Polar h10 and Series 3

So I just bought an H10 a few days ago. I had the same questions and couldn't find good answers. Here is my experience...

Hardware:

• iPhone X
• Series 3 Nike Apple Watch
• Polar H10
• Precore Treadmill (will be relevant)

When I got the H10 I downloaded the Polar Beat app to pair the sensor with the phone. I then opened bluetooth on the watch and could see the H10 under "health devices" so I paired there as well. I also installed the Polar Beat Apple Watch app because I wanted to check that out. My first exercise with the H10 I did through the Polar Beat app. Heart rate readings were consistent and accurate (more so than the Apple Watch during hard running...not a hardware issue, this is just anatomy/physiology in action). The nice thing about the Polar sensor is that my heart rate also appeared on the treadmill (I think this is the ANT+ capability...again, relevant in a minute). What was frustrating is the Polar Beat app doesn't, apparently, use the Apple workout API; they try to go their own and it was buggy in documenting my run. It failed to capture distance, steps, etc as part of the workout (though the watch captured them in general).

My next workout I used the Apple workout app. I wanted to see what happened...I was not expecting the H10 to work. But alas, I was surprised. Where I would normally get erratic heart rates and/or greyed out numbers on the watch, I got consistent and seemingly accurate readings. This, coupled with the fact that the exact same readings were appearing on the treadmill, lead me to believe that when there is an external heart rate monitor paired with the watch and active, that the Apple Watch defers to that for readings (which is awesome).

My next test will be to turn off my phone and see if the watch captures the workout and uses the H10 with no phone present; my confidence level is high because of the former results and that I can see the H10 paired directly with the watch.

Very sorry. Yes I did and it works. I've also gone so far as to totally uninstall the Polar apps and the watch connects to the heart rate sensor as a "health device" even without the apps installed; though then you can't manage the sensor from your phone (but it just demonstrates that you don't need the Polar app to use the sensor).

I did it successfully with absolutely the same hardware.

But with FITIV Pulse APP.

Before starting workout you should connect H10 to AW (it should not be connected to iPhone).

Then you can leave your phone. After workout everything will be perfectly synchronised.

Hope it helps.

Hello,

You may have found the answer to your question but in case you haven’t...

I have to manually connect my Polar H10 to my Apple Watch (Series 2) each time I put on the H10. I do this on the watch, under settings. (I have not yet downloaded the Polar app.) Having said that, once I put on the H10 and have connected it to my watch, I can do multiple workouts on the watch without having to reconnect the H10 to the watch each time. Basically, it stays connected until I take the H10 off.

I just tried that same sequence (series 3). Pairing it was not that hard (although it initially did require that I turn bluetooth off on my phone). The bigger issue I am finding is that the connection seems to randomly disconnect. I don't understand why. Sometimes during the exercise session, I look at the connection and the Polar H10 shows up - but as 'not paired' .. I read elsewhere (Reddit) to put the apple watch in 'power saving mode' under workouts to turn off the watch's HR monitor so it will use the Polar HRM exclusively. Haven't gotten a chance to try that yet but others say it works better that way. Apparently, it uses Bluetooth LE which seems less reliable. Maybe if it has a 'gap' in reading HR, it reverts back to the watch sensor if it's on and dumps the H10?? In any case, it's a pain because during HiiT or Weight workouts, the watch sensor itself is often random and unreliable in its readings. I was hoping the Polar would solve that issue. More work to do.

PS. I also use a Fitbit Ionic for other reasons. That seems to overestimate HR sometimes but is more reliable than the Apple Watch at reading HR without a chest strap. These things seem to work best if all you do is run or cycle .. maybe swim. If you do anything that drives fast HR changes, they drop in reliability dramatically.

I was actually just searching the google box for this very same issue. I used to use a Wahoo Tickr and the same "Not connected" under Health Devices would happen to me. Only, with the Tickr it would actually unpair. I recently changed to a Polar H10 and am currently running a test for this concern.

1. I've enabled Power Saving Mode on the Apple Watch to disable the HRM during run workouts.

2. I've "paired" my H10 with the watch as a Health Device.

3. I've put on the chest strap, opened the Runkeeper Apple Watch app and began a run.

4. The Apple Watch is sitting on the charger and not on my wrist and I can confirm the HRM is off.

5. The Runkeeper Apple Watch app ran for 20 minutes with my HR displayed in real time.

6. During this time, the H10 became "not connected" yet remained connected and actively broadcasted my HR.

7. During the "not connected" periods, I began to breathe very heavily spiking my HR to confirm the H10 was still in fact collecting HR data.

It seems as though the concern we are experiencing is some type of WatchOS bug. I can also confirm that I have, on several occasions, put on the H10 and just started a workout trusting the apple watch would connect automatically. The results of those workouts would appear as though the chest strap worked as expected with consistent HR data.

Hope this helps!

Here is the results of my test above...

I start Polar Beat from the watch with the phone nearby. I then leave the house leaving the iphone behind. In about 30seconds the time stops and heart rate stays fixed at the last measured rate. When you arrive back at the house the timing of your exercise time catches up on your watch. But no measure of heart rate etc.

Hopefully I can resolve this.

But you need the app for the sensor firmware updates

Any idea if you can leave the apple watch in your bag across the gym, use the H10 monitor, and have it sync after a workout? I'm interested in this for certain crossfit activities that wouldn't be safe to do with a watch on (for me or the watch!).

Thanks in advance!

I have a related query. I previously used a Polar H7 - I connected the device once and then every time I put it on the Apple Watch automatically recognized it and I never had to fiddle with the Bluetooth settings.

With the H10 it seems slightly different; when I put it on and look under "Bluetooth" on my Apple watch it always shows up as "unpaired" until I click on it and then it shows "connected" (it never says "paired", only "connected"). It works fine but I would expect it to automatically connect like it did with the H7 so I don't have to manually reconnect it every time.

I'd like to know if anyone else has this issue or has a resolution for it. I have updated the H10 firmware to 2.1.9 which I believe is the latest version.

I am having exactly this problem. I've gone through two Wahoo TICKRs and one Polar H10. They all connect just fine, but then drop the connection or even unpair after a few minutes. The HR data seem to continue to be recorded some of the time, but not all of the time. I do have workouts where the HR data are missing. The one thing I haven't tried is using the HR straps only with the Wahoo and Polar apps, respectively. I've been using Apple's exercise app and a few third-party apps that I like better. Maybe the straps don't like other apps.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Did you try to turn off the iPhone and could you see the H10‘s reading on the Apple Watch?

This would help a lot. 😊

Wow, thanks very much for the quick reply! Sounds awesome 🙂

Awesome! Thanks. Good to know the watch could be bypassed for certain activities.

Does your H10 connect to your Apple Watch automatically every time you put it on or do you have to go to the bluetooth settings on your watch and connect it each time?