Polar FT4F Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Product Description

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Body Measurement Features:

• Automatic age-based target zone: To help you train safely and effectively, the training computer automatically determines your heart rate target zone limits according to your age-based maximum heart rate (220 minus age). The limits are determined either in beats per minute (BPM) or as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
• Heart rate: Can be expressed as BPM or as percentage of your maximum heart rate.
• HR-based target zones with visual and audible alarm: Define target zones for a training session based on heart rate to help define the right intensity. When you are out of the preset zones, the training computer will give a visual and audible alarm.
• Manual target zone: Enables you to manually enter the target zone for your training, as BPM or percentage of maximum heart rate.
• Polar OwnCal: Calculates the number of calories burned during training, during individual sessions and cumulatively over time.
• Polar OwnCode (5kHz): Coded heart rate transmission automatically locks in a code to transmit your heart rate to the training computer, preventing interference from other training computers.

Recording Features:

• Totals: Includes your training data starting from the last reset, enabling you to follow long-term training.
• Ten training files, with summaries

Training Features:

• Graphical target zone indicator: Graphically displays heart rate zone, helping you to stay on the desired intensity.
• HeartTouch: Different training information can be accessed without pressing buttons, handy when gloves make pressing buttons difficult, by bringing your training computer close to your transmitter.

Watch Features:

• Backlight
• Date and weekday indicator
• Display text in English, German, Finnish, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian
• Dual time zone
• KeyLock locks training computer buttons.
• Low battery indicator
• 12- and 24-hour time display, with alarm and snooze
• User-replaceable battery
• Water resistant to 30 meters

Specifications:

• 33-gram weight
• One-year battery life with CR1632 battery

What's in the Box

• Polar FT4 training computer
• Polar WearLink and transmitter
• Quick Guide

This review is from: Polar FT4F Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Sports)
Hey folks, I just wanted to add a bit of information based on some comments I've read on other Polar devices: The FT4, based on my tests, IS water-resistant and should work great to help you track your stats as you swim laps. I'll update this once I've used it for a few more lap swims, but both the heart monitor you wear on your chest and the watch itself are sealed and won't immediately flood and ruin if you take it into the pool. Only thing is, you probably don't want to be pressing the buttons on the watch while you're under water, which may mean you have to stop and dry off if you want to take a break in the middle of your lap swim.

Update: I have now used my FT4 several times to track my lap swimming. It works great! Don't press the buttons while you're actually underwater, but I have had no trouble at all with the 'pause' or 'continue' functions at the end of the lap, even with wet fingers. Oh, and - you don't have to wet the chest band before you put it on if you're going to swim in it ;)

I have the same beef as others about the FT4 - you can't see all your workout stats at once while you work out - you have to press the bottom right-hand button to change the display to heart rate vs. calories vs. workout time or what have you, and you can't see your time while you're working out (you can once you're finished and you click STOP to end the workout session...at this point you also get your upper and average heart rates and your time in the zone. You can also hit 'Pause' to see your workout time.) Basically, this little gizmo does what it's designed to do. It does make a unique double-beep when you're in your heart rate zone, which I find helpful.

A couple other details: the FT4 has a user-serviceable battery (some other Polar models don't, which means you have to pay $$ and ship the device to Polar to change the battery.) The chest band is fabric, as opposed to the stiff plastic of other Polar models, also. You can buy software to download the information off your Polar, but the software is $80 and you need an infrared reader for your computer. I haven't really explored this, as I use the [...] website to track my info and I just copy it straight off the Polar without downloading.

My one complaint is the difference in calorie burn between the FT4, my Garmin Forerunner and my GoWearFit...who knows how many I'm actually burning...but I do have a little bit of a formula I can use to convert from one to the next...

Overall, I'd say this device is well worth the money, especially if you're just doing casual exercise without the need for a GPS or an all-day calorie tracker. I'll probably buy another one should the one I bought break or wear out.