Polar Verity Sense vs H10 vs OH1 (2022): Comparing Heart Rate Sensors

The Polar Verity Sense heart rate monitor is the successor to the popular Polar OH1, coming in with a ton of welcome improvements and additions. It’s up there among the brand’s top-rated HR sensors such as the Polar H10 and H9, but instead of ECG, it uses an optical sensor to measure heart rate.

Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages over the others, but we’ll mainly look at the Verity Sense and the H10 here, as well as how the OH1 fits in the picture with the new iteration around.

Polar Verity Sense vs H10 vs OH1 Comparison Chart

Model	Polar Verity Sense	Polar H10	Polar OH1
Price	Check Price at Amazon.com	Check Price at Amazon.com	Check Price at Amazon.com
Heart Rate Measurement Type	Optical	ECG	Optical
Placement	Arm, temple	Chest	Arm, temple
Water Resistance	Up to 50m	Up to 30m	Up to 30m
Swimming Mode	Yes	No	No
Battery Life	Up to 30 hours	Up to 400 hours	Up to 12 hours
USB Rechargeable	Yes	No	Yes
Storage	16MB, up to 600 hours of data	1 training session	4MB, up to 200 hours of data
Connectivity	Bluetooth, ANT+	Bluetooth, ANT+	Bluetooth, ANT+
Transmission Range	150m	5m	75m
Multidevice Connection	Up to 2 devices	Up to 2 devices	No
Weight	Sensor: 5g Armband: 12g Goggle strap clip: 2g	Connector: 21g Strap: 39g	Sensor: 5g Armband: 12g Goggle strap clip: 3.5g

Ease of Use

The Polar Verity Sense and OH1 lets you work out right away, while the H10 needs moisture first before it starts reading your heart rate.

First off, the Polar Verity Sense and the OH1 can both be worn on either the arm or the temple via a goggle clip, which is meant for swimming. Meanwhile, the Polar H10 is worn around the chest. Arguably, armbands are less intrusive, and for some people, wearing a chest strap while training may be uncomfortable, not to mention that it may slip off when things get intense. Your mileage may vary, of course. 

Besides accuracy, another key difference between ECG and optical sensors is the former needs some form of moisture before it can get a reading of your heart rate. The latter doesn’t. In other words, you’ll have to work up a sweat or wet the H10 with water first. On the other hand, you can start training right away with the Verity Sense or OH1, and if nothing else, that’s more convenient.

Now the Verity Sense lasts up to 30 hours and the OH1 up to 12 hours, which is among the improvements the newer model has over its predecessor. Unlike the H10, they’re both USB rechargeable, so you won’t have to worry about replacing their batteries. But in the H10’s defense, it can go up to 400 hours with a single CR2025 coin cell.

All three HR sensors have integrated memory too, meaning you can train without having to take a smartphone or something along those lines. The Verity Sense can record up to 600 hours of workout data and the OH1 up to 200 hours, while the H10 can only handle one training session at a time.

Performance

The Polar H10 is more accurate than the Verity Sense and OH1.

To reiterate, the Polar Verity Sense and OH1 use optical heart rate sensors and the H10 uses ECG. In general, ECG gives more accurate readings than optical counterparts. That’s more or less the case here since the H10 can handle spikes better, but otherwise, the Verity Sense and OH1 deliver a fairly equal performance.

That isn’t too surprising since the tried-and-tested OH1 is regarded as one of the most accurate optical HR sensors around, even beating other chest strap counterparts in the market. Moreover, the Verity Sense’s sensor is basically the same as the OH1’s, which is a good thing. For the record, the H10 and H9 are pretty much the same too, but only the former has onboard storage that’ll let you train without a connected device.

Building on the OH1’s 75m broadcast range, the Verity Sense doubles the amount to 150m. That’s made possible thanks to its new strap that has an integrated antenna slash signal booster. In this regard, the H10 doesn’t really compare with its 5m transmission range.

Features

The Polar Verity Sense has more features than the OH1 and H10.

Of the three, only the Polar Verity Sense has a swimming mode, allowing you to track not only your heart rate but also your pace and distance. It has the highest water resistance too, capable of surviving depths of up to 50m. That’s not to say that the OH1 and H10 can’t be used for swimming, though. They can also accurately measure heart rate in water, and they have the same water resistance of up to 30m.

Connectivity-wise, they’re essentially on equal footing in that they have Bluetooth and ANT+ support. However, only the Verity Sense and the H10 can simultaneously connect to two devices.

Verdict

As optical heart rate sensors, the Polar Verity Sense is better than the OH1, and while it isn’t as accurate as the H10, it isn’t lagging that far behind in performance and comes with more features.

Polar Verity Sense

Polar H10

All things considered, our recommendation is the Polar Verity Sense because of its flexibility and ease of use, as well as perks like a dedicated swimming mode and 30-hour battery life. However, the Polar H10 is a close second because of its granular accuracy and ability to take sudden bursts in intensity into account—that is, if you don’t mind wearing a chest strap.

When it comes to the Polar Verity Sense vs OH1, they’re practically the same, but the former has a longer battery life and broadcast range, bigger storage space and features like multi-device support. Put differently, if those improvements don’t matter to you, then upgrading to the newer iteration from the Polar OH1 isn’t worthwhile. After all, it tracks heart rate with similar accuracy. However, there’s no reason to pick the OH1 over the Verity Sense if you don’t own either one.

FAQs