I’ve used quite a few heart rate monitoring watches in my day. I’ve played with Suuntos and Nikes aplenty, with whosits and whatsits galore. But the RCX5 is different in its utter simplicity. Designed to be worn while swimming, running, or biking, all of the smarts are actually in the optional sensors, leaving the watch itself as basic as a $20 Timex with a few tricks up its sleeve.

The base kit – that is, the watch, heart rate band, and a battery – costs $349. Although the watch and sensors are ostensibly OS X and Windows compatible, you’re going to be more comfortable using the software on Windows. I had some issues with the Mac sync and it wouldn’t work at all for me using a MacBook Air. It did work on my Mac Pro at home.

The extra gear costs, well, extra, although different packages – Run, Bike, Multi – add more than $100 to that price on the high end. To be clear, this watch is a major investment. The watch supports the Polar bike cadence and speed sensors, running pedometers, and GPS units. The heartrate monitor is water resistant as is the watch so you can wear it in all sorts of situations.

Source: TechCrunch