Best Heart Rate Monitors (2026): Polar, Coros, Garmin
Best All-Round Polar H10 Read more $105 $77 (27% off) Amazon Best for Running Garmin Forerunner 970 Read more $750 Amazon Best for Swimming Form Smart Swim 2 Pro Read more $299 Backcountry Best for Garmin Users Garmin HRM 600 Read more $170 REI Getting your pulse taken only once a year at the doctor's office is a thing of the past.
Nowadays, the best heart rate monitors are cheap, comfortable, and ubiquitous.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money, or even leave your home, to check your heart rate during exercise or at rest.
Even the cheapest fitness tracker boasts a heart rate monitor these days, and sensors are popping up all over the place, with smartwatches, chest straps, arm straps, and even headphones squeezing one in.
Not all are built equally.
Some are more comfortable to wear, they vary in the metrics they offer, and some are more accurate than others.
Whether you’ve been prompted to keep closer tabs on your ticker due to health concerns or you need a better sense of how hard you’re really pedaling in your Peloton-powered pain cave, these are the heart rate monitors that deliver where it matters.
Right now, the best heart rate monitor is the Polar H10 ($85) , but the best armband is the Coros heart rate monitor ($79) .
Be sure to check out the rest of our health and fitness guides , like the Best Walking Pads , Best Gravel Running Shoes , and the Best Smart Rings .
Updated March 2026: We added the Garmin Forerunner 970, the Apple Watch Series 11, and the Form Smart Swim 2 Pro smart goggles.
We also updated links and prices.
A chest strap remains the most accurate way to track your heart rate for exercise, putting an EKG sensor closest to your heart.
The Polar H10 is the standout here.
That’s because Polar has replaced the typical loop-and-hook connector found on most monitors with a buckle-style connector to reduce irritation.
The company also uses small silicone dots to make sure the strap stays put during high-intensity activities so the HR data is still good.
