Can be had for 4 clip including all the gps functionality...

As does one of the Garmin ForeRunners. 

[PoiZoNouZ]

I've been using the Apple watch for over a month, also has the green lights on the bottom.

 

Works like a bomb.

 

Haven't used it with Strava, mainly use it on indoor training, dont feel like smashing the watch if I fall on the trail.

[IceCreamMan]

 

Firstly, it is NOT as accurate as a chest strap 

 

 

 

I have found my Tomtom HR monitor to be extremely accurate, as accurate as a chest strap over the course of an event as I have tried both. What I have found is that the wrist HR monitor is a little delayed so when my heart spikes the chest strap indicates this almost instantly while the wrist reader is delayed but does give the same reading. My average HR over the course of a 3 hour cycle was the same for both.