What HRM should I buy?

Atishi87

Hi,

I am looking to buy a HRM, something inexpensive but still reliable and accurate.
It should track not only my heart rate. but also calories burnt based on my gender, height and weight.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

ibogirl04

Polar HRM. http://www.polar.com/us-en

I have the FT4 and got it from Amazon for less than the retail price. It has an electrode strap, transmitter, and monitor. It keeps track of all the things you mentioned. Other watches will do that and more (tell you your fat burning zone, resting HR, etc.).

AusEliza

Yeah polars are reliable and have been around for years.

dawlschic007

I have the Polar FT7 and it works great and is easy to use.

CyberEd312

Another vote for Polar here........ Best of Luck

ibogirl04

One more perk. If you're on a treadmill, elliptical, or some other cardio machine that tracks your HR when you touch those metal handles, the Polar transmitter will automatically send your HR to the machine. No touching necesssary which is good if you plan on running or doing some sort of HIIT. I believe most machines are compatible with Polar.

krash999

another vote for polar. i have an ft7 and i love it.

osuzorba

I have an FT7 and mostly like it. My wife and I have both had to replace the strap and we had to replace the transmitter once. The new straps and transmitters are different than our original ones and seem better.

We didn't start having problems until they were about 1.5 or 2 years-old, which were hundreds of hours of use. I think the new strap design is much better than the old design.

All machines I've ever used will talk with Polar, other brands not so much.

slocyclist

I just bought the Polar H7 this past weekend. It doesn't include any readout device, as it sends data via Bluetooth LE to various phone apps. I'm using it with an iPhone 5S (which has BLE - be sure to check compatibility with your device.) The advantage of the H7 is that it cost quite a bit less than the FT7, which is what I was looking at as an alternative. I paid $59 at Target.

Like any other Polar device, the H7 works with any exercise equipment that has Polar HR capabilities, so you don't need to prop your phone up to see your heart rate.

Polar's Beat app works fairly well tracking workouts, showing a chart of your heart rate, time in zones, average HR, distance, and calories. Using the online Polar Flow shows all of the above, plus max/min heart rate and fat percentage of calories. You cannot export the workout data, nor does it share with any other application or web site.

Map my Fitness/Walk/Run works with the Polar H7, and recently added the ability to connect and pass data to MyFitnessPlan. I have not experimented with either of these with the H7 yet.

RunKeeper works with the Polar H7, and also shares data with MyFitnessPall. Haven't tried this yet, either.

Digifit is what I've used for the couple of workouts I've done so far. Not only does Digifit work with the Polar H& and share data with MyFitnessPal. It also brings in my Withings Pulse, Body Analyzer Scale, and Blood Pressure monitor. (Note is does not bring in the Pulse's sleep data.) Like all of the other apps, Digifit is free, but unlike the others, requires an in-app purchase to connect to various devices. I opted for the full $7.99 Pro option, but for $2.99 you can connect the Polar H7.

Digifit records duration, miles, speed, calories, fat calories, average and max heart rate. It shows the chart of your HR superimposed over levels. If desired, it will also talk to you, tell you when you are going into and out of levels, records cool-down data, and more. With the Pro add-on, you can go through the pre-supplied workouts and have an assessment of your performance. You can import workouts from Gamin devices, Runtastic, Strava, Cyclemeter, and GPSie. And you can export your workout data to CSV, TCX and GPX format.

Of course, the only downside I've found so far to using the H7 is that you need to have your phone within Bluetooth range (about 30 feet.) So you can't use it swimming, and if the equipment you are using doesn't have a place to prop the phone, you have to leave it in a pocket, arm band, or on the floor. The H7 will work with any Polar watch, so at some time I may decide to get an inexpensive one to use instead of with the phone.

Hope that helps some,
Slo

eAddict

Polar FT7. Offf of ebay cheap. Love mine

HSnyder1984

I was considering the Polar as well. Comparing the FT4 and FT7. Can anyone suggest which would be better?

Atishi87

Alright that's a wealth of information. Thank you all! Appreciate it!