Polar FT4

I wasn't sure about this, because I've never used a "heart rate monitor" before and I pictured something they'd hook you up to in a hospital. However, the good reviews here on Amazon sold me, and it wasn't that expensive. Well, I couldn't be happier. The strap isn't bulky at ALL--I really do forget it's there! I thought it was weird that you have to wet the "electrodes" before use, but I just literally rinse them for a second and then put it on. When I'm done working out, I immediately take the strap off, rinse it off thoroughly, and hang it to dry (after taking off the little monitor thing, of course). I've washed it a few times with gentle soap, as per the instructions. This is exactly what I wanted for my fitness goals. I'm not a huge fitness nut, but I wanted to get healthier and lose some weight, and I hated estimating how many calories I was burning. Proof--on MyFitnessPal, which I use to track my activity and eating, it wanted to give me around 150 calories for a 51-minute I took with my dog today. However, this HRM said 350--because it picked up on the fact that most of it was uphill and I was going at a fast pace, hence burning more calories. I also like seeing my heart rate fluctuate because it motivates me to keep moving--not to let my dog sniff too much! I've always hated going up hills, and now I know why--my heart rate jumps at least 15 BPM when I'm going up a hard hill! But that's how I burn so many calories (that and the brisk pace). So, I'm more motivated to go up hills because there's an explicit pay off. It's also very encouraging to look down and see how many calories you're burning! And to know that it's realistic and not something a computer comes up with. I will say that the elliptical at the gym is pretty darn close to this thing, but it says I'm burning about 20 more calories than I really am at any given time. So I've burned, say, 250, but the elliptical says 270. Not a huge deal, but I like knowing it's really 250 because I don't want those 20 calories to make me go over my "budget" for the day. Again, I was pretty skeptical with this, because I pictured it being really bulky and not accurate. But I find it's very accurate, and very motivating! I also like that you can set up the heart rate goal so you know if you're getting too low or high. This thing really encourages me to keep moving and to keep my heart rate up--which is just what I wanted! Very easy to use, too. A great purchase! BONUS - I plan to try to start a family in the near future, and this will be great for monitoring my heartrate while walking, etc. so I don't go over the safe limit. It's just good to see where your heart rate is.

I have tried so many heart monitors, and none of them suited me. They either didn't work well, weren't comfortable, didn't have a continuous reading of my heart rate, which is important, or the chest strap was too big for my rib cage. I had heard good things about Polar, so I decided to try the FT4, and it works really well. The chest strap is really easy to put on, and I am able to get it tight around my chest. It does start slipping a little sometimes when I sweat a lot or move fast, but it does not seem to interfere with transmitting my heart rate. I either put electrode gel or water on it, and both seem to work well. The wrist monitor shows a continuous heart rate, and you can cycle through different screens to see calories burned, how long you've been working out, etc. I would have liked to have been able to set a maximum and minimum heart rate, so it could alert me if I went over or under either, but this model does not seem to have that. It is not a big deal, though, since I can just easily look at the screen if I'm worried my heart rate is getting too high. After your workout, it gives you a summary of the calories you burned, what your average heart rate was, what your maximum heart rate was, how long you were "in the zone," and so on. It is very, very helpful. I was not aware that I was burning so many calories at the gym because MyFitnessPal apparently thought I wasn't working out very hard and would estimate my calories at 200. I was actually burning way over that. This is very useful because I base my caloric intake on how much I burn. The only minor problem I have had with it is that in some yoga positions, it loses its signal. I don't really care, though. It's understandable that it loses its signal because I'm twisting myself into a pretzel. It also makes faint beeping noises sometimes. I have no idea why, but I figured out how to turn them off. If I am remembering correctly, if you press pause while it's in workout mode and press down (I think), you can go to the screen that lets you turn off the sounds. I'm very happy with my heart monitor, and it has proven incredibly useful. My husband bought the black one and has been very happy with his, as well.

This monitor is great. Being able to track my heart rate has enabled me to finally have enjoyable and effective outdoor and at-home workouts. Before, I always either questioned my efficiency and often pushed myself way too hard, leading to injury and loss of motivation to continue, or avoided home workouts because I thought I wouldn't be working hard enough with them. Now, I know exactly how intense I need to be going because of the heart rate tracking. Ever since I was 12 (I'm 21 now), between half and all of my workouts took place at the gym because I always thought that was the only setting in which I could have a good workout. I can definitely say that was just a psychological thing! Even though this monitor is somewhat of an investment, it's definitely going to save me money because I don't feel like I will need to join a gym in order to get fit. In addition to the heart rate tracking, the calorie counting function is really motivating. This is a really simple, no-frills kind of device, which I really like. I once had the bodybugg device and it really irritated my skin and was quite ugly to wear. It also did not track my heart rate, just calories, making it a poor device for improving athletic performance. It (like the Fitbit and many other devices) had an online tracking software that in theory was cool, but for me, was just too meticulous and annoying. To my knowledge, there is no complicated online tracking app for the FT4; instead I just retrieve my data straight from the watch. I also had the Fitbit and it just measured way too many senseless parameters that I did not need to know about during my workout (i.e., flights of stairs per day, a vine of leaves that showed my "activity level"(duh, I'm working out, I know I am being active)). I also prefer that I just have a device to measure my workout and not something like the FitBit that I need to remember to take with me everywhere I go. I think it would be nice to have a distance tracking function on the polar FT4, but other than that, it really is the perfectly simple device to help motivate you during your workouts!

I have been using my new Polar FT4 heart rate monitor literally non-stop for the past four days. I had several goals in mind with this purchase: 1) track my actual daily calorie expenditure (with and without working out); 2) track the intensity of my workouts and measure total calories burned for the workout; 3) use it to plan my meal/calorie distribution throughout the day. Recognizing that my demands on this simple device are ambitious, I can say that overall I am very pleased with it's performance in each area. Design of the watch: The watch itself is a "pinkish/neutral/bronze" color that is hard to describe exactly. The good news is that somehow it manages to match basically any color attire you might wear. The band is made out of a disappointingly cheap plastic material that feels like "kid's watch" and pinches your skin easily. Also a nuisance is the fact that the face of the watch has a sort of "fixed hinge" with the sides of the band. In other words, the watch will not lie flat, it's always shaped in a rounded formation. This may be seriously problematic for individuals with very small or very large width wrists. The face of the watch is also a rubbery plastic which seems moderately scratch resistant, though I anticipate that it may get beat up in the weight room at the gym. The display on the face is large and easy to read at a glance, which is nice. Overall, I would rate the design of the watchband only 2 out of 5 stars. The material is very cheap and causes my skin to itch and sweat where it is strapped on. Design of the chest strap: I'm a rather petite female who is relatively lean (< 10% body fat) so the chest strap is conspicuous when I wear it with my sports bra and fitted tank top at the gym. You can see the imprint of the transmitter in the center of my chest, although it doesn't look overly out of place given the fact that I am at the gym. However, I have also been wearing the chest strap with my normal attire outside of the gym and it becomes rather uncomfortable with prolonged use (5+ hours). The strap material is elastic and polyester and easily collects sweat and moisture, so it will need to be cleaned frequently. The front part of the strap (housing the conductive electrodes) is made of a "pleather" type material that is mostly inelastic. If you work out very frequently and for prolonged periods of time, you might consider purchasing the Polar sports bra with built-in chest strap. This particular chest strap appears as though it were designed for a man and is a little cumbersome in my personal opinion. Overall, I would rate the design of the chest strap 2 out of 5 stars. Features of watch: The features of the watch/monitor are what make this such an awesome training tool. The watch has three basic features: view your heart rate, view your calories burned, and view your heart rate relative to your "target range." The heart rate reading is constant, real-time and easily read in large print digits. You can also see a reading of your calories burned as you progress through your workout. I chose to track an entire day, wake to sleep--so I tracked 15+ hours at a time in order to view my calories for the day. You cannot collect multiple workouts at one time. For example: you cannot track the day and then simultaneously track your workout on a separate file. You must press "Stop" and start over with a whole new file if you want your actual workout to be separate from your entire day. Also, there is no way to run a stopwatch, which was somewhat disappointing. However, you can view a timer for your workout on one screen that also displays the time of day. Overall, I would rate the features of the watch 4 out of 5 stars. It has great functionality, but could use a few tweaks to make it much more optimal. Ease of use: The watch is generally easy to set up and use. It may take a little bit of time to familiarize yourself with the buttons. I also found the backlight button to be mildly irritating. Unlike other watches, if you press the "backlight" button you permanently activate the backlight to come on any time you press any button on the watch. To de-activate it, you need to press and hold the backlight button and wait for a beep. These instructions are not in the manual. I also found that the chest sensor strap was susceptible to giving out when it became especially wet. At one point I had to rinse it with tap water and let it thoroughly dry for a few hours before attempting to use it again. Overall, I would rate the total product with 4 out of 5 stars for ease of use. Overall Product: I have definitely been showing off my new heart rate monitor to my gym friends and co-workers, and I highly recommend it. Though it has a few shortcomings (mostly in the design of the physical watch) its an outstanding tool and invaluable for individuals who are getting serious about their diet and/or training regimen. I hardly feel justified giving it 3 stars, given that I have been happily using it non-stop for days. But, its shortcomings cannot be overlooked entirely: Overall 4/5 stars. A solid product! 6 Months Post-Purchase Update: I have now been using the Polar FT4 daily for about 6 months. Overall, I continue to be pleased with its features and functionality but I have already considered replacing or "upgrading" into something that addresses a few design flaws which have begun to bug me more and more each workout. First, the watch band is just flat out uncomfortable. There's no other way to describe it. It pinches your skin, refuses to lay flat and generally bruises my wrist when I wear it doing certain weight exercises (like squats and lat pull downs). I actually take it off completely and put it on the bench or in my pocket during some exercises. Second, the fact that you have to scroll through 3-4 screens mid-workout to see your workout timer, heart rate, and calories burned is a bit annoying. It would be nice to be able to see your heart rate on EVERY screen (perhaps in small print along the top of the screen) at a bare minimum. Instead, I fumble between the three screens every few minutes while doing cardio especially. This has gotten a bit aggravating. In terms of the performance of the heart rate sensor, I have begun to notice that if I don't moisten the chest strap prior to putting it on, the watch will completely fail to register a signal until I either start sweating really heavy or wet the strap with tap water. Lately, I have also noticed that the watch "loses its connection" with the chest strap when my arms are fully extended above my head (such as during pull ups) and then when my heart rate reading comes back its either half or double it's actual value. Hmmmm.... I'm not sure what to make of these quirks. Perhaps I need to replace the strap, the batteries or both. Keep in mind I do use these devices at LEAST once per day, and usually twice per day. I would imagine that the amount of wear and tear I put on my heart rate monitor is a bit more than the average user, but not withstanding, I am starting to consider looking in to a different set up.

I purchased the Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor Watch about a year ago after doing a lot of research on the countless fitness trackers out there on the market, and I rely heavily on Amazon reviews. I typically do not write reviews myself, but I have been so happy with this purchase I was compelled to share my support for this as well. The ratings and reviews on this monitor are spot on. When I was looking for a fitness tracker I was taking a few things into consideration: truly reliable heart rate monitoring (running & lifting weights), calorie tracker, workout timer, and price. I was not concerned about a step counter, sleep tracker, and or a fancy app tracker to go along with it. Don't get me wrong, those Fitbit watches are slick, but I personally didn't really need all of that. Plus, I didn't want a fitness watch to wear all day; I prefer to wear my other daily watches. Last thing about Fitbit, while they do have a good track record of accurate heart rate monitoring while walking/running, I've read that their watches do not track heart rate as well when doing strength training/lifting, which was personally a deal breaker for me. My goal was to monitor my daily calorie intake to lose weight, so I paired this watch which tracks calories burned during workouts and the free Under Armour calorie counter app which tells you exactly how many calories are in the food/meals you eat. They worked amazing together. To date, I'm down 23 lbs. and I seriously don't think I could have done it without this watch. It is so simple to use, and it provides instant gratification at the end of the workout to know exactly how many calories you've burned. One thing I've always struggled with while running/working out was the guessing game of how many calories I burned, did I really push myself as hard as I could, and constantly looking at the clock on the wall to figure out my rest time. This watch takes care of all of that. The workout timer is also amazing because I like to do a lot of circuit training, so whenever I am done with a lift, I know exactly how much time I have to rest until the next set. Such a simple concept for a fitness watch, but Polar just makes it so easy, it’s amazing. No issues with batteries, malfunctioning, or anything like that either. I could go on, but in all, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. If you are looking for an easy to use, reliable, and functional heart rate monitor, then I can tell you this is it. Awesome job Polar, I think you've made a lifelong customer because of it. Good luck everyone!

I loved it initially; I could track my progress and I enjoyed its features: simple and easy to use. It worked for about three months without any issue. Then it started to have error messages in the middle of workouts: check heart rate signal. It wasn't that often so I could deal with it, but then it couldn't find a heart rate at all after a while. I was even cleaning it after each use and changed the battery in both the watch and strap. I sent it to the manufacturer since it was still under a year old. I explained I didn't need a battery and that I was receiving an error message every time I used the monitor. They provided me with an invoice for $40 which included $20 for a new strap and $20 for a battery replacement I didn't need. I called to understand being charged for items I didn’t need and that I thought it was under warranty for the first year. They said the strap wasn't under warranty but I don't know how I was supposed to know this. So even though they say their product is covered under warranty for the first year, the main component that breaks isn't. They said the heart rate sensor transmitted failed so they replaced that at no cost. They said the strap was oxidized and damaged but not covered. I told the customer service representative I would buy the new strap and I asked if I would be charged for shipping and the woman said no. I repeated to make sure it was clear I wouldn’t be charged for shipping and she said no. I then checked my credit card and found out I was charged $7.50 for shipping. When I called they wouldn’t stand by their statement of not being charged and would not refund me the shipping and handling and just apologized for the misunderstanding. They asked if I wanted someone to contact me after listening to the recorded conversation. I said yes. No one contacted me. I received an email survey for customer satisfaction. I stated my story again and received a reply that I would be refunded the shipping and handling, which I appreciated. The worst part is: shortly after receiving the product back I started receiving the error message again. Even after cleaning it after each use. So in the end I paid $20 for something that still doesn’t work. So not only did I receive poor customer service but the product is practically worthless because it doesn’t perform its main function.

I really like this hrm. Compared to the Polar FT7 model it does not have the ability to connect to the Polar personal training website using the polar flowlink, which costs extra, to transfer data online but I wasn't looking for anything with too many bells and whistles. It is pretty much everything it is described to be. It remembers several previous workouts and tell you your heart rate, calories burned, and if you are in your target heart rate zone. It is very simple to set up, you just enter in basic data like sex, weight, height and date of birth. It times each workout and tells you the maximum hr you reached and also the average hr. I really liked the strap, it fit well and It is very comfortable to wear. I completely forgot I was wearing it. Before using it you just use water to wet the area on the strap where the electrodes are, the attach the sensor and clip it on and you are ready to go. The watch has a nice backlight as well and was very accurate as I stopped a couple times to take my pulse and the readings were accurate. Turns out I am burning way more than I thought I was during my workouts so I am very happy to have this little gadget to make my workout and diet more congruent and efficient. I first started it up and it was so cool that it was reading my heart rate in real time as I did different activities. I have never used something like this before so I was very excited to see that it worked wonderfully. The FT4 is a great choice for anyone who is looking for a simple to use hrm. Great for monitoring heart rate and giving the opportunity to be mindful and aware of one's health to work toward a healthier life style that works for them and is tailored to them straight off of heart rate. You can't really get any more precise than actual heart rate as a measure for calorie burn! I would recommend it to anyone.

Reliable but Dated Tool for Tracking Heart Rate The Polar FT4 does a solid job at what it was designed to do: track heart rate and calories burned with a simple chest strap and watch combo. The strap itself is comfortable, not bulky, and generally accurate during workouts, even picking up subtle differences in exertion like uphill climbs. I liked that the electrodes are easy enough to prep—just a quick rinse before use—and the watch gives straightforward readouts of heart rate zones, averages, and calories. It’s basic but dependable for people who want numbers without frills. That said, the design feels dated compared to today’s fitness trackers. The display and functions are very limited—no step count, no sleep tracking, no app integration. It’s strictly heart rate and calorie burn. The watch also feels a bit plasticky, and at this price point it’s hard not to notice newer options with Bluetooth syncing, touchscreens, and broader fitness metrics. Another minor quirk: you need to rinse or moisten the strap before every use, which isn’t a big deal but adds a step. Bottom line: The Polar FT4 is a reliable, accurate choice if all you need is heart rate and calorie burn tracking, but for the cost you may want to consider newer monitors with more modern features.