We’ve seen heart rate devices that you wear on your wrist, but how about one that you wear on your finger? LifeSpan’s MyBeat Heart Rate Ring claims to be convenient and automatic, providing a continuous reading of your heart rate. No chest straps are used, just put it on your finger and press start. I’d love to try one of these to see how accurate it is.
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They sell those at Brookstone stores. I tried a few of them out since they had a few samples on the shelves. The problem with them is that all of them gave different results that were way off. I even tried one on my left and right fingers at the same time and somehow I have 2 different heart rates with one being double the other. It is a nice concept if they could make it more accurate.
@Jackie: Well that is disappointing! Thanks for the info.
I’d love to have a good heart rate without the trouble of using a (sweaty) chest band.
Sorry to hear they’re so inaccurate.
At my gym they’ve got these hand grips which tell you (should tell you) your heart beat … they’re way off too allas (… unless I’m is such a good shape that I could run 10 km/hr with a heart beat of 60 strokes/minute … 😉
I’d be interested if you could get a hand on one and test it.
@Ronald: My treadmill has a thumb ‘reader’ thing that you’re supposed to press your thumb on to read your heart rate. It doesn’t work either. From the sound of it, it seems like the heart rate straps might be the best method… I’ve not tried one of those in a long time though.
Too bad this doesnt sound terribly accurate. I am thinking about trying a garmin forerunner 50 with foot pod and heart rate strap…I am just curious what my actual exertion is when I run, and the treadmills at the gym are wildly inaccurate. Once it had my heart rate go from 170–>70–>165 in the span of a minute!
I’m a long distance runner. I’ve owned several chest strap models, all much more expensive than the heart rate ring. I’ve also had two Garmin Forerunners, (one a replacement), and although both were spot on for the GPS-related functions, NEITHER could provide a dependable pulse reading. The ring can, IF you are patient and give it 30 seconds to a minute to fully engage. I’ve matched its output with three Polar models as well as a Timex, and all fall within a range of about 3-5 beats per minute.