Scosche Rhythm24 armband measures heart rate on land and in the water

Way before the Polar OH1 and the Wahoo Tickr Fit, there was only one heart rate monitoring armband on the scene and that was the Scosche Rhythm+. It took tracking away from the chest and delivered on the accuracy front.

Now Scosche is back at CES 2018 with the Rhythm24, a smart armband that promises to deliver more of the same great heart rate tracking along with a few new features to lure you away from Polar and Wahoo's bands.

Hands on: Scosche Rhythm24 review

Along with a new look the Rhythm24 is Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ compatible, so it'll work with a whole range of sports watches, smartwatches, exercise equipment and of course smartphones and tablets. That means it'll also play nice with a host of third party fitness apps including RunKeeper, Strava and Map My Fitness.

Like Polar's OH1, it's waterproof and has been slapped with an IP68 rating. Unlike Polar's setup though, you can actually track your BPMs in the water. The armband comes in a variety of colours as well and features an LED battery indicator along with onboard data recording to store workouts.

In terms of the heart rate capturing, it now includes heart rate variability measurements to offer insights into stress and recovery time. There's also dedicated profiles for different sports including swimming, running and cycling.

Scosche is employing sensor technology created by Valencell, a company that provides some of the best performing heart rate sensors we've found on wearables from the likes of Suunto and Jabra. The PerformTek sensor used on the Rhythm24 uses both green and yellow optical sensors, which aims to offer more reliable and accurate measurements across all skin tones.

The Rhythm24 is set to be available to upgrade your workouts in Spring 2018. There's no news on pricing just yet, but here's hoping it comes in around the same affordable price as the Rhythm+.