Hi everyone
Despite the numerous reviews citing reasonable HR monitoring performance on the Vivosport, I have been unable to get accurate measurements with the device when exercising.
The device showed a maximum heart rate of 132 bpm using passive monitoring during a 2km erg sprint test completed in 6 minutes 42 seconds. For those unfamiliar with the erg machine, this is a maximum effort sprint test which should push you close to your maximum heart rate. I am 26 years old in good health - unfortunately 132 bpm is not even remotely accurate.
I subsequently tested the device using the indoor 'cardio activity' mode during a 1 hour steady state erg (rate 20, 2:02/500m avg split) as I read that the device may struggle to pick up rapid increases in HR. This exercise was completed at 100% effort and again left me at the limits of my physical capability. The device recorded a maximum heart rate of 114 bpm and average of 87 bpm. Immediately post activity, the device displayed a heart rate of around 50 bpm during my warm down when I was still struggling to catch my breath - 11 bpm lower than my supposed average resting heart rate recorded by the device.
I would be very interested to hear whether anyone has managed to get decent readings from their Vivosport, and whether they had to change anything to do so?
The fact that it could not pick up a realistic heart rate over a 1 hour period is incredibly disappointing. At present, the performance is so bad that I feel the device is either faulty or simply does not work as advertised. For anyone considering purchasing the Vivosport for its HR monitoring capabilities, I would advise against until something improves.
Cheers
A