Heart rate monitor—easy choice?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I want a monitor that fairly accurately reports my heart rate—accurate enough to know I’m in the target zone exercise-wise (e.g., better than the crapulent ones built into our treadmill and elliptical), but not so accurate as to help me train like a professional athlete. Most bells and whistles (timer, calorie counter, stopwatch) are superfluous; the only feature I can see having some use would be an alert that lets us know if we’re above/below a set rate.

From what I understand, units with a chest band that sends a signal to a watch are the most accurate, and among manufacturers, Polar is the go-to brand.

Do I need to think about anything else? Am I making a mistake in my assumptions? Or is this an easy choice?

Thanks,

Rhythm

2

If you are working out in one location, Polar is the way to go. If you are running, cycling, or something like that the Garmin forerunner or edge is the way to go.

3

Average heart rate
Time in zone-Some let you set zones such as warmup/workout/cooldown
Average in each zone-goes with above
Maximum HR reached
Most units do have a settable alert.

The Garmin units are nice as they can be set to take automatic splits at set distances.

Depending on your goals, another nice feature is the Automatic Training Partner. You set the pace you want and two tiny stick figures appear on the screen- you and your ATP. If you fall behind pace, the ATF will pull ahead.

4

Thanks. Confirming that Polar is a solid choice made it easier to avoid pedantically pouring over reviews to compare apples and oranges. The only place we’re using them is in the gym, so they’ll never leave the house (our outdoor activities are for fun; no need to watch heartbeat there).

We (unexpectedly) ended up going with the Polar FT60. It has more zone and training options, and the hope is that its personalizations (e.g., it determines your personal HR based on current conditions) will be more than boilerplate. Plus, the tracking/fitness tests to see how we’re doing from a different perspective–so far all we’ve been seeing is new clothing sizes; as that tapers off as we reach our goals it will be interesting to track the internal machinery.
Again, thanks!