which polar is best??

joellevh
joellevh Posts: 27 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My birthday is coming up and I told my husband I want a polar heart rate monitor. He laughed and said no. ha ha really he did.

So I am just going to buy myself one and listen to him complain how hard I am to buy for. :)

Which one is best? I would like one water resistant since I will be using it for aqua fit classes, and it should display calories burn so I can stall my weight loss.

Thank you!

Replies

  • spfldpam
    spfldpam Posts: 738 Member
    I just bought the Polar FT7 and got it yesterday. I really like it so far. Only did cardio at the gym last night on the treadmill and ellpitical but both machines showed my heart rate without me touching the machines HRM sensors. It is waterproof in 30 meters of water or 90 feet. I was easy to set up right out of the box and read my heart rate once I put the chest strap on at the gym. I think I hit the wrong button after my workout though cause when I got home to look at the workout summary it said no training file found. I think I might have done something wrong after the last work out I guess. I need to read the manual again for that part. Glad I bought mine. I have a fitbit one but wanted something more accurate to wear at the gym for workouts for cardio and my Dynamic training and strength training for cals burned. If you get in the water with it, you aren't supposed to hit any buttons on the watch so start it before getting in the pool and stop it after getting out of the pool!
    I had gift cards and ez exchange cards from Macys so I bought mine there it was like $129 plus tax I think but I only paid $22 out of my own pocket. You can get them cheaper on drugstore.com and some other online places. Amazon wasn't the cheapest. I left my notes at home with prices on it when I was comparing prices. I will post those when I get home or Thursday!
  • skyekeeper
    skyekeeper Posts: 286 Member
    I don't know about which is best but I bought the Polar FT7 a few weeks ago on Amazon and I love it. I believe it's very accurate and easy to use and would definitely recommend it.
  • SouperDuck
    SouperDuck Posts: 57 Member
    I love my ft-60. does everything but cook breakfast. Get the FT-80 for that.
  • lady_in_weighting
    lady_in_weighting Posts: 196 Member
    FT40!!!
  • skyekeeper
    skyekeeper Posts: 286 Member
    I don't know about which is best but I bought the Polar FT7 a few weeks ago on Amazon and I love it. I believe it's very accurate and easy to use and would definitely recommend it.

    Also, I paid $80 for mine on Amazon. Hope this helps.
  • SteelersFan7
    SteelersFan7 Posts: 217 Member
    I have a Polar FT7 that I wear in the pool 5 days a week. I love it. It's lasted about 2 years so far and I've only changed the battery in the chest strap and watch once each. I got mine for around $80 (I think) from heartratemonitorsusa.com.
  • ThinLizzie0802
    ThinLizzie0802 Posts: 863 Member
    I have the Polar FT4. Super easy to use, great price, and is being toted as 2013's best HRM for price and accuracy. It was $80 at ****'s Sporting Goods. Super easy to set up and use. While you are doing an activity you can put the watch up to the chest strap and it will display the time briefly for you. It has the same water proof status as the others- 30 meters.
  • ThinLizzie0802
    ThinLizzie0802 Posts: 863 Member
    I have the Polar FT4. Super easy to use, great price, and is being toted as 2013's best HRM for price and accuracy. It was $80 at ****'s Sporting Goods. Super easy to set up and use. While you are doing an activity you can put the watch up to the chest strap and it will display the time briefly for you. It has the same water proof status as the others- 30 meters.

    Well it edited out the name of the shop which is pretty funny...it's a man's body part or name. Seriously!
  • furry226
    furry226 Posts: 31
    Polar Bear?
  • KaleYeah
    KaleYeah Posts: 9 Member
    I have both the FT60 and the RCX3. The FT60 was a good watch for me in the beginning. I mainly use a HRM for running and weight training. I moved up to the RCX3 because it would display 5 heart rate zones instead of 3 like the FT60. I mainly moved up to add the foot sensor to capture distance, speed, etc. I think it depends on what your main sport or training will be. You don't need to get one with too many features if you are mainly looking at HR and calorie burn. Just remember that it calculates your gross calorie burn, not the net. So when you see you burned 300 calories it is including the estimated calories you would have burned for that duration if you were sleeping or doing nothing. You can't go wrong with Polar.
  • xWendyJonesx
    xWendyJonesx Posts: 266 Member
    I have the Polar H6, which I really like, I'm not sure if it would be any good for water sports as it links to my IPhone instead of having to wear a Polar watch.
    My OH has the FT7, that's also very good, he uses it for swimming as well as running and cycling.
  • anasantos61
    anasantos61 Posts: 86 Member
    I have the Polar H7 and I love it. It's Bluetooth and links to my IPhone so no need for the watch just the chest strap.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I have the FT7 and have been using it for about a year, with no problems. I'm quite happy with it.
  • sassyrayofsunshine
    sassyrayofsunshine Posts: 499 Member
    Love my FT4!!
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    just got mine couple days ago, love it! absolutely love it- it is so easy to use

    very pleased with it- do wish they would make it to auto upload to android phones though not just the i-phone, but you can buy the adapter and upload it to polar's online program (I am just going to track mine in a spreadsheet)

    eta: can't wait to take it swimming
  • spfldpam
    spfldpam Posts: 738 Member
    I'm still loving my Polar Ft7. Wasn't able to go to the gym last week at all but did last night after work. The elliptical machine and treadmill picked up my HR without touching their sensors. Used in the pool for Aqua Zumba (don't touch buttons while under water) and it did great. I paused it in between machines/workouts and it did great. At the end of my workout when I got home I got my cals burned, average heart rate, max heart rate, fat burn time, fitness burn time, total workout time. Easy to use and read summary. Love it! The chest strap stayed on good in the pool also which I was worried about. The Aqua Zumba doesn't raise my heart rate much when I was looking at it during the class. I have a Water in Motion cardio class tonight and will check it during that class too. The elliptical is usually gets my heart rate up the most or when I run but due to bad knees I don't run very often.
  • RacerX_14
    RacerX_14 Posts: 578 Member
    I love my FT7. Its awesome!
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
    I don't have any experience with the different models, but if your like me you have no choice which one to buy.

    I use mine with the galaxy s3 phone. Well samsung never gave us true bluetooth 4.0 support, even though its on the package, so we have to use a specific polar unit designed for android with an older form of bluetooth. You can find it by searching "android polar wearlink". I got mine from amazon.

    Granted the polar wearlink works just fine with Icardio. It just sucks because it is an older model and it actually cost more than the newer bluetooth 4.0 models.

    Which ever one you like, just make sure it can work with your mobile device.
  • dkhuff1
    dkhuff1 Posts: 67 Member
    I have a really old polar that has lasted me over 7 years. I recommend getting one where you can change the battery in the chest strap instead of having to send it in as that saves money in the long run. Also, remember when you change the watch battery to send it back to Polar for that service. They re-set the waterproof seals. If you don't do that, they wont warranty the watch. Last, when using it in the water, do not press the buttons while underwater! That can allow water in and ruin your watch. Pressing buttons while above water, while the watch is wet is okay.
    Good luck, you will love it!
  • ww1900
    ww1900 Posts: 11 Member
    function-wise the Polar FT7 has been great. At first it would lose synch, but then I tightened up the strap a little more and it's been flawless ever since.

    I wish there was a screen that showed heart rate, calories, duration and current time on one screen instead of having to cycle through three screens.

    The 'fitness/fat burning zone' screen is useless to me too...

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