GarminHRM-600, Premium Heart Rate Monitor, HRV data,Running Dynamics, Steps, Calories, Speed, Distance, Rechargeable battery,Record & sync data without a watch, machine washable strap, Size M-XL

I think this is my 4th or 5th heart rate monitor, and by far the most expensive, build quality seems good, it's charged with standard Garmin charger so shares same as my fenix watch (which is good). I like the way the strap works as compared to cheaper models from other manufacturers, HR seems to align well with my watch and is comfortable to wear...so far so good, let's see how long it lasts, typically these things don't last more than a year with me :(.

Works really well, definitely an improvement on previous versions.

Very disappointed when removing the strap to wash which resulted in the monitor screws staying i the strap and not being able to be re-attached. Have returned the item direct to Garmin who are going to replace it.

Easy to fit, sits well.Stats are good for running. (Waiting for season to start to test in a team sport without wearing watch.)Had an initial problem with auto-connect after first pairing… watch and phone are on different connection type so be careful of which is actually connected.

This was a very poor purchase for me. Would not reliably produce Ground Contact Time Balance (ie even 2 out of 10 times) regardless of how many times I paired my garmin compatible watch (epix pro gen2 latest firmware) to it and many times it wouldn't generate the Running Dynamics data either (I could test this because I could take off my watch, put it on the treadmill and run with it and it would sometimes not generate any RD data, then randomly it would but not the GCTB!!!! Lost data and insight because I'd finish a run and then find GCTB was not recorded. (GCTB is important to me because of previous injuries that can re-occur but this can give an insight for me before it is obvious).On top of that this strap is overly convoluted but also poorly explained. When I re-paired (after a factory reset) I randomly couldn't get the expected pairing screens that others could see. It sometimes took over pace and distance from my footpod when I didn't want it to and it was very inaccurate in this regard. However when this happened the field for switching it off was greyed out (if it was even there) meaning I would need to re-pair again and hope I would get the field ungreyed out. It kept disconnecting from time to time and sometimes it took over a minute to actually get connected to the watch; and still wouldn't show GCTB. What's worse is this flagship(?) strap is meant to replace an aging HRM-TRI, a 7 yr old strap that does nearly everything it does flawlessly and reliably but with a simpler User Exeperience (I'm looking for a replacement as I am not sure how much more life is left in the TRI).Even if the GCTB and connection issues were stable, the User Experience for using it is overly complicated and designed by people who clearly don't have to run races and need things to work simply and first time. Going through the list of UI trip ups is too exhausting. But here is a critical one for me: The strap operates in two modes secure bluetooth and Ant+ but initially pairs only in one but you can "switch" between them. Except that seemed to cause huge issues with my garmin watch. Ie having the strap take over pace and distance but not be able to switch it out because it is greyed out, unless I re-paired it again. But everytime I re-paired I'd alternate between different experiences when trying to get RD Data to work; so frustrating.I just want to put on the HR strap, start my run and capture all the data I can. I thought Garmin understood that basic requirement. This strap has made even that basic expectation an exercise in sheer frustration.The detachable strap is nice so you can wash your strap. But the non-replaceable battery seems a step back from the replaceable one in the HRM-200.This has been the worst item I have bought from Garmin. I returned it. In the 3 weeks or so I had it, I tried everything to get it to work as sold and I watched to see if a firmware update might come out, because surprise surprise the forums have other people listed with issues with this HRM and there is supposed to be beta firmware in development but that hasn't become stable yet. Clearly other people have no issues but I kept checking and re-checking, reading forum posts and the brief manual repeatedly, nothing helped. Maybe I got a real lemon, just functional enough to annoy the life out of me.Maybe I'll pick it up later if it stabilises but for now I am staying well away and I warn others if you buy it, test it thoroughly before your return period is over. Something this expensive should be better out the gate, particularly with Garmin jacking up prices for hardware in ways that feel very unjustified recently.

Great bit of kit. Really trues up heart rate reading. Gives running matrix insights of gait plus lots of other insights.

Comfy, just works, syncs well. Band is well thought through.

I don't usually take any notice of 1 star reviews but on this occasion I regret not doing so. Item arrived. Lovely piece of kit. Easy to set up with my phone and my Garmin Forerunner 255 watch. Clicked the unit onto the chest strap and was alarmed by how difficult it was to do so. Then I found that I couldn't remove it. You need to remove it for charging, and for washing the strap. I tried again, really carefully, and was afraid I was going to damage something, then suddenly one of the two press studs came apart leaving one embedded in the socket of the HRM body. Broken before I could use it. Returned for refund. I cannot comment on how well the item works, but in its favour, it is nicely presented and easy to set up. However, I now see that most of the 1 star reviews are reporting exactly the problem I experienced.