Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor and Sports Watch

I bought this heart monitor to use in the gym as it appeared to do everything I required. Nothing too difficult - record results for 4 exercises, each showing average and maximum heart rates, duration, and calories. Also, heart rate to appear on the dial during exercises and even better if it also transfers this figure to the exercise machine (where possible).When it arrived I was somewhat disappointed as it looked rather flimsy and plasticy - my previous Oregon monitor was larger and more sturdy (however, it failed to work properly after 3 years). Well, my concerns were unfounded. The Polar monitor does everything I required (and more). It does not need to be large and heavy-duty - the simple design is strong enough and not of inferior Chinese quality. The heart rate does show on the exercise machines. Another excellent feature is the detachment of the monitor itself from the chest strap, so that the battery then stops working. In my Orogon the battery had to be removed to stop it and it was the monitor part that eventually failed.)Learning how to use it was very quick - it is not unnecessarily complex. It is also very easy to use. Finally, changing the battery in both the watch and monitor is quick and easy. (On my Orogon, it was extremely difficult to change the battery in the watch.)No complaints other than the fact that it looks like I am wearing a plastic digital watch rather than a sporty accessory !

I've been doing insanity for a while now, on and off, and I've always been interested to know how much I actually burn during these highly intense workouts.This product arrived in excellent packaging, was easy to set up (input time, age, weight, gender) and then you're ready to use it with the provided heart rate monitor strap.Pros:- Easy to navigate the screen- Washable heart rate strap (can't begin to tell you how valuable this can be)- Genuinely has motivated me to work harder in my workouts when I see my heart rate falling- Seeing your calories burned gives you a sense of achievementI believe a strong part about exercising, whether its weight gain, loss or maintenance, is about your internal struggle in your head. Can you motivate yourself all the time to get up, to put those shorts on and get on with your workout? For me, this has helped me so much when it comes to this and this has allowed me to finally complete a full round of insanity after nearly 2 years of trying to do the whole thing.Would recommend this product to anyone

The watch will display your targetted heart rate zone in a convenient graphical display and beeps when you drop out of it to tell you to keep the targetted intensity of the exercise. This is a good and useful system for aerobic and endurance exercise. However the thing simply becomes unreliable after a while by displaying an exagerated heart rate of 200 something or else the pointer just disappears altogether with a message to check transmitter (the thing you wear on your chess to gauge your heart rate). Even after a change of batteries on both transmitter and watch it still falters. The watch can never be turned off by the way. I've stop wearing it now.

Bought in May 2014 for around £50, so I've had it for a year and a half now. Recently the battery on the watch died, and I'd consider myself a light-medium user. I typically used the watch and strap every other day for 2-3 months, and I've done this twice since purchase. and I would also use the watch alone for the stopwatch feature a couple of times a month. I had a several month break during this time when I didn't use it at all. Polar charge £14 to replace the battery which they recommend to keep it water resistant, or you can buy a battery and sealing ring for a couple of quid. I've not done either.The watch itself is comfortable, stays still on my wrist without being tight. It can show a stopwatch, calories burned, all the standard things, but not a whole lot else.The strap is also surprisingly comfortable, never disconnected from my watch that I noticed (or that the watch told me), and seemed reasonably accurate when taking my own pulse manually at different heart rates.The calories burned, the main reason I bought this watch, is just another number you're given after doing a workout. By this I mean you can use many different devices, apps, calculators, etc, and they all give different estimates within a range. I place more trust in this watch than apps or calculators as it is actively monitoring my heart rate and you input/update your own weight/age through the watch, but at the end of the day, you still don't know how accurate it is. But I guess it doesn't really need to be perfectly accurate, just give a reasonable estimate, for it to be useful. I rarely bothered with looking at my actual beats per minute, and when I did, it never told me anything I didn't already know/couldn't already feel. If you have a genuine need to hover around a specific BPM, this watch would be more useful, but for most, just feeling how much physical effort you're putting in should be more than enough.Overall, I thought the watch and chest strap was OK, did all the basic stuff you'd expect but nothing more, I'd give it a 3.5 stars, but with the silly amount Polar charge for battery replacement within the first couple of years of it's life, I've rounded it down to 3 stars. I doubt I will be replacing my battery any time soon as other than showing time, which I prefer to use apps on my phone for audible alerts, the watch doesn't have much use for me.

Tremendous bit of kit. Polar are the best and the FT4 at £40 is a bargain that will do everything you want as a regular athlete. Comes with battery in the Watch and Strap and is ready to use 10 minutes after it arrives. Watch out for the strapless watches, you may have to hold your finger on the sensor to get your heartrate which is impractical while you're running and doesn't give you a complete and accurate summary of your Calorie burn. The FT4 works out your BMI, takes account of your age and gender and gives you safe zone for your workout. IE keep between 108 and 145 and tells you if you're Hi or Lo. Easy to change batteries. Good Luck. Good Choice.