Customer Reviews

Nike Women's Imara Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I spent almost a week researching HRM before settling on this one. Generally I jog/walk with a jogging stroller and wanted to keep track of my workouts. I wanted something that didnt have too many bells and whistles (and thus making it difficult to use). After looking at several brands I decided that I wanted a HRM with 1) A calorie counter. 2) A 'time in zone' feature where I could see if I was getting a good workout by being in my target heart rate zone. 3) A backlight and 4) I wanted to be able to see my heartrate as I worked out without having to flip through several modes/screens.

I tried to order the Imara through Amazon and (as usual) it was from a vendor that wouldnt ship to an APO. I ended up buying it on base for about the same price but still wanted to write a review since there were very few on this particular product.

I have used the HRM for about a week now and am extremely happy with it. I think the chest strap is quite comfortable for what it is. You do have to wet the sensors (which isnt a bother to me) but once its on I find it detects your heartrate with great accuracy. Once you see a little heart flashing on the screen and you know its picked up your heartbeat. I've never had a problem with it 'losing' my heartbeat which is a complaint I saw on many other HRMs. The watch itself is very easy to program and simple to use. The face is smaller than some of the other HRMs I've seen and is also supposed to have a smaller band since it was designed for women. I like that even if you have it just on 'time' mode in the lower part of the screen you can still see your heartrate. The watch also has a 'turn off' feature to save on batteries. It automatically will turn off after 12 or 24hrs of non use (if you want it to) in order to save battery power (this doesnt require you to reset the time or anything though). You can change the batteries yourself (unlike some of the other HRM brands where you have to send it in to have the battery changed).

One final note-- when researching I also read a few reviews that brought up interference problems when using an iPod with a HRM. I havent had any problems using this HRM and iPod at the same time.

Overall Im extremely happy with this HRM. It has all the features I wanted, a nice design, and decent price without a lot of extra features I would never use.

I got this watch in about April of 2007. I used it roughly 2 to 5 times a week for probably about 30 minutes to 2.5 hours at a time on each day, never doing anything underwater but just regular aerobic exercise and resistance training.

The heart rate function worked decently well and tracked calories as stated. Like other reviews have said though, it is very sensitive to others around you that may also be wearing one and get really thrown off. Same with walking/jogging my dogs around the neighborhood, there were times that my heartrate would go to the 60 bpm range and then after half a block jump to the 200 bpm range - way off.

In about September 2007, my heart rate would not go past 100 even though I would be working very hard. I thought it was a dying battery so I replaced those. That didn't help. I went back to the store where I got it and tried it with a chest strap from a brand new one, and it worked just fine. Turns out the transmitter from the chest strap just GAVE OUT. REALLY? I was appalled because I spent a little over $100 for this watch. LUCKILY, the store felt bad for me and just swapped it out for a new one.

A few months later, in April of 2008, the SAME thing happened and all of a sudden the chest strap stopped transmitting my heart rate to my watch. I went back to the store and again they were willing to give me another new one rather than make me go through the trouble of sending the watch and chest strap back to the manufacturer for a repair under the warranty.

What a hassle. I was saved from wasting my money on this thing only because the store I bought it from was so generous. Otherwise it would have been $100 down the drain on both watches. I'm expecting this THIRD EXACT SAME watch to breakdown a few months from now too, to continue the trend.

I should have invested a little more money into a heart rate monitor and gotten a Polar, which most of my colleagues have and NONE of them have had the terrible experience I have had with the Imara.

I used my first HRM for well over a year on a daily basis when I was training to run a half marathon. It fit comfortably, was easy to use, and the batteries NEVER DIED! The only reason I bought a second Nike Imara was because I had lost it during an interstate move. Can't go wrong with this one.

Had I known that the actual heart rate is not visible unless you are in the timer mode, and that in that mode, the timer is the larger of the two pieces of data visible (HR is shown to the right of the running time, and it's quite small), I would not have bought this HRM. For most people, I would think, HR is more important than a stop watch, and I don't understand why it would be designed this way. I do not know how I'm going to see that tiny figure while doing a cycling time trial - it's just way too small.

Other negatives: The watch is very stiff, and difficult to put on, and the excess band is quite difficult to thread through the plastic ring.

Postive: The chest strap is made small enough to fit a woman's body, which is a nice change from the men's HRMs I've tried. Color is nice...price was also quite reasonable.

If careful, continuous reading of your heart rate during training or racing is what you are looking for, don't waste your money on this HRM. Spend more and get one that will better suit your training needs.

This is my second Nike Imara HRM. My daily 2 hour work outs wore the first one out! The Nike Imara HRM is very user friendly, accurate, and well worth the money! I like the fact that I can get my HR, Max and Calorie burn in just a press of a button. The HRM is a must have for anyone looking to maximize their work out routine!

I wore this watch for the first few years of training for races. It is a comfortable watch, with very simple, easy to use features. I did have to eventually order a different heart rate monitor, because this one doesn't have the digital FM transmission that many other heart rate monitors have. The result is that it picks up other signals and starts displaying the wrong heart rate data when running by power lines, or more specifically when running with others wearing a heart rate monitor. If you're planning to wear it in races or with a training buddy, this feature might frustrate you as often it will pick up the other person's heart rate signal and display a heart rate of 240 or something obviously off. Other than that, it served me well!

I bought this HRM in 2006 and it lasted for 2 years. I did not use it consistently during this time either. I tried to change the battery because the belt stopped working but that did not help.

It's great for calorie counting but there is no distance tracker and the chest belt slides down during heavy aerobic workouts, causing the watch to stop counting calories.

Today, I purchased a Polar instead.

I read many reviews before buying this watch. A good thing is that you can replace the batteries yourself. Many Polar watch owners complain that although Polar is a good brand, it wouldn't let you replace the batteries without paying considerable money for that at the Polar store. People would complain that Nike straps aren't good, but I haven't had any problems with them until now (I've been using it for a month). The plastic strap seems to be fragile where it adapts to the elastic band, but I believe that if you handle it gently, you won't have a problem. The heart rate monitor has been working perfectly and it cross-talks with the Polar machines at the gym , which is wonderful because you don't need to use the watch if you don't want.

I got this watch in about April of 2007. I used it roughly 2 to 5 times a week for probably about 30 minutes to 2.5 hours at a time on each day, never doing anything underwater but just regular aerobic exercise and resistance training.

The heart rate function worked decently well and tracked calories as stated. Like other reviews have said though, it is very sensitive to others around you that may also be wearing one and get really thrown off. Same with walking/jogging my dogs around the neighborhood, there were times that my heartrate would go to the 60 bpm range and then after half a block jump to the 200 bpm range - way off.

In about September 2007, my heart rate would not go past 100 even though I would be working very hard. I thought it was a dying battery so I replaced those. That didn't help. I went back to the store where I got it and tried it with a chest strap from a brand new one, and it worked just fine. Turns out the transmitter from the chest strap just GAVE OUT. REALLY? I was appalled because I spent a little over $100 for this watch. LUCKILY, the store felt bad for me and just swapped it out for a new one.

A few months later, in April of 2008, the SAME thing happened and all of a sudden the chest strap stopped transmitting my heart rate to my watch. I went back to the store and again they were willing to give me another new one rather than make me go through the trouble of sending the watch and chest strap back to the manufacturer for a repair under the warranty.

What a hassle. I was saved from wasting my money on this thing only because the store I bought it from was so generous. Otherwise it would have been $100 down the drain on both watches. I'm expecting this THIRD EXACT SAME watch to breakdown a few months from now too, to continue the trend.

I should have invested a little more money into a heart rate monitor and gotten a Polar, which most of my colleagues have and NONE of them have had the terrible experience I have had with the Imara.

A heart rate monitor is an item that I wouldn't' want to buy again and again. I mean it's one of those things that you buy once and definitely expect it to work for at least a couple of years and maybe more if you are not a serious athlete.

My usage was not minimal. I used it to go to the gym on an average of 4 times/week. After about 5-6 months of regular use the band's buckle broke. The plastic buckle is kind of small and I could easily see that it couldn't have taken more load, it was kind of cheap. But I attached the band together with superglue and made it work somehow! I used it for a few more months and it was pretty good but after a few days I started noticing that it sometimes wouldn't pick up my heart rate and when it did, it would seem way off. I mean after using it for about 8 months, I knew approx what my heart rate was for a specific activity. And then one day it just gave up completely! So there you go...barely used it for the entire year. On the flip side, the features were easy to use.

I don't like wasting my time and money on buying the same things repetitively. I wouldn't recommend this product.