Scosche IPTM myTREK - Wireless Pulse Monitor

• Work out from up to 33 ft away from your device.
• Control music from the armband while you work out.
• No bulky chest straps or wires.
• Wirelessly connects to iPod or iPhone.
• Audio prompts for real-time feedback while you work out.

My needs are fairly simple....I have tried (and liked) several of the Polar and Timex monitors that require chest straps. But this device is slick....especially becuase it links with an iphone app--and I was using the iphone for music on my workouts and/or for gps on outdoor walking, etc.

However, the Scosche Mytrek app is horrible....inconsistent, doesn't work, requires my iphone to be rebooted, etc. But there is an app, Digifit, that recogizes the device and works great. I use it every day. Haven't fully compared every feature of the two apps, but it's kind of a moot point as my needs are pretty basic, and the Digifit works great, and works and plays well with other apps (especially when multitasking). Without the Digitfit app, I probably would rate the device a 1 rather than a 4.

Only downsides are that the device needs to be chaged between uses, and overall the iphone battery life is an issue when using this (and iphone criticism, not a Scosche criticism!) If you're using the app, GPS, listening to music, occassionally surfing the net while working out, etc. it really runs the battery down quickly,

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The hardware is good and measuring heart rate seems accurate; unfortunately, the MyTrek software is horrible.

There is an alternative compatible software, Digifit, mentioned on the Scosche website and mentioned in another review, which is excellent. Even though I had to pay a couple of bucks for Digifit, the combination makes it solid heart rate monitor solution for me.

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I bought this device to help monitor my heart rate for my daily jogs. While the hardware itself is fairly adequate, the iPhone software is woefully lacking. After loading the Scosche app for the first time, the app promptly failed without warning and spontaneously quit. I rebooted my phone many times and paired/unpaired the device without success. The only workaround I found was to delete the app and reinstall it, which gave the app one more life until it went into a crazy crashing cycle all over again.

I'm giving the hardware 4 stars, and the overall package a 3 star rating because there's a perfectly good workaround to these problems: Digifit. Digifit is a nice dashboard that aggregates workout data from a variety of sensors including pedometers and heart rate monitors. So far, I've been pretty happy with using the MyTrek band as a sensor and Digifit as the accompanying software solution.

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I have been getting back into running for a while now and using the app Nike+ GPS. I got the Scosche myTREK because I liked the idea of getting more info than Nike+ GPS provides like my heart rate and calories burned. I must say this product is amazing. Scosche does a great job of providing everything you need in the box and then some, including 3 different size straps. The unit is small and you can barely feel it. The set up is very easy and the app is very easy to use. I found I was actually burning way more calories on my runs than Nike+ GPS was estimating. I highly recommend this great product!

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Background:

I'm a technology guy who runs long distances. I wanted a heart-rate monitor to tell when I'm overheating in the summer. (It's hard to monitor body temperature, but when you get too hot, your heartrate spikes). I had a Polar chest band system, which worked well but I really hated running with the tight chest band.

What this is:

It is an armband that goes on the thick part of your forearm NOT your wrist. It shines green light onto the hairless part of your arm and uses the reflection to determine when your heart beats. The device does NOT have a display. You need an iPhone to view your heartrate. The charger plugs into a USB slot it does NOT plug into a wall socket. It DOES use bluetooth to talk to your iPhone, so you don't need to plug anything into your iPhone to make it work.

iPhone & App:

I have an old 3GS. I used the Digifit app, based on the recommendations here. The app ("Digifit iCardio Multi-sport Heart Rate...") is free, but it costs $3 to have it connect to the Scorsche myTREK.

Setup:

I had no problem charging the device. It connected easily to Digifit. It took a while to understand the armband there are two different straps included to fit different size forearms. I use the smaller one and it is almost too large. (And I'm a 200 lb. guy who boxes...) In Digifit, you want to press "Workout" NOT "Quick Start". "Workout" has the good features "Quick Start" is for people who didn't pay $3. I did have to enable bluetooth on my iPhone. (I had disabled it to save battery.)

Experience:

Overall, it's okay. It seems to take a while for the device to "lock on" to your actual heartrate. It often says 72 at startup, when my non-workout heartrate is less than that. After a while, it gets it right. I don't think the software handles changing heartrates well, but it does get the steady ones right. The graph of heartrates when I went for a 10 mile run was what I expected.

The Digifit app has some problems. It claimed that my 10 mile run was 13 miles. When ran by the reservoir in Central Park, the app somehow thought I jumped to the opposite side of the water. And then jumped back again. There was another jump somewhere in the run, but I made two rounds of a loop and the app couldn't show those loops on the map separately.

I don't like that I have to get the phone out just to check my heartrate. It also takes 3-4 seconds for the phone to unlock and for the app to wake up. (It's a 2 year old phone, but this is slower than any other app except the camera.) Given this and that the device takes time to "lock on to" a changed heart-rate, I'm not sure how useful for checking for extreme heart rates.

Using Digifit and the device does chew up phone battery. It used up 80% of my battery in 2hrs and 15 minutes.

One thing I did like about the Digifit app is that it recorded my max heartrate and shows all numbers as a percentage of that.

The armband is comfortable and light. I forget it is there when I'm running, which never happens with the Polar chest strap!

Conclusion:

If you want to track your average heartrate through a workout, and have an iPhone with you, and won't go so long as to run out the battery on your iPhone, and don't need to move your arms heavily, this is a comfortable solution. Much more pleasant than a chest strap.

I think it's an okay "version 1.0". It has its faults, but it's much more comfortable than a chest strap for runners, bikers, etc. I wish it had its own heartrate display. I wish it was better at calculating the current heartrate. I wish the Digifit app used less battery and handled distance better. These few things better would make a solid "version 2.0" product.