Post has a long history of high quality and insane accuracy with this technology. Excellent stuff. They also do hospital equipment and veterinary stuff they have been a big gun in this field for decades
I don’t think Flowlink is compatible with 3rd party apps to monitor heartrate. It is proprietary, not bt or ant+.
However polar does traditionally allow the data to be exported to all the big fitness data apps and websites such as Strava etc.
They are one of the very serious players in this field.
Polar has indeed been at this for a long time, and they could PROBABLY own the segment if they wanted to just by dropping their proprietary wireless connectivity protocol (or keeping it for compatibility with all those gym machines and add ANT+/BLE radios too … they’re tiny).
(I don’t think they make any ant or ant+ monitors)
At least i know many people who swear by the polar bt equipment.
They also make sophisticated fitness, running, and Ironman (Bluetooth) watches. Some of the best in the market, competing solidly with Garmin and Suunto and a few others.
here are some of the best known recent polar training watches
Their recent flagship watches all incorporate heartrate optical technology. (chest straps are still more accurate for some measurements, such as hrv, and can be used with the watches.)
(The watches communicate with various smartphone fitness and training apps, if setup to do that.)
(am not sure of those listed above are the very latest models … www.dcrainmaker.com
will have extensive info on that)
@hchavers - Actually … for MORE money and LESS functionality.
For $50 (https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-TICKR-Heart-Monitor-Bluetooth/dp/B00INQVYZ8) you can get a HRM that does ANT+ and BLE connectivity, instead of only Polar’s proprietary communication protocol, and any smart phone or decent bicycle computer … no proprietary dongle that only uploads data to one website.
I have a Polar HRM that works well does this one do normal Bluetooth or just some custom nonsense with the watch? If it does Bluetooth, it might be worth it to pick up an extra in case I lose mine.
@gominosensei agreed… I have tried a couple of heart rate monitors and none is as accurate as the polar that I have. However, the one that I have is compatible with every piece of gym equipment that I’ve ever used, even when traveling… it just stinks right up. I know that they have other models that do not work that way. Which model is this?
Polqr moved to Bluetooth some year ago, but still uses this technology as well. It’s compatible with a lot of gym equipment and other equipment with notable market share.
I think this flowlink tech will not talk to Bluetooth but check to be sure.
Complication is a barrier to regular use. Attach a chest strap when you can get optical HR ‘automatically’ when you put the device on your wrist. No. Download your data using a proprietary, bulky device you need to pull out of a drawer, plug into a USB, take off the watch and then connect to an antiquated service or automagically upload via BT or WiFi? Most of these things live permanently is a drawer after a few months. This one should live in a museum now.
@giorgitd - Wrist-mounted optical HRM monitors tend to be less accurate, as they’re more sensitive to getting jostled around.
That said, you can get a chest-strap HRM with ANT+ and BLE connectivity (and not Polar’s proprietary protocol and dongle) for $50 or less if you shop around.
This thing is definitely not what you want to be buying in 2018 unless you go to a gym that has a bunch of equipment that only works with Polar stuff.
When I signed up for a gym, I got one of these things (different brand). It connected to most of the machines and they had monitors around the room so you could always see your HR. The only time I really liked it was when I was doing cardio and felt like heart was going to jump out of my chest. I was able to look at the HR and see that it wasn’t as high as it felt.
It also connected to an app in my phone.
Used it for almost a year. Now it sits in my wardrobe.
These are pretty old - I have this model but I have had it for years, I’ve gone through a couple HR monitors since this one. It works awesome for what it is but technology has moved on.
That said if you just want basic HR this would be a great monitor, but not sure about this price today.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
1x Watch
1x Chest Strap
1x Flowlink data transfer
Price Comparison
Heart rate monitor $96.95 at Amazon
Flowlink: $19.95 at Amazon
Warranty
90 day Mediocre
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
For cold hearted people
This deal makes my heart race.
You have to have a working heart for this thing to work right? My wife is convinced I don’t have one of those so I’m out
I just know google is getting this data.
@norman8
Does Google own this company?
@norman8 @PlacidPenguin no
@GarbyRator
That’s what I thought.
Not sure what @norman8 was talking about then.
Errr…
Why would I pay to find out a number I don’t want to know?
(Not that I’m in bad physical shape…)
Just a heart rate monitor? No GPS? No, thanks.
welcome to 2012…
*you’re
@SpocKirk
There, all better
@nolrak noooooo!
@SpocKirk
There, fixed that for you too
@SpocKirk Ugh. Thanks for catching this. Its like their are just some mistake’s you always make, you know?!
I burned two calories hitting the meh button. I feel invigorated, so now I’m going to have a pint of Rocky Road and then sleep it off.
Oh good, now I can have a live feed to my wrist telling me how out of shape I am.
Post has a long history of high quality and insane accuracy with this technology. Excellent stuff. They also do hospital equipment and veterinary stuff they have been a big gun in this field for decades
I don’t think Flowlink is compatible with 3rd party apps to monitor heartrate. It is proprietary, not bt or ant+.
However polar does traditionally allow the data to be exported to all the big fitness data apps and websites such as Strava etc.
They are one of the very serious players in this field.
@f00l - The thing is … for $50 I can get a Wahoo Tickr (https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-TICKR-Heart-Monitor-Bluetooth/dp/B00INQVYZ8) which has ANT+ and Bluetooth LE connectivity allowing me to connect to phones, bike computers, etc… and send that data anywhere I want.
Polar has indeed been at this for a long time, and they could PROBABLY own the segment if they wanted to just by dropping their proprietary wireless connectivity protocol (or keeping it for compatibility with all those gym machines and add ANT+/BLE radios too … they’re tiny).
I pushed that MEH button soo hard on this one.
@featurecreep
Polar has moved promptly to updated technologies as those became prominent.
(The flowlink tech is still in use in some market segments.)
They make what is prob the best Bluetooth chest strap heart monitor. Has had market dominance for years and years.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01NC34XQ9/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&&qid=1534454666&&sr=8-3
Here is the latest one, tho previous versions also continue to work perfectly afaik.
(I don’t think they make any ant or ant+ monitors)
At least i know many people who swear by the polar bt equipment.
They also make sophisticated fitness, running, and Ironman (Bluetooth) watches. Some of the best in the market, competing solidly with Garmin and Suunto and a few others.
here are some of the best known recent polar training watches
M430 (running)
https://www.amazon.com/Polar-M430-Running-Watch-Black/dp/B074CMBC4J/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1534454748&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=polar+m400&dpPl=1&dpID=41UO2U05jOL&ref=plSrch
V800 (multi-sport and Ironman)
https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Sports-Watch-Running-Monitor/dp/B01FRBB53M/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1534454839&sr=8-14&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=polar+m600&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
M600 (ruining and fitness)
https://www.amazon.com/PlayBetter-Charging-Adapters-Smartwatch-Wrist-Based/dp/B074WBG1RR/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534455002&sr=8-2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=polar+watch+m600&psc=1&smid=A1M8B88YR0AAG
Their recent flagship watches all incorporate heartrate optical technology. (chest straps are still more accurate for some measurements, such as hrv, and can be used with the watches.)
(The watches communicate with various smartphone fitness and training apps, if setup to do that.)
(am not sure of those listed above are the very latest models …
www.dcrainmaker.com
will have extensive info on that)
And one is the loneliest number…
I’m just here for the novella.
Wow, what a deal! You get three pieces instead of the normal one piece for the same price and functionality.
@hchavers - Actually … for MORE money and LESS functionality.
For $50 (https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-TICKR-Heart-Monitor-Bluetooth/dp/B00INQVYZ8) you can get a HRM that does ANT+ and BLE connectivity, instead of only Polar’s proprietary communication protocol, and any smart phone or decent bicycle computer … no proprietary dongle that only uploads data to one website.
Heck, if you want to go for some chinese brand nobody’s heard of you can get one for $25 with just as much functionality (but unknown reliability). https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Bluetooth-Monitor-Tracker-Android/dp/B06ZY242Q4
I have a Polar HRM that works well does this one do normal Bluetooth or just some custom nonsense with the watch? If it does Bluetooth, it might be worth it to pick up an extra in case I lose mine.
@gominosensei agreed… I have tried a couple of heart rate monitors and none is as accurate as the polar that I have. However, the one that I have is compatible with every piece of gym equipment that I’ve ever used, even when traveling… it just stinks right up. I know that they have other models that do not work that way. Which model is this?
@abcde_fz @gominosensei
Polqr moved to Bluetooth some year ago, but still uses this technology as well. It’s compatible with a lot of gym equipment and other equipment with notable market share.
I think this flowlink tech will not talk to Bluetooth but check to be sure.
So many HR watches now have blue tooth/WiFi. Why anyone would mess with Flowlink in 2018 is beyond me.
Complication is a barrier to regular use. Attach a chest strap when you can get optical HR ‘automatically’ when you put the device on your wrist. No. Download your data using a proprietary, bulky device you need to pull out of a drawer, plug into a USB, take off the watch and then connect to an antiquated service or automagically upload via BT or WiFi? Most of these things live permanently is a drawer after a few months. This one should live in a museum now.
@giorgitd - Wrist-mounted optical HRM monitors tend to be less accurate, as they’re more sensitive to getting jostled around.
That said, you can get a chest-strap HRM with ANT+ and BLE connectivity (and not Polar’s proprietary protocol and dongle) for $50 or less if you shop around.
This thing is definitely not what you want to be buying in 2018 unless you go to a gym that has a bunch of equipment that only works with Polar stuff.
ALAS!
They have razed 229 Healy Street - likely putting down a shopping mall
Satellite View
@rprussell I give - what was at 229 Healy St?
@hockeybum Just past there was Henri’s cemet… uh, I mean home.
Only 9 sold by 8 am? Somebody’s taking a bath on this one… Maybe MorningSave will come to the rescue.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter here…
Without skipping a beat… Meh needs to pull the plug on this item and replace it with another…Stat!
alright fess up, which one of you bought three of these and why?
When I signed up for a gym, I got one of these things (different brand). It connected to most of the machines and they had monitors around the room so you could always see your HR. The only time I really liked it was when I was doing cardio and felt like heart was going to jump out of my chest. I was able to look at the HR and see that it wasn’t as high as it felt.
It also connected to an app in my phone.
Used it for almost a year. Now it sits in my wardrobe.
@RiotDemon What is this “gym” of which you speak?
@hockeybum a place full of mirrors, great for selfies.
Bravo on the write up. I mean, I’m still not gonna buy that thing but it was a good story.
These are pretty old - I have this model but I have had it for years, I’ve gone through a couple HR monitors since this one. It works awesome for what it is but technology has moved on.
That said if you just want basic HR this would be a great monitor, but not sure about this price today.
And no, this one is NOT Bluetooth.
Apple Watch does this waaay better.
@umlaut
But not as well as modem dedicated training watches. Polar makes excellent ones. So do several other companies
This Meh offering is for an older product.
So basically an out of date giant fitbit that does less? Meh
Was hoping Flowlink was a flow meter for my urine but no such luck. I won’t be buying this.
Recycle center!
I missed the kitchen knives. Bring back shit we can use.