Customer Reviews

Polar A4 Pulse Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this watch as a gift for my husband 5 months ago. It froze up within the first 3 months (display froze and it would not tell time). I returned it and got a replacement. My husband has since developed a theory that the problem is static electricity that it picks up through the pulse sensor. The new watch also freezes, but he has developed a technique for restarting it. This involves having to totally reset the date and time. It being winter and cold at the moment, there is a lot of static electricity around. Yesterday the watch malfunctioned and had to be reset THREE times! When it works and there is no static electricity, the watch tells time and can sense pulse rate, but unless you live in a fully grounded environment or really enjoy resetting the watch constantly, I would avoid this product.

I wanted a heart rate monitor without a lot of features that I wasn't going to use. With this one it is quick and easy to check my heart rate while I'm out walking, on the elliptical trainer or even sitting at a red light in traffic. Only takes a couple of seconds. The numbers on the dial are large and easy to read.

For the money I think you really can't beat this watch. I use it three times a week when I do my laps and I really like it - not to mention it is very accurate. I would definately recommend this product!

I work for Polar and have used almost every one of these monitors .
Before this product went for sale on Amazon I had tested it for three
weeks with all good results . I personally use it with our chest strap transmitter for workouts and this is when it works best and gives continuous Heart Rate readings . Once done with the workout , I remove the cheststrap transmitter and go back to using the finger touch pulse reading as a guide to seeing my recovery and normalizing heart rate .
Sometimes I check the pulse rate to see the effects of sleep, hydration,
stress , nutrition etc... Just eating a salty meal makes the numbers go up...Or when my favorite team is not playing well on TV.....

This product works well as a heart rate monitor. I use it in my spin class to get a quick check of my activity level. I like the fact that there is a backlight on the face so I can see the readings in the darkened spin room.

I opened the watch and was eager to take it to the gym. After 1/2 hour of trying unsuccessfully to set the time (everything else seemed to work including my 180 heart rate!), I packed it up and shipped it back. I wanted to tell time and monitor my heart rate. Without being able to do both easily, the product didn't seem worth the money or additional effort.

I bought this because I like the idea of using it without the chest strap. However, I use my chest strap (had from previous HR monitor) whenever I wear the watch for working out. My only complaint is that it is BIG, especially for a woman to wear. I was hoping with the basic color it could be my everyday watch so I could periodically check my rate. Alas, I only use it while working out then switch back to my woman's sport watch.

This watch works great as long as you wear the heart rate transmitter band. I do not think any of them work very well by the method of pressing with the finger. The watch has different options. You can be exercising and see your heart rate or the percentage of your target heart rate. I use it with the percentage and try to keep it between 70 and 75 percent. It beeps each ten minutes you are in the target zone. I already owned the chest strap for use on a rowing machine. The watch allows me to walk and keep up with my heart rate. It has several other features that I have not put to use yet - but might be useful to others.

I already had a chest strap so how I use it is different than those that want the instant HR check. It takes a little time to get used to the buttons and I only learned enough to be able to record my time and ave HR, but it has been working well. The beeps for out of the HR zone are helpful and are loud enough to be heard without being annoying. It is inexpensive for a HR monitor and has worked well, so I consider it a good value.

I love this watch. It was very simple to set up and use. I have the Polar T41 band that was purchased with my treadmill 3 years ago and the watch recognized it perfectly. Great watch best price.