The Huge CORE Body Temperature Monitor Review (2024)

Picture this: You’re pushing through a tough workout, sweat dripping down your face, heart pounding. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get real-time, accurate insights into your body’s core temperature, without any invasive probes?

Enter the CORE body temperature monitor, featuring a core body temperature sensor. This innovative device claims to offer all that and more, with its Swiss-made sensor technology, user-friendly app, and non-intrusive design.

But does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

Key Takeaways

• The CORE body temperature sensor provides real-time, accurate core body temperature readings, which could help athletes improve their performance, particularly in hot conditions.
• It’s user-friendly and integrates well with other devices, like Garmin watches, but the initial setup might require some troubleshooting and software updates for smooth operation.
• Priced at $284.95, the value it offers to serious athletes in terms of performance optimization and safety during heat training can justify the investment.

What is the CORE Body Temperature Sensor?

The CORE body temperature sensor offers fitness enthusiasts and athletes an innovative tool to view and track their core body temperature. This is important when exercising and racing in warm environments, or preparing your body to race in a warm environment.

The unit costs $284.95.

Advanced sensor technology and a user-friendly design make up this lightweight core body heat reader, which is capable of capturing thermal energy from the body to measure core temperature without any invasive probes. It provides real-time accurate core body temperature and skin temperature readings, helping you optimize performance in hot conditions with immediate feedback displayed on your watch, bike computer, or smartphone.

The easy-to-use smartphone app is where you set up the unit and adjust the settings according to your personal tastes. The app also displays historical data related to your core temperatures plus additional learning materials specific to managing these figures accordingly.

The CORE sensor came out in 2020 and is being used by multiple Ironman World Champions, Tour de France Winners, Olympic gold medal winners, and many other top endurance professionals.

The sensor is waterproof to 1.5 meters and is protected from sweat, of course.

Getting Started with the CORE Body Temperature Monitor

The CORE body temperature monitor features innovative sensor technology and is only 12 grams in weight. Measuring 40 mm wide and 50 mm tall with 8.35mm deep, a rechargeable lithium polymer battery supplies the power for your activities.

Unboxing the CORE Body Temperature Sensor

The unit comes in a rather small, nicely packaged box. It includes:

• CORE sensor
• 6x Single-use adhesive pads (if you want to adhere the sensor directly to your skin)
• Heart rate clips (if you want to use the sensor on a chest heart rate monitor strap)
• USB charging cable
• Sticker
• Instructions

At this point, the next step is to charge the sensor and download the CORE smartphone app. It will provide straightforward instructions to get started monitoring your core body temperature.

Using the CORE Temperature Sensor

Step 1: Charge the thing. It needs juice to work.

The CORE sensor unit connects via Bluetooth BLE and Ant+ connectivity. You shake the sensor to turn it on (a green light appears verifying that it’s awake). You can then connect to it via the CORE app, which allows you to control all settings and update the firmware.

The CORE Body Temperature Phone App

The app is really a large part of the CORE sensor. The sensor doesn’t do much besides transmit the data somewhere else to be interpreted. That place is the app. Also, the app is how you set up your heat zones and other key settings.

With the app, you can see how much heat stress you endured, and your total heat load. These are important when acclimating to the heat and preparing for a big race.

Once you install the app on your phone, shake the CORE sensor a bit to “wake it” and the app should recognize it. You can then go through and register it so you won’t need to do this step again.

You’ll next want to check to make sure all the firmware on the sensor is up to date. Outdated software might lead to problems regarding the connection accuracy of the data collected.

Updating the CORE Sensor’s Firmware

Chances are that the firmware has been updated since the unit was packaged up. So you’ll need to update it. This is done through the app. Go into “settings” and you should see a line with “Firmware version”. Click on the circular icon to the right of it.

Updating the firmware is agonizingly slow. I always seem to somehow start this when I’m ready to start my workout so it’s even more frustrating. It takes me on average about 20 minutes for the firmware to update.

When I start to update the firmware, I seem to always get a starting “downloading history” display as well. My guess is that it stores workouts on the sensor and at times needs to clear itself? I’m not sure. This takes 20 minutes on its own.

It doesn’t do this automatically, you have to initiate the update via the app. I just seem to always do this at an inconvenient time and feel the need to whine a little.

Wearable Comfort and Durability

One important thing – the CORE sensor must rest against your skin. There cannot be any cloth between it and your skin for it to work correctly. For me, I can’t even feel that it’s there. It sits on my heart rate monitor strap and just works.

The CORE sensor does its job discretely while recording accurate core temperatures (at a high speed). I can make intensity efforts based on real-time core temperature stats.

Even during challenging workouts where every element needs to be taken into account for optimum performance levels, I didn’t have any troubles.

While I chose to put the sensor on my heart rate strap, you can also use one of the adhesive patches to affix it to your skin directly. It comes with six of these patches and more can be purchased through the CORE website.

CORE also sells an arm strap if that method is preferred. It’s about $14.95 and works the same as the heart rate strap method. CORE does mention that with the arm strap, the accuracy is lower than placing the sensor on your chest area.

Viewing Your CORE Temperature Data

We’ve gone over how to record and track your data, but how do you view it? The data will appear in the app, but most athletes don’t want to be looking at their phones during a workout.

Getting the CORE Data to Show On My Garmin

I really want to see my core temperature on my watch during the workout. CORE has a ton of integrations with different brands, and they’ve got detailed instructions here for each of them. The CORE data will be saved within the FIT file that saves all of your workout data.

Some of the brands include nearly all Garmin devices, COROS watches, Suunto watches, Wahoo bike computers, Apple watches, wearOS watches, Hammerhead bike computers, among others. This is nearly all of the best triathlon watches on our list.

For my Garmin watch, I simply added a new data field and now my core temp displays whenever I’m running. The instructions on the CORE website made it simple.

Displaying the CORE Data on TrainingPeaks, Strava, Zwift, and Garmin Connect

Your workout file will include the CORE data, but getting it to show in your favorite training program is not guaranteed. They have instructions on how to show it on TrainingPeaks, but it requires a premium TrainingPeaks account, and then you must create a custom report. It won’t magically show up on the reports we’re all used to.

I still haven’t found a way to include the data on Strava or in Zwift. It would be cool though so I’m trying to find out a way. According to Strava, the idea of including additional metrics uploaded within a FIT file(such as the data from the CORE sensor) to Strava’s reporting most likely won’t be added to the Strava roadmap soon. Booooo.

The cool thing is that the CORE data showed up seamlessly on Garmin Connect. There was a fancy new graph at the bottom of my workout detail showing my core temperature data. Woot!

CORE Cloud Web App

It’s worth noting that your history is also saved on CORE’s cloud-based web app. Your data is synchronized automatically from the CORE app on your smartphone to the CORE cloud. You can access it via your CORE login at https://cloud.corebodytemp.com.

The data is displayed similarly to the CORE mobile app reporting, it’s just accessible via your computer’s browser.

Putting the CORE to the Test

My reason for using the Core body temperature monitor is to gain some insight into what happens within my body during a hard, hot race. I tend to always go harder than I should in a hot race, and get overheated on the run. It’s a specialty of mine.

Battery Life

Charging is fairly quick. From about 10% battery to fully charged took about an hour.

CORE claims that the battery life is 6 days of continuous transmission, and up to 6 weeks with sleep mode. However, I cannot at this time confirm that.

The battery life has been good during my tests though. I have never had the battery die during a workout.

Heat Acclimating

This core temperature sensor can also be utilized effectively for heat training, which helps increase blood plasma volume and helps you perform better in hot environments. The CORE app will display your heat training zones, which help with this. You definitely want to stay within the optimum “acclimating zone”, since too much heat stress can actually rob you of fitness.

Hydration plays an important role too when it comes to athletic performance and heat training, so testing different hydration methods and their effect on your overall core temperature is very valuable.

Data is always useful if you know what to do with it. The CORE app helps with that.

Training on Hot Days

I had a big race in Florida in three months. I began training with the CORE body temperature sensor every time I rode my bike or ran. I’d run as I always would and just monitor my core temp in the process for informational value.

Slowly over numerous workouts, I could see that I would feel completely fine, except when my core temperature reached 102 degrees. Once that temperature was reached, my energy plummeted shortly thereafter, and I wouldn’t feel normal again until the next day. That workout would basically be over for me.

The interesting was that I didn’t feel any different when my core temp was 101.5 or less. My body wasn’t telling me it was reaching its breaking point. It’s like it just ran normally, then tanked. I had no warning signs is what I mean.

I was really excited about this data. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a great position during a big race and halfway through the run my body said enough.

I always thought it was nutrition-related (that can be part of it), but I now knew one reason that could be a factor. And most importantly, I had a way of tracking that metric to hopefully avoid the situation.

This was very cool and gave me a boost of confidence for my race in Florida, which was guaranteed to be hot.

Real-World Application on Race Day

If you’re going to use the CORE sensor on race day, I think putting it on a heart rate strap is the logical choice. This is exactly what I did for my race in Florida. Who has time to put an adhesive patch on during a race? Not me.

I crushed the bike and entered the run strong. I kept glancing at my watch to check my core temp to make sure it didn’t climb too high.

Once it crept past 101, I dialed back the intensity a bit and kept putting cold water on my head at every aid station to try and keep my temperature below 102. Once I saw that my core temp had stabilized, I knew I could just run at my current pace and not hit my breaking point. It was awesome.

Later in the race while other athletes were walking I was running well and in control. It still wasn’t easy but I had a tool in my arsenal that I never had before.

I keep telling people this is my secret “pacing” tool for big races and recommend it to people who are affected by the heat like I am.

Pros and Cons of the CORE Body Temp Sensor

The CORE body temperature monitor is a great asset to athletes with its ability to provide real-time and precise core body temperature readings and compatibility with different fitness tracking systems.

Pros

• Allows for a data-driven pacing strategy on hot days
• Compatibility with most popular watches and bike computers
• Easy setup. Simple concept.
• Used by some of the biggest names and teams in endurance sports.

The real value is being able to track your core temperature in real-time. Everyone knows what happens when you get too hot – your body shuts down. Don’t let a big race get ruined by a bad pacing strategy.

Cons

• Not cheap (but not really expensive)
• Not all training platforms can display CORE data
• Not all running and triathlon watches are compatible

I’d suggest you look into your specific system’s compatibility before making your purchase. There are always workarounds, but minimizing surprises should be sought.

The CORE body temperature monitor remains an incredibly useful tool used to enhance workout performance.

Is the CORE Temperature Sensor Worth Your Money?

We come to the point where we need to evaluate if getting the Core Body Temperature Monitor is a good idea. We have considered its advantages and disadvantages, as well as its cost.

The benefits for athletes, it provides a non-invasive temperature gauge that can be integrated with other fitness trackers to provide real-time data to help cope with heat training and cooling strategies.

For me, it’s a no-brainer. I have found another tool that helps me during a race to perform better. Especially in an Ironman triathlon, where you might spend six months preparing, I want to finish strong and avoid blowups.

If you do not race in warm environments or have never had issues with the heat, this might be an unnecessary tool. You have to decide.

Personally, I find the data very interesting. My core body temperature reacts differently based on a few different things. Being able to track it takes the guesswork out of the equation. For me, that is important.

To sum things up, whether or not investing in a CORE body temperature monitor would prove beneficial depends on your own necessity & budget considerations.

If you are always seeking answers and enjoy data about your own body, try it out. I love mine.

Summary

The CORE body temperature monitor is an effective way to gain accurate body temperature data so you can boost athletic performance, especially during heat training.

It has the potential to help athletes optimize their hydration levels and pacing strategies during races.

Consider this device an investment that pays off for both professional competitors as well as recreational fitness aficionados looking to tap into their highest capabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

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