Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor

The Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor is a comfortable and accurate heart rate monitor, commonly used in healthcare, which has a good Bluetooth and ANT+ range, and very few dropouts during use. There are also a few interesting features that Polar has added, such as dual device Bluetooth and device-free recording.

The H10 is the latest, and most premium, heart rate monitor from Polar, which it claims is 'the gold standard of heart rate measurement'. Apparently being trusted by the medical world, this heart rate monitor should be an accurate enough choice for the average user. There's a good chance that if you ever go somewhere for power testing or VO2 testing, for example, it will generally be using one of these monitors, which says quite a lot!

The H10 can be connected to your head unit or phone using Bluetooth or ANT+, and it's even possible to connect to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, which could be useful if you use Zwift and want to record to your head unit along with Zwift, for example.

Connecting to my Garmin 1030 Plus was a breeze, offering both ANT+ and Bluetooth, and getting the right monitor was simple as the pod has its ID on, which is easy to read and check.

Putting the heart rate monitor on is pretty straightforward, with the clip sitting off to the right-hand side of your chest, but unless you're super flexible, I've found I have to do the clip up at the front of my chest before spinning it around.

Undoing this is then easiest by reversing how you do it up, so spinning it to the front and unclipping. A part of the clip needs to be clicked in to undo it.

When riding I've found the strap nice and comfy, with no pinching or discomfort, and when tightened to the correct amount it neither moves around nor feels restrictive.

The sensor band takes up a large percentage of the strap, meaning there's more chance of it reading accurately even if the strap moves around, and it's notably bigger than Polar's H9 model.

The sensor turns on automatically, but there is no way to confirm that it's done so, unlike my Wahoo Tickr X, for example, which has LEDs that flash when it powers on; not that I've ever had this one not turn on.

Polar says its monitor uses ECG technology to measure your heart rate, so the electrical signals coming from your heart, unlike smart watches that use optical sensors. ECG technology is regarded as much more accurate.

> Buyer’s Guide: Best heart rate monitors

The data it produces has been very consistent, with no anomalies and only a couple of dropouts in many hours of use. It's hard to know whether this is down to the monitor or the Garmin I'm connected to, but I've experienced fewer dropouts than with my Wahoo Tickr X.

Using both my Wahoo and this Polar, the output from both has been very similar, with that from the Polar being perhaps a touch smoother than the Wahoo, but it's reassuring that both read very similarly, as you can see from the graph below.

Interestingly, you can use the H10 to estimate your VO2 max, through Polar's app; you simply need to lie down for five minutes and not move. It's surprisingly close to measured values, though I don't think it's something many people will use more than once, as your VO2 max doesn't change much.

The H10 also has a tri-axial accelerometer as one of its sensors, and though there's no way to use this information through any of Polar's apps, it can be used with the Sleep As Android app to record your motion during your sleep.

The H10 also gives you the option of some some device-free heart rate measuring, with a small amount of inbuilt memory on the sensor, which you do by starting a workout on the accompanying app. This could be interesting if you wanted to measure what your body does throughout the day, but I imagine most riders will be recording their GPS data using another device when riding.

It runs on a CR2025 coin battery, which Polar claims will give a year of use before needing replacing.

Compared to the H9, the H10 feels like a no-holds-barred offering, with the addition of the onboard storage, the accelerometer, an upgraded silicone strap rather than the 'soft strap' on the H9, along with apparently more accurate readings, with additional electrodes to reduce interference. Polar also offers a three-year warranty with this monitor, a year more than was offered with the H9.

Value

At £86.50 this is one of the most expensive heart rate monitors on the market, though it's noticeably less than the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus at £119.99. The Garmin offers extras like running dynamics, such as stride length, but nothing else that the H10 doesn't.

The Wahoo TrackR (full review to come) is nearly a tenner less at £79.99, while the top-end offering from 4iiii is now just £49.99 and has the ability to record data internally like the H10, with the added ability to act as an ANT+ and Bluetooth bridge.

You can go cheaper still, such as Decathlon's £24.99 HRM Belt, but if you're looking for the most accurate measurements, along with the other features the H10 offers, it won't disappoint.

Verdict

High-end, consistent and accurate heart rate monitor, with strong connectivity