Garmin launches a new cardio belt, much easier to use

To measure your heart rate during exercise, a sports watch may be sufficient, but, if you want the most reliable data possible, the cardio belt remains the best sensor available thanks to its measurement by electrodes.

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Already well versed in the exercise, Garmin took advantage of CES which opens its doors this Monday in Las Vegas to unveil a new model, the Garmin HRM 200.

This cardio belt is particularly easy to use. It will therefore simply offer classic heart rate and heart rate variability measurements. Unlike the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus belt, the new HRM 200 does not offer running power, left-right balance or stride length data when connected to a Garmin watch. It also has 3 ATM water resistance, compared to 5 ATM for the more high-end model.

A basic, simple cardio belt

However, the Garmin HRM 200 is also easier to use thanks to its removable module. Concretely, the electronic part of the belt is housed in a box which can be removed if the strap is damaged. It is then possible to simply change the elastic strap, without having to go back to the checkout for a complete belt as was the case for other Garmin models. In this, the Garmin HRM 200 uses the system already adopted by Garmin for its Garmin HRM-Dual in 2019, but also by competing models from Polar or Wahoo.

The Garmin HRM 200 module // Source: Garmin

La Garmin HRM 200 // Source: Garmin

The strap of the Garmin HRM 200 // Source: Garmin

The new Garmin HRM 200 is also the first cardio belt from Garmin to comply with the new regulations which will come into force in Europe next July. As such, it includes a button that will authenticate a Bluetooth or ANT connection. It also does not benefit from ANT+ connectivity, which will be put aside by Garmin as of June 30.

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Another new feature is that the case has an LED that will flash to indicate the status of the belt, whether it is Bluetooth pairing, battery life or updates.

Finally, in terms of autonomy, Garmin announces up to 1 year of use with its belt with one hour of training per day. The HRM 200 is charged using a CR 2032 format button cell battery, like the older models.

Price and availability of the Garmin HRM 200

The Garmin HRM 200 is already available for sale, offered in France at the price of 89.99 euros with its strap. The replacement straps are priced at 34.99 euros.