Ray Maker on the Heart Rate Sensor of the Beats PowerBeats 2 Pro
Ray Maker, writing at DC Rainmaker: This would not only be the first time Apple has created a non-watch heart rate sensor, but even more notably, the first time the company has enabled heart rate broadcasting over existing Bluetooth heart rate standards. The question then becomes: Is it accurate? Unfortunately, it turns out, that was not the question I should have started with. The real question to start with is: Is the heart rate function (accuracy aside), even usable? A lot of hours later, I have answers to both of those questions. And trust me, it’s a very mixed bag. The answer: It’s clear that any movement (even on a stationary bike) quickly leads to either dropouts or inaccurate heart rate. And outdoors running, it’s even worse. Ultimately, I don’t see any value in the heart rate sensor in this product, because it’s simply not good enough to be useful, even for casual use. So maybe this feature is not soon coming to AirPods? ★
Ray Maker, writing at DC Rainmaker:
This would not only be the first time Apple has created a non-watch heart rate sensor, but even more notably, the first time the company has enabled heart rate broadcasting over existing Bluetooth heart rate standards.
The question then becomes: Is it accurate?
Unfortunately, it turns out, that was not the question I should have started with. The real question to start with is: Is the heart rate function (accuracy aside), even usable? A lot of hours later, I have answers to both of those questions. And trust me, it’s a very mixed bag.
The answer:
It’s clear that any movement (even on a stationary bike) quickly leads to either dropouts or inaccurate heart rate. And outdoors running, it’s even worse. Ultimately, I don’t see any value in the heart rate sensor in this product, because it’s simply not good enough to be useful, even for casual use.
So maybe this feature is not soon coming to AirPods?
