Mio Motiva Heart Rate Monitor Watch

by Mio

Product Features

• Stylish heart rate monitor watch with patented weight-management system
• Lets you set daily calorie targets and record the number of calories you eat
• Accurately reads your ECG heart rate, on demand, without a chest strap
• 5 exercise timers: count up, count down, warmup, walk/run, and repeat
• Integrates Mio's 3,500 Calorie Countdown program; 1-year warranty

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

On the surface, the Mio Motiva heart rate monitor watch is a stylish, everyday, wearable fitness accessory. But the Motiva takes things one step further by integrating Mio's patented weight-management system, giving you all the motivation you need to reach your health and fitness goals. Your weight is directly connected to the foods you eat and the exercise you get. The Mio Motiva helps you manage the former by setting daily calorie targets and recording the number of calories you eat throughout the day. The Motiva then tells you how well you're doing and sets off an alarm should you go over. When it comes to exercise, the device monitors your heart rate and makes sure it stays high during workouts for a maximum calorie burn. With the Motiva, you can literally watch the calories burn off.

Specific features include the ability to accurately read your ECG heart rate without a chest strap, five exercise timers (count up, count down, count up with warmup, walk/run, and repeat), Mio's 3,500 Calorie Countdown program, and a user-accessible battery hatch. As a bonus, the Motiva comes with an interchangeable watch band in orange and grey, along with the MioSense Guide for Healthy Living, a booklet that includes information on health, nutrition, diet, fitness, and exercise, along with carb and calorie tables at the back for easy reference.

About Mio
The story of Mio began in 1999 when it was created by entrepreneur and mother of three, Liz Dickinson. Like many of us, Liz balances family and career, leaving little time for fitness. After several unsuccessful attempts to achieve her fitness goals and shed the pregnancy weight-gain of her third child, Liz turned to a personal trainer for advice. While working with a trainer, Liz realized the key to getting in shape and staying in shape is to practice smart eating habits, monitoring calorie intake, and using a heart rate monitor to ensure that she exercises at the right level. Liz realized there wasn't a product available on the market that would easily help her follow her trainer’s advice.

Liz didn't have time to read labels and carry a calorie journal in her purse, nor did she have much patience for the uncomfortable chest strap she had to wear to get her heart rate. She knew there had to be a better way, so Liz used her technology and marketing savvy to create Mio, the world’s first heart rate monitor to work without a chest strap. And, it didn't stop with just heart rate, as Mio also has a patented calorie management system that offers a straightforward approach to managing your diet. With the help of Mio and a balanced diet, Liz was able to shed those unwanted pounds and gain the benefits that come with improved fitness: more energy, more vitality, and less stress, and help many others do the same with the creation of Mio's products.

Product Description

Your weight is directly connected to the foods you eat and the exercise you get. So, how can you easily manage both? The answer is simple with MIO Motiva. This watch exemplifies the quality and styling of MIO's latest and greatest product line. Motiva is designed to help you achieve long-term health through its patented weight management tools and programs. And because we know this watch has to withstand your active lifestyle and everyday wear and tear, it comes with a BONUS interchangeable strap in cool grey and orange! Motiva features: Take your on-demand heart rate anytime, anywhere ¿ Superior MIO technology gives ECG accurate readings WITHOUT a chest strap; Set calorie targets, count calorie intake, track calorie burn easily ¿ MIO's patented calorie management tool is worn right on your wrist; Measure workout intensity and optimize exercise by using our easy to read, color coded exertion level indicator; Heart Rate Recovery timer - a true measure of cardiovascular fitness, watch how quickly your heart rate returns to resting . It will do so more quickly and efficiently as you become more fit; 3500 Calorie Countdown mode so you can watch the calories burn off; 5 training timers (count up, count down, count up with warm-up, walk/run, repeat); Full-featured sports watch including date/time/calendar, alarm, chime, backlit display with 30 m water resistance; User-accessible battery hatch; Extra, interchangeable watch strap included in the box! Includes the MioSENSE Guide to Healthy Living with updated information on health, nutrition, diet, fitness and exercise, and with carb and calorie tables at the back for easy reference.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 4 x 4 inches ; 2.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000VM348M
• Item model number: 0016US-BLK
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inconsitent Readings & High Calorie Burn Estimates, April 20, 2008

By 

X_HOBBES (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mio Motiva Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Sports)

PRO's:
- It's a watch, so it's with you always
- Nice combination of timers (down, down+up, down+down, etc.)
- Bar graph at the top to show if you're within the desired % of max heart rate (when checking your heart rate)
- Bar graph at top shows total calorie consumption - burnt calories for the day
- Exercise programs and calorie booklet included

CON's:
- Heart rate readings are very inconsistent (read below)
- Calorie burn counts seem too high (read below)
- Difficult to set values (read below)
- No way to fix mistakes or bad readings
- You have to remember to periodically check the heart rate as you excercise

My wife got this as a gift and never used it, so I started using it, since I am the one who really needs to get into shape. At first it seems promising, especially when you read MIO's claims on how accurate they are. However, after just a few days of using it, you start to wonder -- can this be right?

First, the heart rate readings are all over the place. I just took three readings, back-to-back, without changing my activity rate. The readings were 80 bpm, 70 bpm, and 88 bpm -- all within a few seconds of each other. To take a reading, you need to place two fingers on the touch pads on top. It sends a small voltage from its metal base, through your left arm, across the chest, and down the right arm, onto the two pads on top. I've noticed that when it returns with a reading quickly, the reading seems right. However, if it takes more than about 3-4 seconds, then the reading will probably be off by about 10 or more bpm.

If the watch takes a bad reading and the timer is running, then it will impact the calorie burn count and mess up the readings for the day. There's no way to tell it to disregard the last reading. Yesterday, I got some crazy reading where my heart rate was extremely high (eventhough it really wasn't). Because I hadn't taken a reading for about 10 minutes and the timer was on, it calculated some rediculous calories burn. So, it was ruined for the day -- no way to back up from that bad reading.

The 'sophisticated' calorie burn calculator seems to be way off. It is registering that I am burning way more calories that I think I actually am. For example, following an exercise program in the booklet, I was to run 30 seconds, walk 4.5 minutes and repeat 7 times, for a very easy 35 minute workout session. It claims that I burned about 600 calories with that. Yesterday, I played 53 minutes of tennis. It claimed 1300 calories for that. I think it's a bit too high.

Setting values can be a bit annoying, and to use the watch properly, you need to set values a lot. Every time you have a meal, you should enter the calories consumed. To do so, you'd press the Mode button twice to get it to the Calories screen. Then you need to hold down the Set button for two seconds. Then you need to enter the value starting with the least-significant digit first and working left. For example, if you wanted to enter 653 calories, you would first enter the 3, then the 5, then the 6. It's just ackward. As with the heart rate reading, there's no way to fix a mistake. If you accidentally put wrong number, there's no way to back it out or subtract it.

So, in summary, the concept is a good idea, but the product needs a lot of work before it's practical and trustworthy.

I do not recommend this product. Maybe you should consider the Polar watches. They seem to have good reviews.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars wild swings in BPM, November 14, 2007

By 

C. Winfield (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mio Motiva Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Sports)

As an avid runner, I was excited to have a heart monitor without the irritating chest strap.

Unfortunately, the lack of accuracy this watch provides makes it unusable. Your heart rate will vary by as much as 12 BPM sitting and as much as 20-25 BPM running. When I used it with my chest strap system it was rarely in sync. If you can tolerate wild swings in heart rate monitoring then this may suffice for moderate runners. However, if you need accuracy for training then I'm afraid you will need to stick with a chest strap system.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex but excellent watch, September 7, 2008

By 

Monte L. Schatz (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mio Motiva Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Sports)

I have used my Mio Motiva watch for a month now. It provides amazingly accurate heart rates and does so quickly. It also is programmed and customized for your weight and age. It has an amazing amount of features for a relatively inexpensive watch. My only complaint is that if you are using it for tracking net calorie consumption on a daily basis it is a bit of a pain to enter your calorie food amounts.

I use alot of technology in my job, but the entries for this are a bit tedious and time consuming. The actual performance of the watch is outstanding. Highly recommend this product.