

The Cool New Headphones That Track Your Heart Rate Through Your Ears

Now there's a new way to monitor your heart rate during a workout: heart rate ear buds. Built-in sensors in the buds track the pulse of the blood rushing through your ears, just like pulse oximeters (those little devices doctors clip on your fingers at the hospital to check your oxygen saturation). Your heart rate info is then relayed directly to your smartphone for easy monitoring throughout your workout. And the entire time this is happening, you can still listen to your favorite playlist.

Pretty cool, right? We thought so too, and really loved the idea of being able to keep tabs on our efforts (hey, we're prone to slacking off, too) without bothering with an uncomfortable chest strap. To see if this new trend is worth the hype, I took two pairs for a test run (OK, more of a test jog—but pace doesn't matter, right?) Here's the verdict:

LG Heart Rate Monitor Earphone ($179.99,

How they work: After you download LG's free app (which tracks calories and distance as well as HR), the headphones sync with your phone via Bluetooth. The ear buds are plugged into a small device that clips onto your shorts.
PROS: The sound quality is pretty good and—because the app reads aloud stats like your time, distance, pace, and heart rate—you can stash your phone away in a pocket while you walk or run. While it could get a little annoying if it's breaking in during your favorite song, you can choose how often it reads the stats.
CONS: While the HR stats seemed accurate, my distance and pace seemed pretty off—I took the ear buds on my usual route, so I have the distance pretty much memorized (other people have noted similar issues with distance and pace). So you'd probably still need to run another tracker app, like MapMyRun or Strava. 

iriverOn Heart Rate Monitoring Bluetooth Headset ($199.99,

How they work: These headphones are wireless and connect to a thin device that rests around your neck, sort of like a collar. You download a free app, that uses your phone's Bluetooth, to track your stats.
PROS: It’s pretty cool that these ear buds are completely wireless, and they’re light enough that you could easily forget you have them in. The sound quality is definitely better than the headphones I usually use, the ones that come free with an iPhone.
CONS: The collar thing is kind of weird, and a lot of people have complained that it’s too small for most necks. And just like with the LG pair, you can't rely on these to accurately calculate distance or pace. It thought I was running faster than I actually was, and in turn thought I was burning more calories.

THE VERDICT: While I really wanted to love these, I'm not completely sold on either pair (especially for the price). However, if you don't already have a heart rate monitor, they're an option for anyone who isn't into the idea of fussing with a chest strap. After checking around online, I saw that I wasn't the only one to have trouble with both products' distance and pace tracking functionalities. Once those are working as they should, this is one piece of fitness tech that will take your workout to the next level.

MORE: The Fitness Tracker That Slacks You When You Slack Off

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