Polar H9 Heart Rate Sensor - Review 2022

For many people wanting to track their centre charge per unit during workouts or train using heart rate information, the new Polar H9 is likely just what you're looking for. At $59.95, it costs less than other heart rate monitors (HRMs) that pack in actress features, merely it still covers all the bases. It'due south comfortable, waterproof, and washable, and yous tin can pair information technology with a phone, a running watch, or any other fitness equipment thanks to back up for Emmet+, Bluetooth, and 5kHz transmission. Polar's companion apps come up with heart charge per unit training options, equally well equally a simple VO2max test so you tin track your fitness progress over time. If y'all don't have whatsoever complex or special needs in your HRM, the Polar H9 volition leave you lot satisfied without asking you lot to spend too much, earning our Editors' Choice.

What Makes the H9 Unique?

The Polar H9 is very similar to the Polar H10 except for a few central points. The H9 has a listing price of $59.95 compared with the $89.95 H10 (though the H10 is a few years old now, and so you may be able to find it for less). The H9 doesn't have whatever onboard memory, whereas the H10 can store data from your previous training session, then yous can use it without a connected device and but upload your workout data afterwards (in other words, you lot tin go for a run without your phone). The H10 tin hold 2 Bluetooth connections simultaneously, whereas the H9 is express to one at a time. And the chest straps are slightly different.

Across that, the HRMs are nearly identical. They weigh the same. They use the same coin cell battery (CR2025). They're both waterproof and safe for swimming. Both utilise an ECG (electrical pulse) for taking heart rate, rather than the optical method.

Another give-and-take on price: A reliable chest strap without many bells and whistles is going to cost somewhere in the range of $forty to $sixty. If yous see a brand yous trust selling an HRM for less than that, it'south a steal.

Polar H9 fit

Accuracy and Battery Life

I tested the accuracy of the Polar H9 in two ways. First, I wore the device while sitting yet, walking, jogging, and running to make sure the readings were in the range of where they should be. Doing this type of test doesn't tell me how accurate the device is, only it does give me an indication that information technology works correctly in a general sense. I know that while resting, my center rate should be in the 50 or 60bpm range. When I run hard, information technology should climb to 150, 160, or 170bpm. Equally soon as I stop running, it should autumn. The H9 performed fine in all of these basic tests.

Second, I put on the Polar H9 and simultaneously wore other heart rate monitors to compare their readings. To get in piece of cake to look at the data, I do this second exam while seated. I used the Garmin HRM-Dual first. I paired the Garmin HRM to a Garmin watch while simultaneously looking at data from the Polar H9 on my phone. They gave virtually identical readings that were virtually perfectly in sync. When one of them climbed or fell, the other was correct on its heels. I repeated this same test using the Wahoo Tickr FIT, an optical HRM. Once again, the readings were very close to one another.

I mentioned that the Polar H9 runs on a coin jail cell bombardment. If you lot train for an hr per day, the battery should last about a year. Irresolute the battery is straightforward if you have a large coin to help you open the encompass. Then you popular it out, drop in a new one, and shut information technology back upwardly.

A few standalone HRMs come with rechargeable batteries, meaning you can connect them to a proprietary charger and plug them into a USB outlet, the same way you do with near other smartwatches and fettle trackers. The Polar OH1, the Scosche Rhythm24, and the Wahoo Tickr FIT all come up with a rechargeable bombardment. All 3 are armband HRMs and apply optical engineering science rather than ECG to read your pulse.

Comfort and Wearability

Some people don't mind wearing a chest strap HRM, and others find information technology uncomfortable or distracting. It does have some trial and fault to figure out how tight to make the strap to keep it secure, simply also comfortable when you exhale deeply. If you make it too loose, it might slide down as you sweat, merely making information technology as well tight feels restrictive.

The H9 uses a strap that Polar refers to equally its Soft strap. It's a stretchy black fabric fabricated of four dissimilar materials (38 percent Polyamide, 29 percent polyurethane, twenty percent elastane, 13 percent polyester). The side that touches your pare has a apartment panel of sensors that feels like nil more than a strip of soft plastic. At one cease of the strap is a coated stainless steel claw that you slip into a loop on the other end. In this way, there are no buckles or loose ends rubbing against your skin.

The sensor is modest, measuring i.33 by 2.56 by 0.39 inches (HWD). It clips into place with 2 snaps, as is the example with most chest strap HRMs. You should remove the sensor to launder the strap, although it's waterproof enough to handle swimming.

Polar Beat app training

Working Out With Apps and Equipment

The Polar H9 is versatile. Yous tin can use it with a wide range of practice equipment and fitness apps. Considering it uses Pismire+, Bluetooth, and 5kHz (Gymlink), you tin can connect it to fitness trackers, running watches, phones, bicycle computers, gym equipment, and more.

Polar has its own apps that piece of work with its line of heart charge per unit monitors, namely Polar Catamenia and Polar Beat, and you can utilize 3rd-party apps, too, including Nike Run Club, Runkeeper, Zwift, TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest, MapMyFitness, and other apps in the "MapMy" family.

To test the HRM, I fired upwardly the Polar Beat app. I've used this app before, and several of the features and options appeal to me equally someone who knows a little about eye rate training but isn't highly experienced doing information technology. When I'g not testing devices, I'll look at my heart rate from time to time during a workout to see where it is. At nearly, when I'm treadmill jogging, I'll increase my speed if I realize my eye rate is low and I'm not working out hard enough. Typically, yet, I don't manage my middle charge per unit throughout a workout in a planned way—merely that'south exactly what you practice when heart rate training.

Commencement, I did a general fitness test to guess my electric current state. Yous wear the Polar H9 and lie apartment on the flooring completely still for about five minutes. The HRM and app calculate your VO2max; it'due south OK if you don't know what that means because the app puts it in context with a nautical chart, number, and descriptor. Mine is xl, which is "good," and ane digit away from being "very adept." You can then set out on a fettle journey and refer dorsum to that score as your starting bespeak.

Polar Beat app

The app also tells y'all how you lot tin can better your fitness score. For example, I would accept to increase the frequency of my workouts and vary the intensity. The app goes ane step farther to offer you workouts that do exactly the kind of training yous need.

I did a few runs to improve my heart health. My favorite i has you lot warm up for five minutes, then become your heart rate into a specific range and keep it there for the number of minutes you set, with a minimum of 30. You lot exercise 5 minutes of cool downwards at the end too, when the app gets you lot to maintain a lower heart rate. The whole time you're working out, an automated coach in the app tells yous to either speed up, slow down, or keep this pace. It also reads out basic stats every mile, including total time, average pace, and average heart charge per unit. For people who are at the entry level of fettle, these are wonderful programs that give y'all exactly the feedback y'all need to work out finer.

The app has workouts targeted at more than experienced runners and exercise buffs, too, whether you're training for a race, looking to go faster, or trying to improve your VO2max through other activities.

Which HRM Is Right for You?

For anyone new to heart rate training, the Polar H9 should be at the peak of your list of centre rate monitors to consider. Polar has kept the cost lower than some of its more premium HRMs while nonetheless producing a device that'southward authentic, comfortable, and easy to use. Some of the training programs in the Polar Beat out app are great for beginners, while more advanced fettle enthusiasts might however find the H9 does everything they demand, too. If you lot desire to track your centre charge per unit, railroad train using heart rate, or watch your fitness level change over time with a VO2max score, you'll get everything you need from the H9. That makes it an Editors' Choice.