Best HR transmitter for C2 PM5: Garmin or Polar?

[RowRinseRepeat]

From the C2 website, with a PM5, both the Polar H7 and Garmin transmitters work. Polar is recommended if you want to monitor your HR with smartphone apps. For use with the PM5, is there any difference in performance between these two transmitters? In longevity of battery, accuracy of heart rate, etc.?

[Carl Watts]

There is probably a good reason that Concept 2 sell the same one as I'm using and thats the Garmin.

Never really been a great fan of Bluetooth. Whenever I use it I have connectivity issues. The ANT+ of the Garmin and my PM4 is flawless.

[RowRinseRepeat]

Thanks Carl. Good to know the Garmin works well. However Concept2 sells both HR monitors: https://www.concept2.com/skierg/accesso ... -equipment and I don't think they would unless both worked well, as they tend to test thoroughly.

Note the standard that the Polar HR uses is Bluetooth Smart, which is different from Bluetooth.

Hoping for feedback from anyone who has tried both. We'd like to have the flexibility to use a transmitter with a wrist monitor when not on the rower, but not at the expense of accuracy on the rower.

[Carl Watts]

Accuracy is generally not a problem, connectivity is the thing that can drive you crazy.

Essentially its a frequency Counter, the problem is your heartrate is incredibly slow in the 1Hz area rather than the KHz so accuracy is always going to be a problem plus it changes rapidly. You cannot get "Accuracy" unless it stays constant for a period of time. You can use some algorithms to improve the accuracy and update times but its limited.

[RowRinseRepeat]

Thank you Carl, that's interesting to know. We have the PM5, maybe the connectivity issues you've seen for Polar are on PM4 and older. Have you seen any Polar connectivity issues on PM5? I asked C2 HQ about both HR transmitters today, they said both were absolutely fine and that in their experience one wasn't better than the other. It doesn't mean they've done extensive study, but they typically test things quite thoroughly before supporting them.

[rr0ss0rr]

Best is relative .. Do you want to to connect to the PM5 and another device at the same time? then you need one that supports ant+ and Bluetooth LE. Do you like chest straps? Optical? Me, I chose the Polar OH1 optical. I wear it on the arm by my triceps and don't even realize I'm wearing it and totally out of the way when rowing. It's only Bluetooth LE so it will connect to just the PM5. Has a rechargeable battery and seems accurate with good connectivity to the PM5 (Never dropped).

[RowRinseRepeat]

Best is relative .. Do you want to to connect to the PM5 and another device at the same time? then you need one that supports ant+ and Bluetooth LE. Do you like chest straps? Optical? Me, I chose the Polar OH1 optical. I wear it on the arm by my triceps and don't even realize I'm wearing it and totally out of the way when rowing. It's only Bluetooth LE so it will connect to just the PM5. Has a rechargeable battery and seems accurate with good connectivity to the PM5 (Never dropped).

Thanks rr0ss0rr for letting me know about the OH1 Optical. We have the PM5. Found this discussion about Polar Optical versus chest transmitter here:
https://www.polar.com/blog/polar-oh1-vs-polar-h10/

Anyone know if newer generation Polar transmitters like the H10 work with the PM5, given that the H7 works?

[Donnie]

I use polar and have never had an issue with it.

[jan_zov]

Is it possible to use a sportwatch that records the HR in combination with PM5? Wat types are usable?
I would like to start my workout as quick as possible.
So when i'm wearing the watch: switch on PM5 > connect HR > start workout ... Does that work with Bluetooth smart ??

[Ripples]

Is it possible to use a sportwatch that records the HR in combination with PM5? Wat types are usable?
I would like to start my workout as quick as possible.
So when i'm wearing the watch: switch on PM5 > connect HR > start workout ... Does that work with Bluetooth smart ??

The PM5 supports ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart.

Last week I wore my Garmin Forerunner 310XT (ANT+) to check the accuracy of my HR on the PM5. The numbers on both units were identical.