Customer Reviews

Mio Motiva Petite Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I owned Polar F11 with the coded chest strap. I bought this watch because I want to use it for my lap swim (I'm not about to dip my $150 watch to the pool). I test the watch heart rate monitor accuracy during my morning walk by wearing my polar on the other hand. (I know it's overkill, but I need to know if the heart rate monitor is accurate). I took 7 reading from the watch, and 5 of them were accurate. They showed my heart rate the same number as my polar watch. If it's off, it would be off by 2-4 beats on the lower side than my Polar. Part of it maybe because my Polar reads my heart rate continuously while my Motiva reads my heart rate at a given moment and it takes time to read it too. The other 2 off reading might be caused by the way I pressed the sensor (I might not pressed it correctly) since it's a little challenging trying to get your heart rate while you are moving and using your left hand (I'm right handed).

On my next walking exercise, I did another test. I took 3 readings and all 3 reading read the same heart rate as my Polar. So overall, I would say the motive watch is accurate enough.

As far as design and construction, I think the watch is stylish enough to wear for daily time keeper, and the watch looks really sturdy and well made. It's also small enough for women to wear.

The only complaint I have is the alert sound (whether is for the exercise timer, alarm or anything that needs alert). The alert sound is way too soft. I barely can hear it. Even, my rebook watch has a louder sound than it. I can even hear my rebook watch alert while swimming and listening to my waterproof MP3. Compare to my Polar, I can set up the alert sound to: loud, soft or silent. With my Motiva, I have to keep checking the watch all the time to see if I have reach my exercise time.

I also took this watch on my swimming laps. The watch works fine, but I haven't have any luck getting my heart rate during my swimming. Usually I got it after I shower and change.

The Motiva Petite is great! I love the interchangeable bands and the instant heart rate readings. The size is just right for me (I have small wrists). I especially love the calorie countdown.

I LOVE this product--especially because it does NOT require a chest strap. I can take my pulse anytime (I wear it around the house doing chores, up and down the stairs, during my workouts, etc...) and test my heartrate frequently throughout the day. It's also very user friendly!

This is my first heart rate monitor. I debated between the one with and without the calorie counters and got this one. I find it generally intuitive to use with one review of the directions. For me the only notable issue has been the inability to take a reading while exercising. Much motion affects the ability to read, so you have to be pretty still while you do. This is an issue because the calorie burner uses your heart rate to calculate calories burned in the workout. This is fine for my DVD exercises since there are some breaks that I can measure my heart rate, but for jogging, for example, I had to stop jogging and walk slowly to get a reading. I would not recommend this watch if you want to check your heart rate during exercise without slowing WAY down or stopping. The reading is quick, maybe 6-8 seconds, so you don't have to stop for long. Having to push the bottons for me is not really an issue, I don't mind a small wait. Having to be pretty still is the issue.

I like the net calorie counter. You enter the calories you eat each time, which is easy to do. It calculates how many you burned during exercise and adding the two displays a net calorie intake for the day. This is very helpful if you are trying to manage calories. There is a very small book with directions and a calorie table that is helpful with estimation.

I have only used the timer for exercise. With my old timex
Ironman I would use the timer for all kinds of other things than exercise, but with this timer tied to calories burned, I can't do that. I miss that feature. There is an alarm that would have to be used instead, but alarms need more set up to use and is therefore less desirable.

The watch is fairly tall off the wrist, but the band does fit a small wrist fine. Changing between the two watch bands is easy, but I wish the other color was not such a bright orange which has more limited use than some other color would.

I agree with the comment that the beep is very quiet. If you need to rely on a beep during your exercise, it would not work well. You need to look at the watch to check the status.

Overall I have been happy with the watch and would purchase it again. I can't imagine wanting to wear a chest strap and think that the advantage of no strap outweighs the negatives.

I recently purchased this MIO watch and I love everything about it. It is very small and cute, which is good because I have quite small wrists. I am easily able to see how many calories I burn during my workout and I love the little book that comes with it that has all the calorie tables. I had used Polar for years, but now that I don't need to wear a chest strap I don't think I will be switching back.

I like this watch. I will change the wristband sometimes. It can be difficult to get a reading sometimes during vigorous exercise, but it is pretty accurate and beats wearing a chest strap or finding my heart rate manually. If it takes more than ~6 seconds to take a reading, I'll moisten the back of the watch and then it usually works fine. I did the calorie counting thing for awhile and it's neat that it will add your food and subtract your exercise. I also like the recovery mode, where it rates how well your heart recovers from max in a minute. I am 5'2, 120lbs with small wrists and this watch fits nicely. I didn't know anything about my heart rate prior to purchasing this watch, so I also learned how my heart rate was affected by exercise, stress, and caffeine.

Watch is easy to set up. Gives fairly accurate and easily obtained heart rate reading - with the watch on your wrist just press two buttons on opposite sides of watch with the other hand. Easy to enter your data.

Have not tried to use yet as a calorie counter. I believe it will be awkward as you have to enter your caloric intake and I am not certain how your calories burned are calculated.

Right size for smaller wrist. Good looking. Cleverly designed to easily exchange watch bands, but 2nd band included with watch is very, very bright.

Useful, small book with health and weight-loss advise and lists of the calorie count for many foods included.

I wanted this watch for over a year before I purchased it. It had all the features I was looking for, including an interval timer, heart rate monitor, etc. While I love the features and the petite size (fits my tiny wrist), you cannot hear the timer chimes if you have music or even if you are out on a busy street.

My biggest complaint is that the "crystal" seems to be thin, cheap plastic, and I scratched the face the first day. Since then it has become heavily scratched, and I don't think I am particulary hard on it. I would not buy another Mio for this reason.

It seems like many reviewers expected the Mio to take a continuous heart rate while the wearer is exercising -- I knew it did not, and I don't mind checking my heart rate periodically. Unfortunately, twice now (the watch is only 2 weeks old) my Mio has provided heart rates LOWER than my resting heart rate, while I was 15-20 minutes into a high intensity workout. Clearly incorrect. Other times, I held the buttons for the heart rate monitor for nearly a minute (while trying to keep up my pace) with no reading at all. Perhaps it's something I'm doing wrong?! If I can figure it out, I'll be very enthusiastic about the Mio -- I love that it can be customized at the beginning with your own weight, resting heart rate, etc., so that the readouts it gives are more reliable than the generic ones that show on the gym machines. Now if only I could get it to work consistently, every time....

I have large wrists and most women's watches do not fit me but the mio motiva petite does with room! I used it during my workout today and love that I can check (in an instant with out a chest strap)if I am in the correct range for fat burning.