The 10 Best Heart Rate Monitors to Track Your Fitness and Health Goals

Most people aren’t going to wear a ring while lifting weights, which is why we love the Oura Ring to track those important metrics during the 23 hours of the day that you’re not at the gym. What’s most impressive about the Oura Ring is its small size, and how one small ring can monitor your sleep, steps, and heart rate, giving you all the information you need to make improvements in your health and well-being.

Battery life: 4-7 days
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Up to 100m

Read more: Best Fitness Trackers

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is essentially a wearable personal trainer. With built-in pace coaching and a heart rate monitor, you can add and customize your workouts for maximum efficiency, helping you reach your fitness goals in no time. It connects to your smartphone, so you can easily take calls, receive texts, or pull up directions with the flick of your wrist.

Battery life: 40 hours
Smart capabilities: Yes
Water resistant: Up to 50 meters and 30 minutes

When it comes to heart rate monitors, the chest strap is by far the most accurate piece of wearable tech. The Polar H10 works with all your favorite devices and apps (Polar, Garmin, Apple, Suunto, Strava, etc.) to provide precise metrics that you can use to inform your fitness goals. It has roughly 400 hours of life, plus it’s fully waterproof, so you can use it for cross-training.

Battery life: 400 hours
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Yes

While products like the WHOOP band and the Oura Ring are relatively new on the scene, Garmin has been making wearable fitness trackers for a long time now, so they know what works. This heart rate monitor transmits real-time heart rate data over ANT+ connectivity and Bluetooth, giving you the immediate feedback you need to take your performance to the next level.

Battery life: 3.5 years
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Up to 10 meters

Training for a triathlon? This heart rate monitor can help you cross the finish line. The comfortable black heart rate belt stays on whether you’re running, biking, or swimming, measuring your heart rate, storing that data, and and then transferring it wirelessly to your SUUNTO sports watch.

Battery life: 500 hours
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Yes

We’ve been raving about WHOOP since 2020, and it’s still one of our favorite fitness trackers, simply because it collects so much useful data. This wearable device tracks your heartbeat 100 times per minute to measure your heart rate variability, as well as your sleep. Every day it delivers a recovery percentage suggests the level of activity you should aim for, whether that a five-mile run or a rest day.

Battery life: 4-5 days
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Up to 10 meters for two hours

The Apple Watch is by far one of the most popular smartwatches on the market, and like the Samsung Galaxy 4, it also tracks quite a lot of data, including heart rate. Although not as accurate as the chest bands, the Apple Watch gets the job done enough for the casual fitnessgoer. In addition to heart rate, it also features an SpO2 sensor to monitor blood oxygen level readings, an ECG to test for atrial fibrillation, fitness tracking, sleep monitoring, and all the run-of-the-mill smartwatch features.

Battery life: 18 hours
Smart capabilities: Yes
Water resistant: Up to 50 meters

Read more: Best Smartwatches

If you’re ready to commit to a chest band heart rate monitor, the Wahoo TICKR X is a great device to start with. It tracks heart rate and calories burned to your favorite fitness apps and activity trackers to optimize your training. Equipped with Bluetooth & ANT+ technology, it features 50 hours of built-in memory, so you can leave your phone at home on your next run.

Battery Life: 500 hours
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Up to 5 feet

For a more affordable option, check out the CooSpo Heart Rate Monitor. It monitors your performance in real time and is compatible with fitness apps, bike computers, sports watches, and even gym equipment like the Peleton. The sensor is waterproof and sweatproof, so you can take it with you on those cold or wet training days.

Battery Life: 300 hours
Smart capabilities: No
Water resistant: Yes, but not recommended for swimming

The Versa 3 Health & Fitness Smartwatch from Fitbit is packed with useful features. One of our favorites is Active Zone Minutes, which uses your resting heart rate to gauge exercise effort and give you a buzz when it’s time to step up the intensity so you can make the most of your workouts. It monitors activity, sleep, and nightly blood oxygen levels, tracking your trends over time to see important changes in your overall health.

Battery Life: 6+ days
Smart capabilities: Yes
Water resistant: Up to 50 meters