Polar Loop or Polar FT4?

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soccerkon26
soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
edited March 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
Which one is best? Do you have any first-hand experience with either?

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  • copermen1
    copermen1 Posts: 31 Member
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    Not the FT4 but I have had good results with the FT7.. They are only very minor in difference.. I have been very happy with the FT7 for my daily exercise routine logging and keeping track of my HR. It uses the chest band which is the reason I got it over some others because the bands measure HR more accurately than the watch version. Being that the FT series and the Loop are so much different I think it depends on what your need and goal is. The Loop goes into lifestyle monitoring, sleep wake cycle, etc. and the FT series are for fitness and weight loss pretty much only.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
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    I've had a Loop since it first came out and before that I had an F11 for about 8 years. They are both good, just different. F11 I only wore for workouts and being that it was a traditional HRM the watch displayed more than the Loop and I do miss that information. But with the Loop I wear it all day long and add the chest strap during my workouts. It doesn't sync to MFP but that doesn't bother me. I just upload my activities to the app. I can get the basic information I need from both.

  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    They're different beasts and do different things, it's not a question of best but they're both adequate, if very limited in functionality.
  • Robin1109
    Robin1109 Posts: 231 Member
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    I'm having the worst experience with the Polar FT4 right now. I had one 5 years ago and loved it. The new model is constantly dropping my heart rate, skipping all over, etc. I've even sent it back for repair under the warranty and they sent me a "repaired" watch that still sucks. I'm so disappointed.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    2 products that are very different. You can't really compare the two.
  • stevesample76
    stevesample76 Posts: 248 Member
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    I love my FT7. I have had it for a little over 3 years and outside of having to replace batteries it has been awesome.
  • racheljonel
    racheljonel Posts: 400 Member
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    I'd go with the loop with chest strap, since it does what the FT4 does and much more.
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    I'm looking for one for fitness and weight loss, so it sounds like I'll go for the FT4 and FT7. It seems like there are minor differences but the FT4 is less expensive
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    Robin1109 wrote: »
    I'm having the worst experience with the Polar FT4 right now. I had one 5 years ago and loved it. The new model is constantly dropping my heart rate, skipping all over, etc. I've even sent it back for repair under the warranty and they sent me a "repaired" watch that still sucks. I'm so disappointed.

    I've heard a lot of people have these issues too :(
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    I have a Polar FT7 and love it
  • Esterhase
    Esterhase Posts: 11 Member
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    I've been struggling with Polar HRMs for years. I'm in my mid-sixties, so knowing my heart rate isn't just some interesting bit of trivia, especially when doing intervals. Things that have helped include:
    Make sure the strap is clean-wash with soap every few times out.
    Fresh batteries.
    Make sure the contacts are wet, or better yet use an electrode gel. Cheap and effective.
    Make sure the strap is tight. Then do tend to loosen up one day to the next, and if it moves around against your skin that seems to throw things off completely. My sense is, it should be pretty tight-not tight enough to hurt, but tight enough that it takes a few minutes to forget it's there.

    Also, it seems like sometimes the transmitting unit just dies after a few months. If you go to Amazon and read the one star ratings, there's a whole chorus of people singing the same sad song; "Oh, I loved it so much, and then all of a sudden it stopped working..."

    Hope this helps some.
    Cheers
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    It sounds like the Polar HRM's have so many problems, I'm not sure if I should get one
  • Southpaw1958
    Southpaw1958 Posts: 27 Member
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    Might take a look at the new M400. It tracks daily activity along with a host of other info. It uses a chest strap for HRM, and it works well. Polar has just added MFP integration. Check out DC Rainmakers in depth review. http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/09/activity-tracker-review.html
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    soccerkon26 wrote: »
    It sounds like the Polar HRM's have so many problems, I'm not sure if I should get one

    They're the dominant market player and produce some of the better quality equipment. Their lower end devices, such as the FT4, still outperform others at the price point.

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