Last Updated on December 24, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org
– According to Rob ter Horsts tests, most Apple watches are more accurate than Garmin watches. Garmin watches can pair to external BLE sensors. Apple watches can also be used as BLE sensor for HR measurements, for instance with bike computers. Search on the web, how this can be done.
– DC Rainmaker and 5 k Runner tested the accuracy of the Polar OH1 non-wrist based optical heart rate monitor. They concluded, that the Polar OH1 is very accurate, if not the most accurate optical heart rate monitor. This was some years ago, check their tests for newer data.
– According to Rob ter Horst, Polar OH1 and Verity Sense are not the most accurate sensors anymore. Apple watches are more accurate than those.
– According to tests from Rob ter Horst, most Apple watches are more accurate than Garmin watches or Polar devices. If Apple watches can be paired to bike computers as a heart rate monitor, it should be possible also to pair an Apple Watch to a Garmin watch to increase the accuracy of the Garmin watch. But this is not a satisfying solution.
We miss non-wrist based optical heart rate sensors from Polar with increased accuracy, and we miss high quality scientific validation studies of heart rate monitors with generally accepted reference devices and standard protocols.
Which is the currently the most accurate Garmin watch, if we don t want to use a chest strap? The Garmin watch which is paired to the most accurate Apple watch as an external BLE sensor. To proof this statement, scientific validation papers are necessary to test which Apple watch or other sports watch is currently the most accurate HR measurement device.
Currently, the most accurate in a scientific paper convincingly validated Apple watch is the Apple watch 6, which was validated with a Polar H10 reference chest strap [90.9.2]. Data from reviewers like Rob ter Horst which are not published in a scientific paper suggest, that there was a strong increase in accuracy in the Apple watch 6 compared to older Apple watches. But will the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio accept the Polar H10 chest strap as a gold standard reference device, as a paper of the Swiss Federal Insitute of Sports in Magglingen claims [90.10.1]. For the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, a three lead-ECG is gold standard for HR measurement [90.8.5].