Customer Reviews

Polar RS100 Heart Rate Monitor and Stopwatch

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It's unisex, easy to use, and has all of the features a runner needs without all of the expensive frills. I chose the RS100 because it had features that the women-specific watches did not, including interval timers, two zone limit monitors, and a back light (essential if you run at night or cross train in spin class where the lights are usually low). I recommended spending a half hour reading the manual and setting up the watch that way. It covers every feature simply and clearly.

Being able to set my own heart rate and percentage limits is great since those numbers change as my fitness improves. I also like that the running total tells me the percent of calories burned from fat, super essential for proper training.

The total only keeps track of one run at a time, which is fine. I log my runs in an Excel spreadsheet and I've found this to be more useful than storing them in the watch because I can write all sorts of formula combinations and create averages and see a big picture and completely geek out. Other models allow you to upload logs to the Polar website but paying the extra money wasn't worth it for me. I like doing that stuff myself.

The medium chest strap fits me fine once it is adjusted (female, 34" chest) and stays in place. Be sure to moisten the transmitters before wearing, a few drops of water will do, your sweat will take care of the rest ...

My only issue is that the watch is a little bulky for my small wrists, which causes some discomfort at times, but I've come up with a few workarounds to solve the bulky problem:

1. I wear it somewhat loose but not so loose that it spins around on its own. This keeps some of the pressure off. It's loose enough that I can manually rotate the face around to the inside of my wrist if I need to.

2. For longer runs, I sometimes wear the watch strapped to my gear belt or zipped in my pocket. Since the watch has interval timers and warning beeps when I go out of zone, I've been able to keep track using my hearing instead of my eyes. The beep is pretty loud so as long as my headphones aren't cranked, I can still hear it.

3. The treadmills at my gym are Polar ready so they pick up the transmission without me having the wear the watch. While the treadmill doesn't have any logging features, I can at least keep track of my heart rate during a run if I don't want to wear the watch.

Overall, it's a great running computer for the money.

This is my fourth HR monitor. I've owned a Nike (garbage), two Timex models (one solid and one I returned). I bought this one because it had three lines of information so I would know my total time and my lap time.

Some points:
- For the first month the watch never gave me an inaccurate HR. Since then I've had two instance when it's been whacky (you know, shows you at 185 when you're at 145). My previous HR monitors were MUCH worse than the Polar on this account.
- The three lines is nice, however it does not allow you to swap the lap time with the total time. I would much prefer the lap time to be in the middle or at least bigger (it's hard to read when you're doing a hard run and you're bouncing around).
- There is a lap number. I like that a lot.
- If you press and hold the button a little too long it will pop up Limits and adjustments and whatnot. This is annoying and happens too easily.
- If you use the light/indiglo while using the stopwatch it will automatically light up whenever you hit lap/stop afterwards. This is a great feature. Often I'm running in the dark and this feature is a lifesaver.
- Getting the information from the watch is just OK. Not terrible, but not as streamlined as the simple Timex HR monitor I previously used.
- I don't use the totals. I have a database for that.

The bottom line is that HR monitors are pretty unreliable generally. After 2 months, this model has been solid. I would still like a tweak here or there because of my personal preferences.

Purchased as a replacement HRM, The unit does what its intended to do and it does it well. The quirks of changing face information or retrieving data takes a while to learn and get used to. The push-button sequencing doesn't always seem intuitive, but - the good news is - its easy to learn. I don't use my HRM as a watch except as a convenience after working out, so that feature is fairly useless to me, anyway. One simple improvement would be a strap thats a notch or two bigger - I have to wear my unit at the end notch making it somewhat more difficult to fasten and unfasten.
Given the quirks and a design you have to grow into, its a decent product and a fair value.

Just like any gadget, you learn how to use all the functions on this watch by just playing around and pressing buttons. True, the manual should be clearer, and seems to be talking about doing things in a different order than what's really needed sometimes, but unfortunately that's the case with most electronics these days. It's really not all that hard to figure out, and anyway that's part of the fun of getting a new gadget (for some of us, anyway).

It has worked pretty well since I got it. Took a few trials to get the strap tight enough so it wouldn't slide down while running. About 1/4 mile into my first 5k wearing it that's exactly what happened, and my grand plan of closely monitoring my performance went up in smoke. I've had no problems with the receiver picking up my heart rate, or interference from power lines or cars.

So, all in all, highly recommended. I think it's got just the right level of functionality for me, someone who wants to train with a monitor to get a little faster running 5k's and 10k's, but it also makes running a little more interesting on those days you just don't feel like doing it.

This heart rate monitor is my first, and is in the middle of my second marathon training season, and has gone with me to five half marathons. I bought it because of the dual timer. I started as a run walker and with two timers, it told me when to run and walk to take a walk break, and then got me back running again. I tuck the monitor underneath the bottom rim of my sports bra, and occasionally it slips down a bit, but mostly the elastic strap, not the actual monitor. I also used to have weird connection problems - out of the blue I would get impossibly readings. 95% of that has gone away since I got "buh bump," an electrode cream created by one of the makers of the polar watches.

I consider this watch an essential part of my running wardrobe. It always shows your heart rate, and you can toggle the top level of information including the time, calories, and other features. I follow my heart rate closely because I tend to push myself a bit much, and the beeping is a great reminder to slow down, as annoying as it is. I use all the manual features on it though as the fitness test or whatever it is to find out your minimum and maximum HR is lame.

I work out at 24 hour Fitness, and I was surprised to see that their machines are Polar machines, so I wear my monitor on the treadmills and there's lots of programs that I can use without having to hold the metal part of the machine. And what's cooler than knowing how many calories you burned/have to replace. ;-)

The only thing I wish this watch would have is the ability to store more than one run in the memory (though this was more important to me in the beginning), and that Polar was as good in their GPS line (like Garmin) as they are with the Heart Rate side. But I have to remind myself that the simplicity of running can be the best part, and my watch should reflect that.

A great device for fitness motivation for a newcomer. Before, when I was running and rowing it was difficult to be sure of progress, now I see that, for the same heart rate, I am, week on week, increasing my pace and distance. Highly recommneded.

On the downside: I was cautious and bought the entry level model. Now, I would probably go for a model with some of the extra features. The Polar personal trainer website is interesting, but not great.

The Polar RS100 is solid. This is my second - lost the first one.

I use it for measuring my heart rate swimming, biking and cardio with workouts.

I have seen a significant athletic performance increase by working the three heart zones of 65%, 75% and 85%.

My wife also uses one for her marathon training.

I tried several other brands before came back to purchase this excellent HRM. I had an old Polar that displays only heart rate, more than 10 yrs old and still works, but I thought I want a little bit more.
The RS100 has a very good transmission range, unlike others that I couldn't even put it on my bike's handle bar. HRM functions are super simple, you don't need a degree in engineering to learn how to use it. The watch function is adequate. It is also a good looking watch, so you can use it for more than just working out. Buy it, you'll love it.

12/2/07: I am waiting for Polar support to get back with me. I had a maddening problem with this HRM. In time mode, all of a sudden, the watch shows the Polar logo on the top line instead of day of week and date. I read the manual no less than 10 times and wasted hours but could not switch it back. In 2 days, if I don't get an answer, it goes back to Amazon.
3/20/09: Still working great! I have been using it at least 3 times a week and have yet needed to replace the battery. Polar is the BEST!

I generally don't write reviews about stuff but I really wish someone on this board would have written this...so I decided to do something about it for the next potential customer. The main issue with this watch is that there is no way to change the information displayed on the main (big font) line of the display. So, if you are doing interval training or keeping track of your mile/km times in a race, you cannot make these lap times large enough to comfortably see. Instead, you are stuck with the total time of the workout as it accumulates with the lap time in small, hard to read font above it. I am 26, have great vision, and do not normally have a hard time reading fine print - but, when you're running at 90% max HR it's difficult to steady and synchronize your bouncing head and swinging arm. Can you picture the fun?

I owned a Nike heart rate monitor and sold it because it didn't do lap times at all. I thought with this one I had solved my problems, but the staff at Polar insist on reserving this essential feature for the 200 series and above.

I will promptly be returning this for a Timex...much more bang for the buck.

Cheers and happy running!

I purchased an earlier model of a Polar heart rate monitor a number of years ago. At that time I had no experience with heart rate monitors but always interested in new gagets not only to measure intensity and consistency of daily exercse but also to enhance interest in exercising. I can't remember the model but it was basic and met my needs. I would probably still be using it other then I lost it.

In replacing it I accessed the Polar web site and shopped around. Since it had been a few years since my original purchase I was sort of overwhelmed with the various models. I settled on the Polar RS100 which was an upgrade from the original monitor I purchased. It is an excellent device but missing one option I would really like. It does not have the capability to download data into a laptop. This was unclear to me on the Polar webpage and I'm sure Polar would have exchanged it for me, but it wasn't worth the hassle of sending it back. If I had to do it over again I would purchase the model that has the download capability.

Summary: This is an excellent product with all the basic functions, a stop watch, and an alarm. If you want download capability the RS100 is not the model.