Polar FT4 vs. FT7

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melisssaarielle
melisssaarielle Posts: 80 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to purchase an HRM... just wondering what everyone's thoughts on are each of these products and which they would suggest. I'm debating getting either the Polar FT4 or FT7... Thoughts please!

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  • 1toInfinity
    1toInfinity Posts: 69 Member
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    I bought the ft7. I love it!! But I can't compare it to any other hrm because its the only one I've owned.
  • betsy329
    betsy329 Posts: 61 Member
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    I am so glad you asked this because I was considering the same question. I do know they had this on their website which might help:

    FT7
    Clear Training Guidance
    For those who want to know if they’re improving their fitness or burning fat.


    FT4
    Fitness Improvement
    For those who want basic heart rate-based features to keep their fitness training simple.
  • derek2680
    derek2680 Posts: 48 Member
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    When I went to the polar website it showed both of these as watch style HRMs. Do they convert into the chest strap types? From what I read everyone has told me the chest strap models are more reliable and accurate.
  • Lance_K
    Lance_K Posts: 104 Member
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    They both require the use of a chest strap.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    My FT4 does everything I need it to do. All I care about is a decent calorie estimation and it does that for about $20-$30 cheaper than the FT7. ;-)
    When I went to the polar website it showed both of these as watch style HRMs. Do they convert into the chest strap types? From what I read everyone has told me the chest strap models are more reliable and accurate.

    They both come with the chest strap and will only perform heartrate and calorie functions if you are wearing it.
  • PrncessBre
    PrncessBre Posts: 444 Member
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    Bump. Im tryna find one as well.
  • Emancipated_Tai
    Emancipated_Tai Posts: 756 Member
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    I have the FT7.. LOVE IT!!!! I got it at bodytronics.com for like $75.
  • AmyM713
    AmyM713 Posts: 594 Member
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    I currently have the ft4 and love it, easy to program and use, this is my first and only hrm though.
  • mslindsay
    mslindsay Posts: 93 Member
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    I have the FT4 and I love it! Though I have not seen the FT7. I mostly went with the FT4 because it was cheaper. When you start training, the watch reads out your heartrate, the target zone to keep your heartrate in, calories burned, and a duration/time. This is all I need, I really like the target heartrate display, if I see it dropping out of the Heartrate zone I push myself a little hard to get my heartrate back up.
  • jwilson2001
    jwilson2001 Posts: 80 Member
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    I have the FT4. It's the only one I have ever owned. I just purchased it about 2 months ago. It has a chest strap. I had heard that ones without were harder to use because you had to continually push a button for it to measure your pulse. I bought it on Amazon for right at $60. The FT7 was a little more expensive and I only wanted something to be able to tell me the calories burned. I am not trying to improve my times, etc, right now...I just started the whole life-style change in January. I am glad I made the decision to purchase one!
  • wendyjo3
    wendyjo3 Posts: 52 Member
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    I am very pleased with the FT4. It accurately logs my calories burned through the use of the chest strap, and it is easy to use. It also automatically calculates your HR goal zone, and mine was very accurate.
  • MeeshKB
    MeeshKB Posts: 120 Member
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    I love my FT4 too.

    The biggest difference between the two, as far as I can see, is that the FT7 is compatible with their data transfer software, which lets you upload your data to their polarpersonaltrainer.com website where you can view it and presumably get recommendations etc.

    There is a good comparison tool on the Polar website at polar.fi

    http://www.polar.fi/en/products/compare?product1=22998
  • TNTwedell
    TNTwedell Posts: 277 Member
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    I have both (started with the FT7 -lost it - bought the FT4 as replacement, then FOUND the FT7)
    honestly - i dont notice a difference, BUT... i really only use it for the HRM. So basic count is all i need and either works great!
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    When I looked at Amazon the other day....the FT7 was about $5 more than the FT4. For that reason alone I would prob go with the 7.,
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
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    The FT7 has a battery you can replace yourself. The FT4 needs to be sent back to Polar (i.e. pay for shipping, battery, labor, shipping back and be w/o a HRM for a week) which was the reason I went with the FT7.

    Also, the FT7 lets me track trends so I can go back through my training files and see my avg heart rate, my bar graphs and weekly totals. Love that.
  • tulip07
    tulip07 Posts: 167 Member
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    I have the FT7 purchased on Amazon for $75. When I was researching about FT4 and FT7, I noticed 3 differences (although there may be other differences).

    - FT7 tells you whether you are in fatburn or fitness mode.
    - FT7 stores more history. It stores the last 99 workouts when the FT4 stores 10.
    - FT7 allows you to upload your workouts using a Polar FlowLink device which is optional (it DOES NOT come with the FT7, you would have to purchase it separately, which I haven't done yet)

    Also when I bought my FT7, the FT4 was only a few dollars cheaper, so I went ahead and bought the FT7.

    Hope that helps!
  • janet0101
    janet0101 Posts: 34 Member
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    I've been trying to decide between the two too.
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,269 Member
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    The FT7 has a battery you can replace yourself. The FT4 needs to be sent back to Polar (i.e. pay for shipping, battery, labor, shipping back and be w/o a HRM for a week) which was the reason I went with the FT7.

    Also, the FT7 lets me track trends so I can go back through my training files and see my avg heart rate, my bar graphs and weekly totals. Love that.

    You can change it on the FT4 yourself as well. They just recommend that you send it in so that they can retest it for water resistance once it's been replaced.

    I love my FT4. I did the comparison tool on Polar's site and that helped me make my decision, as I had also been wondering which of these two to get.
  • jbwegner
    jbwegner Posts: 254 Member
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    I too am trying to decide between these two models. I have a specific question about the chest strap. Is it big enough to fit large people? I am assuming it is adjustable, but does it expand enough to fit really overweight people? Thanks for the input!

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