Innovative new Polar Verity Sense reads heart rate from arm or temple

Polar has launched its “next generation” heart rate monitor, the Verity Sense. Using an optical sensor, the Verity Sense can measure your heart rate from the arm or temple, offering - according to Polar - increased “versatility beyond chest straps or wrist-based devices.”

The Finnish-based company has over 40 years of expertise in wearable sports technology, with a wider ecosystem including smart watches, head units and various other heart rate monitors.

The tech

Features include an increased battery life – now lasting up to a claimed 20 hours – and a larger internal memory that can now store up to 600 hours of training data. This means it’s not necessary to connect the Verity Sense to a head unit or phone in order to record heart rate data.

Although heading out with a heart rate monitor but no head unit might be a rather uncommon situation for most cyclists, this capability does stand to be useful for tracking your performance in strength and conditioning sessions or even track cyclists, where a computer can't be attached within the field of view.

Naturally at this point, data can be transmitted over both Bluetooth and ANT+ protocols, so connectivity with all your devices shouldn’t be a problem. You can sync your data from sessions recorded by the Verity Sense with the Polar Flow app, which can push the sessions to the major training platforms, such as Strava and TrainingPeaks – amongst others.

In using an optical sensor to measure your heart rate, the Verity Sense does not need to be moistened in order for it to work – a feature especially useful on cold winter days when you’re more likely to shiver than perspire.

Interestingly for triathletes, the sensor is waterproof up to 50 meters and can be mounted on a set of goggles against your temple. With this setup, you’re able to track your heart rate, pace and distance travelled when putting in laps in the pool.

There are two sizes available, XS–S which has a 15–22cm band and M–XXL which comes with a 22–34cm band. UK pricing is £79.50.