While smartwatches like the Apple Watch may be getting all the attention lately, the hefty price and complexity of these devices makes them “not ready for prime time” for most people, let alone cash-strapped teens. One feature that many of these watches carry is a heart rate monitor, a valuable tool for anyone looking for better health through exercise.
What does a heart rate monitor do? It measures how fast or slow your heart is beating. Why is this important? Because it helps you adjust your activity level to maintain your heart rate in the right range when exercising, which can be important for getting the maximum results without overdoing it. You can read more about the science behind this here.
While the Dakota Heart Rate Monitor won’t talk to you like Siri does, or tell you if you have any text messages, it does do one thing very well: measure your heart rate. We are GIVING ONE AWAY to one lucky winner…but first let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons.
Operation is simple. Just wear the watch, and touch the two big sensors on the face with your index and middle fingers. Within a few seconds, your heart rate will be displayed, and you can record this information in one of 16 memory slots if you want.
We tested a review watch sent to us, and can say it works well and is accurate. While it is marketed as a heart rate monitor, we would say it is really an all-in-one sports watch. At first, the number of features and modes was a bit overwhelming, but reading the manual for a few minutes cleared everything up. Here are some of those features:
- 12/24 hour time modes
- Dual time (ability to quickly switch between two time zones)
- Countdown timer
- Stopwatch with Lap timer
- Alarm
- Ability to store heart rate and lap times
- Exercise mode, which helps you calculate the cumulative calorie consumption and fat burned for workouts
- Personalization with gender, age, weight, height, target calorie consumption, resting heart rate and upper heart rate
- Backlight
- Water resistant to 330 feet
- Anti-static and shock proof 42mm case
Here are some of the cons. Its got somewhat of an 1980s-1990s styling, with some old-school LCD digits and neon accents. If you are into that retro look however, you might find this appealing. Also, the list price of $49.95, while way more affordable than any smartwatch on the market, seems a bit high for the style of this watch. But I guess if you wanted to just make a fashion statement, you probably wouldn’t be looking for a heart rate monitor, right? The last little thing is that you really need to keep your manual handy. There are lots of modes, and remembering how to operate each function takes some time–it’s not a device you just pick up and start using immediately.
Other than those minor things, we recommend this watch for anyone looking for a durable, accurate sports watch with built-in heart monitor. To find out more, visit Dakota Watch Company.
GIVEAWAY!
We are giving away one Dakota Watch Company Heart Rate Monitor!
How to enter:
1. Follow @teenswannaknow on Instagram
2. Post a pic of your favorite exercise. You can enter more than once and increase your chances of winning–each different picture counts as an entry!
3. Mention @teenswannaknow in your description and use the hashtag #TWKgiveaway in each picture posted
4. Winner will be DM’d once selected, and must reply within 48 hours with a mailing address
5. Contest open only to those residing within the United States, as we will only ship to US addresses.
We will pick one random winner from all entries received by 11:59 PM on Thursday July 2nd, 2015. SIMPLE! We’ll also follow you back if you enter and follow all the rules.