Heart Rate Monitor

The battery in my old heart rate monitor died, and I figured this would be cheaper than a battery replacement. I should have known it was too cheap, it is the fingertip sensor type, not a continuous monitor type. I have used it a little bit, but it's not nearly as useful as my old monitor.

My Polar FT1 manual says if the strap battery is dead as well as the watch battery, I need to replace the strap, which is not available on their website, and the nearest service center is a six hour drive away. At that point it is sounding like a complete replacement might be worthwhile.

I could get the exact same thing for the same price at the same store as I did before, or shop around for less.

But I'm hoping that Android integration has come along since my last review 2 years ago.  For one, Polar now has the H6 and H7 options, although they are only compatible with some devices, I've been toying with getting a Samsung Galaxy S3 anyway.  I note that the H6 and H7 are compatible with the FT1, so I could just get a new battery for the FT1 and upgrade from watch to phone later...

The developer in me wants the Zephyr Development Kit, but really, when do I have time to play with that?

On the pricey end, there's the Fitbit Charge HR or Fitbit Surge, although I'd need to upgrade my phone to use all the features, it can do the basic stuff and upload to my PC later.  A co-worker had one of the more basic fitbit devices that tracks steps from your pocket, and thought it very useful and reliable.

I've also in the past been impressed with Garmin's quality, but just their sensor is $100 without a compatible receiver.  (It does have movement sensors as well as heart rate sensors, if you want to measure your running form's bounce it might be worthwhile.)

I have some time to research, I'm holding back on spending money at the moment, but things may be on more even keel iu a month.