Polar A300 or Fitbit Charge HR?

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TrishaCisneros
TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
edited March 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Not new to the HRM world. My FT4 recently died on me and so I figured it was time to get something newer. I am looking for something that will monitor my heart rate and track calories burned while I run. Any extra bells and whistles might be an added plus, depending. Advice?
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  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    bump
  • kmcc144
    kmcc144 Posts: 84 Member
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    I used to have a FT4, and switched to a ChargeHR and LOVE it!
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I have a Charge HR and it's amazing! :D
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    Thanks ladies!!!
  • therealklane
    therealklane Posts: 2,172 Member
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    I have the Polar A300. I like it a lot better than the FitBit I had because I can sync it with my HRM and don't have to use several different devices. My only peeve is that they haven't worked out all the kinks with the app yet, but I'm trying to be patient and give it time and remind myself that technology isn't perfect.
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    therealklane wrote: »
    I have the Polar A300. I like it a lot better than the FitBit I had because I can sync it with my HRM and don't have to use several different devices. My only peeve is that they haven't worked out all the kinks with the app yet, but I'm trying to be patient and give it time and remind myself that technology isn't perfect.

    Is it super big or "chunky"? That was one of my concerns. My wrists are tiny and the big face that most Polar's have makes them hard for me to wear long term. (even though I LOVE my polars)
  • therealklane
    therealklane Posts: 2,172 Member
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    At first I thought it was big (I had the FT60 before and would compare it to that size), but I'm pretty used to it now. I've had it probably two weeks? My wrists are fairly small too, I don't know. Maybe if you can find a store that has it near you and you could see it in person you could make the decision easier? I know it's a lot of money to spend to potentially not like it.
  • gettingfit4Rachel
    gettingfit4Rachel Posts: 21 Member
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    I know I pretty late to this but I have both and I love my charge hr! I love being able to watch my calories burned and steps all day. Keeps me more on my toes about eating and getting up and being active.
  • verdejt
    verdejt Posts: 24 Member
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    Another Polar device you could look at would be the Loop. It tracks all your activity and it is able to pair with the H7 HRM. Plus you can sync it through the Polar Flow app and update MFP at the same time. Do a search for DC Rainmaker's product review blog . His reviews are pretty good and he is very objective. You can get a Polar Loop for about $100 dollars. In my opinion when replacing any thpe of HRM you always want to look at what you might be doing in the future and what features you might need. For me my unit has to be waterproof and currently only the Polar units and a couple others are. I myself went from a FT4 to a Loop to recently the M400. I got tired of carrying my phone using Polar Beat to see my runs and cycling workouts. The M400 has built in GPS whicn eliminates carrying my phone. Good luck.
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    therealklane wrote: »
    At first I thought it was big (I had the FT60 before and would compare it to that size), but I'm pretty used to it now. I've had it probably two weeks? My wrists are fairly small too, I don't know. Maybe if you can find a store that has it near you and you could see it in person you could make the decision easier? I know it's a lot of money to spend to potentially not like it.


    Thanks!!! I'm super rural. The closest place that would carry polar is about 3 hours away!
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    I'm thinking about switching to a Polar H7 strap, apparently it's blue tooth and will sync with apps on your iPhone etc.
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    verdejt wrote: »
    Another Polar device you could look at would be the Loop. It tracks all your activity and it is able to pair with the H7 HRM. Plus you can sync it through the Polar Flow app and update MFP at the same time. Do a search for DC Rainmaker's product review blog . His reviews are pretty good and he is very objective. You can get a Polar Loop for about $100 dollars. In my opinion when replacing any thpe of HRM you always want to look at what you might be doing in the future and what features you might need. For me my unit has to be waterproof and currently only the Polar units and a couple others are. I myself went from a FT4 to a Loop to recently the M400. I got tired of carrying my phone using Polar Beat to see my runs and cycling workouts. The M400 has built in GPS whicn eliminates carrying my phone. Good luck.

    Thanks!! while I was googling yesterday I found the Polar Loop and was super intrigued! I did read his review and I think I might be looking into getting that or A300.
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
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    TwinMamaTrish wrote: »
    Not new to the HRM world. My FT4 recently died on me and so I figured it was time to get something newer. I am looking for something that will monitor my heart rate and track calories burned while I run. Any extra bells and whistles might be an added plus, depending. Advice?

    I have the Fitbit Charge HR and it does not give accurate heart rate. I have tried a few times to use it on my bike rides to get my heart rate number and calories burned and they are pretty inaccurate compared to my Polar H7 chest strap HRM. You have to wear it high on your wrist to supposedly get best HR readings. The only problem is it tends to slide down the arm. So far the chest strap HRM are the most accurate ones.
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    ^ Thanks! That's what I'm thinking, too. Now, I have to decide between the Loop and A300 :p
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,740 Member
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    Polar with strap will probably be more accurate during athletic activities if the strap works well for you.

    Fitbit charge/surge: do not need a strap! They do not handle abrupt increases and decreases in heart rate well (sampling frequency? smoothing function introduces delays?). Some issues with excessive sweating requiring cleaning of the led light/sensor area during exercise.
    Fitbit burn calculations are accurate for many; but not for all. Good for steady state aerobic type activities.

    Schorsche Rhythm+ in conjunction with a smartphone is good as a strap replacement.

    Mio products are much more accurate (than fitbit and equally so to the Rhythm+) when it comes to measuring your heart rate during athletic activities. No strap required.

    Tom Tom Cardio line uses the same sensor as Mio.

    Polar loop or garmin vivo lines may be of interest for all day trackers if you are OK with a strap or if you combine them with something like the Rhythm+ for wrist based HRM
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    Thanks!!!
  • kaitlinrt
    kaitlinrt Posts: 28 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I purchased the Charge HR almost three weeks ago and I absolutely love it! I did a ton of research and was hesitant to purchase something so expensive.

    My work days can be very active and so far it has done a decent job of recording my HR. If I hadn't bought the Charge HR I would have purchased the regular Charge since it still does an awesome job of counting things like stairs. I do take the calorie burn estimate with a grain of salt though and try not to eat back all the calories it adds on my work days (non work days calorie burn of 2300 and some work days up to 3200 burned calories). It also has been scarily accurate with sleep detection.

    During normal activity the Charge HR takes my heart rate every 5 seconds, during exercise I believe it is every 1-2 seconds.

    One tip I will give is don't wear the strap TOO tight. The first day I wore it pretty tight and it didn't really need to be. Also, measure your wrist 1-3 finger widths above the bone on the outside of your wrist. You wear the Charge HR a little higher up than most people wear their watches and I needed to buy a large because of this.
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
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    I love my Charge HR. For those who have it and love it too, how do you know it is accurately monitoring your Heart rate? If i were to eat the amount of calories is allows me per the amount of activity/excersice i do i would for sure gain weigth. Now the Sleep tracker portion is spot on.
  • TrishaCisneros
    TrishaCisneros Posts: 171 Member
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    After doing some of my own research, opinions from this thread, and a couple youtube videos, I am pretty sure that I am going to give the A300 a go. I should get it withing the next two weeks. I'll let you guys know how I like it.
  • kbunn06
    kbunn06 Posts: 16 Member
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    I have an A300! It is fantastic. I've had an FT4 for the last 3 years that I loved. After having a baby a few months ago, my husband and I decided that I should stay home from work so I knew I would need some motivation to move. The A300 came out just in time. I tracks activity all day long. If you're sitting for too long, it buzzes and tells you "It's time to move." If you wear it while you sleep, it will track your sleep and let you know how many hours you slept total, as well as how many hours were restful sleep. It has really helped me see just how little activity I have been doing during the day, and how terribly I sleep at night. I honestly thought I moved way more than I do. Plus it gives you an activity goal so that's very motivational.

    When you workout with the chest strap it will track your heart rate and calorie burn accurately as well. I was so used to that from the FT4 that i had to have something else that did that. Polar has the most accurate calorie burn information because of the chest strap heart rate monitor.

    Also, I had the Loop for about 2 weeks and absolutely HATED it. It doesn't show any detail and it was very annoying having to constantly scroll through each of the screens to get to the one I wanted. Plus I had to charge it about every 3 days which was just way too often. I'm charging my A300 for the first time in 3 weeks, and honestly probably could have worn it another week before I needed to, but I wanted to plug it in to change my workout profiles.

    So basically, I HIGHLY recommend the A300.

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