I've been happy with my Vivoactive HR, in tracking workout hr and giving me an idea of resting hr day to day... but my expectation is not medical-grade accuracy.

I think the Fitbits and Garmins are probably equivalent and pretty good. I have had a Fitbit Charge 2 since announced last year, and have found that very good. I just got an Alta HR last week, and I like it more. I would have bought the Garmin tracker, but everyone else I know is in the Fitbit universe. These area great, because they have long battery life and they are small enough to wear 24/7. The Alta is a little better than the Charge 2 in both categories.

I do not like the Apple Watch for its HRM performance. I have one of those too. Apple does not continuously capture HR like Garmin and FB, so it gets less frequent readings and has more anomalous readings. Also, the battery on the AW precludes it from effective 24/7 use.

Please keep in mind that (as mentioned above) some 24/7 HR trackers do not constantly record, because it is not necessary for most people. Additionally, those that do may be moody and not track as accurately as a chest strap.
So, the big question is: how good does it need to perform to track these 'health issues'? I would not trust any of these to act as a medical device. For that, you want something bulky and grey with little stickers and wires. If it is just tracking broadstrokes HR through the day, find one that tracks as often as she requires.

The top ranked are by Valencell. My initial testing is supporting this as well. That would be Suunto watches, with the Apple Watch doing quite well as well. Garmin is not there yet...

I highly recommend the AliveCor. It won't track thru the day but it will show you exactly electrically what is going on with your heart rate. As a pacemaker rep for a longtime I understand all electrical rhythms but it isn't hard to learn. Using HRM and Optical are no good IMO as I can't trust the data. I am planning on doing a write-up but I haven't got to it.

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Hello Toefuzz and All,

Worth noting that optical HR readouts and electrical HR readouts may differ in the same time frame for individuals with heart anomalies.

I use the Scosche optical HR monitor (with Garmin Fenix watch) and have good results for some training ... mainly indoors .... and the chest strap for outdoor training.

Sometimes .... before I got a pacemaker .... my chest straps (Polar, Garmin, Wahoo Tickr X) would show double the HR of my pulse (manually checked - finger on wrist -timed) ... and sometimes moving the chest strap above my nipples would provide a HR electrical readout the match actual pulse.

The electrical nerve impulses to fire the heart muscle occasionally come too close together and the heart does not respond and just skips .... even though the electrical impulses are sensed and recorded by the chest strap.

In contrast the optical pulse monitors record each heart beat that provides a pulse.

Two different measurements ...

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...uetooth-optical.html

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster