Omron HR-100C Review

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Jan 032012
 

The Omron HR-100C is one of the most affordable heart rate monitors on the market. Does that mean it is a bad product? No but you have to be aware of its limitations.

The Omron HR-100C comes with a basic set of feature. It will display your current heart rate and offers an alarm if your heart rate should ever go out of your target zone but will do little else. The benefit of that is that it is probably the easiest heart rate monitor to use on the market.

This simplicity makes it great for occasional athlete but fitness enthusiast might find the HR-100C a bit limited. Still, with such a low price tag, it makes the use of an heart rate monitor a no-brainer even for the most occasional of athletes.

Be aware though that though I have not been able to test this, some users report interference when training with other people using HR-100C close by. This is due to the lack of encoding for the transmission between the belt and the wristwatch. This could become an issue if your usual training partners also use Omron HR-100C monitors.

Pros:

  • Low price tag
  • Ease of use

Cons:

  • Limited feature set
  • Data transmission not encoded.

 

Our Rating: 7/10

If you have experience using this product or have an opinion about this review, please do not hesitate to leave a comment!

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Suunto M5 review

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Dec 132011
 

The motto for the Suunto M series is “taking the thinking out of training” and the M5 lives up to that.

Right at the start, the Suunto M5 will allow you to take a fitness test. During this test, the M5 will monitor your body metrics to identify your current fitness level. Once your basic fitness level has been identified, the Suunto M5 allows you to choose your fitness goal between improving fitness, weight loss or basic free training and will tailor a training program for you if you select one of the first two options.

From that point on, the Suunto M5 will tell you which days you should train and which days should be recovery days. Not only that, but it will give you feedback as you train telling you whether you are training too hard or going too easy. All these options are easy to use and the user interface is intuitive.

The Suunto M5 comes in a few different color option and it should be noted that the display on the one illustrated can sometimes be a bit hard to read when in dim light. I have not tried the models with a more standard “black on white” display but from what I hear they are much easier to read.

The Suunto M5 can easily be linked to Suunto’s foot POD, Bike Pod or GPS Pod to provide distance and speed data. A running pack is even sold which include the Suunto M5 and a foot POD.  If you purchase the Movestick Mini (also included in the running kit) you can easily upload your training sessions to Suunto’s online community and training diary, Movescount. You can even customize the M5 training program by downloading one from Movescount.

Pros:

  • Fitness test and personalised training program
  • Easy to use interface
  • Connectivity to various PODs

Cons:

  • Missing some advanced measures such as Training Effect
  • White on black display can be hard to read.
Our rating: 8/10
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Polar RS100 review

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Dec 052011
 

While Polar has made many advanced HR monitors such as the FT80, the RS100 is targeted at people who just want basic functionality or are on a limited budget. That’s not to say that the RS100 is a bad product, what it does is limited, but it does it really well.

The Polar RS100 comes with all the basic functionality you would expect from a heart rate monitor. It displays real time heart rate, calories burn and in what heart rate zone you are. It also has a lap feature that allows you to divide your activity in various sections. This is ideal for interval training as well as activities such as running or cycling.

Where the Polar RS100 somewhat suffers when compared to more advanced heart rate monitors is when it comes to logging your training sessions. The RS100 does not really have a log book and only remembers your last training session.

Even though it has a limited feature set, the low price tag makes the Polar RS100 a nice “bang for your buck” if you are looking to get detailed information while you train to improve your training efficiency.

Pros:

  • Low price tag
  • Backlight allows training in dim light or at night
Cons:
  • Only logs one training session
  • No connectivity to foot pods or GPS
Our rating: 7/10
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Garmin Forerunner 610 review

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Nov 292011
 

I will start by saying that when I read Garmin had produced a heart rate monitor watch with a touch screen my first feeling was that this was a gimmick and that the touch screen would not add much to the experience. Boy was I wrong.

First of all, the Garmin Forerunner 610 comes with other new features that would make it a really nice new product in and of itself. First of all, the Garmin Forerunner 610 comes with the training effect measure that has been an integral part of the Suunto T line of product for years.  Training effect is a real time measure of the intensity of a workout based on the effort and the fitness level of the athlete. It is a welcome addition that will no doubt be appreciated by everyone going through a training program.

Another new feature that has me slapping my forehead wondering why no other company has come up with it before is vibration notifications. Most heart rate monitor watches on the market offer some sort of training alarm, notifying you when you move into a specific heart rate zone, reach a certain milestone or any other number of trigger. Well while these notifications are useful, if you’re like me and like training with your iPod, you will often miss the beeping sound of these alarms. Having the watch vibrate to notify you makes these notifications much more useful in my opinion.

Now onto the most intriguing feature of the Garmin Forerunner 610, the touch screen. One of my biggest concerns was related to the screen responsiveness. Too responsive and you could involuntarily hit some of the “buttons”. Not responsive enough and navigating the display could be tough while training. I really feel like Garmin hit that one out of the park. The screen feels just right. The user interface has been overhauled to take advantage of the touch screen and setting up your monitor and navigating through the menus is intuitive and easy making for a pretty small learning curve.

Having a touch screen does not mean the Garmin Forerunner 610 has no physical buttons at all, it still sports three. One for the backlight, one to start and stop your training sessions and another one to cycle through laps.

The Forerunner 610 also easily connects to the great Garmin Connect site to allow you to keep a diary of your training sessions and share it with others.

With its extended feature set and intuitive interface, the Garmin Forerunner 610 is without a doubt one of the best training watch on the market today.

Pros:

  • Vibratory alarms
  • Touch screen is responsive and makes for an intuitive UI
  • Addition of training effect measure

Cons:

  • Shorter battery life than non-GPS enabled heart rate monitors

 

Rating 9/10

 

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Suunto t6d review

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Nov 082011
 

With its extensive set of data and its versatility, the Suunto t6d is clearly targeted at people who take their training seriously. In fact, all of that data can be intimidating at first, but the Suunto t6d offers two completely customizable displays that allows you to select what he wants to see or not. The ability to configure two such displays is also of great help when changing between two activity types. The data set one would want while running might be different than the one desired while cycling. With this flexibility it is not surprise that the Suunto t6d is used by many professional triathletes.

Suunto went out of its way to provide deep physical data for the t6d. Not only can you see the usual heart rate and calories burn, but you can also see real time EPOC (Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) and the Suunto Training Effect. This measure provides real time data on the intensity of your current training session based on your body metrics (age, weight, and height), fitness level expressed as activity class and the data gathered during your current training session. This helps make sure that your current training session is suited to your training plan and that you do not over exert yourself or under train.

To provide speed and distance information, the Suunto t6d can be paired with the Suunto Foot Pod Mini, Suunto Bike Pod or the Suunto GPS Pod. Pairing these devices is easy and the data they provide can be added to your customizable displays.

Another great tool provided with the t6d is the connector allowing you to easily upload your data to Movescount.com, Suunto’s online community training diary. This helps not only share your training information but also analyse said information by providing great visual feedback and detailed graphs.

All in all, the Suunto t6d is a great product offering a lot. The amount of informtion provided can be a bit intimidating at first, but the customizable displays make it easy to filter through all that data to see only what you want to see.

Pros:

  • Lots detailed of information about your training
  • Easy to connect to various PODs to extend functionality
  • 2 easily customizable displays
  • Easy connectivity to movescount community

Cons:

  • Amount of data can be confusing for new users

Rating 9/10

 

If you have experience using this product or have an opinion about this review, please do not hesitate to leave a comment!

 

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