I have been using the HRV4training app for several years now (with phone camera), do you think this sensor (or any other sensor) would provide a better quality of data over the phone camera?
The phone camera can sometimes be a little tricky, depending on how still you hold it, finger at the right location etc. I've also used the Polar H10 in the past, but this gave other issues - strap had to be moist otherwise data was not always good. Maybe the Kyto could provide better data without the issues?
Thanks in advance for your time to answer, and for writing these interesting articles!
I'd give it a try, it's rather inexpensive and seems to work well. Make sure to give it a few weeks as the app needs to re-learn your normal values, since with this sensor the absolute values seem to be slightly lower. But otherwise it is a good option I think, more convenient than the chest strap, and could be more practical than the camera.
Yesterday I also read your recent article about data quality of chest straps, and have a follow up question.
One of the great things of using the camera in the HRV4training app is that you can see the signal, and can easily spot if there is a measurement error. However when using a chest strap this is not available; you 'only' see the HR value, and at the end the app states if the signal was of good quality. This for me makes chest strap data a little harder to trust - which might be unnecessary. If the chest strap is not moist enough, HR values tend to 'stick' at the same value for me, which is not clear when doing the measurement.
Basically what I am asking is: how do I now for certain chest strap data is of good quality? As long as the indication at the end can be trusted, that solves a lot of the practical downsides of the chest strap for me.
I am only using HRV4training for morning measurements.
thank you Tim, these are great considerations. Indeed I also like the camera version because I can see the PPG, which gives me indications on data quality, but also in HRV itself in response to relaxed breathing. The quality check at the end looks specifically for abnormalities in the beat-to-beat timeseries, and should therefore be reliable when using a chest strap as well, despite the more limited feedback during the measurement (i.e. if Optimal quality is reported, it means no abnormalities were detected).
Thanks for taking the time to answer Marco! For now, I will stick to using the camera. The Kyto sensor is not that cheap for me once taxes, shipping etc. are added. But more importantly, taking everything you said into account, I think I will be more consistent with the measurements and take them on more days when using 'just' the camera. So I think that is more valueable to me.
Hi Marco,
Thanks for the interesting article!
I have been using the HRV4training app for several years now (with phone camera), do you think this sensor (or any other sensor) would provide a better quality of data over the phone camera?
The phone camera can sometimes be a little tricky, depending on how still you hold it, finger at the right location etc. I've also used the Polar H10 in the past, but this gave other issues - strap had to be moist otherwise data was not always good. Maybe the Kyto could provide better data without the issues?
Thanks in advance for your time to answer, and for writing these interesting articles!
thanks Tim!
I'd give it a try, it's rather inexpensive and seems to work well. Make sure to give it a few weeks as the app needs to re-learn your normal values, since with this sensor the absolute values seem to be slightly lower. But otherwise it is a good option I think, more convenient than the chest strap, and could be more practical than the camera.
Thanks for the reply Marco!
Yesterday I also read your recent article about data quality of chest straps, and have a follow up question.
One of the great things of using the camera in the HRV4training app is that you can see the signal, and can easily spot if there is a measurement error. However when using a chest strap this is not available; you 'only' see the HR value, and at the end the app states if the signal was of good quality. This for me makes chest strap data a little harder to trust - which might be unnecessary. If the chest strap is not moist enough, HR values tend to 'stick' at the same value for me, which is not clear when doing the measurement.
Basically what I am asking is: how do I now for certain chest strap data is of good quality? As long as the indication at the end can be trusted, that solves a lot of the practical downsides of the chest strap for me.
I am only using HRV4training for morning measurements.
thank you Tim, these are great considerations. Indeed I also like the camera version because I can see the PPG, which gives me indications on data quality, but also in HRV itself in response to relaxed breathing. The quality check at the end looks specifically for abnormalities in the beat-to-beat timeseries, and should therefore be reliable when using a chest strap as well, despite the more limited feedback during the measurement (i.e. if Optimal quality is reported, it means no abnormalities were detected).
Thanks for taking the time to answer Marco! For now, I will stick to using the camera. The Kyto sensor is not that cheap for me once taxes, shipping etc. are added. But more importantly, taking everything you said into account, I think I will be more consistent with the measurements and take them on more days when using 'just' the camera. So I think that is more valueable to me.
Thanks and keep up your good work!