Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having lost my Forerunner 220 w/ HR monitor (can you really lose a GPS enabled device?) I was in the market for a new heart rate monitor. Having always disliked HRM straps I always viewed them as a necessary evil for accuracy, but i loved my 220. So when a brand like Garmin introduced the 225 with light measuring technology and no strap I was skeptical about accuracy and thrilled about the absence of the strap. Given REI's awesome return policy I thought I would try it and if I didn't like it I would go back to the 220. I have been using HRM's for about 20 years and am very familiar with my HR exertion zones and what the numbers are so I was pretty sure I would know if the accuracy wasn't great, but I couldn't tell on the first day out. I was too concerned with the 225's placement on my wrist, wondered if I was getting the correct reading, thought I was working too hard, etc. Fortunately I didn't lose the chest strap and transmitter from my 220 so I set out to compare the wrist reading to the accuracy from that of a chest strap. The 225 also can connect to a strapped transmitter which was a pleasant surprise, but remember I wanted to do away with the strap. So with watch disconnected from strap I headed to the gym's treadmill to do some calibration comparisons. With the 225 on my wrist with the light monitoring activated and the strap on my chest being read by the treadmill I began a very varied hour long run. I warmed up, increased the incline, did some HIIT, steady running and fast accelerations to see how well the 225 readings compared to the readings from the strap and treadmill. I'm very OCD about accuracy and my cardiovascular health so when I found that frequent regular comparisons of 225 HR to strapped HR showed very similar numbers I was thrilled. No more strap for running! I did find there was a very slight lag time for the 225 to catch up to the strap reading. It was almost like the 225 was making sure of itself before it gave a reading. Like it was calculating a reading very quickly based on multiple light readings so, before the display increased or decreased, it was certain the information was accurate. I wear my HRM for all types of workouts so this made me wonder how accurate the reading will be when I do resistance training given the sporadic nature of that kind of exercise and the lag time i just described. Since I am lucky enough not to have lost the transmitter I may continue to wear my strap during resistance training, but when I run I won't given the proof of accuracy from the results of my own testing. . The 225 has all the great features of the 220 w/ HRM and the added activity tracking is fun, but I don't really feel it benefits the already fit. My only complaints are the wrist strap is a bit uncomfortable given where you have to wear it on your wrist (I bet I will get used to this) and the display is disproportionately small given the size of the casing. Of course it's easy to read, but why not maximize the display instead of having dead space on the outer face. After all the watch is HUGE! The last complaint is trying to understand the multiple websites Garmin creates for analyzing data. There are too many. Go here to do this, there to do that. I find I need a GPS just to navigate that confusion. Finally and regardless of my complaints (which is where only 4 stars come from) I highly recommend this HRM. Its accurate, keeps great records, is adjustable to suit an individual's fitness levels and priced right given what it can do compared to other monitors on the market today.