---
title: 'Amazfit Helio Strap Accessory Upgrade! (Scientific Review)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=j8MuvKjS1GY'
video_id: 'j8MuvKjS1GY'
date: 2026-08-17
duration_sec: 1180
channel: 'The Quantified Scientist'
---

# Amazfit Helio Strap Accessory Upgrade! (Scientific Review)

> Source: [Amazfit Helio Strap Accessory Upgrade! (Scientific Review)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=j8MuvKjS1GY)

## Summary

This video is a scientific review of the Amazfit Helio Strap, focusing on two accessories: a biceps sleeve and an official biceps band. The reviewer, a postdoctoral scientist, presents heart rate tracking accuracy data from various exercises and compares the performance to other devices.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Accessories** [00:02] — The reviewer discusses two accessories for the Amazfit Helio Strap: a biceps sleeve and an official biceps band. The sleeve is highlighted as a more comfortable alternative to the standard band, which can cause skin irritation during exercise.
- **Sleeve Design and Comfort** [01:10] — The sleeve is softer and more comfortable than the standard band. The Amazfit pod slides into a pouch on the sleeve, and the reviewer uses size M. The sleeve provides better protection from sunlight, potentially improving heart rate signal quality.
- **Heart Rate Accuracy: Cycling Indoors** [03:13] — During indoor cycling, the Amazfit Helio Strap in the sleeve showed near-perfect agreement with the Polar H10 ECG chest strap, with a correlation of 1.00. This is described as one of the best performances ever seen.
- **Heart Rate Accuracy: Running** [05:36] — For running, the correlation was 0.99, still very good. The reviewer ran a marathon and found the heart rate tracking to be on point 99% of the time, with only minor deviations.
- **Heart Rate Accuracy: Outdoor Cycling** [08:12] — Outdoor cycling showed a correlation of 0.98. There were some instances where the device detected a slightly low heart rate, but overall performance was excellent.
- **Heart Rate Accuracy: Weightlifting** [10:17] — Weightlifting, typically challenging for wrist-worn devices, showed a correlation of 0.98. The sleeve performed well, though some peaks were not fully detected. The reviewer notes it's a good comfort-to-price-to-performance ratio.
- **Sleep Tracking Performance** [12:59] — Sleep stage tracking is not the best but not the worst. The Amazfit Helio Strap struggles with REM sleep prediction. Top performers for sleep tracking include Google Pixel/Fitbit, Apple Watch, Whoop, Oura, and Eight Sleep Pod.
- **Comparison with Whoop Strap** [14:47] — The Whoop Strap is a main competitor. The reviewer uses Whoop as their day-to-day tracker because it has a better app and better sleep tracking, though its heart rate accuracy is not as good as the Amazfit Helio Strap.
- **Overall Conclusion** [18:28] — The Amazfit Helio Strap with the sleeve is a budget-friendly option for good heart rate tracking during exercise. At $99 for the strap and ~$20 for the sleeve, it offers great value. Sleep tracking and app stability are areas for improvement.

### Conclusion

The Amazfit Helio Strap, especially with the sleeve accessory, delivers excellent heart rate tracking accuracy across various exercises at a budget-friendly price. While sleep tracking and the app experience lag behind competitors like the Whoop Strap, it remains a top choice for fitness-focused users.

## Transcript

Helios strap a lot more than I used to, and that's mainly because of one or actually two accessories. And today, I want to discuss those with you and also show some new testing that I did with the Amazfit Helios strap. Now, for those
Rob, and I'm a postdoctoral scientist focusing on biological data analysis. today as well, data analysis. But specifically, I'm going to be talking about one, well, actually two accessories of the Amazfit Helios strap
that I've been using. And how accurate the Amazfit Helios strap is when using about, the main one I'm really excited about, is this sleeve. So, a sleeve that you can actually wear on your biceps. So, there's also the official biceps
band right here, and also unofficial versions like this one right here that I tough to get a hold of one of the official biceps bands. However, I often struggle or it goes a bit uncomfortable over time when running or weightlifting
and sometimes it even caused some irritations for me on my skin when running, for instance, because it would go back and forth and sort of rub on the skin a bit. And that's where this sleeve was a major solution for me. Let me
was a major solution for me. Let me actually show you what that looks like. me is a lot softer and a lot more comfortable to wear. The Amazfit pod actually goes in right here, so it's underneath here. And you have to buy
your correct size of sleeve. I'm using the M, I believe. So, I also have the S right here, but I'm using size M. So, if you have biceps similar to mine, that one would fit perfectly. And as I said, the Amazfit pod just slides right in.
I'll actually open the S version right now so we can have a look. this is the S sleeve right here. This should be too small for me. But as you
can see on the inside right here, there's a small pouch. You can open that there's a small pouch. You can open that up and the pod just slides right in with the sensors, of course, still being available. So, I've been using this for
a while now and I really like it. It actually led to me using the Amazfit Helio strap for most of my workouts again. I actually also really enjoy the different colors that the Amazfit Helio strap now provides. There's a few colors
you can choose from. I have this purple one right here. So, I've been using this sometimes as well. Now, if you use it in the standard strap, you won't see it, but as I showed in the beginning, if you pop it into
your biceps band, there you would be able to see it. So, how I would prefer using this is during exercise, I use the sleeve and then from day to day I would how I use it for my Whoop strap. Somehow for me, the biceps band of the Whoop
comfortable. It doesn't rub against my skin so much. Somehow I had this a bit more for the Amazfit Helio strap official band and that's why I actually switched to using the sleeve. And one other added benefit of the sleeve could
be is that because on both sides of the sensor there's now a covering that you could actually have better protection from the sunlight in terms of no extra light getting into the sensor, so a better heart rate signal. So, let's
actually see how the Amazfit Helio strap performed over the last 2 months or so we're going to look at the heart rate tracking performance during different exercises. And as always, we'll start with cycling indoors, so spinning. And
you can see those results right here. So, this is spinning or cycling indoors. With along the horizontal axis, the heart rate according to the Polar H10 ECG chest strap. And along the vertical axis, the heart rate according to the
Amazfit Helio strap as worn in this sleeve right here. And each dot in this plot is a single heart rate measurement. Where they would perfectly agree, all line. And as you can see, the points are very,
very close to blue line. This is some of the best performance I've ever seen. The correlation, this R value up here is also rounded to 1.00, whereas the best correlation is exactly one. So, that's basically more or less
that if you look at some of the individual sessions. So, here we have the Amazfit Helio Sleeve in red and the Polar H10 in blue-green. And we see second session where I did a bunch of intervals, perfect agreement. And also
this third example I wanted to show you, basically perfect agreement. this compare to the competition? That is displayed right here. Again, we'll use the correlation as the metric for this. And on the vertical axis, the watches
means that the further to the top right the device is, the better is its agreement with the reference. And the Amazfit Helio Sleeve is one of the top performers. So, it's actually very close to previous testing as well. So, let's
do minute bit to just the devices with a correlation of 0.98 or higher. And we can see the Amazfit Helio Sleeve right here. And it's really doing great. It's very close to the performance of different Apple Watches, the Apple
AirPods Pro 3, but also my previous testing of the Amazfit Helio Strap. Actually, I used the special edition of the strap on the biceps. I couldn't find already a lot more comfortable than sort of the default biceps band. So, other
the biceps is right here. And on the wrist, it tends to do a little bit worse on me. Still very good, but on the biceps, it tends to be a bit better than on the wrist. And these are really some of the best performances I've ever seen.
So, really amazing performance. But let's next take a look at the results for running right here. Where the correlation is a tiny bit lower now at correlation is a tiny bit lower now at 0.99, but still super good. and almost
all points are still on or close to the blue line. So, looking at some examples, this running session looks really good. This second session also looks really good. It might have detected just one or two BPM lower, but otherwise I'm super
satisfied with that. And also this third run example is really good. Here I actually ran a marathon, and as you can see, the heart rate basically agreed perfectly with some moments where it might have detected a slightly too high
heart rate, but 99% of the time it was on point. So, I'm really happy with compare this performance to that of the competition, and we previously saw that the correlation was 0.99. So, it's really one of the best performers out
there together with a few other devices. So, other devices that did really well previous testing of the Amazfit Helios strap, and also the Pixel Watch did really well. Again, we can zoom in a little bit to just the best-performing
devices, and as we saw, Apple Watches tend to do really well. Both the Series 11 and the Apple Watch SE, also the Amazfit Helios strap worn on the biceps in my previous testing and my new testing. Huawei devices tend to be quite
good, and also the Pixel Watch did really well. Actually, the Polar Loop also did reasonably well on me. And in this case, for running, the Forerunner models of Garmin also didn't do too bad. So, those are the top performers.
Overall, I'm really satisfied with the performance of the Amazfit Helios strap. Now, talking about running, as I just showed you, I recently ran my sort of personal marathon just to try it out, and I'm not a runner at all. I only
started running because I wanted to do some other types of sports, and I had no idea how to train. Luckily, I found the Runna app, and after trying it for a while, I asked for an affiliate link because it really helps you get the best
personalized plans for running and also live guidance during your run. I, for instance, often wear the smart sunglasses by Meta, and it will even show me a red light when my pace is lower than what was planned. So, I
runner for 2 weeks for free, for instance, because you want to try to train for a half marathon, a 10K, a full marathon, or just want to get a bit faster at running, you can use my affiliate link up here, and you'll be
But, let's next take a look at the results for cycling, which are displayed right here. So, this is for biking, but now for biking outside. And again, we have a really good core relation here at 0.98.
This is some of the best performance I've ever seen. So, the Amazfit Helio strap, when worn in the sleeve, is doing really well. Almost all points are on or close to the blue line, though now sometimes it detects a slightly too low
where it struggles a bit more than for the other exercises. So, looking at some examples, this is looking quite well, but we have some minor deviation right Also right here, some deviation, but not too bad. This looks almost perfect. Also
here, no problem. This is actually one of the few examples where it struggled a little bit. So, right here, twice, it took a bit of time for it to detect that increase in heart rate. So, these were moments when it detected a too low heart
rate, and this is why we sometimes saw right here some points below the blue Otherwise, really good performance. Honestly, this is some of the best I've seen, and we can again compare that to some of the competition to actually show
you how it compares. Again, we want the devices to be as far to the top right as possible, and the Amazfit Helio strap, when worn in the sleeve, is right here. So, one of the top performers, also very close to the Amazfit Helio strap, when
worn on the biceps. If we actually look at a zoomed-in view, we can see that Amazfit Helio strap does really well, both in the previous testing on the biceps, but also when worn in the sleeve. Also when testing it with the
other band on my biceps, all of these do really well. And in this case, it does do better when worn on the wrist. So, on the wrist, it's a bit lower, so all the way down here. So, for cycling, I really recommend getting some kind of biceps
least when I look at how it performs on my body. Now, other top performers includes the Apple AirPods Pro 3, Pixel Watches, Apple Watches, the same ones we've seen before. So, generally, most devices tend to do well for all
different exercises. So, when it comes to heart rate, most devices tend to do well across exercises, but this is not universally true. So, finally, let's take a look at one of the exercises I was most excited about to test, which is
weightlifting or going to the gym. This is because generally, this is something that devices struggle with, especially when they're worn on the wrist. Because tension there when weightlifting, and this makes it very hard to detect any
changes in blood flow on the wrist, which is how these kind of devices work. And we can actually see that we have a very good correlation at 0.98 for weightlifting. Now, we do see a few points below the blue line here. So,
sometimes it detected a too low heart rate. This is very minor compared to the competition. If we actually look at some of the individual training sessions, we Helio strap, when worn in the sleeve,
quite accurately. It's sometimes it's still a little bit too low, but compared to other devices that are worn on the wrist, this is really good. But you be some peaks that are not fully detected. So, you do need to be aware
that even though it's imperfect, I think in terms of a comfort to price and performance ratio, it's doing really well. So, overall, I'm really happy with the Amazfit Helio strap. Again, we can compare this to the competition, and as
you can see, when worn in the sleeve right here, it's doing really well, very close to my previous testing of the Amazfit Helio strap when worn on the biceps. Let's actually zoom in to just the better performing devices. So, this
was the Amazfit Helios strap worn on the biceps with the standard band. This is the Amazfit Helios strap with the special strap. And this is the one we tested today. So, basically the same performance across all of these and only
potentially Apple Watches are doing a little bit better. But, Apple Watches when Apple realizes it doesn't have a good signal, it just stops detecting something that the Amazfit Helios strap does. So, overall very satisfied with
that heart rate performance. Now, for me at the moment, I'm only using the workouts and not my sleep. So, I'm actually only using the sleeve right now. But, if I was to wear it day-to-day for both exercise, sleep, and during my
normal day, I would combine it with the biceps band. So, you can just pop out the pod and pop it into a new one. I think that's something that Amazfit take it in and out. And you know how these extra colors as well. I think
there's four new colors in total. There's also a green one. I think sort change it up a bit with different colors, I actually really enjoyed this day-to-day I would switch it up between the biceps band and the sleeve, which
has the added benefit if that the sleeve can sort of dry from your sweat when you're not using it. And you get a nice and dry biceps band during the day and right now. You might be wondering what is the sleep state tracking performance
of the Amazfit Helios strap? Well, that's not the best, but also not the worst. I didn't retest it, but I did test some other Amazfit devices recently. So, let me quickly show you those results. So, here we have an
overview of how different devices perform in terms of sleep state tracking actually measure my brain waves. It's called the ZMax. It's used in several scientific studies specifically for sleep tracking. And we're going to
compare the sleep stages of different devices to that. Now, the Z Max isn't a perfect reference, but it's good enough. It's sort of a silver standard, and it devices performed on me, at least, in terms of sleep stage tracking
performance. And all the Amazfit devices are plotted in this sort of green bluish color right here. And we can actually see that the Amazfit Helios strap is right here. So, it's not all the way on the top right here amongst the best
devices, which are these right here, but also not amongst the worst ones. Amazfit tends to struggle with REM sleep. That's a particular stage it doesn't predict very well. And overall, all Amazfit devices I've ever tested are in the
middle right here. So, that's sort of the performance you can expect at the moment. There was an update recently, but I still need to retest it. I did test the Amazfit Active 3 Premium with the new algorithm. That video will come
in there. But let's actually take a look at some of the top performers right here. If sleep stage tracking is your focus, I can recommend five brands at the moment. Google with their Pixel watches or Fitbit devices, Apple
watches, the Whoop strap, the Oura ring, and the Eight Sleep Pod. Now, of course, the Whoop strap is one of the main competitors of the Amazfit Helios strap because it has a very similar form factor. I have one Whoop
strap right here, for instance. You can wear it on your wrist, but you can also wear it on your biceps. Now, the Whoop strap is actually my own personal day-to-day main tracker because it's pretty solid at tracking everything,
pretty good at your sleep, pretty solid at your heart rate, though not quite as good as the Amazfit Helios strap. And it has one of the best apps out there for me to track my health. And that's something I hope that Amazfit will
they're already quite good, I still think that the app experience of the Whoop strap is better. Let me actually show you. Though the Amazfit Helios strap already has a pretty good app. They're not quite as good as the Whoop
Whoop strap has this health span that I healthy. They use different metrics, like for instance, your sleep and sleep consistency. And sleep tracking is better on the Whoop strap in my testing.
Strain, but also your strength training time, also your time in different heart rate zones to sort of give you a biological age versus your actual chronological age. Now, this is not super scientific, but the metrics behind
it have been proven to be good to optimize. So, I use it as sort of a gamified way to live a bit more healthily and hopefully also live a bit longer, or at least be more fit when I'm doing it. So, to improve both my health
span and my lifespan. Now, in addition, what I really like about the Whoop strap is the way that they visualize certain things, and that the recovery tends to experience, but it still provides me extra information. And I, for instance,
often look at my heart rate variability, my resting heart rate and respiratory does give me a very nice overview of this. This is the day after my marathon, so my body was a bit out of whack, and I knew to take it slow that day. Now, this
works well for other days. Like today, my recovery is not the best, but also not terrible. So, I'm not going to do a super hard workout today. And if we actually compare that to the Zap app, it looks somewhat similar. As I said, I've
only during workouts. But for instance, during workouts, it has sometimes been crashing every once in a while. So, it still feels a bit buggy. Overall, they do try to give you similar metrics. I just think it's still
a little bit more cluttered and not quite as nice as the Whoop strap. imitate it to some degree. Hopefully, they won't get sued like Bevel did, but that's a whole different story. So, based on my testing, I would say the
Whoop strap has a better app and better sleep tracking or sleep stage tracking, better on the Amazfit Helios strap. Another one other device I really like for sleep is the Eight Sleep Pod. Now, the Eight Sleep Pod also has amazing
not a wearable. It's something that goes around your mattress and actually it cools and heat each side of the bed independently. So, for me in summer, this has been the one way I can actually get some sleep because otherwise I
really struggle and I can set it to my ideal temperature and my partner, and when I have one, can set it to her perfect temperature and we can both sleep a lot better in summer. So, actually me and my ex would sleep at my
house a lot more in summer just because I had the Eight Sleep Pod. The Eight Sleep Pod is super expensive though, so only get it if you can really afford it. comfortably at a better temperature, use my affiliate link up here to try it out
possible. Now, the same is true for buying any other device, whether it be a Whoop strap or the Amazfit Helios strap. There's different affiliate links in the not bought on Amazon will give you the best discount possible, but if you buy
anything on Amazon at all, even if it's the Amazfit Helios strap, and you use my the channel without it costing you any extra. So, considering that would be really appreciated. But, what's my overall conclusion on the Amazfit Helios
strap and on these new accessories? Well, in my opinion, the Amazfit Helios strap, especially with this sleeve right here, is one of the most budget-friendly options of getting good heart rate tracking during different exercises in a
comfortable way. Of course, nothing beats a chest strap, but that can be quite uncomfortable and I think the Amazfit Helios strap is doing a great job at that. And for just $99 for the strap, plus maybe $20 or so for the
sleeve, you're getting really good performance. Now, as I showed you, the sleep stage tracking isn't that great and the app could still use some where it crashes for me sometimes. I'm not sure what's going on there. Overall
to spend, a really great option for me, if money was no object, I would still go for the Whoop Strap over the Amazfit Helios Strap as an overall tracker. But, to spend. The Whoop Strap does require subscription, which is not for everyone.
Now, given that you watch this whole video on the Amazfit Helios Strap, I think you might like this video right here on the Whoop Strap or this video on here on the Whoop Strap or this video on the 8Sleep Pod.