4 Best Heart Rate Monitors For Runners 2023 – Buying Guide & Reviews

Those of us who are frequently active like to enhance and reinforce this lifestyle through various gadgets or tools. While proper clothing and equipment are the first things on our list, the added convenience of various electronic devices can help us enhance the entire experience.

The information provided by these tools will help us adjust our fitness and dieting habits to achieve results fast. The simplest form of equipment from this category that we can get is a heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor will give us direct information for the state of our heart rate and allow us to avoid overworking ourselves.

This works great for runners as exerting yourself too much during runs can end up being damaging.

However, considering how wide the market is it can be difficult to find out which tool is the best for us or which model is the most fruitful to get. For the sake of shortening your research, we have compiled a couple of different heart rate monitors that will aid you in your everyday runs.

Heart rate monitor styles available

Source: hips.hearstapps.com

Before even getting to the devices themselves let’s talk about options. Everybody has a different style of heart rate monitor they find comfortable, just like with any other piece of wearable tech. This is why the following list will feature the best devices and tools that utilize different styles rather than multiple models of the same style. We do this in an effort to give ample choices to any preference, be it one of comfort or budget.

These styles include regular heart rate armbands, which we simply attach to our wrist and check whenever we want to get a reading of our vitals.

Chest strap style of heart rate monitors includes a bit different approach of heart rate monitors placement by placing the device on your chest while the strap itself is used to hold it in place so it wouldn’t become an issue during runs. Watch-styled ones are similar to the armband style, with the added benefit of telling time.

They are also a lot more inconspicuous when it comes to wearing it in public. Among the available tools, we will also cover more accurate phone apps to cover every person’s needs. Without further ado, let’s take a peek at some top gadgets for runners.

1. Scosche Rhythm24 ArmBand

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First on our list is an armband-style heart rate monitor by Scosche. The Rhythm24 is an incredibly potent gadget that boasts 24 hours of battery life from a single charge. This will allow you to do multiple days of running and work out without having to recharge it.

Not only that, the gadget is also compatible with a wide variety of fitness apps that will come in handy for keeping the information saved. The armband is very simple, holding no unique traits that add to the experience.

The simplicity is somewhat of a boon, as feature creep can become an issue sometimes. Do keep in mind that the device will need to be in range with a phone or other workout equipment to generate and save results, due to it lacking an internal data bank.

2. Welltory

Source: medium.com

Let’s make a quick jump to the world of fitness software. It’s safe to say that almost everybody owns a phone. Even if we are not too into the running scene or cannot afford even cheaper devices at the moment, our phone can act as an ample replacement. Among the provided apps, both free and paid, Welltory stands out as one of the best. It has excelled in precision when put through heart rate monitor comparison, which had it squaring off with heart rate that was measured with medical equipment.

The Welltory is a type of software that interacts with other apps, such type of heart rate monitor is called ant heart rate monitor. This wireless technology allows us to get and use data on any of our desired monitoring devices. This means that once you get new devices to do your runs with your data can be transmitted swiftly. Heart rate variability can also be calculated through the Welltory HRV app, allowing you to keep an eye out on the consistency of your heartbeats.

This can help uncover bad practices in our workouts or engage better fitness by modeling the plan we currently follow to the one that fits our heart’s functionality better. The Welltory app is the best hrm for iPhone but the Android version also exists, allowing us to fuel our phones with great heart rate monitoring software no matter the manufacturer.

3. Polar H10 Chest Strap

Source: polar.com

To get into the field of chest straps, we have Polar H10 as their representative. This chest strap is exceptionally precise which immediately makes it enticing as a purchase. However, the extreme durability paired up with a decently comfortable band makes it even better for both experienced and new runners.

The item is durable in terms of battery life too, boasting whopping 400 hours of battery without any compromise to its accuracy when on low battery life. As with other heart rate monitors on this list, Polar H10 offers simple connectivity with popular fitness and running apps. This means your progress can be easily saved and forwarded with no issues.

There is also a coach service that the item offers, allowing you to share data with your trainer or show other people you run with how well you are doing. The item also stores data on its own, without requiring a phone to operate.

4. Fitbit Versa 3

Source: techradar.com

In terms of items that can act as both watches and heart rate monitors, we have Fitbit Versa 3. The item has found its way on this list due to the consistent operating procedure that will display your heart rate on its screen no matter what time of the day it is. Along with that, it comes with a step counter so the runners who prefer to not carry many things with them when they go running will find this a compact solution as far as devices go.

The watch can sync with your phone apps, as expected, and even has waterproof capabilities. The watch can be submerged down to 164 feet and still work. The battery life is another big boon of the item, boasting 6 days of active battery life.