Customer Reviews

Polar F1 Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It was intimidating to begin using a heart rate monitor, but at the age of 50 the clear, instantaneous feedback of a monitor has become a necessary part of my fitness regime. This inexpensive set-up has proven to be just what was needed.

I'm not big on instruction manuals and this comes with a hefty one. For what I wanted to do -- just monitor my heart rate, thank you very much -- it turned out that the instructions were relatively simple. I was "up and running" (so to speak) just a few minutes after opening the box. Figuring out the strap, transmitter, and "watch" (the device that actually shows heart rate) is not rocket science, once you've assimilated the basic instructions. I am your basic equipment dweeb, so if I could figure it out...

Our gym has several types of heart-rate equipped Polar machines: recumbent bikes and treadmills. For these, the "watch" is superfluous because the machine picks up and reports the heart rate from the transmitter. Continuously. The instant feedback is useful for making immediate adjustments, which an overly-ambitious middle-aged lady would want to do when the heart rate gets pushed beyond reasonable bounds. Amusingly, it also provided me with the information that when one of the gym monitors sings along with the tapes, my heart rate goes down.

It's possible that I may one day want to graduate to a more sophisticated monitor. But for someone starting out, this has proven to be a reliable, useful, and easily adopted part of my workout kit.

Loved the monitor and used it at every workout. However, when the battery waned and I went to the retailer for replacement, I discovered it needed to be mailed in to Polar for servicing. More than a bit of an inconvenience. Would be an ENORMOUS improvement if basic maintenance could be handled without the hassle and delay of shipping.

The Polar B1 is easy to put on and the chest strap is comfortable. It sometimes takes a couple of "wettings" of the chest part with water to get the watch part pulse to read out.The area where a few drops of water goes could be better labled.
But the digital readout is large size and easy to read and it does what it says it will.
I am very satisfied-I like staying in my training rate and not getting my pulse too high.
Chris E.

This is a great workout tool. In fact I don't know how I ever ran without it. Though many may think that knowing your heart rate is a trivial waste of time and money it is not. It is a very tangible way to moniter progression in a workout. I am a sub 4-30 miler (no joke). And this great workout tool still applies to people of my caliber, and people without coaches. A must for a runner of any level. The instruction manual is a great page-turning read that is very informative. Although a menacing task to first undertake. With the help of the friendly instruction manual, anyone will be able to learn to work the moniter like a heart rate moniter operator master. BUY THE MONITER ITS REALLY GREAT!!!

I have never done an Amazon review but I could not stop myself from writing this. This monitor is the best health investment I have ever made. Beyond the fact that it works flawlessly as advertised. It also works with many of the aerobic machines at my gym so I don't even need to where the watch. But more important than how well it works is what it has done for my workouts. I used to constantly beat myself up because I was not sure I was pushing myself hard enough. Other times, I thought I might be over doing it. Now I know precisely if I am hitting my target heart rate. I also realized that I was not pushing myself enough early in the workout. After I warm up for 2-3 minutes, I push myself hard for a couple of minutes and my heart rate jumps right up there. Then I can keep it up there for the entire workout. It normally stays in my target range even during the cool down -- for a while at least.

Bottom line:

It works perfectly. I am having more effective workouts. I have peace of mind that I am neither killing myself nor being too soft on myself. I am doing "perfect" workouts.

Bill Metcalf

Great price, a snap to get started, easy to read display, comfortable chest strap. A "must-have" if you are serious about your exercise. I am amazed at the improvement in the quality of my workouts.

I bought this heart rate monitor because I wanted a simple monitor that only tells me my heart rate without other bells & whistles. I use it at my fitness center while on an elipitcal cross trainer & it will send my heart rate to the display on the machine as well as the wrist watch. So I do not to have to use the machine grips to pick up my heart rate which is great because the heart rate picked up through the grips on the cross trainer is not all that accurate. And it does not interfere with other nearby machines.

The transmitter/monitor watch set works very well and it's accurate. I use it on all my indoors and outdoors training sessions. You definitely need to moist the back of the transmitter for it to pick your heart rate reliably. Can get tricky during outdoors training in cold weather because you may not sweat as much. Use your imagination! :)

This set works fine as a set (a transmitter and a monitor watch) but the transmitter also works with some of the treadmills. My husband tried at home (Nautilus T516) and the gym, and both of the treadmill's display panel picked up the signal from the transmitter (So he has a spare for his treadmill).

It is very easy to use but if you have a dry skin, the transmitter may not pick up your heart rate well. In that case, you can fix it by simply moist (sweat) the back of the transmitter.

I purchased this item at a brick and mortar retailer and have loved it. It is well built, inexpensive, and performs its function reliably. The strap is comfortable and appears to be rugged. The transmitter stays securely in place. It talks to all of the exercise equipment in my gym that I have tried (SciFit, LifeCycle). I would recommend this to anyone looking for a simple heart monitor with a basic on/off control.