At a Glance: Quick Ratings
Heart Rate Functions
Heart Rate Accuracy
Ease of Use
Battery Life
Where To Get It
A Deep Dive Into Mio Link
The Mio Link is a wristband worn primarily to provide heart rate data to third party products like Polar VR800 (via BlueTooth Smart 4.0), Garmin Edge 810 (via ANT+) and Smartphones APPS like Strava,
MapMyRide, etc. – WITHOUT the need of a chest strap. The Mio Link picks up your heart rate DIRECTLY from the blood pump detected in the wrist. If you’re not such a fan of the chest strap, this strapless, wrist based heart rate sensor is an excellent option.
The Mio Link has been reviewed by Tristan Haskins
- Check out our review of the Alivecor Kardia Mobile ECG monitor. An amazing piece of technology.
- Check out our outdoor watch reviews here!
Video Review
In Feb 2021 Mio released the Mio Slice. The Slice is the world’s first activity tracker to include PAI, that’s Personal Activity Intelligence.
Rather than “just” count steps, the Mio Slice wants to see elevated heart rate at regular periods throughout the day.
As with all Mio’s products is features WRIST BASED Link heart rate. If you are looking for a motivational, innovative, stylish, water resistant fitness tracker then you may want to consider the world’s first PAI powered fitness band – the Mio Slice.
Although we haven’t tested the Mio Link, we have tested the Mio Fuse and we were 97% pleased with the accuracy and convenience of this product.
For several decades everyone has been asking for a strapless heart rate monitor, thanks to the clever team at MioGlobal, we now have a whole line up of them
If you don’t know Mio, you really should. They are the innovators behind optical heart rate sensors and they have lead the field for several years so much so that the Garmin Forerunner 225 has Mio’s HR sensor built-in to the watch (Garmin now have their own Elevate wrist based system).
PAI on the Link
The Mio Link cannot display your PAI score, but it is available via the Mio PAI 1 app following upload of training data.
PAI is a more effective way of measuring daily activity by analysing heart rate zones intensity during the day, not JUST counting steps. More details on PAI and how it works can be found here.
Mio Heart Rate Monitor Watches Reviews
Still undecided which Mio heart rate monitor product is best for you? Maybe this comparison table courtesy of MioGlobal might help.
Top Alternatives
Next Model UP
The next model up is the Mio Fuse (or the Velo).
The Velo is the same as the Link but it additionally collects bike speed and pedal cadence sensor from other third party sensors installed on the bike.
The Fuse on the other hand adds a display for direct feedback off your wrist.
The Fuse also includes an activity tracker with GOAL BAR to show your progression to achieving your daily steps/activity target.
The Mio Fuse is one of our personal favourites for many reasons.. please read the Fuse review for more details.
Next Model DOWN
There is no model down from the Mio Link.
The link is the entry level product in Mio’s strapless heart rate monitoring range.
Mio Link Battery Life
To average battery life of a fully charge Mio Link is about 8 to 10 hours on maximum use.
Depending on how often you try to use the features, it can extend a few more hours longer than the average.
Polar Alternative
Polar took a little while to catch up with Mio taking 18 months to introduce their first optical heart rate sensor in the Polar A360 back in 2021.
Since then their range of heart rate products free from the chest strap have grown in number, accuracy and reliability. In late 2021 Polar introduced the Polar OH1 (Optical Heart Rate) – an armband style heart rate sensor that can be worn on the upper or lower arm.
Heart Rate is accurately acquired from the 6 x LED sensors. This heart rate data is then either BROADCAST to compatible Bluetooth devices or STORED internally for download to Polar Flow at a later time.
In this storage mode the Polar OH1 armband HRM sensor can be used as a standalone device recording up to 200 hours of total training data.
Polar suggest (external link – Polar.com) that positioning their sensor further up the arm, as opposed to the wrist as the LINK and other Mio watches are worn, yields more accurate heart rate monitoring.
This is because there is generally less movement higher up the arm and the sensor is less prone to spikes and dropouts.
If you simply want to record heart rate on your iOs or Android device running your favourite fitness app (Polar Beat, Endomondo, Strava, MapMyRun etc) the Polar OH1 could be just what you’ve been looking for.
It can also broadcast HR data to other compatible Bluetooth devices eg. Polar M460, Polar V800, Garmin Edge 1030, Suunto Spartan (range) etc. Or simply strap it on your arm, turn it on, press the button twice to enter STANDALONE mode and go train.
All your heart rate data is conveniently stored for download to Polar Flow when you’ve finished
- Polar OH1 Armband Heart Rate Sensor
Review Summary
If you’ve already got a receiving unit like a Garmin Edge, Forerunner, Polar V800, M400, Smartphone with Strava etc and want to add Mio Link heart rate WITHOUT a chest strap, then the Mio Link is perfect for you. It’s easy to use, comfortable, discrete, light, accurate and it works a treat.
