Wahoo Trackr Heart Rate Monitor review

James Witts tests the Wahoo Trackr to see whether it proves to be more accurate than a traditional running or triathlon watch.

Chances are, if you look down at your left or right wrist, you’ll view an affordable, mid-range or premium multisport watch (delete as applicable) that has one evolutionary commonality: the optical heart-rate sensor.

Why use a heart rate monitor?

They’re usable, practical… and imperfect. Why the inaccuracy is down to its heart-rate-measuring method, called photoplethysmography (PPG).

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Essentially, this involves shining light through the skin to read fluctuations in bloodflow, whose results in an exercise scenario can be a little skewed, especially during high-intensity running and its extreme oscillation.

Check out our round-up of the best heart rate monitors for running or triathlon for more inspiration.

A 2019 study published in the Journal of Sport Science found wrist-based accuracy varied between 1 and 13.5%, albeit things have improved in the intervening five years.

That compares to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Medicine and Sport and Exercise, where a chest strap (in this case, the Polar H7) proved to be 99.6% accurate when compared to the gold standard of an ECG (electrocardiogram). The same year, the Journal of American Medical Association Cardiology reported similar with chest straps showing a 99% correlation with an ECG.

It’s why chest straps remain a strong option for many. But woe, why oh why do they always come with those antiquated coin-cell batteries, I hear you lament?

First impressions of the Wahoo Trackr

Well, fear not, as in the form of the Trackr, Wahoo has become the first of the big names to release a rechargeable chest strap. You simply clamp the magnetic charging cable to the base of the sensor and away you go, 100hrs of running time.

That doesn’t stand up to 500hrs of a coin battery, but it does mean the battery door’s dispensed with, ensuring a greater seal from sweat and water than, say, the brand’s Tickr model.

An LED indicator ensures you’re aware of battery status. So, all good. Well, nearly. A bugbear is that the cable’s not universal like USB-C, meaning another cable on top of myriad cables; that said, apparently it’s compatible with Shokz headphones.

It’s waterproof rating is IPX7, so fine for rainy runs and rides but it’s not designed for swimming, though apparently it can cope with 30min submerged in 1m-deep waters.

It’s ANT+ and, the real boon, is Bluetooth compatible for up to three devices. That’s really useful if you’re training indoors and are looking to connect to, say, both Zwift and the Wahoo app on your phone.

Accuracy and comfort

As you’d expect, heart rate accuracy is good. Comfort’s impressive, too, partly due to the sensor, which has shrunk from its elder sibling, the Tickr, and partly from a cosy chest strap. The new side-closure hook’s also an upgrade on previous versions.

Final thoughts

On the downside, it doesn’t store training data or contain advanced features like running dynamics, both of which are seen on the Garmin HRM Pro Plus, albeit this is £40 more at £119.99. Then again, you can’t wash the Garmin in the washing machine, unlike the Trackr. Simply unclip the sensor and pop into your machine to clear potential pongs.

The Trackr chest strap’s reportedly the first in a swather of new sensors from Wahoo under the Trackr name. This has been a solid, if not dramatic, start.

Wahoo Trackr specs