So I bought the Polar H7 heart rate monitor belt. It transmits both on 5kHz and also BT 4/BT Smart/BLE. I tried to check beforehand if it was compatible, which was not easy as HTC does not say that One is BT Smart Ready (that is the term for a phone) and the accessory shall be BT Smart compatible. So this post is just to bring the good news and to say I got it to work
OK, it is not so difficult as both Polar H7 and One is listed on BT's official site. Then I guess it should be straightforward..
However the app Polar Beat which goes together with H7 is not compatible with One, I tried to install it, but it is not possible to get it to work. So then what?
You use another app as iCardio, Runtastic pro or Endomondo, Endomondo which just today got support for Bluetooth Smart.
This works OK. However for stationary training Runtastic will not calculate kcals, so using iCardio or Endomondo should be the solution. I have not tried either of the last two yet.
Edit: I tried Runtastic Pro, iCardio and Endomondo at the Gym, 1 hr 20 min of Circle training not too hard intensity, I got 1055 kcal burnt with Endomondo which seems very high.
With iCardio app I got 724 kcals burnt which seems more reasonably. Probably high too, but at least more likely.
So I guess to soon to be impressed by Endomondo's new support for BT Smart
The blocking of Polar Beat seems to me to be because of commercial partnering between Apple and Polar, and possibly Samsung.
I have even called Polar headquarter in Finland to get an answer, but they will not say anything.
Some places it says that Samsung S4 and S3 is beta testing for android, I do not know. Of course, it is possible.
Anyway the belt works with different android apps, but I miss the Polar Beat app which seems a little more refined and advanced.
I would think Polar would want to sell the belt H7 to as many customers as possible, but I guess they are comitted to Apple and possibly Samsung.
As the belt both communicates with 5kHz and BLE it will show your pulse on training equipment displays in the gym and also on a Polar BLE compatible monitor as RCX5 or another.
OK, it is not so difficult as both Polar H7 and One is listed on BT's official site. Then I guess it should be straightforward..
However the app Polar Beat which goes together with H7 is not compatible with One, I tried to install it, but it is not possible to get it to work. So then what?
You use another app as iCardio, Runtastic pro or Endomondo, Endomondo which just today got support for Bluetooth Smart.
This works OK. However for stationary training Runtastic will not calculate kcals, so using iCardio or Endomondo should be the solution. I have not tried either of the last two yet.
Edit: I tried Runtastic Pro, iCardio and Endomondo at the Gym, 1 hr 20 min of Circle training not too hard intensity, I got 1055 kcal burnt with Endomondo which seems very high.
With iCardio app I got 724 kcals burnt which seems more reasonably. Probably high too, but at least more likely.
So I guess to soon to be impressed by Endomondo's new support for BT Smart
The blocking of Polar Beat seems to me to be because of commercial partnering between Apple and Polar, and possibly Samsung.
I have even called Polar headquarter in Finland to get an answer, but they will not say anything.
Some places it says that Samsung S4 and S3 is beta testing for android, I do not know. Of course, it is possible.
Anyway the belt works with different android apps, but I miss the Polar Beat app which seems a little more refined and advanced.
I would think Polar would want to sell the belt H7 to as many customers as possible, but I guess they are comitted to Apple and possibly Samsung.
As the belt both communicates with 5kHz and BLE it will show your pulse on training equipment displays in the gym and also on a Polar BLE compatible monitor as RCX5 or another.
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