I’ve been using the coospo arm band type for a couple of years now without issues.
The battery life in between charges is really good and it has been perfectly reliable.
Prior to that I’ve gone through multiple Garmin and wahoo straps, and they all died on me despite maintaining them, according to the manufacturers instructions.
22,000 miles in the Socal sun and still going strong. Comfortable and cheap. Currently on sale for $25 (15% off coupon in the link). Change battery with a butter knife. I’ve replaced the battery twice in two years. I wash the strap in shower.
There is a way (rotate first, then lick your finger and wet the strap underneath the two electrodes).
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Am I missing something with new soft/ pod HRM by still having the same garmin all plastic HRM. Have had it for 14 years now with no issues what so ever.
A soft strap IME gives a lot less HR spikes and some say a soft strap is more comfortable but my original hard strap was my longest lasting strap (at least 6years, my soft straps have only lasted 2 years at the longest), so if it works for you, I wouldn’t be in a rush to replace it.
They come with the screwdriver for changing the battery. I have two in The house and have two screwdrivers for it. Ask a friend.
My Garmin is the best HRM I have had over wrist based, Wahoo, Polar etc…
While I agree that the design of the back cover is a weak point of the HRM-DUAL, I will give a shoutout to Garmin for their support. I messaged them that the screw hole on my HRM-DUAL backplate had broken, and then sent me a brand new replacement (the retail boxed HRM-DUAL) free of charge. Only info I had to supply was the serial number. And this was two years after my original purchase.
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Same here. The machine putting the screws in must have over tightened them causing the internal studs to break off. I held it together with tape until my free replacement arrived.
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I purchased a Polar H10 about half a year ago, and I haven’t had any issues so far.
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Hi All
I’m also in the market for a new HRM. My wife got me a TICKR X for Christmas which is going back under warranty and I’ve been offered a refund or exchange. Looking at other reviews I’m not sure I want another TICKR X. I’ve previously had a TICKR which was fine for a few years after an initial warranty claim for a busted strap but this is now a bit temperamental, hence the Christmas gift.
I was leaning towards a Garmin HRM dual but read a thread where lots of folks were having issues connecting to TR over bluetooth so this makes me nervous.
I don’t need any fancy features, just want to broadcast HR to an iPhone using the TR app and when outdoors over Ant + to a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. Key requirements are reliability, accuracy, robustness and broadcast over ANT+ and BLE. I just want a set and forget option that works every time!
I’m also considering the Polar H9 .
Any thoughts from the wider community on Polar 9 v Garmin HRM dual? Having tried Wahoo the last 2 times I’m tempted to try another brand.
Many thanks
I would lean to the Polar H10, firstly as its accurate for a bit less £/€/$ but secondly whilst I believe the new Garmin HRM has done away with the fiddly screws, its integrated into the strap, one fails both need replacing. With the Polar when the strap fails which seems to be quite often with other brands I have had you can use the old monitor on a new strap.
Thanks @HLaB
Did you mean the H9 which was the model I was referring to or the H10. I was thinking of going for the H9 because the H10 has features I won’t need. I just need a straight forward dual band HRM.
If you don’t need cached storage or the ability to broadcast to two BLE devices simultaneously is there any reason to pay more to get the H10?
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I was referring to the H10 but I dont think the H9 is remarkably different connection wise, just the H10 was more available when I was looking for a new HRM. Polar claim that the H10 is more accurate but they are also trying to sell it.
From the reviews it doesn’t seem like there’s much in it. A slightly different strap closure and the 2 Bluetooth channels. Down the line I think when a H9 strap fails you could replace it with the H10 strap and still keep a H9 pod if you found you needed more accuracy.
Polar H9 Review | H10 Chest Strap Comparison, Best Polar HRM (the5krunner.com)
My last couple HRMs have been Wahoo units and they work well for measuring HR but won’t work with HRV4Training. Because of this, my next HRM will be a Polar.
Me too, just had my battery cover break that way. I was expecting they’d just send me a new battery cover, instead a whole new unit. I don’t know how they make money… (checks price of new head units — never mind)
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My Garmin Dual started reporting a flat 72 bpm. Sent a message to Garmin asking for a warranty replacement and they’re making me send it back before they send the replacement…