The Wahoo TICKR X offers great multi-disciplinary insights

The Wahoo TICKR X is an excellent value heart rate monitor with connectivity options and plenty of smart features.

A great choice for pairing with the best rowing machines, exercise bikes, or frankly any other piece of gym equipment, the Wahoo TICKR X is a smart heart rate monitor offering good connectivity and detailed insights. Here’s how I felt it performed on test, while using it in the gym.

Men’s Fitness verdict

Offering a great depth of insight whether you’re running or cycling, the Wahoo TICKR X is a well-connected, accurate monitor.

Pros

Running and cycling insights 
Good connectivity

Cons

Sensor can be uncomfortable
Not waterproof

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. On this occasion, our expert running gear tester Kieran Alger was tasked with assessing a bunch of the top heart rate monitors on the market, during his regular cardio workouts. While testing each, Kieran made sure to assess all of the major qualities needed from a heart rate monitor: comfort, accuracy, connectivity, and water resistance.

To put it simply, the TICKR X is Wahoo’s most capable heart rate monitor. At 48g, it’s also the lightest chest strap monitor to take part in our group test. The soft strap has a front-fastening clip that’s a little easier to put on than Garmin and Polar straps. However, the plastic of the integrated sensor pod sits right against your skin and is marginally less comfortable than the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus and the Polar H10. 

One of the best heart rate monitors we’ve tested, connectivity is impressive with the option to run simultaneous ANT+ and three concurrent Bluetooth connections. That’s ideal if you want to pair multiple devices such as a watch, bike computer, training app, gym equipment and/or training platform like Peloton or Zwift. Helpful LED lights on the pod show you’re hooked up too.  

Wahoo TICKR X insight features

Like the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus, the TICKR X has a built-in motion sensor that provides runners and riders with extra training insights. For runners there’s form tracking including readouts for cadence, ground contact time and vertical oscillation. The motion sensor also powers an indoor mode for tracking treadmill runs. If you use the Wahoo fitness app, you also get a running smoothness score, a rating of your form efficiency. 

Indoor cyclists get cycling cadence and those running and riding dynamics can be broadcast to compatible smartwatches via ANT+. However, if you’re a Polar user, it won’t share that info with your watch. 

How accurate is the Wahoo TICKR X?

When it comes to accuracy, the TICKR X performs consistently well. It reliably picks up small bursts of increased effort without any rogue spikes. 

The TICKR X  stores up to 50 hours of workout data and you get 500 hours runtime on a single watch-type battery. However, unlike the waterproof Polar H10 and Garmin HRM-Pro Plus, this chest strap is only IPX7 rated, so it’s sweat- and rain-proof but not waterproof. The strap can be hand washed, however. 

What other heart rate monitors should I consider?

We’ve already paid notice to the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus and Polar H10, and for good reason. All in all, those two devices are the highest-quality heart rate monitors on the market, in my opinion. That said, if you’re considering buying from a competitor like Wahoo, you may also like to hear about some of the other less established (but still impressive) rival brands.

The Myzone MZ-Switch, for example, is the definition of impressive. It’s the world’s first combined ECG-style chest strap and optical arm strap HRM device. In practice, that means you can simply chop and change how you wear it depending on each exercise or activity you do, rather than having to make compromises. It is quite pricey as a result, but it’s good at its job. In fact, it even actively makes workouts more fun/competitive, thanks to its community feature. Essentially, your workouts will earn you points to play against everyone else with a MyZone MZ-Switch.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, perhaps you’re strapped for cash and just need a competent heart rate monitor that will do the basics well, without costing you an arm and a leg? If that’s the case, consider giving the Coospo Realzone H9Z a go. Sure, its tracking capabilities are restricted to only BPM, but what it does measure is seemingly just as accurate as its more expensive rivals. While there are no frills, there are still some other perks to mention – like a rechargeable battery, and IPX7 moisture rating.

Weight	1.7oz (48g)
Battery	Non-rechargeable watch-type battery, 500 hour runtime
Features	Running and cycling insights; Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity; LED lighting
Water rating	IPX7