According to this paper, the Polar OH1 can be used instead of an ECG device for moderate and high intensity physical activities:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217288
and eventually also for non-athletic research applications, what means, that the accuracy of the Polar OH1 is sufficient to replace an ECG device. A Polar OH1 paired to a Garmin watch can replace an ECG device. With the .fit to .csv tool from Data Scientist Max Candocia:
we get data which can be processed by a standard data base applications. With the Polar Sensor Logger App:
it is possible to record data from a Polar OH1 to text files on an Android phone. The same app can stream sensor data over MQTT for instance to Home Assistant and from there to InfluxDB and Grafana, a real-time system to store and vizualise sensor data.
The successor of the Polar OH1 is the Verity Sense. Unfortunately, Polar increased the battery life of the Verity sense after the sensor was on the market about 100% from around 12 hours to more than 24hrs.
DC Rainmaker stated in his blog, that he could not see any accuracy differences between the Verity Sense before and after the fimware upgrade in Garmin Connect:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/02/polar-verity-sense-optical-hr-sensor-band-in-depth-review.html
This does not mean that there cannot be seen any accuracy differences in a database software.
There are already three numerical and statistical validation papers available for the Polar OH1:
We could not see any scientific validation data yet for the Verity Sense.
Was the Polar OH1 developed as a sensor which is optimized for maximal accuracy?
And was the Verity Sense firmware update done to have a second sensor which is optimized for a long battery life, without the need of a new hardware developement?
There is not scientific proof, that the Verity Sense firmware update did not affect its accuracy.
If it is claimed without any scientific basis that the firmware update of the Verity Sense would not have an impact on the accuracy, and this is believed by all, Polar OH1 is in danger.
The Polar OH1 is a very well validated optical heart rate sensor, also scientifically. The Verity Sense has not yet been validated scientifically.
As long as there is no scientific proof that the Polar Verity Sense is as accurate as the Polar OH1, it would be a mistake to stop selling the Polar OH1. According to the data which are available, the Polar OH1 can be used for scientific purposes, and eventually replace ECG devices for some applications.
This cannot be said yet for the Verity Sense. The scientific validation data are not there yet. Why take the best horse out of the stable, when there is no scientific proof, that the successor is as accurate?
Polar, keep selling the Polar OH1, as long as there is no scientific proof, that the Verity Sense is as accurate as the Polar OH1.
As long as everybody claims without a scientific proof that the Verity Sense is as accurate as the Polar OH1, the Polar OH1 is in danger.
Support us in the DC Rainmaker blog about the Verity Sense:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/02/polar-verity-sense-optical-hr-sensor-band-in-depth-review.html
where claims were made without scientific proof and no one exept Peter Gamma questioned these claims.
Support us in our concerns to keep the Polar OH1 alive, as long as there is no scientific proof that the Verity Sense is as accurate as the Polar OH1. Support us at Polar, at the DC Rainmaker blog, and here.
The studies of DC Rainmaker and other reviewers DC Rainmaker mentioned are not scientific studies. They did their studies as far as we know in Garmin Connect, which is not a scientific analysis tool.
The studies listed here are scientific studies with numerical and statistical data:
The Polar OH1 is a scientifially valdidated sensor. Increasing the battery life of it s successor Verity Sense about 100% with only a firmware update raises questions about the accuracy of the Verity Sense after the firmware update by Polar. How big the impact of the firmware update upon the accuracy of the Verity Sense is, has not yet been investitated scientifically.