Connect Polar H10 | Omnio Docs

Overview

The Polar H10 connects directly to the Omnio mobile app over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Unlike the cloud-synced devices (Oura, Garmin, Whoop), data flows in real-time from the strap to your phone — no cloud account or third-party app required.

What data is collected

Category	Metrics
Heart rate	Real-time HR, RR intervals (beat-to-beat timing)
HRV	RMSSD, SDNN — computed on-device from RR intervals
Stress	Baevsky stress index, fused stress score
ECG	Single-lead ECG recording (via PMD service)
Accelerometer	Step cadence, respiratory rate estimation, motion detection
Temperature	Skin temperature (when supported by firmware)
Sleep	Automated sleep onset/offset detection, PPG-based sleep staging (deep, light, REM, awake), sleep efficiency, overnight HR/HRV
Calories	Active, light-activity, and rest calorie estimation from HR zones

Guided HRV readiness check

The Polar H10 supports a 3-minute guided HRV measurement:

Lie down comfortably with the strap snug and electrodes moistened.
Open the Guided HRV screen from the app.
Stay still and breathe normally for 3 minutes while the app collects RR intervals.
After the measurement, you’ll see your RMSSD, SDNN, beat count, and an estimated VO2max.

This measurement is submitted to Omnio’s backend and contributes to your readiness score.

How to connect

Open the Omnio mobile app.
Go to Settings → Heart Rate Monitor.
Tap Scan for Devices.
Put your Polar H10 on (wet the electrode pads for good contact).
Your H10 appears in the scan list as “Polar H10 XXXXXX”.
Tap to connect. The app pairs and begins streaming immediately.

The H10 is remembered as your paired device. On subsequent launches, the app auto-reconnects when the strap is detected nearby.

Connection details

Protocol: Standard BLE heart rate service (UUID 0x180D) + Polar PMD service for ECG/ACC.
No Polar SDK required: Omnio uses standard BLE APIs (react-native-ble-plx), not the Polar SDK.
MTU: Requested at 247 bytes for efficient data transfer.
Auto-reconnect: If the connection drops (e.g. strap out of range), the app reconnects automatically with exponential backoff.
Battery: Battery level is read from the standard BLE battery service (UUID 0x180F) and shown in the device info card.

Multi-device use

You can connect the Polar H10 alongside other BLE devices:

H10 + Polar Verity Sense: The H10 provides ECG and chest-derived HR/RR, while the Verity Sense provides optical PPG. Together, they enable Pulse Transit Time (PTT) and Pulse Arrival Time (PAT) hemodynamic measurements — timing the delay between the ECG R-peak and the PPG pulse arrival for blood pressure trend estimation.
H10 + Muse S: The H10 provides HR/HRV while the Muse provides EEG. Muse’s PPG-derived heart rate is automatically disabled when an external HR device is connected.

The app labels each device’s data with its device ID and model, so metrics from concurrent devices are kept separate.

Sleep tracking

When worn overnight, the Polar H10 enables automated sleep tracking:

Sleep onset/offset detection from HR and HRV patterns.
Sleep stage classification (deep, light, REM, awake) using the PPG sleep stage classifier driven by HR/HRV features.
Overnight metrics: Average HR, minimum HR, average HRV, respiratory rate, sleep efficiency.

Start a sleep session from Settings → Heart Rate Monitor → Start Sleep Session. Sleep data syncs to your dashboard when you stop the session or it ends automatically.

Workout tracking

During workouts, the H10 provides:

Real-time HR and HR zone classification.
Calorie estimation broken down by exercise, light-activity, and rest categories (using the Keytel formula).
Step cadence from the accelerometer.
Respiratory rate estimation from accelerometer-derived chest movement.

Workout metrics are ingested into Omnio and contribute to your Activity score, TRIMP, and ACWR calculations.

Troubleshooting

Strap not appearing in scan — Ensure Bluetooth is enabled and location permissions are granted (required on Android for BLE scanning). Wet the electrode pads — the H10 only powers on when it detects skin contact.
Erratic HR readings — Re-wet the electrode pads. Dry electrodes cause poor contact. Consider using electrode gel for extended sessions.
“No contact” warnings — The H10 reports contact status. If the strap is loose or dry, the app will show a no-contact indicator. Adjust the strap position and tighten slightly.
Connection drops frequently — Keep your phone within ~10 metres of the strap. Walls and body position can affect BLE signal. The app will auto-reconnect.
Guided HRV shows “Not enough clean data” — The strap needs consistent skin contact for 3 minutes. Ensure the electrodes are wet and you’re staying still. Movement corrupts RR interval data.
Forget and re-pair — Go to Settings → Heart Rate Monitor → tap Forget on the device, then scan again.