Not everyone wants to place a heart-rate monitor on their chest or wrist. Sometimes you want a meaty sensor, something that won’t drain your battery and something that also carries your phone using a system of magnets that keeps your phone safe from harm. Sometimes you want the Shapeheart.
I saw the Shapeheart last week. Basically it’s a very usable, very clever heart-rate monitor that works with almost any health app on Android and iOS. It has a built-in heart-rate sensor that works on the meatier part of your arm. It lasts for 25 hours on one charge and is removable.
The coolest thing is the magnetic phone attachment. You place your phone in a case and then snap it to the armband. This means you can keep the phone in the case and just slap it onto the armband as necessary, a boon if you exercise with any regularity. Their goal is to raise $38,000 on Kickstarter, and have already hit $24,000. They expect to ship in November. Early birds pay $64 for the unit.
It’s a clever idea and a nice design and, as an avid runner, I find the unit’s ability to sense my heart rate through my doughy, soft, forearm flab is a benefit.
