HEART RATE MONITOR

I'm considering the Polar FT4 or FT7. I have no idea if they are good but the reviews on amazon are positive.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on these model, if anyone knows

I have a Polar FT4. Best $100 I've ever spent.

What activities do you do? HRMs are only accurate for a few steady state cardio activities such as running with smooth transitions ... they don't accurately calculate HIIT, intervals, sprints, boxing, dance, weight lifting, yoga, etc.

Ive been doing cardio (elliptical/treadmill/hiking) and then weights. I can get the rough estimate from the cardio machines but I dont think that those are fully accurate as well but mostly I want it for when I go hiking and do weight/strength training. I want to be able to calculate my full "gym" time kinda as a whole to determine how many calories im burning. Im really new to anything outside of the cardio machines

Cardio machines overestimate calories burned by A LOT. If the machine tells you you burned 700 calories, you likely only burned half of that… so 350 calories.

I love my ft4. I use it strictly to manage how hard I'm working out. I find that if I keep my heart rate lower I run more frequently and farther distances. I think the only difference with the ft7 is that it keeps track of more workouts.

I'm going to get a fitbit next year though when I upgrade my I-phone. I love fitbit for counting calories burned and increasing my NEAT.

Neither are useful for weight training. They don't give an accurate calorie count for lifting.

What activities do you do? HRMs are only accurate for a few steady state cardio activities such as running with smooth transitions ... they don't accurately calculate HIIT, intervals, sprints, boxing, dance, weight lifting, yoga, etc.

This is generally true of the low and mid priced models. Polar and Suunto both have models that allow you to enter you burn zones, which can be especially effective if those zones have been measured during a metabolic test. But I won't kid you - between the test and the equipment, you can shell out some real money. I did it because I was always getting what I felt were high burn rates from my other HRMs. Once I got my Suunto dialed in, I dropped almost 25 pounds in 6 months. (I tend to eat back cardio burn, so of course, I was eating back too much. I do not eat back calories burned from lifting and full-body exercises such as pushups, planks, etc.)

I have seen several people recommend the FT 4 and/or FT7. I would strongly recommend either one as an entry point into using an HRM. And even though it's still an estimate, the estimate should be more reliable than the average cardio machine. Good luck, OP!