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Do I need a chest strap for fenix 7x pro with a such advanced sportswatch nowadays?

sitcomone
over 1 year ago

I used to have a chest strap with my previous Garmins (Fenix 3,6 Forerunners) and saw the advantage then. 

I just got the Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar and have been debating whether I should get an HRM Pro Plus Strap since the Fenix 7 is supposed to be more advanced than the 6 and such nowadays.

Nowadays, what are the advantages since (supposedly) the watch is better at gathering more accurate activity data. 

Thank you good people. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I suspect you will get lots of opinions on this!  IMO - it depends!   WHR/OHR has a dependency on skin tone, hairy arms, tattoos, how tight and where it is located etc so works differently on different people.  A chest strap will react faster during sprints, unlikely to lock onto a cadence and will generally be more accurate.  But as you note, as the optical sensors get better and better, I would suggest that the advantage of a chest strap is not nearly as great as it was a few years ago (ignoring other features such as running dynamics).  In the end I think it really comes down to how accurate and reactive you need it to be based on how you train, how important (and usable) you consider running dynamics (which is a separate topic now as the watch also provides these - never done a comparison of the two)..  I'll admit I haven't used my HRM Pro strap in ages.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    As some parts already said by razmichael, optical heart rate sensors are not as accurate as electrical chest straps. It's more about your need (or want ;) ). If you need really fast reacting and accurate HR value, then it's strap. But most times if you are not pro athlete the need is not so important and OHR is more than enough as those are very good nowadays. Personally while cycling I use chest strap sensor (just hobby cyclist) but it's because I use Edge cycling computer. Also then I don't need to put wrist strap of F7 tight, so it can be also for comfort. One point is also that chest straps keep their place very well, but watch can be a bit wobbly, so... Maybe these points help.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Wolfindal

    Good point about cycling or other sports that include a lot of wrist bending (paddling for some, weight lifting etc). In these situations you may find you need a strap for good results. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    If you care about the watch training metrics (with the caveat below), ie VO2 max, Threshold HR/Power/Pace, Race Plans, Workout Suggestions, Training Status, Load, Focus, Effect (aerobic and anerobic), Recovery, Readiness, Stamina, Performance Condition, Intensity Minutes, etc. etc., you really want to use a chest strap for every single workout, because you need accurate HR data and HRV and the wrist HR will not cut it.

    Caveat: the watch metrics work very well for running with GPS on flat grounds and biking with a power meter. Beyond these cases, the accuracy of some metrics start to break down a bit mostly because of the dependency on pace and power for the peak EPOC estimates, which trickles down to most of the metrics above.

    If you don't care about the accuracy of the watch metrics (for example, you are using a third party platform metrics like TSS, or you have a coach), then you don't train by HR and you can train with the wrist HR.

    The wrist HR is fine for day/night HR wellness monitoring including sleep and the implementation of HRV status