A basic and rechargeable tracker
The $89.99 Wahoo Trackr Heart Rate is one of the few chest strap heart rate monitors with a rechargeable battery, and it can connect to gym equipment via ANT+ or three Bluetooth devices simultaneously to record data. Its heart rate readings were accurate in testing, but you will need a connected device nearby while you work out, as it doesn’t have any onboard memory to store data on its own. It also strangely lacks the advanced running form metrics on the company’s previous-gen model, the $79.99 Wahoo Tickr X, making the price bump a little hard to swallow. The Polar H9 ($69.90) offers a similar chest strap design and capabilities for $20 less, so it remains our Editors’ Choice.Design: Lightweight and Comfy
Wahoo packs the Trackr’s heart rate sensor and rechargeable battery into a removable pod with buttons that snap onto the strap itself. The box includes the pod, strap, a charging cable, and a setup guide. The charging cable magnetically connects to the underside of the pod and will only snap into place in one direction, so you can’t accidentally reverse it. The other end is a USB-C plug, and you’ll need to provide your own brick for wall charging.
When you plug in the pod, you’ll notice LEDs on the front that blink red, then orange, then green as it gains charge. They’ll turn solid green once it reaches 100%. Those lights also blink orange and then red to warn of low battery, or blue when the pod is searching for a phone connection. They turn solid blue once connected.
Once charged, you can snap the pod onto the front of the strap. Doing so takes a little more force than I expected, but keeps the pod firmly in place. The strap itself is elastic black cloth, with two metal buttons and a long plastic strip in front where it rests against your body. A metal hook fits into a loop on the band to secure it to your chest.
Once assembled, the strap weighs just 1.4 ounces, undercutting the 1.7-ounce Ticker X. It’s adjustable from 26.25 inches to 34.5 inches in length, and can fit chests as wide as 50 inches. I’m a fairly large dude, and the strap fits me well, without any chafing or discomfort. It’s light enough that I’d forget it was there during a run, but not so unobtrusive that I wanted to wear it when not working out.
Wahoo specifies that the strap should be hand-washed, so you should avoid tossing it into a machine. Battery Life: Up to 100 Hours on a Charge
The Wahoo Trackr’s rechargeable lithium-ion battery has the capacity for 100 active hours, according to Wahoo. I’ve worn the strap for a couple of sedentary workdays, and for three different workouts, and it’s still at 82%. That loosely extrapolates to less than 100 hours, but I’ve also left the device alone for long stretches of time, which could understandably lead to some battery drop.
For comparison, the Tickr X and the Polar H9, both of which use a coin cell that can’t be recharged, promise to run for up to 500 hours and 400 hours, respectively, between battery swaps.
