Customer Reviews

Mio Breeze Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Get rid of those bulky, uncomfortable chest straps! We finally have a way to determine our heart rate that is quick, easy and portable. This wristwatch lets you find out your current heart rate with just a quick two-finger push.

The watch is a *little* bigger than a normal wrist watch, so I wouldn't wear this to an elegant dinner. Still, wearing it most other places seems quite fine. It has normal date and time functions, so it fully replaces my normal "sports watch" I would wear.

For the heart rate test, it is very easy. You are wearing the watch on one arm - let's say your left arm. So then you would take two fingers from your right hand and press them against the two silvery buttons on the watch's top face. You hold it there for about 5 seconds, and then the system shows you your heart rate.

Also, because you input your weight into it, and your age, it knows your ideal heart rate and shows you the current one as a percentage of your total. So you see at a glance how well you're doing.

I tend to do a number of "active" exercises, and there is NO way I could wear a chest monitor and have it stay on. This is the perfect solution. I go out for a walk, I play Dance Dance Revolution, and no matter what, I can check my heart rate in an instant.

Now, to the issues. First, it *is* a bit bulky. It's a unisex model meaning it's fine for my boyfriend but on me it's a little large. I guess I would rather have gotten a "women's model" - but at the price it didn't make sense to buy two for our family. It made more sense to get one we could both wear. So on one hand it might be a smidge large for a woman, but on the other hand having it be a device we can both easily use is definitely a plus. So I hesitate to complain about this.

Next, it sometimes takes me 2 or 3 tries to get a reading - including spinning it around so the face of the watch is pressed against the inside of my wrist. I tend to have very low blood pressure. If I prick my finger for a blood test, I get a drop maybe before it stops. So I realize completely that I am "not normal" in this sense. That being said, I was just having dinner with a friend of mine who is rather thin, and she had to do the same thing - spin the watch to point towards her inner wrist before she could get a reading. So maybe it's certain people that it has trouble reading. Maybe it's because she wasn't sweating and there wasn't enough moisture to conduct the current. I'm not really sure. So it does work - but it might take a try or two based on your situation and body shape.

So in general I highly recommend the unit. Just be aware if it doesn't work immediately on you that it's not you - it's just an inherent issue with an electrical-sensing device that you wear on a wrist.

Started running and was concerned about keeping my heart rate in my target zone so I decided to purchase a watch with a heart rate monitor. The Mio Breeze works great, allows me to pace myself to stay in the zone and to check my recovery time after a hill or sprint. Once in a while it fails to give me a reading, may be due to lack of moisture between watch and wrist or poor contact. The stop watch feature is easy to use and is handy to check times along routes and to see times per mile.

I like the styling even though it is a little larger than I am accustomed to. The numbers are large and bright enough to make them easily to read.

While the band has notches to fit a small wrist, this watch face is waaaaaaaay too big for a smaller wrist. Unless you have a "large-ish" wrist you will want to return it and then waste the money paying shipping both ways.

You should go with the Mio Classic. The Mio Classic is really a great alternative and has almost all the features of this Mio Breeze.

I bought a Mio Classic after returning the Mio Breeze and I use it everyday and love it. This was a year ago and I am still happy with the MIO CLASSIC.

In my experience with this product, it was impossible to check my heart rate while actually exercising. In order to do a heart rate check, I had to stop exercising and stand still in order to take the reading. This is not useful if you are trying to do an interval workout within various zones.

Great watch and HR monitor. Takes HR quickly and accurately without fail. I have owned it for 2 yrs. and just replaced the battery and it is still working great. I use the HR monitor function a lot and it is nice to beable to get a quick reading without that silly chest strap that other monitors force you to wear.

I have owned this for a couple of months now and find it amazing. I use it everyday for my workouts and find it the handiest device for monitoring my heart rate. My treadmill has heart rate sensors which I don't use mainly because its cumbersome to hold on to them while running and secondly it always gives inconsistent readings. However this watch is amazing in terms of consistency. I run pretty regularly and monitor my heart rate over 5 minute intervals. I am amazed with the consistency of the readings I get everyday during my workouts even at 90% of my maximum heart rate. There have been a handful occasions when I got inconsistent readings which I suspect was because of loose contact while taking the readings during training. My father in law who is a stickler for accuracy decided to test the device with a great deal of skepticism. To his amazement he found this watch gave near perfect readings every time when compared to measuring the pulse/heart rate manually (the age-old way of using one's hands and the watch/clock for timing).

Setup with this watch is truly a "breeze" and I was up and running in 5 minutes without even having to pore through the manual. The watch has very trendy looks which made my coworkers sit up and take notice. I haven't tested the battery life fully yet which obviously would depend a lot on use. I tend to monitor my heart rate quite often even when I am not running (probably because the watch is new and has its initial excitement) but I am waiting to see when the battery needs to be replaced. This is a great watch to own and I surely hope it lasts long. This is a strong buy for folks who are looking for an easy hassle free way of monitoring their heart rates during work-outs. I am sure whoever owns it will love it.

I was really hoping the negative reviews were exaggerated, but unfortunately, I had the same experience as one of the other reviewers (Interval Trainer). It worked great while I was at rest, but as soon as I began exercising it was next to impossible to get a reading. I can't speak for the accuracy because I was unable to get a reading at all when working out, but it seemed to give accurate readings when I was at rest.

I had expected that the two-finger design would make it tough to get a reading while riding my road bike, but had hoped it would be sufficient for running and riding on my stationary bike. I tried wetting my fingertips, cleaning the sensors, repositioning the sensor, turning it to the underside of my wrist, etc., but the only time I had any success was when I was standing perfectly still. In this regard, it would probably work fine for someone who takes frequent pauses between sprints/laps, but if you are trying to get an aerobic workout then it is not very convenient to have to come to a complete stop every time you want a HR reading. Maybe my situation is not the norm, but for my circumstances, this monitor just didn't serve much of a purpose. I am going to switch to one with a chest-strap next and hope I have better luck with it.

I've had this watch for over a year. Aside from the fact that it doesn't always function as a heart rate monitor, it also spontaneously resets on me... I'll look down and I'll be back to midnight on Jan 1, 2007. Maddening! Mio has the right idea on feature set, but sadly I don't think I'll be buying this brand again.

I made my title to address something that many people may not be able to figure out off the cuff.

The watch gets a heart rate reading in about 3-5 seconds. It is accurate, fast and a little bulky, but overall comfortable. If you are not used to wearing a watch it will feel abnormal, if you normally wear one, it will feel about the same.

Pros:
Accurate reading
Relatively compact ( i have small wrists for a man and it still fits me well enough)
Reliable reading
Light-weight

Cons:
does not instantly read
cannot be used to trigger 'zone-alert' for those looking to maintain a heart rate zone @ all times.

overall, if you are serious into working out you should spend serious money and get a mio that is 200 dollars. if you are looking to purchase something to use during your workout, to help you monitor your heart rate, this is a great watch.

....i feel the negative reviews just were negative people only considering the one aspect they were looking for from the watch and not actually reading 1st what the watch delivers and 2nd previous reviews in relationship to fit, readings etc.

Keeps good time and is relatively easy to get heart rate. I had a model Venture before this and was easier to use except it quit working and had to be returned.