Polar H9 Heart Rate Sensor – ANT Plus/Bluetooth - Waterproof HR Monitor with Soft Chest Strap for Gym, Cycling, Running, Outdoor Sports

This review is for the Polar H9 Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) in Black. I purchased the HRM to prep for a Half Marathon, my first ever, with the hope of using it for Low Heart Rate training. It has been an excellent choice for a beginner like me and has helped accurately track my heart rate during runs. This has helped me improve my runs over the 2 months I've used it so far. Build and Quality: The HRM unit and the strap come packaged as separate items. The HRM unit is compact and lightweight, made from a durable plastic and the quality feels solid. Just holding it in your hands you can tell that the plastic is strong enough to withstand any bumps, etc. It houses a CR2025 battery that you can get to using a prying tool. The 'Soft Strap' is just that, a strap with a fine-weave and feels velvet-feel to the touch. The quality seems good and like anything elastic its durability will depend on how much it is stretched. It is adjustable and is fastened using a hook into a loop and the HRM unit and strap are connected together with a pair of snap fastener buttons. Features vs Functionality: Polar HRMs are known for their accuracy and I can confirm this sensor is spot on. The H9 is accurate and also very responsive to changes in the heart rate with minimal lag. Where my Garmin wrist sensor would lag before reacting to heart rate changes, the H9 was pretty much instant. Although, for the strap to measure heart rate accurately, the conducting area on the strap needs to be made wet before use to begin with and the sweat then keeps it wet for the rest of the workout The strap is made from a comfortable and flexible material and sits snugly against the skin once adjusted appropriately. I've not had any chaffing and on tuns I don'teven realise I have the chest strap on. I don't particularly sweat too much so all I do it wipe the strap down after use and its good to go for the next workout. For sweaty runners, you may need to wash it more often which might impact its longevity. As for connectivity, the HRM is easy to connect to Bluetooth devices and once paired will automatically connect the next time as long as the HRM is snapped to the strap. I've also tested connecting two devices and both recieve the heart rates in real time. However, if you ever need to let your running partner to use the HRM then you'd want to unpair this from your fitness tracker first before they connect to it. Else it would send their heart rate to your tracker. The claimed battery life of 400 hours is great but difficult to verify. So what I do to ensure the battery lasts is to unsnap one of the button from the strap to break the circuit. Value for money: The H9 provides accurate heart rate data for a fraction of the price of the H10 as long as you don't need the memory of the H10. This as brilliant value for money, specially for beginners.

Connects to my phone easy ! Comfortable fit, washable strap and detachable monitor, easy to change battery and it seems accurate. Worth a purchase for fitness beginner

Bought this to pair with a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. Works flawlessly over Bluetooth. ANT+ didn't seem to connect properly, but Bluetooth works well. Once paired, the Polar automatically connects when I strap it on. Heart rate measurement is way more accurate than the wrist monitor built into the watch. I was struggling with higher-end heart rate values, knowing my rate was in the 140s and the wrist monitor on the watch was showing in the 100s. With the Polar, my heart rate was instantly being measured correctly, and I am now able to properly measure my cardio output for fitness tracking. Very easy to use. Once paired, snap onto the chest band, connect the strap ends and you're away. Automatically reconnects each time with no faffing. When finished, unstrap and pull the monitor off the strap and it goes to sleep. Perfect. Strap is washable. Very comfy to wear and doesn't slip when training. I looked at the H10 as well, but it's a lot more expensive and I decided I just needed an accurate heart rate monitor. So the H9 is great value for my needs. Cheaper than the Garmin equivalent. I suppose my only gripe is that to get the extended warranty, you have to install the Polar app and sign up, giving them all your details and allowing Polar to start gathering your health stats. No thanks. I installed the app to get the latest firmware, but then uninstalled it and I don't need the app now. Just using it with my Garmin and their app. Loses a star for that practice: happy to register for an extended warranty and even sign up for their emails, but I'm not sending them all my personal data on an ongoing basis. At this price I don't care about the extended warranty.

Have been using for 6+ months on the same battery. Very easy to use and an essential part of my training kit. No need for the fancier models with memory when you have this connected directly to your watch or phone to record directly to your health app or Strava etc.

Does it’s job. Simple setup and straightforward to use . Have been using for more than a month and has worked flawlessly. Mainly used while cycling and a few times for brisk walks. Heart rate readings are consistent without drop outs

Ho comprato l'H9 poiché costa meno dell'H10 e per quello che ci devo fare va più che bene. Provato sul campo, funziona alla grandissima. L'ho usato per registrare l'andamento cardiaco in vari test, diversi tra loro: dal classico yoyo test, quindi corsa, a test per atleti di arti marziali (taekwondo). Funziona benissimo. Le funzionalità che ha in più il fratello maggiore (H10) a mio avviso sono inutili per il 99% delle persone che utilizzano amatorialmente questo tipo di prodotto o comunque non sono in grado di capirle e leggerle a dovere. Le rilevazioni dell'H9 sono fantastiche, oltre che la precisione di rilevamento, con le app giuste si può avere traccia persino dell'HRV. Questo giusto per sottolineare la potenza del dispositivo, ma ancora una volta, se non sapete che cosa sia o come si legga, non ha nemmeno senso usarlo. L'unico punto che un atleta o preparatore potrebbe davvero indirizzare l'acquisto di un H9 o H10, è la memoria interna. Ci sono sport o momenti in cui il collegamento con il cellulare o la possibilità di utilizzare uno smartwatch adatto non è fattibile e lì entra in gioco la memoria interna. Se nel vostro sport non vi muovete molto nello spazio o sé portarvi dietro il telefono è sempre possibile, l'H9 ha il 100% di validità per voi. Se invece avete lo smartphone non è possibile o difficoltoso e/o se il collegamento rischia di interrompersi, allora l'H10 è più indicato. Penso in particolare a sport come il nuoto, per cui l'acqua può fare da schermo al telefono (magari però avete uno smartwatch e il problema non si pone). Oppure anche all'arrampicata sportiva, dove avere il telefono non è sempre possibile o banalmente l' altezza e/o la roccia che fa da schermo inficia il collegamento. Personalmente facendo anche arrampicata sportiva su roccia (non boulder) mi sono trovato a dover restituire l'H9, proprio perché il collegamento su interrompe spesso e non possiedo uno smartwatch. Ne avessi avuto uno lo avrei tenuto senza alcun dubbio. Per tutto il resto, taekwondo, pesi, corsa, telefono+H9 funziona alla grandissima (e si capisce dopo pochissimo tempo quanto il plus dell'H10 sia veramente superfluo a chiunque). La fascia dell'H9 è molto buona, non scivola, facile da far aderire e aggiustare. La chiusura è diversa dalla fascia pro, ma è (s)comoda allo stesso modo. Sinceramente tutta questa differenza non la vedo, anzi.. Ricapitolando, se vuoi un cardiofrequenzimetro ottimo e non hai particolari esigenze sulla funzionalità, l'H9 è perfetto e ti fa risparmiare 20-30€. Se invece per qualsiasi motivo ti ritrovi ad allenarti senza la possibilità di portare il telefono \smartwatch o se devi nuotare, allora l'H10 è l'unica opzione, poichè può registrare un allenamento. ps in tutto questo sono convinto che l'H9 non sia altro che un H10 con limitazioni via software.

The strap sucks. If you have no lats, maybe it won't slide down your body as you run. But for those of us with big lats, you have to modify this thing. You can either modify the strap, or buy the $40 Polar Pro chest strap (you’ll have to replace any strap you get probably every 6-12 months so keep that in mind). I haven't tried the outrageously-priced Polar Pro but it's the only one on the market that has grips all the way around the strap, not just in the front. The chest strap can be easily modified as follows: Buy one of the "zig zag silicone grip wave bands" you can find online, and sew it (or use fabric glue or something) to the inside of your Polar chest strap and it actually stays in place while running! Just make sure you get the strap customized to your underchest first, and give yourself some space for the inevitable long-term loosening of the strap (you might need to tighten it gradually over time). Without the extra grip, you have to find the perfect balance through much trial and error between too tight and too loose. Too tight, and it creates a little cavity where the electrodes are between the strap and your chest (so it gives you terrible readings, if any). Too loose, and it falls down to your waist. I also found that using a small dab of electrode gel on each of the two electrodes on the back side of the chest strap (enough to cover just the two circles on the strap where the strap touches your chest) makes a huge difference in getting a consistent, accurate, read. Don't use water, it just doesn't work nearly as well. I love the Polar Beat app it comes with! It was the best free app I could find for Android for a heart rate monitor. I'm sure there are probably better paid ones out there but I didn't try any of them so can't attest. The Polar Beat app gives you a graph at the end of your workout that shows your heart rate over time, and tells you how many minutes and seconds you spent in each of the 5 heart rate zones (50%-60% of max heart rate = zone 1; 90-100% = zone 5). It has certain modes that track your GPS location for accurate maps of your runs/rides and the app will tell you every mile when running how long your mile took, your pace, and average heart rate. I've never used it for a bike ride. It also tracks calories very well and whenever it doesn't get an accurate read, it does a pretty good job "guessing" (better than the old Polar Watch I have). If I start my workout on the Polar app first, THEN start the workout on my Polar watch, it will let me use both to track my workouts which is great. That way I can leave my phone in my gym bag while running around the track, and use the watch instead to track % of max heart rate. It's also nice when using my phone for anything else while I'm doing a HIIT circuit or on the exercise bike, that way I can just look at my watch to see my stats. I don't have a smart watch so can't comment on how it works with that. I think you might need to get the latest and greatest to pair it to two or more smart devices at once. But this one works perfectly for one smart device and one dumb device.

The accuracy is good, can use for HIIT

Ich hatte vorher einen Garmin Brustgurt im Einsatz und wollte jetzt mal den Polar H9 ausprobieren – und bin echt begeistert. Der Tragekomfort ist deutlich besser, man merkt ihn praktisch gar nicht beim Training. Außerdem verbindet er sich super zuverlässig mit allen meinen Geräten, egal ob Smartphone, Uhr oder Trainingscomputer. Kein ständiges Koppeln oder Abreißen der Verbindung wie beim Garmin. Die Bedienung ist unkompliziert, die Batterie hält lange, und der Gurt sitzt angenehm eng, ohne zu drücken. Für mich der perfekte Begleiter beim Ausdauertraining, Intervallen oder einfach beim Tracken von Herzfrequenzdaten. Definitiv eine klare Empfehlung für alle, die einen komfortablen und zuverlässigen Brustgurt suchen.