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Oregon Scientific AH300
Heart Rate Monitor
Oregon Scientific AH300 talking heart rate monitor is an unusual heart rate monitor. You can consider it as a gadget. It consists of a set of headphones and a chest strap. Unlike the other heart rate monitors, there isn't any wrist watch. You input your personal settings to the heart rate monitor via the buttons on the chest strap and receive voice prompts and confirmations via the headphones. It is a basic heart rate monitor.
The main features of the Oregon Scientific AH300 are:
- Continuous heart rate monitoring
- You receive your current heart rate (and other feedback of your training) via headphones. You can choose how frequent you receive such announcements: 30 seconds, 1, 2 or 3 minute(s).
- You can also get an immediate announcement of your current heart rate by pressing a button.
- You can control the volume of the voice prompts: High, low, medium.
- The AH300 stores your user profile: Gender, age, height, weight and exercise habit (seldom, usually, athlete).
- The AH300 uses your user profile and your chosen exercise type (walk, jog, run) to calculate your heart rate limits automatically.
- The AH300 also uses your user profile to calculate your calorie consumption.
- You will hear heart rate alerts if you train above or below your heart rate zone limits.
- Timer-based Smart Training Program. It consists of 3 phases: a warm up period, an exercise period and a recovery period.
- You will be talked through the various periods so you know where you are in the training process. Periodically you will get an update on your calories burnt and a suggestion on whether you should increase or decrease your effort.
- When your Smart Training Program is completed, you can hear the following voice prompts announced: Exercise time in training zone, calories burnt, average heart rate, total exercise time, recovery heart rate.
- Battery for the chest strap is user-replaceable.
- When the battery is running low, you get a voice prompt.
Note: The exercise types correspond to the following heart rate limits:
- Walk: 65 to 78% of your maximum heart rate
- Jog: 65 to 85% of your maximum heart rate
- Run: 78 to 90% of your maximum heart rate
The words walk, jog and run are just substitute words for these training limits. It does not mean that you have to walk or jog or run to use this heart rate monitor!
Here is what roughly each exercise habit means:
- Seldom: You don't normally exercise much.
- Usually: You exercise 2 or 3 times a week requiring modest exertion.
- Athlete: You take part regulary and actively in sports requiring heavy exertion.
Note also that you cannot manually set the timers for the duration of your warm up phase and exercise period. Neither can you manually set your heart rate training limits. To do all these, you will have to set up your exercise profile, a feature which is available in the next model of the series: AH310.
The only control which you have is to choose whether you want to "walk", "jog" or "run". The Oregon Scientific AH300 works out the rest for you.
Summary
The Oregon Scientific AH300 is certainly a fun heart rate monitor. It is a nice change not to have to glance at your wrist watch constantly during your training. It is still more like a gadget for fun rather than for serious training.
The inability to set important training parameters manually as mentioned above is quite a big shortcoming of this heart rate monitor. However, if you still like the idea of a talking heart rate monitor, the next model in the series (AH310) addresses these issues. The AH310 is therefore much more complete and serious as a proper heart rate monitor. Furthermore the AH310 comes with an FM radio.
Useful Information
Reviews: This page has a concise summary of Oregon Scientific heart rate monitor reviews.
Further information: Visit Oregon Scientific's official web site.
The next model in the AH series is the AH310.
Not sure which heart rate monitor is right for you? Take a look at the Which Heart Rate Monitor page.
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