10 best heart-rate monitors for keeping better track of your workouts (2024)

The best heart rate monitors are an excellent wearable gadget to keep track of your heart health, which is vital if you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular ability. It’s simple really: clip it onto your chest or around your wrist, get stuck into a workout and measure your cardio workout, which will all be pulled into useful graphs and data to give you a clearer view of your overall fitness levels, and what targets to aim for.

You might be reading this and thinking, “Well, what can an optical heart rate monitor do that my smartwatch or fitness tracker doesn't?" It‘s a good question, as those kinds of devices will certainly offer you a few more features on top of just scoping out your heart health, but a chest strap will give you the most accurate heart rate readings in real-time, with the same level of quality data you‘d expect from an electrocardiogram (ECG) in the hospital. These accurate readings can keep track of everything from heart rate variability to in-depth running dynamics like ground contact time and cadence.

In other words, if you’re after a chest-worn optical heart rate sensor to enhance your Peloton and Zwift sessions, you’re in the right place. Before we dive into our full list of the best heart rate monitors though, there are a few things you might want to brush up on first. Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt to look at our list of the best fitness trackers either if you’re after a shiny new Garmin, Fitbit or Apple Watch Series 7. Though only if you want to.

What’s the best heart rate monitor 2023?

Garmin’s HRM Pro is a feature-packed heart rate monitor that combines reliable accuracy with extra tricks such as the ability to track running metrics. The best part? It can store data and sync up with your app of choice at a later date, meaning it’s the only bit of kit you need if you want to travel light.

The MZ-Switch is incredibly versatile, thanks to its ability to be worn on your chest, arm or wrist, depending on which option works best for you. Compatible with both iOS and Android apps, it offers six months' worth of use per charge too.

Best budget heart rate monitor: Polar H10

The H10 offers plenty of bang for your buck, including a comfortably soft strap, along with support for all sorts of devices and apps, with a 30-metre waterproof rating for swimming to boot.

What's the best way to use a heart-rate monitor?

The ability of a chest strap heart-rate monitor (or sometimes one worn on the wrist)to record how fast your heart is beating can be used for more than just determining how hard you're working or what your resting heart rate is, as it's also useful for ensuring you’re working in the right heart rate zone. Depending on whether you’re looking to burn fat or kick your heart rate into gear, you need to pay attention to these zones.

For starters, work out your maximum heart rate by taking your age away from 220. The higher your heart rate when exercising, the more carbohydrates are being used as fuel since fat can't metabolise fast enough. With all that in mind, you can use heart-rate zones to monitor your real-time progress, ensuring that you stay in your optimum sweet spot. Trying to do that without a heart-rate monitor would be an impressive feat, to say the least, and you can manage your vertical oscillation and true effort each time you exercise so it’s never a wasted session.

What heart-rate monitor will work with Strava and apps such as Peloton?

Most heart-rate monitors don’t include displays (or the other extras found in fitness trackers such as sleep tracking or running metrics), so if you want to see your data in real-time you’ll need to pair it with a companion app. On the plus side, these Bluetooth devices are built to wirelessly work with a range of other gym equipment, apps and devices such as watches and bike computers. The key is knowing what kind of connectivity method your model supports to make sure it works correctly.

If you own an Apple Watch and aren't satisfied with the heart-rate data it dishes out, you can pair it with a monitor using Bluetooth. Pairing a heart-rate monitor with a Peloton bike will also work over Bluetooth connectivity and ANT+ wireless connections too.

If you know what kit or apps you want to use your monitor with, check whether it offers the right connection support for proper compatibility and full functionality. Most setups will include Bluetooth support, but a lot of cycling gear will require ANT+ support to pair with monitors.

What other heart-rate monitor extras should you look for?

Outside of tracking your heart during exercise, some monitors can also track steps and distance covered, which can be useful for team sports. Elsewhere, certain heart-rate monitors can deliver additional performance stats for activities such as cycling and running that you won’t be able to capture from many sports watches, making them particularly suitable for triathletes. If you don’t like training with your phone close by, there are options that allow you to record hours of workouts and sync them to your phone when you’re reunited with it. Bear in mind things like water resistance too, which can open up a more versatile world of activities, particularly for swimmers (who would also benefit from some waterproof earbuds).

For more fashion, grooming and technology releases delivered straight to your inbox,sign up for our GQ Recommends newsletter.

Shop GQ’s edit of the best heart-rate monitors to buy now 2023…

Shopping

The best wireless and wired over-ear headphones for an expansive, noise-cancelling listen from Apple, Sony and the like.

Fashion

A runner works hard, but a brand ambassador works harder

Fitness

Getting rid of love handles is easy with the right motivation

Fitness

Short and intense or long and steady – our fitness experts break down the best approach to working out

Culture

The Apple TV+ series starring Kristen Wiig lands us in the world of the haves and have-nots of the '60s

Fitness

Heed our expert advice – get yourself a foam roller and prioritise stretching and your mobility

Fitness

These expert-approved finishers are exactly what's required to take your workout to the next level

Shopping

From workout wear to the best trainers, tech and tracksuits, this is our pick of the perfect gifts for gym lovers.