Wahoo Trackr heart rate monitor

The new Wahoo Trackr is a great improvement over the outgoing Tickr heart rate model – or certainly mine, anyway (though maybe I've just been unlucky). It's reliable, very well made and the rechargeable battery is a massive improvement for the product category as a whole – though it would have been nice to see a standard USB-C cable used here rather than a new proprietary charging cable.

Check out our guide to the best heart rate monitors for more options at various prices.

The Trackr features a standard adjustable strap, removable sensor with an IPX7 waterproof rating and, most importantly, a fully rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a claimed 100 active hours of battery life. The device feels a lot more solid than the previous Tickr heart rate monitor – it's well constructed with no visible ports or seams where sweat could get in, and the strap is well made too, with well-sealed sensor strips that don't feel like they'll peel off over time.

The Trackr performed almost faultlessly. I had one dropout, lasting for about 30 minutes, which I think was the battery dying. Aside from that, the data provided seemed reliable and it tracked well with my perceived exertion.

It was always quick to connect once my Wahoo Elemnt Roam V2 was turned on, and aside from that one dropout I had absolutely no issues in well over 100 hours of riding.

The strap has its own buckle to secure it to your chest, and the pod then clips on separately – as opposed to previous Wahoo heart rate monitors where the pod clicking onto the strap secures each end together. With my Tickr model, having to clip and unclip the pod every time I took the unit off and on felt clunky, so in theory this new design should reduce strain on the unit while also slightly improving the comfort of the strap.

The pod having a rechargeable battery means there's no battery opening – which is just one less thing to go wrong and will no doubt increase durability. The charge port at the bottom of the pod is exposed and has no cover, but given how small it is I can imagine a rubber cover would break off long before the usable life of the Trackr came to an end – so perhaps omitting this in the first instance is a good decision. It's a shame the cable provided is a proprietary design, though; I would have liked to see a USB-C charger here instead.

At £79.99 it's not a cheap option – it's more expensive than Polar's H9 (now £56.50) and 4iiii's Viiiiva (now £49.99) – but it's a little less than Polar's H10 (£86.50) and a lot less than the Garmin HRM Pro Plus (£119.99).

Conclusion

I had basically given up with heart rate monitors before the Trackr came along. Dave reviewed the Tickr back in 2020 and thought it was excellent, and David rated the Tickr X, so maybe I've just been unlucky, but my experience with both was that they'd worked OK for a few months before failing and no longer providing reliable data. The Trackr shows no signs of stopping after a solid 100 hours or so of testing, and has restored my faith!

Verdict

Excellent heart rate monitor, and great to finally see one with a rechargeable battery