Customer Reviews

Mio Drive Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was hoping I could monitor my heart rate during exercise. Unfortunately, I was never able to get a reading on a consistent basis. Directions are to pace 2 fingers on the heart sensors and wait for a readout. I could usually get a readout when resting, but could rarely get ane during exercise. The watch indicated it was taking a reading, but would rarely go into display mode.

The Mio Drive is one of the newer exercise watches on the market this holiday season. Its sleek, understated design makes it a perfect choice for the man or woman in your life who wants great fitness tools, but also fashion. The red, black, and silver design is very classy and is likely to withstand the test of time.

My favorite feature on the watch is the dual interval "run/walk" timer. This is a great way for people who are new to exercise to start up a running regime.

The watch also has a large display that features the time, date, and your name. And, of course, it's a convenient way to take your heart rate without a chest strap.

My only critique is that the monitor doesn't always calculate my heart rate quickly when I'm running. It could be that I am jostling around too much or that the band is a little too large (Mio also sells monitors in petite sizes for women or people with smaller wrists...).

Overall, though, I'm impressed thus far and I recommend the Mio Drive.

I was not convinced there is a watch on the market at all that will monitor heart rate as well as a chest strap model - but I wanted to give it a chance. I purchased the watch against my better judgement and against the odd of baseline feedback. I just really wanted a watch that would not require a chest strap, I thought it would be too cumbsersome and I would not wear it - I checked feedback on all makes and models for this type of watch is pretty consistent (hit and miss but not stellar) and this seemed to rate above or at least a little better than the rest.

I tried the watch, while it was easy to set up, had great features, and the concept is dang cool to watch yourself burn off a pound of weight - I wanted to measure my workout to see where I was during spin class etc. as far as burning and heart rate and this just did not do it. I have to say I think it hurt my work out, not enhanced it. I would have to nearly slow down or stop so much to get a reading "IF" I was able to get one at all.

The watch is very big, cumbersome and not for a women.. Women CAN wear it, but not comfortably - I would have kept the watch had it at least had comfort because of the other features, but honestly, I had to take it off mid-class and it went straight back into the box to be sold.

I dont bash the quality, again, the concept and timing features are very user friendly and beneficial, but.. if you are looking specifically to guage your heart rate when working out - suck it up and buy the chest strap. I have to..

My best, C

I thought this watch would be a good alternative to wearing a chest strap, because the MIO website touts their HR monitor as being 'very accurate'. Though, there have been moments when I'm either jogging or at rest and the watch registers my heart rate as 216. Since it thinks my max heart rate is 200, it doesn't compute the percentage. When I've received inaccurate readings, I've passed the watch to my husband to see what his heart rate is, and it reads something similar; 220 or higher. When I calculate my own heart rate the 'old fashioned way' (i.e., counting my own heart beats for 10 seconds and multiplying that by 6) I calculate a 'normal' number that I usually have when jogging a 10-minute mile; 157.

But there have been other times when I'm jogging and the heart rate monitor is closer to reality (within 15 beats, which still isn't "accurate" IMHO). So it's inconsistent so far.

The interval timer is somewhat kludgy to use since it operates different than the interval timers I'm used to using on running watches, but it works fine. However, I can't hear the beeps when running on the trails outdoors, which renders the interval timer meaningless.

So I'm not happy with the purchase, but I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and use it more often to see if it will 'behave' more often than not. If you have the extra money to buy a Polar or Nike HR watch, then do so. You won't be disappointed with the those products that use a chest strap. Until MIO does something about the accuracy of their HR function, I can't recommend this product.

Pretty accurate heart rate monitor. Red band that comes w/ it is a little uncomfortable, but I have a small wrist. Fingers do have to be on monitor just so, or it won't take reading. It's a little hard to do when you're on a bike or running at times. All in all it's a great product though to not have to wear the chest strap(I had 1 like that b4). I'd buy it again.

I have been using the MIO for about 2 weeks now and I like it. I am always looking for new ways/ tools to make my workouts interesting and that is why I bought it. I especially like the 3500 cal countdown which I find even motivates me to use the stairs as I just love seeing the numbers reduce.
Not sure if it is because I am just not used to wearing such large watches but I find it a little uncomfortable and for some reason it seems either too tight or too slack.
Despite that - I think it is good value for money and would recommend it to my friends.

I bought the Drive because I wanted a means of tracking heart rate but more importantly, to me, to track calorie burn while working out in the gym. I have a Garmin Edge 305 with heart monitor strap; this is excellent for outdoor workouts. In fact, the data collection and analysis for workouts provided by the Garmin Training Center can't be beat, as far as I am concerned. But it provides only heart rate on equipment; and because it's made to be mounted on a bicycle, it is significantly bulky enough to be annoying to carry around by hand.

The Drive does everything that is claimed by the manufacturer. It is easy to set up and use. In fact, I've had "sport watches" that provided less functionality but were more complicated to configure and use. The Drive comes with a 2-page manual that provides all the information you need to set it up and use it.

The problem with the Drive (as has been demonstrated by many reviewers) is that using it requires that you change your process of working out. When you start your workout, you start the Drive timer and set your baseline heart rate by pressing the buttons on the watch face. The Drive computes your calorie burn and rate percentage based on this rate. During your workout, you should periodically reset the heart rate by pressing the buttons again. Each time you set a new heart rate, the current status is displayed (current rate, percentage, calorie burn).

You only need to reset the heart rate when you know or believe that your rate has changed. This is a bit of an art and requires you to pay attention to how your body is feeling. You might start out and do it every five minutes. After a workout or two, you should be more aware of how your heart rate is changing over the course of a workout, and you can change the pattern -- maybe only reset every ten minutes.

It's important to remember that the Drive is a tool to make you more aware of how your body is performing during a workout. The heart rate is a performance indicator; you are monitoring it for a reason. What is that reason? If you don't have a concrete reason for monitoring, then you don't understand what the tool is telling you and you probably aren't going to like using it. Indeed, the extra effort required to incorporate it into the workout is going to seem like wasted effort.

For example, if your trainer tells you that you should work on the crosstrainer for 30 minutes and maintain a heart rate of 65% of your Maximum Heart Rate, you would compute this heart rate and then monitor your actual rate with the Drive. You would adjust the intensity of your workout accordingly. As I mentioned earlier, after a couple of initial workouts with frequent rate checks, you will probably find that testing heart rate is a verification of what you already know and you can do it once or twice during the workout.

Assuming you have a proper understanding of incorporating the Drive into your workout, the question of how to set the heart rate is critical. Many people have complained about having to press the buttons on the face of the watch in order to set the rate. You press and hold the two buttons with forefinger and middle finger for 4 to 7 seconds, during which time the monitor should read and display your current heart rate. I found this most challenging during running, as I tend to bob around a lot when running. In all cases, I found that by stabilizing my wrist by either gripping an equipment arm or handle, or pulling my wrist against my body, I was able to get an accurate reading quickly. Honestly, as a bike rider for decades, I can't see how anyone could have a problem checking the rate on a bike. Your upper body is completely stable in this case.

I have two caveats about this unit. One is that it is designed to be worn on the left wrist, but as a left-hander I've been wearing watches on my right wrist for my whole life. Due to the button configuration, the Drive just doesn't work well on the "wrong" wrist. Secondly, there's no "history" or lap recording functionality. Each workout overwrites the previous one. The only exception is for "total calories burned" -- there's a running total that is maintained until you manually reset it. If you want to save the other data, you will have to copy it out manually into a spreadsheet or other tool after your workout is finished.

To get the most satisfaction from the Drive, think about how you are going to use your heart rate information before you buy it. If you clearly understand its nature as a tool, and your expectation in using it, incorporating it into your workout will be successful. You will have to change your workout process to use it. If you don't want to make that change, then either forgo the tool, or spend more money and get a unit with a strap.

I couldn't get a reading while I was running, that was irritating. Maybe I am just not a HRM kind of person, but I found it cumbersome and not that helpful.

I bought this watch because I really, really hate wearing the chest straps for other heart rate monitoring watches.

It certainly fits the bill but like others I have had the experience that if I'm moving too much while I'm running (especially at higher heart rates) it has a hard time picking out my heart rate. It'll get it but it might take 20 seconds of me grabbing my wrist.

The calorie countdown function is sort of neat. I guess it gives you another goal to shoot for if you need one. It seems to count higher calories burned for the same amount of work than other watches that I've used. I think I'm decent at keeping my heart rate consistent so I'm not sure if this one is more accurate or less accurate. The difference doesn't seem to be that much regardless.

I also found the wristband something that took a lot of getting used too. Maybe it's because I'm not used to wristbands like this but I didn't find it comfortable at all. I hardly notice it now though.

Overall, I'll keep using it in lieu of other heart rate monitoring watches because not having to wear that chest strap means that much to me, haha.

I wasn't making any progress in my weight loss efforts, so I got this watch to see where my heart rate is while I exercise. Turns out, I wasn't exercising efficiently. Now I know right where to be. I love the dual timer modes, and use them while following the run-walk program in the book. it is easy to measure your heart rate while you are doing your workout.I also love how it keeps track of your total calories burned, so you know once you burn a whole pound off (3500 calories).