Kit Bag Review: The Scosche Rhythm

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The Scosche Rhythm is the world’s first lightweight, pulse monitor that attaches to your forearm.

Thanks to its Bluetooth technology, the device can be controlled wirelessly through a smartphone or tablet application, allowing the user to manage pulse, calories burned, distance, speed and pace.

The Rhythm also allows its user to have their own personalized home page, route mapping and work out summary that is tailored to your workout schedule.

It’s not all about the body though, as the Rhythm also entertains your mind by streaming music wirelessly whilst you work out.

Sound pretty cool? Sportsister’s Katie gives us her review.

On first appraisal, the monitor is a cutie in terms of looks. A small monitor on a Velcro strap, designed to be worn just below the elbow, on the forearm.

The one I was given to test was in a very girlie pink, and was both attractive and simple: there are two volume buttons (up and down) and an on/off button in the middle. A little LED light underneath lights up when charging, and also flashes when worn and turned on to show your pulse rate.

The band works in conjunction with an iPhone app that is from free from the app store, and allows you to set up a specific type of exercise and goals from distance, function (for example, weight loss) and time.

Once your Bluetooth is switched on, and you hit “start” on the app, you can run and the gizmo will track what you’re doing, offering vocal encouragement through your earphones.

At the end of your run, you can scroll through a screen detailing the specifics of your exercise, for example, showing your pace and pulse in a handy graph, plus a GPS, visual map of where you have run.

The armband uses Bluetooth communication with an iPhone or iPod, working from up to 10m (33ft) away, and its rechargeable battery offers up to six hours of use. It charges in its own colour-matching cradle, via plug socket or USB port.

So far, so good - at least, in theory. But was it in practice?

There are very basic instructions with the Scosche wristband, “this is how you charge it”, “these are the buttons on it”, but none as to how to maximise the efficiency of the app.

It took several goes with it to work out what I needed to input, and how to get to specific screens, even though at first glance it looks simple.

I found the vocal encouragement, after I had set up a distance target on my Sunday run in the park at Blenheim Palace, was limited to a lackadaisical American male saying “go faster” or “go slower” every so often. His voice, in fact, was so boring, that I ended up turning him off. Sorry, American male!

However, what I liked about the device was the design of the app and the way it presented information. A run that I thought involved just a bit of a sprint led to the activity bar on the iPhone screen turning an ominous red and telling me my pulse was racing.

The bar also told me clearly when I was in the ‘weight-loss’, ‘fitness’, ‘performance’ or ‘resting’ zones. There was a bit of a delay to it, which meant that by the time I had jogged, sprinted, then slowed to a walk - albeit in a fairly short period of time, designed to test the device - the app was only just recognising that I was jogging.

I was virtually at a standstill by the time it realised that I had been running, and upped my pulse rate on the app to what it should have been when I was sprinting.

But as a method of recording your exercise, both in terms of what you’ve been doing, and how you’ve been doing it, it does the job. It looks good, and the information it gives you on the app is well designed and detailed.

The map of your route loads instantly, and is beautifully clear. It is an attractive monitor, which, due to the adjustable Velcro strap, fits the smallest female arm (mine are quite thin, and I have had problems getting watches, armbands and so on small enough to fit in the past), and is possibly designed with the female runner in mind, which is both unusual and welcome.

I also found having a monitor on my forearm, rather than the usual chest HRM, more comfortable and accessible.

Will I keep using it? Yes, I think so. I need to have a play around with it to get to know it better, and learn fully what it can do, but then, I would find this a really useful addition to my training.

Cost: £99.95

More info: www.apple.com/uk

Katie Draper, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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