Polar FT7 or FT4 HRM??

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OBXGal
OBXGal Posts: 113 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Sorry to post this as I'm sure the my question is answered somewhere buried in the thousands of Polar HRM posts.

I'm thinking of purchasing another HRM (the one I currently have is a cheapy) and of course I'm thinking of purchasing a Polar HRM because of all of the fabulous reviews of them on here. I'm looking at the FT7 or the FT4. From what I've read, it looks like the FT4 is pretty basic, just tracking heart rate/calories burned and the FT7 tracks your level of fitness/improvment or if you are burning fat. Is this correct?

Keep in mind I HATE working out, so I'm not necessarily focused on the level of fitness so much vs calories/fat burned. Thoughts on which one I should go with?

Thanks all!

Replies

  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    I have the FT4 and LOVE it! It tells me what I need to know but then I haven't looked into the 7 and don't really know the differences...
  • Fochizzy
    Fochizzy Posts: 505 Member
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    Ummm if my FT7 can do that I am not aware. My FT7 monitors my HR, my calories burned, my average HR, time working out, and it will store my results by date so I can review. It might do whatever the other thing you said is, but if it does I don't know how to do it.
  • Libby81
    Libby81 Posts: 734 Member
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    The FT40 measures the extras, its a bit more expensive. It tells you the percentage of calories you burned which were fat calories (while in your fat burn zone rather than fitness zone). It also keeps running totals of time spent, calories burned etc in weekly entries and total usage so you can keep track of your week as a whole as well as individual sessions.

    I have had one for about 5 months now and love it. I only got it because it was on sale at the time and wasn't much extra than the FT7 I was looking at. The watch itself looks so nice I wear mine all the time so the cost has kind of offset itself really.
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,495 Member
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    I have the FT7 and love it. A few of my friends have the FT4 and have problems with it staying connected.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
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    I have the FT4 and love it!! I had an issue yesterday with it but it was more operator error than anything (it kept moving because I didn't have it under my bra correctly lol)
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    You can go to the Polar site and do a comparison. My husband just got the FT7 and I got the FT4 based on that, but besides storing more workouts, I don't remember why he wanted the FT7. Maybe because you can set your own zones or something... that sounds familiar. Maybe I should listen to my husband more closely....... Probably not.
  • mckant
    mckant Posts: 217 Member
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    I have the FT7. As a person who can openly admit how cheap I am :blushing: I have to say I love it and it was definitely worth it!
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
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    Ummm if my FT7 can do that I am not aware. My FT7 monitors my HR, my calories burned, my average HR, time working out, and it will store my results by date so I can review. It might do whatever the other thing you said is, but if it does I don't know how to do it.

    yeah you can get little graphs of your fitness, i stumbled across it one day, the instruction book isnt very detaild
  • kel7298
    kel7298 Posts: 1,542 Member
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    I have the FT60 and love it.

    Check out this blog. Great info!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak?month=201003
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
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    I think FT4 has a little more feature than FT7 (I could be wrong, just compare two of it on Polar's site). But since all I needed functionality are covered by FT7, I went with that. No need to pay extra if you don't think you'll use the feature.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
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    I think FT4 has a little more feature than FT7 (I could be wrong, just compare two of it on Polar's site). But since all I needed functionality are covered by FT7, I went with that. No need to pay extra if you don't think you'll use the feature.

    The FT4 is actually cheaper than the FT7 which is why I went with that. I didn't need all the extra features on the 7. I just wanted HR, calories and time.
  • healthyjen342
    healthyjen342 Posts: 1,435 Member
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    I got the FT7...Probably would have gotten the FT4, but Best Buy only had the FT7 and I was NOT leaving the store without one..I've read that the fitness burn vs. fat burn was a marketing ploy...and it makes sense in a way (to me at least)...you will be working on your stamina and improving your fitness level with every step you make..so either one is good..I see no problem with the FT4....
  • OBXGal
    OBXGal Posts: 113 Member
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    Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I think I'm gonna go with the FT4 as it's cheaper (only by a couple bucks) and does just what I need. I don't need more bells and whistles to confuse me..lol!
  • OBXGal
    OBXGal Posts: 113 Member
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    I have the FT7 and love it. A few of my friends have the FT4 and have problems with it staying connected.

    Have your friends had problems with the chest strap not staying connected to the watch? I'm going to Google it and see what I can find. Thanks!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I think I'm gonna go with the FT4 as it's cheaper (only by a couple bucks) and does just what I need. I don't need more bells and whistles to confuse me..lol!

    Check Amazon. I just got mine for less than $50. The FT7 was $70 I think.
  • OBXGal
    OBXGal Posts: 113 Member
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    Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I think I'm gonna go with the FT4 as it's cheaper (only by a couple bucks) and does just what I need. I don't need more bells and whistles to confuse me..lol!

    Check Amazon. I just got mine for less than $50. The FT7 was $70 I think.

    Thanks! I will!
  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
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    I have the FT7 and love it. There isn't a lot of difference between the FT4 and FT7. About a $20 price difference on Amazon. The FT7 has three additional capabilities. 1) The FT7 can store 99 workouts, the FT4 10 I think. The FT7 has the heart rate range feature that tells you when you are in FAT BURN or FITNESS. You can set a program to help you stay in one range or the other (the watch beeps at you and encourages you to maintain whatever heart rate you are trying to achieve). 3) the FT7 allows you to upload your workout data to a website to provide reports and what not over the longterm. I think you have to buy a computer adaptor to do this though.

    Personally, the only reason I bought the FT7 over the FT4 on Amazon was that I like the color options available on the FT7 better. I got the all black watch. This was worth $20 extra for me. I didn't like the light silver or the girly colors available on the FT4 at the time I was purchasing my HRM. None of the additional features on the FT7 do I actually use, although it is kind of a novelty feature to know if my heart rate is high and in the Fitness range compared to slightly lower in the Fat burn range.

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