Best heart rate monitors for indoor cycling: what to look for and a sourced shortlist
Indoors, a heart-rate strap has one job: a stable, dropout-free Bluetooth signal to the phone running your trainer. These are the specifications that decide it, and the current models that meet them.
Ole BirkelandFounder, Cadexa
- Published
- 25 Oct 2026
- 1 min read
AI-generated imageDemonstration content. This article was created to show how the platform works. Specifications are manufacturer claims gathered from public pages and have not been independently verified; nothing here reflects hands-on testing by Cadexa.
Guide · Compared using manufacturer specifications and documented sources, not physical testing. How we work.
What matters indoors
- Bluetooth, because the phone has no ANT+. Every strap here declares it.
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections. A strap that accepts only one Bluetooth client cannot feed a phone app and a watch at the same time. Two or three connections solve it.
- ANT+ as well, for the day you add a head unit or a desktop app.
- Sensor type. Chest straps measure the heart’s electrical signal and respond within a beat or two; optical sensors read blood flow and lag during sharp changes. For intervals, chest wins; for comfort, optical wins.
- Battery. Coin cells last months and are swapped in a minute; rechargeable sensors need a cable but never a shop.
Selection criteria
Current models, Bluetooth declared, at least two Bluetooth connections or ANT+ in addition to Bluetooth, from manufacturers with published specifications. Ordered by connection count, then by sensor type. Specification comparison only; we have not bench-tested these straps against each other.
Chest straps
Polar
H10
- Sensor type
- ECG chest strap
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 2
- ANT+
- Yes
Garmin
HRM-Pro Plus
- Sensor type
- ECG electrode chest strap
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 3
- ANT+
- Yes
Optical armbands
Polar
Verity Sense
- Sensor type
- optical (PPG) with accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 2
- ANT+
- Yes
Budget
COOSPO
H6
- Sensor type
- chest-strap electrode sensor (COOSPO page markets a '2nd generation' HR algorithm)
- ANT+
- Yes
- Battery life (claimed)
- 300 h
Side by side
A note on the Cadexa app
Cadexa reads any Bluetooth heart-rate sensor, including a watch set to broadcast heart rate. It keeps three numbers apart on purpose: your estimated maximum, your observed peak, and any alert you or a clinician chose. The strap only has to deliver a clean signal.
Products recommended in this guide
Polar
H10
ECG chest strap with on-board memory and Bluetooth plus ANT+.
- Sensor type
- ECG chest strap
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 2
- ANT+
- Yes
Garmin
HRM-Pro Plus
Dual-protocol strap with three Bluetooth connections declared.
- Sensor type
- ECG electrode chest strap
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 3
- ANT+
- Yes
Polar
Verity Sense
Optical armband for riders who dislike chest straps.
- Sensor type
- optical (PPG) with accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 2
- ANT+
- Yes
Alternatives worth considering
COOSPO
H6
Budget strap with both protocols.
- Sensor type
- chest-strap electrode sensor (COOSPO page markets a '2nd generation' HR algorithm)
- ANT+
- Yes
Wahoo Fitness
TICKR FIT
Optical armband alternative.
- Sensor type
- optical armband
- Concurrent Bluetooth connections
- 1
About the author
Ole BirkelandFounder, Cadexa
Builds the Cadexa indoor-cycling app in Bergen, Norway, which means living inside the Bluetooth FTMS specification and watching how trainers actually respond to it. Writes the technology explainers and runs the compatibility tests.