90.05 Table of the accuracy of HRMs compared to research & medical grade ECG devices

Last Updated on December 24, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org

Nr.	Heart rate monitor	Testing protocol	Accuracy (min)	Accuracy (max)	Reference ECG device	Scientific paper
1	Firstbeat Bodyguard 2	not discussed in this table	99,95	99,96 after artifact removal	Embla Titanium 2 lead ECG	[90.8.1]
2	Polar S610	not discussed in this table	99,80	100	Vyntus ECG	[90.8.4]
3	Polar H7	not discussed in this table	99,60		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
4	Apple Watch I	not discussed in this table	98,40	99.5	Vyntus ECG	[90.8.4]
5	Polar H7	not discussed in this table	98,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.5]
6	TomTom Touch	not discussed in this table	96,30	99.7	Vyntus ECG	[90.8.4]
7	Apple Watch III	not discussed in this table	96,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.5]
8	Mio Fuse	not discussed in this table	95,40	99.9	Vyntus ECG	[90.8.4]
9	Polar OH1	not discussed in this table	95,00	99	g.Nautilus ECG	[90.8.6]
10	Apple Watch I	not discussed in this table	92,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
11	Fitbit Iconic	not discussed in this table	89,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.5]
12	Garmin Vivosmart HR	not discussed in this table	89,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.5]
13	Tom Tom Spark	not discussed in this table	89,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.5]
14	TomTom Spark	not discussed in this table	83,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
15	Garmin Forerunner 235	not discussed in this table	81,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
16	Scosche Rhythm+	not discussed in this table	75,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
17	Fitbit Blaze	not discussed in this table	67,00		Quinton Q-tel RMS	[90.8.3]
18	Fitbit Charge	not discussed in this table	62	98,70	Vyntus ECG	[90.8.4]
19	Equivital EQ02 Lifemonitor	not discussed in this table	43.58	99.98	Holter monitor ECG	[90.8.2] (*1)

• The table shows only a selection of papers
• The low accuracy value of the Equivital EQ02 of 43.58 is eventually caused by ECG artifacts. According to the Equivital data sheet with LabChart software from Adinstruments:

https://m-cdn.adinstruments.com/brochures/ADINSTRUMENTS_EQUIVITAL_BROCHURE.pdf

• the Equivital is noise and motion artifact free. We suppose this issue was removed after the publication of paper [90.8.2].

• According to tests from Rob ter Horst, PhD. , the lastest Apple watches and Huawei watches are the most accurate devices, with an accuracy which is close to a Polar H10 chest strap.

Which is the most accurate optical heart rate monitor?

• Polar devices like the Polar OH1 have excellent software support with the Polar SDK and the Polar Sensor Logger app with MQTT, but not Apple devices and Huawei devices
• We have no evidence that Polar or Gamin makes a big effort in increasing the accuracy of their sensors, altough these manufacturers have the best software support
• We suggest to use multiple sensors to increase the accuracy:

Use four Polar OH1 sensors simultaneously to maximize the accuracy for clinical & research applications?

• (*1) A paper of the US Army from the year 2021 reported no accuracy problems (due to ECG artifacts) with the Equivital:

US Army Paper About the Equivital: The Device is Accurate and has Enhanced Programming Options