Recommend a heart rate monitor

[Bombus]

Please recommend me a heart rate monitor, wristwatch style I guess but without a chest strap.

New to exercise (well, I used to exercise years years ago) no idea where to start looking.

Thanks.

[_Deano]

Oh good timing, i want to get one too! But i thought that the monitors with the chest strap gave a better h/r reading?

[Fozziebear]

You won't get one without a chest strap. What you really need to think about it price, battery life and extra features. Decide these, then shop around, wiggle have sales, decathlon are cheap, Suunto have good battery life, polar have good marketing

[John87]

Lidl had decent enough ones for 12.99 last week. Might be worth a look to see if any are left

[nammynake]

I tried a heart rate strap years ago and it was so uncomfortable that I rarely used it. I have recently bought a Garmin 500 bike computer with their so-called 'Premium' strap - this is a soft elastic strap and very comfortable to wear.

Not sure if such a strap comes with watch-style monitors, but worth a look.

[ewenm]

Polar, Suunto and Garmin are the obvious choices. All come with comfortable chest straps - it's the only way to get accurate data; watch only is rubbish. Polar tend to be compatible with all the standard gym equipment (if you use that sort of thing).

You can spend as little or as much as you want really depending on what features and connectivity you want.

[fandango_c]

Without a chest strap means either a Mio Alpha:
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/02/monitor-bluetoo...

or a Basis B1:
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/07/basis-b1-review...