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Zephyr Technology’s HxM heart rate and cadence sensor has been an important tool in my arsenal for several months now. It consistently provides the quality data I need and it proves mHealth (Mobile Health concept) works well in Android. Zephyr’s available HxM SDK is being used by more and more developers to add the HxM’s unique functionality into their apps, allowing developers to incorporate the HxM how they see fit while giving consumers the flexibility to use the HxM with any mobile/app combination they want. In fact, no two apps or consumers may use the HxM is exactly the same manner. One dev may decide that only heart rate data is enough, while another includes heart rate stats to a caloric expenditure algorithm. Not every app takes advantage of the HxM’s cadence data, yet some use it to approximate indoor training distances or stride efficiency. It’s all up to the dev how the data gets used for their particular application package, with end-users ultimately benefiting from a range of apps to choose from to suit their needs. Zephyr’s use of standard Bluetooth here is also an asset, considering Bluetooth’s global ubiquity and giving mHealth its widest reach.

While the HxM is one of the best and most versatile sports accessories to own, Zephyr’s flagship product, named BioHarness, sets a new benchmark in the mHealth concept. Referred to as a “lab on a strap”, it provides a wireless link to several critical points of physiological interest. Heart rate, skin temperature, breath rate and posture simultaneously stream over Bluetooth to remote monitoring systems, used for everything from personal fitness tracking in controlled environments, to the tracking of entire first-responder teams in hazardous ones.

For example, in Chile recently where trapped miners captured the world’s attention while awaiting an incredibly sophisticated rescue operation, Zephyr Technology was called upon to monitor the miners’ vitals using BioHarnesses. Each miner took turns wearing one of several monitors throughout the rescue which provided real-time physiological data to tactical teams on the surface. Medical evaluations and responses were subsequently made and better dispensing of medical prescription down to the miners became possible. This was an awesome validation for the BioHarness thanks to its precision, adaptability and perhaps most importantly, mobility. Fortunately, all the miners surfaced in good condition with one emerging fit enough to run in the New York City Marathon just a few days later.

When I asked Zephyr if I could test a BioHarness for a RunningDigital review, I had planned to cover it with a similar approach as the HxM review I wrote back in June. You know, open the box, rate the quality of the hardware, try it out, take some pictures, make some app recommendations and write it up. Since then, Zephyr supplied me with BioHarness case-studies, abstracts, validation articles and news media to pour over while I awaited delivery of a test unit here in Sweden. What I discovered was that this is one of the most thoughtfully engineered and researched mobile products available today. What’s more, the BioHarness works without compromise over a broad spectrum of application, providing data in the field only possible before with static equipment in a lab. Remote vitals monitoring; Remember that.

I’ve now been using the BioHarness every day for a month and can say what’s most forward in my mind is: I need to buy this test unit, period. In a single word: Fantastic. Indeed if you’re thinking of adopting, or already have, the concept of mHealth into your fitness or safety-monitoring ecosystems, and especially if you own an Android device, Zephyr’s BioHarness completes the picture in a way no other product or combination thereof can. With it you can extract data previously possible only in labs to analyze and prove your training plan.

Wearing the BioHarness is comfortable for extended periods of time if required. The sensor module is understandably larger than any I’ve seen before but it’s well placed and completely unobtrusive. Like the HxM, the BioHarness contains a rechargeable power supply that seems to last forever. I kept mine topped off between uses, but a two hour trail run only saw a 12% drop in battery level determined via a mobile application graphic. Nearly all of the monitoring I’ve done thus far has been with SportsTrackLive.com’s SportsTracker Pro Android app. Zephyr also offers a nearly complete (Beta) Android app of their own called OmniSense. With it you can monitor up to seven BioHarness-wearing subjects within Bluetooth range. My BioHarness works better than any other soft strap heart rate monitor I’ve previously owned, exceeding my expectations throughout form and function. I really don’t want to perform a single workout again without it, so… I will begin publishing a series of BioHarness followup posts. Next week I’ll share my visit to Bosön, a professional sports complex of the Swedish Sports Confederation and training home to our national teams and athletes. In other words, I had access to all the traditional physiological monitoring equipment needed to test the precision of the BioHarness against.


Wrapping up this segment, there simply isn’t anything on the market that can do what the BioHarness does. It goes beyond any other heart rate monitor, offering what amounts to a portable physical statistics lab. For athletes, rescue personell or homebound patients, the BioHarness provides solutions never seen before and makes a brilliant case for the future of mHealth.

*The folks at Zephyr have issued a special 5% discount code for readers of RunningDigital. Copy and paste RunningDigitalBHBT into the appropriate field when ordering. Click here to order.