I have a Fitbit inspire 2 which does a good enough job of counting steps. What I'm looking for is something which will alert me when my heart rate reaches one or more thresholds that I set (going up and down would be ideal).
Ideally, the alert would be an audible one.
Is that all you require of the device?
Hi Woody_53 , some Garmin watches have that facility. However, perhaps you could tell us a bit more about how you're planning to use any device - step counting? running? other sports? with or without a chest strap rather than a wrist-based monitor? Without that info it's hard to give you any potentially useful recommendations.
The more expensive Fitbits do this. The Versa or the Sense (which I have and love!). It will vibrate on your wrist during an exercise as you reach Cardio and then Peak levels, and then gives you some nice graphs/maps in the app afterwards so you can see exactly where on your run you hit the different levels.
Depending on exactly what your needs are , there are some great deals out there... Garmin do a fair few reasonably priced watches.. as do other Companies,
E.g
Garmin Forerunner 45S GPS Running Watch ..£129.99 Amazon... there are refurbished models of all sorts too, at a much lower price
Cannot comment on Fitbits, but I have a Garmin Forerunner 245 Music which provides spoken alerts over my Bluetooth headphones when my heart rate goes above or below a range I have set. (I am doing this using the watch's "workout" feature).
It sounds an alarm and then speaks that my HR is out of range and what my current HR is, my watch vibrates, and the screen flashes up a warning, also showing the current HR. I also get a set of notifications when my HR is back in range. I also choose to have my watch display my HR as I run, and I sometimes use a custom screen I set up on the watch to show HR and cadence (steps per minute), which are two values I like to keep an eye on.
I bought it so that I could listen to music on a run without needing to carry a phone - by downloading Spotify playlists onto the watch.
As it has been replaced by a newer model there are deals - at least in the UK, I can see some for £165 at the mo' (on Wiggle) - so still pricey but a lot less than the £300 rrp.
Of course the watch does a lot of other stuff as well as provide audible heart rate alerts.
Do Garmin still not allow adding steps/exercise manually?
Could be. I've just had a look at the Connect website, and I could add a walk manually, but I could only see fields for time and distance.
There was some resentment amongst the user community about this. Apparently, Garmin are in league with insurance companies
I pretty sure that any Garmin watch can do this, it does not have to be a music model, as the alerts come from the Garmin app itself and is then broadcasted via headphones or the phone speaker.
To activate, open app and then go to the watch settings by clicking onto the watch icon top right of screen, then select Activity Options and then audio prompts. There are a few settings here that you can play with. I am using this and find it very handy as I do not need to glance at the watch as often as I used to.
It might be worth checking your Fitbit app to see if you have similar options.
I wouldn't be surprised.👍 The difference with the music model is that you can have an audio prompt without needing to carry a phone.
Not having to carry a phone is the point of the music versions IMO.
Indeed. I have a couple of music version watches, Huawei, not Garmin. They are great watches but fall short on the app integration side. I didn't go for the music versions on the Garmin because I couldn't justify the extra price tag. I also never go anywhere without my phone. I have tried a few times and I.. just... cant.. do... it... 😱
I bought a Garmin Forerunner 45S after reading up on the topic here in this forum. It is really easy to set up and use and offers a lot of functions (that I will never use... ). You can connect it so your smartphone for statistics etc. A clear recommendation.
Hi Woody, you should never use a wrist mounted strap on watch as a heart rate monitor, if your lucky it’s measuring your. pulse not your heart rate. Not always the same. Been there got the stents to prove it.
Use a chest strap monitor. I use mine with my phone and use the app SportsTracker, it gives you a lot of information if you want it, plus when you are running you can set it up to tell you what heart rate zone you have just got to, going up and down.
When I do cardiac rehab, they measure with a finger mounted monitor so I doubt that I need anything more sophisticated.
hi, rehab, sounds like your in a medical situation , not a problem if you have a heart problem. I was out on the road, my chest monitor said my heart rate was 220bpm, my wrist monitor was showing my pulse was dropping to normal so I assumed my chest one was playing up. It wasn’t, I was in VT, it called for cardio inversion and three stents to, keep fingers crossed, stop it happening again.
When you’re heart is going that fast the blood can’t get in fast enough so the pulse drops, but you in serious trouble but your garmin is blissfully unaware.
Fitness tracker 
What smartwatch or fitness tracker
Recommendations for a distance "tracker"?
Best fitness tracker
Fitness tracker and GPS
