Test of the Runalyzer heart rate sensor for iPhone, iPod and iPad

Whether you are a seasoned athlete or a
more casual amateur who has made the right resolution this back to school
run regularly, there is no shortage of tools on iPhone tofollow
its performance thanks to the integrated GPS. We also had
presented many iPhone applications on this subject in a folder at
find here.
But beyondmonitoring your performancein time and
distance with the tools mentioned above, you will surely be interested in
the possibility ofmonitor your heart rate during
l’effortand to be able to work at the right level to progress. He
There are a few (fairly few) solutions allowingto connect a
cardio belt directly to your iPhone.

As part of the accessory tests regularly offered on iPhon.fr,
today we are testing thekey and cardio belt
Runalyzer, products recently released and offered by a
French company.

These are a sensor labeled “Made for iPhone, iPod and iPad” and a
belt, marketed independently and can be used separately,
which we tried on the country roads. Ahead !

Presentation

The packaging of the transmitter but also of the belt will not surprise
regulars of the apple brand. In fact, the presentation is reminiscent of
Apple's packaging for its iPhones.

A small white box that slides allows you to quickly discover
the transmitter itself. This one looks like a simple cable plug from
slightly longer synchronization (without wire). The connector is protected
by a plastic cover and instructions in French (and English) are provided.
That's all 😉.

In fact, this simple little accessory connected to your iPhone, associated either

to the free software which is available here on the Apple Store, or to one
compatible software (we will come back to this later), will allow you to
a textile cardio belt,detect your heart rate and
transmit it to the iPhone.

Regarding the textile cardio belt, we find in packaging
very similar to both the elastic part which will be placed around the
torso, and the transmitter loop with a button battery for power. There
Another notice in French is attached.

Utilisation

Sensor and application:

Connecting the sensor is childishly simple, in fact it is
from a standard outlet, it plugs like your sync cable into the
port located on the bottom of the iPhone (or iPod or iPad). Once
plugged in, if you have installed the free Runalyzer Utility application
(ici
on the app store), then after a few seconds and as long as you have
a cardio belt (not coded) on you, you cancheck the
synchronisation, which is indicated by a small green icon shaped
socket.

The proposed application is basic, it displays your heart rate
digitally:

and if you rotate the iPhone to landscape format, then it shows a
graph with your heart rate versus time.

But it is not really with this application that you will be able to
improve your running pace and heart rate. For this, he
you will need to use one of the compatible applications. Here is the current list,
knowing that the test was carried out with the applicationRuntastic
Pro:

The list of compatible apps:

Finally, we must mention a very important application, because it concerns what
is best used as a race tracking app (along with a few others like
RunKeeper), namely
Runtastic pro). Indeed, at the start of the tests, the application was
listed in compatible apps, and a few weeks later, writing
the test, it was no longer there. Information taken, some users have
Experienced crashes when using it with the Runalyzer sensor. A
correction with the use of a newer SDK is in progress, but in
In the meantime, the app is no longer listed as officially supported. For my
apart (see below), I have not encountered any problems with it.

Here is the display obtained with Runtastic (blue band at the top, with the
red heart that flashes rhythmically), which also records your
heart rate continuously during exercise.

The sensor was alsotested with a Geonaute belt
and everything worked without problem, knowing that it is announced compatible with
all existing analog cardio belts, coded or not coded
(Polar, Sigma, Wearlink, Mio, Geonaute, Kalenji, Suunto, Domyos, …). Cela
allows you not to repurchase the cardio belt if you already have this type
of equipment.

The belt

The belt sold by Runalyzer is compatible with the sensor but
also with other cardio receptors.

It is powered by a classic button battery, supplied:

It is well designed in the sense that the installation is done quite
easily. In fact, the fabric part that we have taken care to moisten
at the level of the sensors is inserted into the transmitter box on both sides in
clipping together, which ensures electrical contact.

When the adjustable belt is well positioned and captures the beats
heart rate, a red LED display indicates the beats and allows you to check
that everything is working correctly.

Not much more to say except that the product is of course
compatible with the Runalyzer sensor and has also been tested with a watch
cardio Geonaute successfully.

In action

Several runs were carried out to verify that there was no
loss of signal and that the values were consistent with what can be measured
with other belts. No difference appeared between the measurement
carried out with the Runalyzer belt or that of another brand.

No difference to note either between the sensor and the values displayed
on the iPhone compared to the display on a heart rate watch.

During the race, we appreciate with Runtastic being able to memorize the
performance in terms of altitude speed but alsoto display
on the heart rate curves. The most advanced will find there
a good opportunity to improve their effort management.
During the sessions, no visible signal break was detected on the
curves and the measurement is almost immediate when the belt is put in place.
place.

One point that it was not possible to verify is the impact of the sensor on
the autonomy of the iPhone. But it seems that this is negligible, especially in
parallel to the intensive use of GPS, which is very consuming.
But if you are going away for several hours and used to put a
extra battery on the iPhone, unfortunately this is not
compatible with the Runalyzer sensor since it plugs into the socket
recharge.

Conclusion

Here is a communicating accessory for
the iPhone which knows how to be forgotten by its size, which offers compatibility
with many cardio belts, which does exactly what is expected of
him namely relaying the heart rate measured to theapplications
Reliably compatible with iPhone, in other words, one without
mistake !

Even if it is not official for the moment, we appreciate the
compatibility with Runtastic, one of the best apps for runners, which
associated with the Runalyzer sensor becomes a very practical toolfor those
who wish to equip themselves with this type of solution.

having not seenno defects in use, the presentation
or quality, it is quite natural that the Runalyzer sensor receives the
label recommended by
iPhon.fr.

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