gkamieneski

I am looking for a watch that will pair with my Bryton 320 through ANT+/BLE to provide HRM data (I realize wrist HRMs are less accurate). I don't think the Apple Watch is yet able to pair with anything other than an iPhone, so I guess its HRM data won't be able to show on the Bryton.

I have noticed several Chinese wrist HRM ANT+/BLE devices on Amazon and these interest me as I could use them as a watch and use for non-cycling activities. Some do blood pressure and oxygen levels as well.

Anyone with experience with these types of units and pairing with Garmin or Bryton head units?

fooferdoggie 

if you have a Apple Watch you can get a dongle and a app that will let you do it. or a Garmin watch will do it out of the box.

gkamieneski

Thanks. I believe I have seen that dongle before, but it also requires the iPhone to be present I believe. I will look at the Garmin watch but also wonder if anyone has tried any of these Chinese Smart watches.

https://www.amazon.com/Popglory-Smar...NrPXRydWU&th=1

Polaris OBark

For $30, it is either the deal of a century or total garbage. But if you have Prime and can return it, why not give it a try? It even has a 10% off coupon.

Does it broadcast heart-rate?

I have a Garmin watch that has nearly all of the functionality that I would make use of on an Apple watch, is less obtrusive, and appears to be of a very high quality. I got it on sale at REI for somewhere around $300. I also use it as a day-to-day timepiece. As far as I know, all of the Garmin watches will allow you to "broadcast" heart-rate.

We cheaped out on my wife's watch. Got her a Withings Scanwatch. That was a huge mistake. It doesn't broadcast heart-rate, doesn't have a GPS (uses the phone and drains the battery), and best of all, doesn't keep time accurately. Avoid that one.

jfh

I've been using a Coros Pace 2 for a year now to broadcast HR to my Garmin 130. It's usually marketed as a running-focused watch, but I got it even though I'm not a runner because it was inexpensive for the features important to me (GPS, HR broadcast, barometric altimeter), lightweight, not too big on my wrist, and had good battery life. I'd rather not deal with a HR strap and this was a good compromise; I also use it as a bike computer for my commuter, to track hikes with my wife, and to track time/distance/HR for pickup soccer.

If I broke it today, I'd definitely consider getting another one, but also be taking a look at the Coros Apex 2/2 Pro, and the Garmin 255/955 (has maps, but kind of big for me). Looking at the Amazon listing for the inexpensive Chinese watch it's not clear if it broadcasts HR; definitely for road biking it's nicer to have that on the bike computer vs. needing to look at your wrist.

prj71

I have a Garmin Instinct Solar watch and it broadcasts my heart rate to my Garmin Edge 530.

When I go to the gym and work out, the machines at the gym read my heart rate and it matches my watch +/- 2 bpm.

Barry2 

My ~$160 Garmin Vivomove Sport will broadcast HR over BT.

Barry

mattcalifornia

I can't tell if you already have an Apple Watch. If you do, AFAIK, the only way to pair it to your computer is by having the phone present and using an app like BlueHeart. However, I wonder if this will ever change. The Peloton app for the Apple Watch now lets you pair the AW directly with the Peloton without needing the phone.

I have an Apple Watch but have not been able to pair it with my Hammerhead bike computer. I also hate chest straps. So, I bought a Scosche armband HR. It's comfortable, accurate, has good battery life and supports Bluetooth and ANT+. You can pick up the Rhythm 2.0 for $39. There is an upgraded version for around $59

Seattle Forrest

You bought an expensive watch with a heart rate sensor, but you're required to buy, charge, and wear a second heart rate sensor too? I would personally consider that unacceptable and sell the watch.

Steve B.

Garmin Instinct sends HR over Ant+

gkamieneski

Guess I wonder if the Garmin Instinct sends in generic ANT+, i.e., will it send to my Byrton head unit?

Seattle Forrest

All modern Garmin watches have an optical heart rate sensor built in to read your HR at the wrist, and can broadcast that over ANT+ as if they were a chest strap. You can pair the watch to the head unit, which thinks it's a strap. Unless there's something specifically preventing this in your Bryton there should be no problems. A lot of stores like REI have generous return policies and will give you your money back if you're not happy.

Instinct, Forerunner, Fenix and Epix all do this, I think Venu also.

mattcalifornia

I disagree. The Apple Watch serves many useful functions for me. It's a Series 3 that I've had for 5 years and it wasn't even that expensive. It has so many useful functions that I could not do with other activity watches. The HR monitor works great for me for everything except for pairing with a cycling head unit. Before I got the Hammerhead, I used the Cyclemeter app on my AW for biking, and the HR monitor worked great. It also works great with the Peloton and for all other sports, like running, skiing, yoga, weightlifting, hiking, etc. I can stream music from it while running, etc. If I am running, I don't need to carry my phone because I can make and receive calls and even use Apple Pay to buy stuff in an emergency. I have even received phone calls while paddle boarding in the Santa Monica Bay (family emergency). Not to mention the zillions of other smart-watch features and apps if you are in the Apple ecosystem that you just can't do with any other watch. It's incredibly useful. It just has this one annoying limitation. (And actually, I could even get around that by running an app on phone that would allow me to pair the HR with the Hammerhead.) In fact, I will almost definitely get the Apple Watch Ultra next year. I've had a couple of Suuntos and a very early Garmin Forerunner. The AW just has much more versatility for me. Wearing a $40 Scoshe arm band for biking is not a big deal.

NoWhammies

My Garmin 745 has become my daily wearer thanks to the pandemic. I wear the watch for tracking my running and spin classes. While there is an optical sensor, I have opted to use the chest HRM. This is more because I have the technology so I figure I might as well use it, as opposed to not having faith in the optical sensor. Although I will say that a few times when I was in spin class my watch as picking up someone else's heart rate when I was using the optical sensor. I think that had more to do with the fact that there were so many Ant+ enabled devices sending signals around that my watch was having a hard time keeping everything straight. I do not blame the watch though. Over coffee after said cycling sessions, others commented how their watches from time to time mess up with heart rates. I think that's just the way it is. Since switching over to the HRM Dual though I have not had this issue.

Buzzkill53120

I have an Apple Watch which I can use as a HRM in Zwift. It is wonky to connect, giving me 80-90% chance of pairing on the 1st try. Shame Apple won’t open this feature to all devices. I bought the Wahoo Tickr which Wahoo got on sale for $40. Paired easily in Zwift. It was a little janky pairing it to my Garmin 530, but got it to work. The Tickr comes with both an arm and chest strap. I use the wrist strap instead of the chest strap. Some say that it’s not as accurate as the chest strap, but how much accuracy do you really need?