An Australian start-up is taking on the difficult fitness wearables market from a unique new angle. Co-founded by Dr Sven Rees, formerly of the NSW Institute of Sport, the BioConnected HR+ looks like yet another pair of sport-focussed Bluetooth headphones, but inside is highly accurate heart rate monitor.

Heart rate data is collected from an optical sensor built into the earpiece. Rees believes this gives his headphones a distinct advantage over other fitness trackers.

"Traditionally, if you've wanted high accuracy in a heart rate tracker, you needed something strapped to your chest," he said.

"These can be bulky and uncomfortable, and not something for the casual runner."

That's why consumer fitness trackers are usually of the wrist-wearing variety. But the wrist presents its own challenges.

"I looked at every wrist-based device there was, and most were fine at rest, but were inaccurate with exercise," he said.  "The wrist is physiologically the hardest spot on the body to get clean measurements."

Rees said this is due to the "motion and movement artefacts" that can confuse the data recorded by the sensors. By contrast, the ear remains relatively stable through most exercise, and the skin is thinner so it's easier for the optical sensors to see through, hence the more accurate readings.

And from a marketing perspective, the BioConnected HR+ headphones are fighting for space in a less established fitness space, not having to compete for your wrists with Apple Watch or Fitbit.

I've only taken the pair for a few quick walks around the park, so I can't vouch for the device's superior accuracy. Wearing an Apple Watch and Fitbit at the same time, there was not a lot of difference between the heart-rate readings of each – they all confirmed I'm incredibly unfit.

Sound quality is quite good – nothing mind-blowing, just clear, well balanced audio. There's also none of the the Bluetooth lag or stuffer found in cheaper devices, as you'd hope for a pair of $279 headphones.

The BioConnected HR+ is a chatty thing. It will tell you your average pace and current heart rate, and it looks like a voice-coaching assistant is part of the long-term plan to sell services on top of the hardware. The voice is not as natural sounding as Siri or Google's Assistant, but for the quick motivation it'll do.

There's also no on-board storage in these headphones, or the ability to stream music directly to them, so you'll still need to take your smartphone or watch with you.

There's definitely a first generation feel to the hardware. The plastic body is extremely light, yet still a little bulky, and the buds took some twisting and turning to fit snugly in my ear. They just don't feel as comfortable or as well-engineered as my current recommendations – Beats X for iPhone users, and the Jaybird Freedom for Android runners.

That first generation feel extends to the iOS-only software. The accompanying app is bare-boned, giving you data collected in a utilitarian design, with none of the spit and polish of Fitbit. There's limited connectivity to Strava and MapMyRun, allowing you to sync the heart rate data to the exercises captured by your phone.

Over all, I found myself more interested in BioConnected the company, the scrappy Australian start-up, than I was in the product. It seems smart to sidestep Apple's Watch and focus on headphones, a product runners will always want with them. In some ways, this feels like the product Fitbit should have made, a simple, peripheral fitness device that doesn't need to compete with smart-watches.