#beetsblu

‘Wearable’ tech has been a hot subject in gadget circles over the past few years. It’s often seemed like a solution looking for a problem, but then companies like FitBit took off and everyone has decided (Apple included) that health and fitness monitoring are the way forward.

These wrist mounted gadgets are a great way of monitoring your activity throughout the day (and night in some cases) to get a general idea of how you’re doing. And I mean general.

The Beats Blu heart rate monitor strap is aimed at the physically active person who wants to get more accurate and detailed heart rate information than that provided by a fitness wearable or smartphone sensor. Whilst they use simple LED and optical technology (lighting up your capillaries!), the Beats Blu is more advanced and uses similar technology to an EKG machine. However, just like wrist mounted fitness wearables, the Beats Blu will talk to various smartphone apps and lets you keep track of progress..

The gadget itself is a slice of black plastic with a ‘cell’ type battery already installed. At 16 grams, once on, the monitor and strap is comfortable enough to forget about and clicking it together is all it needs to switch on (detaching puts it back to sleep).

Connecting the heart rate monitor to my phone was simple too. There’s no need to go through Bluetooth pairing. Instead, compatible fitness apps can find it for themselves and automatically start reporting and recording your heart rate in real time. iPhones from the 4S onward will work with the Beats Blu and any Android with Bluetooth v4.0 should be fine.

Beats Blu have a list of compatible phones on their website, but if you don’t see yours, I suspect it’s because they can’t test them all. I tested with a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and that worked just fine.

Really, it’s your choice of fitness app more than the phone that will determine how well you get on with the heart rate monitor. It’s compatible with a decent list popular ones for Android and I spent time with MapMyWalk and Endomondo. MapMyWalk required a little setting up. You go into ‘Connect Apps and Devices’ then ‘Workout Devices’ and finally ‘Heart Rate’ and from there you click on your Beats Blu. After that one time setup, every time I put on the strap and hit the running machine or went for a walk, the app recorded my heart rate along with my Fitbit data and gave me aggregate activity results based on all the information together. It’s a great compliment to other fitness gadgets like the Fitbit ZIP.

I’m not a fitness guru (far from it), but I do try to keep active and the data these apps provide is a great incentive to keep going and try to improve. There’s little for me to criticise here, although I did struggle to get the monitor working first time. Taking five minutes to read the instructions taught me that the sensors both need to be moistened before the strap works properly. After that all was fine.

Heart rate information gives you more accurate feedback as to how much energy you're burning and it helps you make sure you’re not overdoing it. The Beats Blu Heart Rate Monitor enhances the data you put into your fitness apps and I think if you’re into one of the apps listed as supported, you’ll enjoy them that little bit more with one of these.

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I was given this Beets BLU to review by my Papi, Chris from FaithHack. He had received them as a sample to test/review for BeetsBLU.

First impression:

When I first got it i though it was decent looking, it's small and unobtrusive. Wearing it the first time was different and it took a couple tries to get it sized just right. On the inside of the chest band are the two electrodes to pick up the hearts electrical signals. I've found placing it just below the breast line in the 5th rib space sits well and gets good pickup. 

Set up:

BeetsBlu uses Bluetooth smart which means it doesn't connect through the traditional Bluetooth functions. You must connect it from one of their approved apps (I use RunKeeper and the BeetsBLU app), as soon as you figure out you have to use the app first it is easy to setup. 

Running:

Running with BLU was easy. It took maybe another 20 seconds to get it turned on and set up. While running I found it was relatively accurate. When I went full blast and was up in the 180-200bpm range it really wasn't that happy... but nether was I. When I did my normal running pace it was niceto be able to just peek and check if I was in the right range. I stopped a couple times and checked it compared to my radial pulses and they marched out with about a 5 second delay from pulse to app. My only complaint is after about 2 miles of pounding pavement the monitor had slipped down my chest a little. It was still picking up a signal and worked appropriately but I was more concerned it would fall down later. I did have to adjust it after getting my hands over my head for a little air break.

Yoga:

After my running experience I was concerned that moving in any way other than a gentle run would displace the device. So I tried a half hour yoga session with it on. It actually stayed better than I thought it would. I never had to adjust it even after major twist and turns. With the Bluetooth smart I was able to keep my phone on the table and out of my way. It is rated for a stable connection up to 10 meters (33 ft). 

Would I buy it?

If I wasn't a poor college student, yes. I found the device worked well, it's low profile and light weight make it reasonable to keep on while running. I liked being able to track how well I was doing and keeping my heart rate controlled. I could also see using it for meditation exercise to see if your getting the biologic responses you're looking for. Anyways, at $39.95 it's not a bad deal at all.

I’ve never owned a heart rate monitor before. As I am I trying to lose weight, my doctor recommended that I get my heart rate within the targeted range, also known as the “fat burning zone” for at least 10 minutes a day, every day. I’ve seen the heart rate monitor on the machines in the gym, but hadn’t done much research into ones that you take home.

When I had the opportunity to review a BeetsBLU Heart Rate Monitor, I couldn’t be more elated. I needed this.

After cracking it open, I had to figure out what my target heart rate zone.

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Goal: check.

Putting on the BeetsBLU Heart Rate Monitor wasn’t difficult.  I put it over my head, slid it down and adjusted it right under my bra. I placed the sensors against my skin and attached the little box. Because I was already moving from cleaning up after my girls, I didn’t need to add water to the sensors.

Wear: check. 

I did not have any problem with it syncing to my Samsung Galaxy S4. However, I wish it explained what apps it worked with before it talked about automatically syncing. My phone recognized the device immediately, but I had to keep reading to figure out how to use it. I didn’t have any of the compatible apps, so I chose MapMyRun.

Google Play Apps Source: BeetsBLU

As soon as I downloaded the app, MapMyRun synced with BeetsBLU Heart Rate Monitor.

Sync: check.

I was quickly able to determine my heart rate. I went for my first run, and was able to track my heart rate with the app throughout the run.

Exercise: check.

I have had the monitor for a week and have not had any issues.

Get yours today!

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