Vitalband — Heart Rate Wristband Guide | vitalband.live
Four measurement routes compared: what each one senses, where it sits on the body, and what distorts the reading.
An optical wrist band uses photoplethysmography: an LED lights the skin and a photodiode measures the light returned as blood volume changes with every heartbeat. The number on the screen is a volume proxy derived from light, not a direct reading of the heart's electrical activity.
A finger pulse oximeter applies the same optical principle at the fingertip, a site with thin tissue and strong perfusion. It is the route used for a 30-second manual comparison against the band's number, because the pressure pulse at the finger is easy to feel with two fingers.
An ear sensor sits at the earlobe, another optical site with less gross motion than the wrist. It still depends on stable contact and on blood flow at the skin surface, so a loose clip or a cold ear degrades the signal in the same way a loose wrist band does.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
A chest strap leaves the optical path entirely and reads the heart's electrical signal at the torso. Because it does not depend on light passing through skin, rapid arm motion does not break the reading, which is why chest straps are recommended for maximum accuracy.
The distortion list differs by route. Wrist readings suffer from rapid arm motion, loose contact and cold skin; finger readings from poor perfusion; ear readings from head movement; chest straps from dry electrode contact and strap slip.
Choosing a route means matching it to the movement: wrist for stillness and walking, finger for a spot check, ear for steady-state work with head free, chest strap for intervals and rides where the number drives the next effort.
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