Heart Rate Monitor Watches

I had gotten a MIO strapless heart rate monitor a couple of months ago. It sucked! Worked fine around the apartment, but as soon as I was actually exercising, the HRM wouldn't calculate unless I was completely still. Traded that one in. Next I tried a Timex with a HRM strap. Worked GREAT... for about 3 weeks, then the monitor wouldn't calculate my heart rate for about 5-10 min, and when it would, it would say it was 33. When running, it MIGHT get up to 120, but most of the time would stay down at 50 or 60. So I've sent that one back.

Now I'm thinking about trying a Polar HRM watch (although I don't really want to have to send it away to change the battery) but they seem to get good reviews, I've narrowed it down to: the F4, F6, and RS100. I don't really want to spend much more than $100 and I really only care about the heart rate functions and calorie expenditure. Has anyone had much luck on one of these models over another? If I can't get one that works right soon I'm going to give up!

I have the RS200 and love it.  I've had it now close to 2 years and have had to send it in once.  They replace the battery fixed the screen and sent it back and it only cost me $12 total.  It was pretty much a new watch in the same strap for only $12.  I play racquetball 6 days a week and also wear it during hockey and broomball, so I am very rough on it and have not once had a problem.  If you have any specific questions please let me know.  Mine does support the foot pod, but I havent made that purchase yet because I am not a big runner.

I have the f6 and LOVE IT!  I've had it about 9 months and wear it everytime i workout/horseback ride/ play tennis etc...  My battery is still going strong so haven't had to deal with that yet.

check ebay for some good deals.  I was able to get mine for $60 vs. retail of $109

I have an F11 and love it! I even swim with it. I see it's not a model you are considering but thought I would put it out there.. I got mine NIB (new in box) through ebay and paid just over $100 with shipping. Good luck shopping!

I love my F6. Its comfortable and very reliable.  No battery problems - i've had mine for over a year.

Any of the polar products would be a good investment! I bought mine on Amazon.com.

My first HRM was a Polar, and it worked great!  I bought an F3 or something like that off of Amazon for $24.00...

I currently use the Garmin Forerunner 50.  It picks up my HR right away, has user changable batteries, and you can add the foot pod later if you want to use it for running.

I have the F11 and absolutely love it and my 19 year old has the F6 and he says it works great , calculates calories pretty accurately as well as HR. bought the F6 at Scheels sporting good store for ~100.00

Good luck

I have polar F11 and started to DISLIKE it. I don't know why I don't trust it anymore. yesterday, I was on the treadmill and I was just jogging not very fast. My HRM read 203 heart rate ???????? the following minute, it was 42 ???

what is wrong ?? I have had it since Oct 07. maybe it is time to change the battery or what? how often do you change the battery?

Safina, I think it's time for a battery change...

Original Post by v_avila:

Safina, I think it's time for a battery change...

 which is a pain in the *** I heard that I have to send the watch to Polar. is that true?

Yep. I am dreading having mine changed. I'm in Mexico.. ugh.

Can't comment on your options, but I just wanted to agree that The MIO is a huge peice of crap.  I get so frustrated with it!!!!  If you are sweating at all (helLO... that is what happens when you work out)  It won't read my heart rate at all.  In Spinning on saturday I told the guy next to me to call 911 because I had no heart beat .  I am going to look into the Polar's too.  Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've had the Sportline (think it's model 910?) for about a year now and I love it.  It matches the heart-rate on the good machines at work within 1-2 beats per minute every time.  Only when working HARD have I had to slow down to check heart rate - it does fine on walks but not always on runs.  Works great on elliptical also.  Paid about $70 at Target for it.  Don't know about battery changes, sure LOOKS like I could unscrew the back and replace it myself.

Do the Polar HRM's require a strap around your waist/torso?  Or is it just a watch?  I've been thinking about getting one, but those straps look uncomforable.

Hi, I owned a F6 for more than 3 years and I changed my own battery twice over that time. It worked fine for me both times after that.

Why do you have to send it in?

Just curious?

All the good heart rate monitors have a chest strap.  That is much more accurate than the pulse at your wrist.  It's actually very comfortable, it fits just below my bra and I've worn it all day and all night without discomfort.

I thought you could just take it into a jeweler. I remember reading Amazon reviews that said you could, and that's what I'm probably going to end up doing soon. My F4's also starting to give me erratic readings.

I do love it when it works, mine just seems to drop readings a lot, or go to zero when I'm actually moving across distances. It does much better when I'm on an elliptical or stationary bike. Is this normal, or do I just live in an area with a lot of interference?

I have a Polar F7 and it is on vacation in New York right now. I personally don't like the big Apple but it wanted to visit it's siblings. It wanted to go so bad that it started reporting my HR as 73 all the time, rebellion! Before it's rebellion, it worked great, in the pool, running, riding bike. The belt is wide, elastic,  and very comfortable; very good for larger folks like myself. I am a member of the Want to Lose 100 pounds club, 38 down and a ways to go!

My wife has an f4 and has had no problems with hers at all. Must be an only child! She is very happy with it, it works as advertised all the time.

Obviously mine needs a battery in one of the components. It does have a 2 year warranty, so that is good. Just the shipping cost of sending it. Otherwise no problems. I would recommend you take a look at the F7. You think you just want the HR and calorie count, I did too. REI had this model on sale for just a few dollars more than the F4, and I love being able to look back at what I did on a day and what zones I was working in. I was surprised how much I enjoy those extra features. You are probably only going to purchase once, so be sure to get what suites you best, better to have an extra feature or two. The monitor belt is much better on the F7 compared to the F4 also. It is their upgrade belt, that costs a pretty penny if you decide you want to add it to another model.

The monitors have been very helpful for both of us, getting us to exercise in our zones. Before we had them we were both going to "easy" on ourselves!

That's pretty funny, sandlizard! Well, sounds like most people have had good luck with their Polars. I think I'll just be happy if I get one where the heart rate monitor works correctly!! (and for longer than 3 weeks.) You'd think manufacturers would make the HRM's a little better... then again, everybody's just out to make a buck! Thanks for the responses!

Be aware that some of  the Polars have problems with interference from other Polars - this happens to mine and also my husband's.  I also have some friends at the gym with Polars and if we're sitting next to each other in spin class, we get really strange (very high) readings.  If you are on a machine next to or near someone with a similar watch, you can get some really ridiculous readings that seem to jump around. However, if you check your summary at the end of your workout, you will find that your calories and time have been recorded accurately (if you compare to previous workouts, you can see that they have been - if my HR was 211 for 15 minutes like it said, I would have burned WAY more calories!: )

 I have also just taken my watch to the jeweler's to get changed, no mail in.  I have several friends who bought their Polar HRM's with (chest strap) at Target for well under $100 and they work just fine.  You don't need to buy the super-high end one unless you're very interested in lots of stats like VO2 and stuff like that.  I'm just looking for calories, time, and heart rate...: )

Good luck.