Best Wrist Heart Rate Monitor: Reviews of the Top 5 Wrist HR Monitors

The heart rate monitor on many smartwatches is a useful function. Perhaps you want to monitor your heart rate to increase athletic performance, manage stress, or monitor your heart health. But which one is the best wrist heart rate monitor? 

A wrist heart rate monitor can be a useful tool for fitness enthusiasts, but which one is right for you? There are so many models out there that deciding which one is right for you can be difficult.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the best wrist heart rate monitors on the market and help you pick out the best heart rate monitor to suit your needs. Before we get into our recommendations, however, we should cover some basics.

Why Use a Heart Rate Monitor?

There are numerous benefits to incorporating a heart rate monitor into your daily life. First of all, it provides you with direct insight into how your body is functioning at all times. Your heart is a great indicator of your health, and an irregular heartbeat can be the first sign of something more serious.

With a heart rate monitor, you can keep tabs on how much your heart is beating at any time. This doesn’t necessarily have to relate to exercise, either. You can make notes of spikes in your heart rate that could indicate areas of your life that you feel are particularly stressful. It may also provide insight into how certain food and drink can affect your body.

One of the most popular reasons for owning a heart rate monitor is to pair it with an exercise regimen. This is because, aside from being a great indicator of your health, your heart is also a highly effective way to measure your exertion. Essentially, the higher your heart rate, the harder you’re working.

You can use this information to tailor your workouts to your personal needs. By mixing up the intensity of your workouts throughout the week you can push your body further and give it the time it needs to fully recover. Heart rate monitors give you the tools you need to take your workout to the next level.

What’s the Difference Between a Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitor and a Smartwatch? 

With the abundance of smartwatches on the market it can be easy to grow overwhelmed, that’s all before we start using terms like wrist-based heart rate monitors. So, what is the difference?

It largely depends on the function of the device. Most smartwatches have a heart rate monitor function, but not all do. Likewise, some wrist-based heart rate monitors exclusively complete that purpose, so they aren’t technically ‘smartwatches’.

A smartwatch is essentially a mixture of a smartphone and a wristwatch. They can often receive notifications, text messages, and calls like your phone could, in addition to measuring numerous bodily metrics. This may or may not include your heart rate.

Simply put: a heart rate monitor might be a smartwatch, but a smartwatch isn’t always a heart rate monitor. 

What Different Kinds of Heart Rate Monitors are Out There?

If you are searching for a heart rate monitor it’s important to know what you’re looking for. Not all heart rate monitors attach to your wrist. Some wrap around your chest or are built into an armband. 

Chest straps (such as the Polar H10) are mostly aimed at athletes or those committed to improving their fitness regimen. They are designed to be worn during workout rather than worn throughout the day or when you’re sleeping, like you would with a wrist-based monitor.

If you want to receive continuous feedback on your bodily metrics, a wrist-based heart rate monitor is the way to go. Most of them are designed to be so comfortable you forget they are even there. You don’t get the same level of comfort from a chest strap or armband.

How Important are Additional Features in a Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitor?

This largely depends on what you want from your device. If you solely want to monitor your heart rate and incorporate different heart rate zones into your workout regimen, then the most basic device would be perfectly suitable.

However, if you want a device that can wear multiple hats and achieve multiple outcomes, additional features will make or break your decision. These features can manifest in multiple different ways, including:

• Receiving text messages, phone calls, and social media notifications directly to your watch
• Monitoring numerous metrics other than heart rate, such as blood oxygen or calories burnt
• Workouts built right into the watch, with guided routines

A lot of these features can be helpful and take your workout routine to a whole new level, but they may also prove unnecessary. Before purchasing the flashiest, fanciest device, take the time to consider whether you really need everything on offer. You may spend more money than you intended to on a device that does way more than what you require.

What Should You Look For in a Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitor?

To get the most out of your heart rate monitor, you need two key things right out of the gate:

• Consistency
• Accuracy

If you don’t have those, it doesn’t matter how many fancy features your watch is loaded with. So what do we mean by these two terms? Let’s unpack them for you.

When we say consistency, we mean a heart rate monitor that is functioning 24/7. As we mentioned above, part of the benefit of a heart rate monitor is to get a full picture of how your heart rate fluctuates throughout the day and night. If the monitor is only tracking you at certain points, you will miss out on key fluctuations. 

When it comes to accuracy, the importance is obvious. The figures you are receiving throughout your day are only helpful if they are factual. Various smartwatches account for this with unique, patented features, all of which we discuss in our top choices below.

The Garmin Forerunner 45S

Topping off our list is the Garmin Forerunner 45S, and with good reason. This impressive device is one of the best heart rate monitors on the market, without the enormous price tag.

The round design makes it look like a classic wristwatch, but it is so much more. Its vibrant display makes checking necessary metrics easy, so if you intend to use it alongside your workout you’ll have no trouble seeing the screen. 

One of the most interesting features of the Garmin Forerunner 45S is the introduction of ‘Garmin Coach’. This provides you with built-in training plans that you can tailor to your particular workout, all right there on your wrist. 

There are two iterations of the Garmin 45, both the standard and the 45S, with the only difference between them being the size of their screen (42mm and 39mm respectively). Both devices are perfectly sized for their purpose.

As a heart rate monitor, the Forerunner 45S excels thanks to the patented Garmin Elevate technology. This works to mitigate extraneous factors that could cause a false reading of your heart rate, such as temperature fluctuations or even changes in your posture. The Forerunner 45S accounts for it all.

Verdict

The Garmin Forerunner 45S is a perfect option if you are looking for a device that prioritises heart rate monitoring and fitness plans. It lacks some of the flashier features you may expect from a smartwatch, but if you aren’t interested in those anyway, this is a fantastic choice for a relatively low price. 

The Suunto 9 Baro Sports Watch

If battery life is a priority for you, then the Suunto 9 Baro is exactly what you are looking for. It can last for over thirty hours and even comes with a specialised ‘endurance mode’ to keep going for longer. 

According to Suunto, depending on the training mode you select, the 9 Baro can last for as long as seven days before it needs a recharge. This moves up to fourteen days if you solely use it to tell the time.

While this is highly impressive, the Suunto 9 Baro does take longer to charge to achieve this feat. From 0-100% the charging process takes around two and a half hours. This is a significant amount of time, but given how long it lasts once it’s charged, this isn’t a huge setback.

The watch face is larger than most wrist-based heart rate monitors and features an optional touch screen, so navigation couldn’t be easier. We like that the touch screen is optional, too, as it prevents accidentally pushing anything you don’t want to.

However, there are some features missing from this device that you may have come to expect from a smartwatch. Contactless payment, music playback, and downloadable workouts are not available. If you get excited over swanky features, this may not be for you.

Still, it excels in what it can do. It possesses GPS, accurate heart rate monitoring, fitness tracking, and navigation tools. If you are an avid hiker and you aren’t interested in too many bells and whistles, the Suunto 9 Baro is a great option. 

Verdict

We like the Suunto 9 Baro. It isn’t stock-full with features to get you all excited, but it is an enduring device with a far larger battery capacity than most. If you like to travel long distances as part of your fitness regimen, we would recommend this watch for you. 

The Apple Watch Series 6

If you were put off by the Suunto 9 Baro due to a lack of features, the Apple Watch Series 6 might be exactly what you’re looking for. It is loaded with capabilities to support the needs of a diverse customer base, from fitness fanatics to gadget enthusiasts. 

You would be hard-pressed to find a smartwatch that runs as smoothly as the Apple Watch Series 6. It moves between apps with surprising ease and provides a whole host of health and fitness monitoring features. Of course, one of these is heart rate monitoring.

In addition, the Series 6 introduced blood oxygen saturation monitoring to its repertoire of heart health features. This allows you to permanently keep track of how successfully your circulatory and respiratory systems are performing, all from your wrist!

It takes just fifteen seconds for the Series 6 to show you your oxygen saturation levels, and it can be activated whenever you choose. It is also capable of measuring a variety of background metrics when you are inactive or asleep, so you can receive valuable insights even if you aren’t working out.

In terms of functionality, the Apple Watch Series 6 is an absolute win. However, the high price point may put some off. Additionally, it is only compatible with an iPhone and therefore cannot support Android systems, which dramatically limits how many people can use it. 

Verdict

Sure, this watch isn’t cheap, but you mostly get what you pay for. If you own an iPhone and you want to keep a closer eye on your heart health (or health in general!), then the Apple Watch Series 6 is a solid choice. 

The Fitbit Charge 4

The fourth addition to the Fitbit Charge family, this watch is sleek and stylish with a surprising level of functionality. It possesses GPS, Spotify compatibility, and contactless payments via Fitbit Pay.

For the fitness enthusiasts among you, it also possesses a motivating feature known as Active Zone Minutes. This effectively displays how long you have been active for on any given day, and rewards you for meeting targets.

Some of the key features from the previous models remain with the new design, with some having received improvements such as the metrics recorded while sleeping. They now go into greater detail, particularly relating to how much REM sleep you achieved.

The screen is designed to go dark quickly so as to preserve battery life. Many wrist-based heart rate monitors feature an always-on screen for easy access, but the Fitbit Charge 4 doesn’t lose any points for not sharing this quality. All it takes is a small shake of your wrist and the screen lights up again. Simple!

Although the screen is small compared to similar devices, it is refreshingly minimalist. Everything you need is displayed neatly on the screen, including your heart rate and how many steps you have taken. This simplicity is a welcome change from some of the louder, more disorganised smartwatches on the market. 

Verdict

The Fitbit Charge 4 is an impressive device, which is surprising given its size. It has everything you could need to monitor a variety of bodily metrics, including your heart rate and your sleep patterns, in addition to smartwatch capabilities such as contactless payments and music. 

The Willful Smart Watch

If you are truly looking for an affordable option, you truly can’t do better than the Willful Smart Watch. It is easily the lowest priced smartwatch on the market, yet provides many of the key features you need to stay on top of your fitness.

Naturally, due to its low price point, it isn’t as capable as the other heart rate monitors on this list. It doesn’t possess the sleek design of the Fitbit Charge 4, nor does it operate as smoothly as the Apple Watch. However, it is still functional.

Although its operating system is basic, it still provides the main features you require from a smartwatch. It monitors and clearly displays your heart rate, how many steps you’ve taken, and how many calories you have burnt. It also allows you to input the calories you have consumed to keep track of your diet.

All of this information is available via a touch screen, which is easy to use and highly responsive. Amazingly, this device can also receive calls and text messages, which puts it ahead of some vastly more expensive devices.

Verdict

We include the Willful Smart Watch on this list because of its price point and its surprising efficiency. It is the ultimate budget option. Granted, there are sacrifices made to achieve the price, but it still holds its own as an efficient heart rate monitor and fitness tracker. If you want to try a smartwatch for yourself but don’t want to invest too highly, the Willful Smart Watch is the perfect starting place. 

Final Thoughts: The Best Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitors

Through this guide we have walked you through what a heart rate monitor is, how to pick one out, the benefits of using one, and our top five picks. Ultimately, however, the choice is yours! It is difficult to outright name just one as the best wrist heart rate monitor as they all have unique benefits to offer.

Regardless of which device you end up purchasing, monitoring your heart rate is a beneficial habit for both your fitness and your overall health. Whether you opt for a device that prioritises heart rate tracking or one that has numerous features built-in, you are ultimately investing in your health either way. That can only be a good thing!