Customer Reviews
Complex but excellent watch 
2008-09-07
I have used my Mio Motiva watch for a month now. It provides amazingly accurate heart rates and does so quickly. It also is programmed and customized for your weight and age. It has an amazing amount of features for a relatively inexpensive watch. My only complaint is that if you are using it for tracking net calorie consumption on a daily basis it is a bit of a pain to enter your calorie food amounts.
I use alot of technology in my job, but the entries for this are a bit tedious and time consuming. The actual performance of the watch is outstanding. Highly recommend this product.
good concept, bad product 
2008-06-28
I bought the Motiva Pink a few weeks ago and immediately started reading all the literature that came with it. I bought the Motiva knowing it is not a passive system, and I would have to "operate" it once I started exercising and keep operating it with the increase in my exercise intensity during a workout/training session.
Per the instructions, I took my rest reading the next morning upon waking and it read 60 BPM - ok. Over the next fews days I tried to familiarize myself with the quirks (such as on my power walks I'd get heart readings of 46 BPM) and ended up calling for customer service suspecting my battery was dying (already? - I just bought it) or something. The rep put me on hold, and came back to the line with little info to help, but proceeded to read to me from the instructions page (the same as I had in front of me that came with the watch), but could not diagnose why my watch did not work for me properly. I was told I need to moisten my fingers - like most people do - in order to take a reading. Scratch calling customer service.
I don't know about others who train, but I don't like to stop what I'm doing to lick my fingers (eewwww - in a gym?! or on a run?) just so I can get a reading on a monitor. Yes - that's what one must do in order to get one's BPM heart rate reading if you're one of those people for whom the monitor just won't read by just pressing on the monitor "reading" buttons.
If I'm sitting still, it appears to read somewhat accurately. If I'm moving (running, power walking), it reads my BPM only half of the time. The other half of the time it reads erroneously. For example, it says I was at 231 BPM when I was a level walk at 3 mph during a warm-up, and 46 BPM when I was on a power walk and on a 3-degree incline. Then it doesn't allow you to re-take and re-calculate your calories burned once you take a reading in a timed mode that you KNOW is grossly in error.
If the "monitor" button/sensors "take" your BPM within 2-3 seconds, you'll get a fairly reasonable BPM reading. If it takes longer than that to read your BPM, you can expect you won't get a good reading so you must forgo the reading at what might be a critical time in your timed training regimen. Again I stress - if I am sitting or standing still, and my fingers are moist, it will take a reading. But if the monitor takes longer then 2-3 seconds to read, and I am exercising/moving, I will get an erroneous reading that cannot be undone. But I didn't buy it to take my heart rate while sitting or standing still. I bought it for when I'm exercising, and that's when it proves unrealiable. What a disappointment!
great heart monitor 
2008-06-20
I purchased the Mio Motiva heart rate monitor to allow easy HR determinations during excercising. I am glad to learn of the great accuracy of the watch. It exceeds my needs and is easy to use. I am recovering from by pass surgery and am now excercising at home. I am very pleased with my purchase. I also commend Amazon.com for the ease of puchasing and the speed that my order was processed.
Inconsitent Readings & High Calorie Burn Estimates 
2008-04-20
PRO's:
- It's a watch, so it's with you always
- Nice combination of timers (down, down+up, down+down, etc.)
- Bar graph at the top to show if you're within the desired % of max heart rate (when checking your heart rate)
- Bar graph at top shows total calorie consumption - burnt calories for the day
- Exercise programs and calorie booklet included
CON's:
- Heart rate readings are very inconsistent (read below)
- Calorie burn counts seem too high (read below)
- Difficult to set values (read below)
- No way to fix mistakes or bad readings
- You have to remember to periodically check the heart rate as you excercise
My wife got this as a gift and never used it, so I started using it, since I am the one who really needs to get into shape. At first it seems promising, especially when you read MIO's claims on how accurate they are. However, after just a few days of using it, you start to wonder -- can this be right?
First, the heart rate readings are all over the place. I just took three readings, back-to-back, without changing my activity rate. The readings were 80 bpm, 70 bpm, and 88 bpm -- all within a few seconds of each other. To take a reading, you need to place two fingers on the touch pads on top. It sends a small voltage from its metal base, through your left arm, across the chest, and down the right arm, onto the two pads on top. I've noticed that when it returns with a reading quickly, the reading seems right. However, if it takes more than about 3-4 seconds, then the reading will probably be off by about 10 or more bpm.
If the watch takes a bad reading and the timer is running, then it will impact the calorie burn count and mess up the readings for the day. There's no way to tell it to disregard the last reading. Yesterday, I got some crazy reading where my heart rate was extremely high (eventhough it really wasn't). Because I hadn't taken a reading for about 10 minutes and the timer was on, it calculated some rediculous calories burn. So, it was ruined for the day -- no way to back up from that bad reading.
The 'sophisticated' calorie burn calculator seems to be way off. It is registering that I am burning way more calories that I think I actually am. For example, following an exercise program in the booklet, I was to run 30 seconds, walk 4.5 minutes and repeat 7 times, for a very easy 35 minute workout session. It claims that I burned about 600 calories with that. Yesterday, I played 53 minutes of tennis. It claimed 1300 calories for that. I think it's a bit too high.
Setting values can be a bit annoying, and to use the watch properly, you need to set values a lot. Every time you have a meal, you should enter the calories consumed. To do so, you'd press the Mode button twice to get it to the Calories screen. Then you need to hold down the Set button for two seconds. Then you need to enter the value starting with the least-significant digit first and working left. For example, if you wanted to enter 653 calories, you would first enter the 3, then the 5, then the 6. It's just ackward. As with the heart rate reading, there's no way to fix a mistake. If you accidentally put wrong number, there's no way to back it out or subtract it.
So, in summary, the concept is a good idea, but the product needs a lot of work before it's practical and trustworthy.
I do not recommend this product. Maybe you should consider the Polar watches. They seem to have good reviews.
MIO Motiva is a Hit! 2007-11-15
I recently purchased a MIO Motiva for my daughter who is 35 and she just loves it! She just had her first baby and is working hard at trying to lose the baby weight. She regularily attends spinning and yoga classes and just loves the watch. With her very busy schedule these days with the new baby its an easy way for her to track her calories burned during exercise as well as those she consumes during the day. I would recommend this product as a great gift idea!
wild swings in BPM 2007-11-15
Stylish; next-generation design with patented calorie features. Your weight is directly connected to the foods you eat and exercise you get. Easily manage both with MIO Motiva! This watch exemplifies the quality and styling of MIO\'s latest; greatest product line. Designed to help you achieve long-term health through patented weight management tools. Because we know this watch has to withstand your active lifestyle; it comes with a BONUS interchangeable band in cool grey and orange! Features: On-demand heart rate anytime; anywhere. Superior MIO technology gives ECG accurate readings WITHOUT a chest strap. Set calorie targets; count calorie intake; track calorie burn easily. Patented management tool is worn right on your wrist. Measure workout intensity; optimize exercise with easy to read; color coded exertion level indicator. Heart Rate Recovery timer - watch as your heart rate returns to resting more quickly and efficiently as you become more fit. Dual interval timer designed for recommended 13-week walk/run program. Five (5) exercise timers. Full-featured sports watch including date/time/calendar; alarm; chime; backlit display; 30 m water resistance. Extra; interchangeable watch band included! BONUS MioSENSE Guide to Healthy Living with updated information on health; nutrition; diet; fitness and exercise; and with carb and calorie tables for easy reference.
