Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you're serious about your workout data, you depend on the accuracy of your heart rate monitor. Unfortunately, most wrist based optical sensors are wildly inaccurate during activity. So that leaves you with two options: Chest strap, or arm based optical sensor. Chest strap being the gold standard for accuracy, but incredibly uncomfortable. That's where optical arm based sensors come in. They fall into a happy medium of "good enough". They are accurate, reliable, and more comfortable than a chest strap. If you've done your research, you know there are basically three options for arm based sensors - Wahoo, Scosche, and Polar. I won't get into all the details (See DC Rainmaker for a good comparison between the three), but I will tell you why Polar is the right choice. The polar OH1+ comes with a "goggle clip". Meaning, if you're a triathlete, you can clip the HR monitor to your goggles while you swim and it will record your temporal pulse for accurate HR data. That in itself is a nice feature, but what polar doesn't mention, and perhaps more importantly, is that you can use the clip anywhere there is reliable pulsation and a flat area of skin. Enter the "waist clip". I started to clip the monitor into my running shorts and cycling bibs and found that it will accurately record HR data from the femoral pulsation. Perhaps even better data than the arm (More stable, less light penetration, stronger pulsation etc). This means no arm band, no chest strap, just a small clip into my shorts which is secure and hidden. This takes comfort and accuracy to another level. For this reason alone, this is the only optical HR monitor to consider.