Polar H9

The strap sucks. If you have no lats, maybe it won't slide down your body as you run. But for those of us with big lats, you have to modify this thing. You can either modify the strap, or buy the $40 Polar Pro chest strap (you’ll have to replace any strap you get probably every 6-12 months so keep that in mind). I haven't tried the outrageously-priced Polar Pro but it's the only one on the market that has grips all the way around the strap, not just in the front. The chest strap can be easily modified as follows: Buy one of the "zig zag silicone grip wave bands" you can find online, and sew it (or use fabric glue or something) to the inside of your Polar chest strap and it actually stays in place while running! Just make sure you get the strap customized to your underchest first, and give yourself some space for the inevitable long-term loosening of the strap (you might need to tighten it gradually over time). Without the extra grip, you have to find the perfect balance through much trial and error between too tight and too loose. Too tight, and it creates a little cavity where the electrodes are between the strap and your chest (so it gives you terrible readings, if any). Too loose, and it falls down to your waist. I also found that using a small dab of electrode gel on each of the two electrodes on the back side of the chest strap (enough to cover just the two circles on the strap where the strap touches your chest) makes a huge difference in getting a consistent, accurate, read. Don't use water, it just doesn't work nearly as well. I love the Polar Beat app it comes with! It was the best free app I could find for Android for a heart rate monitor. I'm sure there are probably better paid ones out there but I didn't try any of them so can't attest. The Polar Beat app gives you a graph at the end of your workout that shows your heart rate over time, and tells you how many minutes and seconds you spent in each of the 5 heart rate zones (50%-60% of max heart rate = zone 1; 90-100% = zone 5). It has certain modes that track your GPS location for accurate maps of your runs/rides and the app will tell you every mile when running how long your mile took, your pace, and average heart rate. I've never used it for a bike ride. It also tracks calories very well and whenever it doesn't get an accurate read, it does a pretty good job "guessing" (better than the old Polar Watch I have). If I start my workout on the Polar app first, THEN start the workout on my Polar watch, it will let me use both to track my workouts which is great. That way I can leave my phone in my gym bag while running around the track, and use the watch instead to track % of max heart rate. It's also nice when using my phone for anything else while I'm doing a HIIT circuit or on the exercise bike, that way I can just look at my watch to see my stats. I don't have a smart watch so can't comment on how it works with that. I think you might need to get the latest and greatest to pair it to two or more smart devices at once. But this one works perfectly for one smart device and one dumb device.

I have been using this strap for over a year to monitor my heart rate on runs and bike rides, and it has worked flawlesly throughout. I've only changed the battery on it once during this time when I noticed that it would not connect to my bike computer. I personally have never had the band slip or shift off my chest. Once you pair it to your watch or bike computer, it's remarkably simple to use - just put it on and it automatically turns on and starts transmitting to whatever device you have. When you take it off, it automatically powers down. There is no on/off indicator light, but I found that it's not needed, and would likely just waste battery.

I had previously owned Garmin HRMs and only switched to Polar for Bluetooth connectivity with gym equipment, which Polar has and Garmin doesn’t. “Even a broken clock works twice a day”…that about sums it up with this Polar HRM. Worked for a couple of months but then started getting wildly inaccurate readings…if I was training at around 140 BPM, it would inexplicably spike and report 180 BPM and other times report something very low or even 0, as it it we’re disconnected. I did everything right: I used new 2025 batteries, dampened the strap before use, properly wore the strap snugly on the correct part of my chest, gently washed it with mild soap after each use, etc. Polar doesn’t have a customer service phone number that I could find, but I was able to find an email address. After a few back and forth emails — where I had to jump through hoops to troubleshoot the problem — they suggested I send both the strap and the sensor back to them for checking. A week or two later, I received a new sensor and a note that said the sensor had malfunctioned, so they replaced it. Rather than just simply send me a new kit, they returned my old strap. Ok, fine… A month or two later, the same thing happened again. I give up. I won’t buy another Polar product again. Despite its lack of Bluetooth connectivity to my gym’s equipment, I’m going back to Garmin. Garmin is more accurate, reliable, and has an actual customer service department.

Picked this up for biking and it’s been rock solid. Connects instantly to Peloton and my Garmin bike computer—no fighting, no dropouts, just works. It’s comfortable to wear, accurate, and doesn’t chew through batteries. Big win there. Best part: the sensor pops off the strap easily so you can actually wash the strap after a few rides… which is necessary unless you enjoy “funkified” gear. Also managed to run it through the FSA, so now Kim has one too. I already knew she had a heart—this just confirms mine exists as well. Solid product from a brand you can trust.

So far so good, there was only one sweaty sesh so far the readings kept getting cut off, maybe it was moving around too much. I which the app it self was better but I’m sure there are other apps to connect to

You have to download the app, and I have been having g problems with the new app. But the polar beat app works well, and I use mine every day.

I almost returned this until I looked up how to get it working on the web. You have to pair it WITH THE APP, NOT your phone! If you pair it with your phone the app will not see it, at least as far as I can tell. The third time I used it I had to restart my phone for it to pair for some reason. Since then it has paired automatically whenever I open the app and have the thing on my chest. No restart needed. There may be better apps to use. I use the Polar Beat app which does what I want just fine. There is also an app called Polar Flow but I think it sucks. Not needed. But if you open the Polar Flow website (not the phone app) you will see that Polar Beat syncs all your data there and keeps track of all your activities on a calendar. I get the strap slightly damp as well as the spot on my chest where it goes, then put it on. I make sure it's paired in the app, then when I get to the gym or my hike I hit Start on the app. When I'm done I remove the monitor from the strap which turns it off. All I needed was a way to track my heart rate while I'm working out and it does that just fine. The cheap watches here on Amazon do not track your heart rate accurately, especially at higher rates. This thing is great.

This chest strap monitors heart rate better than a wrist device, with greater accuracy and a little bit faster reading. it is not noticeably better or different from a very cheap ANT+ only sensor such as those produced by COOSPO. The three stars is for very frustrating but fixable connectivity issues. If the ANT+ capability is enabled, expect extraordinarily intermittent connectivity, and repeated disconnection in the middle of a session, often resulting in losing heart rate during a given event. you will only be able to disable the AT&T plus connection via the Polar app. But then it should not engage if you are using Garmin, Strava, Erg, etc. In use with Erg, make sure you only connect to one device, example connect to your wrist Garmin, and not your rower, or connect to your rower only. If your Garmin has the H9 in memory from a different type of event, e.g. Running, it will attempt to auto connect in the midst of an event posted on a different platform such as ERG, and cause loss of heart rate in one or both. Never saw complaints like this for the H6/7 but 9/10 are rampant. If the polar app or other things attract you to this product, perhaps it's worth it, otherwise, the cheaper varieties do about the same job or better without some of the hiccups and are far cheaper, roughly half the price. Fix the ANT+/BT issues and it's 4 stars, fix the "memory of devices and disconnecting from one platform midsession" and it's 5

Accurate

Ho comprato l'H9 poiché costa meno dell'H10 e per quello che ci devo fare va più che bene. Provato sul campo, funziona alla grandissima. L'ho usato per registrare l'andamento cardiaco in vari test, diversi tra loro: dal classico yoyo test, quindi corsa, a test per atleti di arti marziali (taekwondo). Funziona benissimo. Le funzionalità che ha in più il fratello maggiore (H10) a mio avviso sono inutili per il 99% delle persone che utilizzano amatorialmente questo tipo di prodotto o comunque non sono in grado di capirle e leggerle a dovere. Le rilevazioni dell'H9 sono fantastiche, oltre che la precisione di rilevamento, con le app giuste si può avere traccia persino dell'HRV. Questo giusto per sottolineare la potenza del dispositivo, ma ancora una volta, se non sapete che cosa sia o come si legga, non ha nemmeno senso usarlo. L'unico punto che un atleta o preparatore potrebbe davvero indirizzare l'acquisto di un H9 o H10, è la memoria interna. Ci sono sport o momenti in cui il collegamento con il cellulare o la possibilità di utilizzare uno smartwatch adatto non è fattibile e lì entra in gioco la memoria interna. Se nel vostro sport non vi muovete molto nello spazio o sé portarvi dietro il telefono è sempre possibile, l'H9 ha il 100% di validità per voi. Se invece avete lo smartphone non è possibile o difficoltoso e/o se il collegamento rischia di interrompersi, allora l'H10 è più indicato. Penso in particolare a sport come il nuoto, per cui l'acqua può fare da schermo al telefono (magari però avete uno smartwatch e il problema non si pone). Oppure anche all'arrampicata sportiva, dove avere il telefono non è sempre possibile o banalmente l' altezza e/o la roccia che fa da schermo inficia il collegamento. Personalmente facendo anche arrampicata sportiva su roccia (non boulder) mi sono trovato a dover restituire l'H9, proprio perché il collegamento su interrompe spesso e non possiedo uno smartwatch. Ne avessi avuto uno lo avrei tenuto senza alcun dubbio. Per tutto il resto, taekwondo, pesi, corsa, telefono+H9 funziona alla grandissima (e si capisce dopo pochissimo tempo quanto il plus dell'H10 sia veramente superfluo a chiunque). La fascia dell'H9 è molto buona, non scivola, facile da far aderire e aggiustare. La chiusura è diversa dalla fascia pro, ma è (s)comoda allo stesso modo. Sinceramente tutta questa differenza non la vedo, anzi.. Ricapitolando, se vuoi un cardiofrequenzimetro ottimo e non hai particolari esigenze sulla funzionalità, l'H9 è perfetto e ti fa risparmiare 20-30€. Se invece per qualsiasi motivo ti ritrovi ad allenarti senza la possibilità di portare il telefono \smartwatch o se devi nuotare, allora l'H10 è l'unica opzione, poichè può registrare un allenamento. ps in tutto questo sono convinto che l'H9 non sia altro che un H10 con limitazioni via software.

Product is as described and works ok. It works 100% accurately with the paired Polar watch. It also works with gym fitness machines equipped with Bluetooth technology for HR reading (e.g. Life Fitness treadmill), but for some reason approx. after first 10 minutes of training, the HR indications on the machine start jumping up and down. I could not figure our why.

Buen sensor. Preciso y confiable.

El Polar H9 es de esos dispositivos que no hacen ruido, pero cumplen exactamente con lo que prometen. Sin florituras ni funciones innecesarias, este sensor de frecuencia cardíaca se centra en ofrecer mediciones fiables y consistentes, que al final es lo que la mayoría buscamos cuando entrenamos. Es una opción muy equilibrada para quien quiere dar un salto de calidad respecto al sensor óptico del reloj sin complicarse la vida. ⸻ Precisión ante todo Si hay algo que caracteriza al Polar H9 es su precisión. Al colocarse en el pecho, la lectura del pulso es inmediata y estable, incluso en entrenamientos intensos o con cambios de ritmo. Da igual si estás haciendo entrenamiento funcional, ciclismo indoor o sesiones de cardio más largas: los datos son coherentes y fáciles de interpretar. Para quienes entrenan por zonas de frecuencia cardíaca, es un aliado más que fiable. ⸻ Comodidad que se agradece La banda textil es cómoda y ligera, y una vez ajustada apenas notas que la llevas puesta. No roza ni molesta, incluso en sesiones largas. Además, se mantiene bien en su sitio, algo fundamental para evitar lecturas erráticas. Es de esos accesorios que te pones al empezar a entrenar y te olvidas de que lo llevas. ⸻ Compatible con casi todo Otro punto fuerte del Polar H9 es su amplia compatibilidad. Funciona sin problemas con relojes deportivos, aplicaciones de entrenamiento en el móvil, ciclocomputadores y máquinas de gimnasio. La conexión es estable y rápida, lo que facilita mucho el día a día: lo emparejas una vez y listo, sin peleas ni configuraciones raras. ⸻ Sencillo, pero muy efectivo No tiene memoria interna ni conexión múltiple avanzada, y tampoco lo pretende. El Polar H9 va directo al grano: medir bien el pulso y transmitirlo de forma fiable. Y lo hace. Además, la pila dura muchísimo, por lo que no tienes que estar pendiente de cargarlo cada pocas semanas. ⸻ Conclusión: justo lo que necesitas El Polar H9 es perfecto para quien busca fiabilidad, comodidad y simplicidad. No es el sensor más avanzado del mercado, pero sí uno de los más equilibrados. Si quieres mejorar la calidad de tus entrenamientos sin gastar de más ni complicarte con funciones que no vas a usar, es una apuesta segura que no decepciona.