Home > Consumer Reviews > Mio Drive Heart Rate Monitor Watch

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 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 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.