Do you want to buy a fitness monitor, but don’t want to spend a fortune on it? Scosche Rhythm+ might be what you’re looking for, as it performs only that functions, without any costly bells and whistles.
Rhythm+ is the successor of an armband heart monitor that performs an even simpler function. Unlike the original Rhythm, this one also has a lower price. The current iteration can be placed either around the wrist or your arm, where it measures your heart rate and transmits it to your mobile device. After a bit of magic, the companion app turns the collected data into some sort of visual feedback of your workout.
If Rhythm had a battery life of six hours, the current version adds two more to that. Besides that, it seems to resist both sweat and water up to 1 meter. Another aspect that has changed from the previous version is the lack of music control, which no longer adorn the face of the device.
Scosche used a PerformTek biometric sensor for tracking the heart rate of the wearer. Apparently, the same technology is used by LG’s fitness-tracking earphones, which should be launched in Q3.
Luckily for us, there’s no discrimination regarding the mobile operating system on which the companion app runs. There are both iOS and Android versions of the app, and as long as there’s less than 100 feet between the Rhythm+ and the smartphone or tablet, the device should be able to transmit the data via Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+.
Rhythm+ works with such fitness apps as Endomondo and RunKeeper, which is great, as you won’t have to buy additional gizmos to ensure compatibility between the two.
Even though there are striking similarities between Scosche Rhythm+ and Mio Link, the former is waterproof and costs $20 less, facts that make it an obvious winner.
This heart rate monitor has a price that starts at $79.99. For that price, you’ll get the device itself, one small and one large armband, a USB charger and a free 12 month membership for MapMyfitness, a fitness app that would typically run you down $30 a year. All in all, the Rhythm+ heart rate monitor might be a great choice for the ones looking for a simple device that performs a single function, and performs it well.
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