Polar HRM, is this the right one?

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Replies

  • mmuzzatti
    mmuzzatti Posts: 704 Member
    Polar....enough said and I have had a few others. Simple and to the point.

    Her question was *which* Polar to get, so actually your response of "Polar" is not enough said. Which Polar do you have? Do you like it?

    Wow I got busted so early in the morning...your right, I'm sorry, Polar FT4, yes I like it and it just so simple to use. The only problem is I am left handed and wear my watch/Polar on the right arm and every so often it hits the stop button when working out but that is my problem because I don't want to wear it on my left arm/wrist.

    Now can I please have my coffee back.....pretty please.....
  • thinkpositive3
    thinkpositive3 Posts: 85 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 and love it. If you run/walk and want to keep track of mileage you may want to upgrade to a different model. It's the only thing I would change if I had a do-over.

    Remember to rinse it out after each work out. Also, disconnect the transmitter from the strap. It will kill your battery. I've not had any tracking issues with mine. Highly recommend!

    Check out bodytronics.com with the promo code of POPO. Mine came in under $60
  • foxbat2828
    foxbat2828 Posts: 391 Member
    Well I'm in the minority here. I have a Polar FT4. I bought in February. It worked great for about a month, then it started going all wacky.

    Sometimes it says my HR is over 200, and sometimes it says 37 or so. Most of the time it says 00, check transmitter! I have tried all things with the strap, water, rinsing, gel. It frustrates me so much that I don't bother using it anymore.

    Just be warned that they do malfunction occasionally. With my luck, maybe I just got a bad one.

    I have the RS100 ... for about four months now ... and mine is also doing some weird stuff too. At first it was reading really high or really low on the heart rates, then I noticed that the calorie counts seemed to be off. Recently, it's been acting like it can't find the transmitter and the heart rate number just keeps "searching" then goes to zero. Last night, after doing all of the recommended things like cleaning contacts, washing the strap, tightening the strap, etc., I finally popped the battery out of the transmitter and wiped down the contact sides. The watch finally found the transmitter and started displaying the proper heart rate. Did some wonky stuff at first like acting like it was cycling through various things like the limits setting, etc., but finally seemed to calm down and started displaying the heart rate, workout time, and calories without jumping around. Wondering if it's the battery in the transmitter. Will switch that out over the next couple of days and see, but I'm somewhat disappointed that after such a short time, I'm already having to worry about troubleshooting the thing.
  • thinkpositive3
    thinkpositive3 Posts: 85 Member
    Well I'm in the minority here. I have a Polar FT4. I bought in February. It worked great for about a month, then it started going all wacky.

    Sometimes it says my HR is over 200, and sometimes it says 37 or so. Most of the time it says 00, check transmitter! I have tried all things with the strap, water, rinsing, gel. It frustrates me so much that I don't bother using it anymore.

    Just be warned that they do malfunction occasionally. With my luck, maybe I just got a bad one.

    I have the RS100 ... for about four months now ... and mine is also doing some weird stuff too. At first it was reading really high or really low on the heart rates, then I noticed that the calorie counts seemed to be off. Recently, it's been acting like it can't find the transmitter and the heart rate number just keeps "searching" then goes to zero. Last night, after doing all of the recommended things like cleaning contacts, washing the strap, tightening the strap, etc., I finally popped the battery out of the transmitter and wiped down the contact sides. The watch finally found the transmitter and started displaying the proper heart rate. Did some wonky stuff at first like acting like it was cycling through various things like the limits setting, etc., but finally seemed to calm down and started displaying the heart rate, workout time, and calories without jumping around. Wondering if it's the battery in the transmitter. Will switch that out over the next couple of days and see, but I'm somewhat disappointed that after such a short time, I'm already having to worry about troubleshooting the thing.


    Do you keep your transmitter attached after each workout? I ready early on when I bought mine that if you keep it attached it will wear out the batter and can do funky stuff to the information it relays. Good luck! :)
  • LittleMissRainey
    LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
    I don't have one yet so I'm here just for the replies, sorry!
    Have been looking at the FT4 because of its looks tbh, the brown one seems to blend in the most and doesn't look too huge on the wrist so it's not totally obvious it isn't just a wristwatch. But I've also had the FT7 recommended, I wondered what the main differences are? Can the FT7 track mileage or is that a higher model?
  • TamaraHaase
    TamaraHaase Posts: 39 Member
    Thank you! It makes me wonder if all those 700 stats are people saying they burn that much just because that's what Zumba says you burn. I don't know why, but it is reassuring to hear from someone else that it is probably not malfunctioning.

    As for the look of the FT40 not being aesthetically pleasing, that was why I chose mine. I would have gotten the pink FT4, but that was the first hrm I ruled out. I was disappointed none of the others came in pink or something equally girly (it was down to the nitty-gritty details on which one to choose). I ultimately went with the FT40 for the fitness test and the black watch band with the flowers on it.
  • PinkKitty724
    PinkKitty724 Posts: 179 Member
    I have heard most about the Polar FT4. This is what I recently got my hubby for his birthday (he won't get it for another week, though!
    I almost bought him a Pyle because it was cheap and I had already spent a bunch of $$ on other stuff, but then I did a little research and everything pointed to the FT4. I am not familiar with the other one you mention, but I know the FT4 is the highly regarded one because it calculates calories burned and is reasonably priced for having that feature. I also liked that it had an encoded transmitter so that other people around you with these HRMs won't mess up yours. This is good for me because he and I will often use them at the same time. Another great feature for the $$.
  • TamaraHaase
    TamaraHaase Posts: 39 Member
    I don't have one yet so I'm here just for the replies, sorry!
    Have been looking at the FT4 because of its looks tbh, the brown one seems to blend in the most and doesn't look too huge on the wrist so it's not totally obvious it isn't just a wristwatch. But I've also had the FT7 recommended, I wondered what the main differences are? Can the FT7 track mileage or is that a higher model?

    For those of you who want to know the minor differences between the polar products, they have a compare feature on their website, which is how I narrowed down my choice. You can compare up to three watches at a time.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/products/compare?product1=23349
  • PinkKitty724
    PinkKitty724 Posts: 179 Member
    I swear by mine.... I have the FT60. The machines at the gym are way off on calorie burn - they are much too high!! Definitely recommend the FT60 :-) :-)

    I have found that to be the case with most machines.. but my elliptical at home likes to tell me I burn less than 100 calories for doing 3 miles on an interval course! HA! As if I believe that.
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
    I'm currently biddin on one on ebay that i think is a ft6? its used but if it works great....I just don't have a lot of money for a hrm but want to get a polar
  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
    I got the polar ft4 in pink :) I love it!!
  • tnqnt
    tnqnt Posts: 397 Member
    I swear by mine.... I have the FT60. The machines at the gym are way off on calorie burn - they are much too high!! Definitely recommend the FT60 :-) :-)

    I have found that to be the case with most machines.. but my elliptical at home likes to tell me I burn less than 100 calories for doing 3 miles on an interval course! HA! As if I believe that.

    Oh wow, the opposite extreme!
    The CYBEX elliptical at the gym reads as double what my polar tells me.
    Also, the treadmill is high. The crazy thing is, they BOTH read my heart rate wirelessly, as they both are Polar Ready. The only machine that actually comes close in calories is the StairMaster rotating stairmill.... my love/hate machine! :)
  • _whatsherface
    _whatsherface Posts: 1,235 Member
    I too have a Polar FT4. Best thing I have ever bought!! It's a cute pink one too (;
  • georgia_ann40
    georgia_ann40 Posts: 21 Member
    I also have the FT60 and love it. I had the FT7 first, but returned it because the FT60 has a built in fitness test and training program. Look at Bodytronics.com for cheap prices.. and also entering the code POPO will save you an additional 5%.


    Looking at the polar website it would appear that the FA20 tracks calories over a 24 hour period, I don't know how well it would track exercise however, since it doesn't come with the chest strap like FT40 to track heart rate.

    Thank you for this information! I just bought the FT4... Just wanted a very basic HRM. Using this promo code, plus buying additional gel (not sure if I needed or not, but it was a special too)... total cost for both $61.63. Haven't found a better deal!
    Thanks again!!

    ga
  • jonski1968
    jonski1968 Posts: 4,490 Member
    FT7...absoloutely great..

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