Customer Reviews

Polar FT60 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Purple)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Since there are now only two brief comments, these details underlying my conclusion may assist potential FT60 buyers ...


--- What Prompted the Purchase ---
A winter surprise: my Garmin Forerunner 305 yields only heart rate data when exercising indoors. Further, user comments reveal that its associated Foot Pod does nadda unless your feet are moving forward on a treadmill or the like.

Initially, it seemed the Polar F11 would be just fine for indoor tracking. While it performs well, trying to get to the data proved profoundly frustrating. As for pushing the F11's data to the Polar website (free), lotsa luck. The watch needs to chirp/talk to a microphone on your PC. Short version: the thing was a complete pain to actually use, in virtually all respects. I quickly returned it to Amazon, did more research, then grabbed this FT60. Lightyears in blissful difference!


--- Operational Details / The Watch (& Polar's Customer Service) ---
1) Setting up the watch was very intuitive. But the printed manual is indeed useful, if needed.
2) Customer service is marvelous! I encountered one setup snafu -- it seemed the setup routine died midway through. I called Polar (number at the website); quickly encountered a human; he gave me step-by-step "hard reset" instructions, which immediately cured the watch's apparent headache. No questions other than "How may I help you, M'am?" From dial-up to completion took just about five minutes, if that long.
3a) It's incredibly easy to review the data on the watch both during and after a training/exercise session. During the session, just tap the larger middle button on the right to signal you're ready to start. Tap again to get it going. To change screens, tap the up and down buttons on the right. To pause, hit the lower left button. To stop completely/end the session, tap the lower left button again. To turn on the backlight, tap the upper left button. May sound complicated, but it all feels quite natural in terms of actual usage, so it's really *NOT* about struggling to memorize anything.
3b) Reviewing data on the watch: During session, a few taps on the right buttons yield heart rate avg/max, calories burned, % of fat burned, & session duration. Ditto when the session is over; there's even a blurb teling you how you're progressing in overall fitness.
4) Once you input your particulars, the FT60 provides an accurate tailored-for-your-specs calorie count for everything, whether a Wii Boxing/ Running/ etc session (academic studies yield calorie counts per minute; Google/ as a doublecheck), spinning on an indoor bike, using a step machine, etc.
5) The heart rate strap (in the box) is so comfortable that I forget I have it on (something I can't say about the Garmin strap). Just moisten the (obvious) sensors and you're good to go.
6) Unlike the F11, the battery in BOTH the watch AND the strap are user replaceable. There's even an obvious indentation on the back of each, for the screwdriver.
7) Nice touch: you can easily remove/unclip the "power" part of the strap, saving battery life.
8) Great extras, in terms of setting up tailored programs in the watch itself. The manual explains it all.


--- The Free PolarPersonalTrainer.com Website (PPT) ---
Finally, there's the matter of pushing the data to the freebie PPT website (you can set up your account while awaiting FT60 delivery). The bad news: you'll need a $55 add-on, Flow Link, which I ordered from Pa.-based Heart Rate Monitors (free shipping) via Amazon Marketplace. Ordered on a Thursday night; USPS delivery in NC the following Monday; comes in a bubble wrapped 8.5x11 inch envelope, fitting in mailbox -- track via your Open Orders page at Amazon.

The good news: the Flow Link cradle personifies no-fuss. Download the free "WebLink" software from Polar and install. Reboot (a must, trust me.) Attach the Flow Link's USB cradle. Set your FT60 face down onto the curcular center of the Flow Link device. Polar's software springs into action, pushing the data to your PPT account as expected. (Vista Ultimate / 32-bit laptop.)

At the website, you can change the string of default-named "Training Session"s to Spinning, Wii:Boxing, Stepping, HHA (HipHopAbs), Yoga, whatever at your "My Sports" tab. If your indoor bike gives you speed and distance, that can be added to the corresponding PPT session as well.


--- Tip ---
Google SPORTTRACKS for a free and incredibly useful Win app, wherein you can (manually) log all your Polar data. Extra work, but it's so inherently motivating. Who wants to see empty days when ya sluffed off your fitness routines?! Allows you to keep track of ALL your fitness activities, whether indoors or outside.


--- Bottom-Line ---
All in all, a best-bang-4-da-bucks purchase. The premium price over the F11 has paid for itself in saved time/tears via eliminated data-retrieval woes. Watch is comfortable, and looks decent enough to wear sans exercising. For all of these reasons, I highly recommend the FT60, without any reservations whatsoever.

I absolutely love my Polar FT60! This is actually my first and only HRM (Heart Rate Monitor), so I can only give you my opinions from this one item. I do love it though!

I am a 22 year old female whom is slightly overweight and got this to help me maximize my workouts and help motivate me! I can say it has done its job!! It really helps motivate me because I am one of those people who like to keep track of everything. If you have tried calorie counting and deficits, it is super hard on your own, but by using sites like it makes it much easier! I'm not advertising caloriecount, but it is the same thing with this HRM and Polar's website [...]you can easily input all your data from your watch into the website and keep track with so much ease! It makes me not want to miss a workout day at all otherwise I have a big blank spot on my page :P

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PROS:
-Easy to use!
No complicated sequences of buttons to push to get to the next menu or to set the clock. When I was looking into which HRM to buy many people were aggravated by having to hold down two buttons then press another to set something or go through menus. That's just ridiculous!

-Chest Strap
While some people would prefer not to have a chest strap while working out the strap is comfortable enough to forget about it. It helps accurately track your HR and calorie rather than those which you have to hold your thumb to or similar ones where you have to stop what your doing to get your HR.

-Backlight
I like the backlight, and is quite helpful in dark situations :P (doesn't stay on for too long... maybe like 2-3 secs at a time)

-HeartTouch
HeartTouch is a function that is when you bring the watch close to the chest strap it will beep once and show you the time briefly so you can easily see the time without going through menus.

-Zone Lock
Zones are basically different levels of your heart rate which are categorized in pretty much an (easy) causal walking HR, a (medium) light jogging HR, or (hard) running HR. Now zone lock is where you can hold on the center button on the right to lock whichever zone you want to be in and the watch will beep telling you that you are not in your zone.

-Weekly Goals
Depending on what weekly goal you put into the HRM for example, if you want to lose weight, gain fitness, or perhaps exceed in fitness it will tell you to spend more time in certain zones rather than others. If you want to lose weight it will tell you to stay in a particular low or med. zone longer for the week rather than high. You are able to change what your goal is whenever you decide.

-Weekly Tracking
I'm not too sure how many weeks it will hold up to or how much memory it has, but after the whole month I've been using it I can see all of my information that has been stored on it. It will let you know to work harder or train less in a particular HR zone based on your goal.

-Waterproof (30m)
The watch, strap, and monitor are all waterproof, and does not seem to be damaged(30m it claims). In the handbook I believe it said not to use the buttons so much in the water to prevent water getting into the machine. I took it into the ocean and toyed around with it. It does not particularly work well as it cannot read the signals through the water medium, so the watch will constantly say it is disconnected (ONLY tried in ocean salt water, NOT tried in chlorine pool). MORE INFO IN CONS

-Compatiable Attachments
You can buy the pedometer, cycling attachment, or GPS attachment to go with the HRM for more distance or more accurate readings. There may or may not be more attachments that I don't know of.

-Comfortable
As I said before the chest strap is comfortable enough to forget about having it on, but the watch itself is also very comfortable and adjustable. There are also different straps you can buy if it is not comfortable for you specifically. There are also different sizes you can get if it doesn't fit you.

-Washable
The strap is easily washable, just remove the attachment of the strap and rinse/wash in the sink.

-Compatiable
Works with [...] You can buy the transmitter, but I don't think it is worth the extra $40 and hastle (I've read it is not that great). Anyone can easily input the data into the website and it only takes a minute.

-MY FAVORITE!!!! PRO!!!
It works with the gym equipment at 24 Hour Fitness (not sure what brands they are), but NEVER will I ever have to hold my hand on those semi-inaccurate and bacteria filled HR handle bars again!
It makes working out at the gym soooooo easy. I can always see my heart rate posted on the machines and I don't have to look at my watch unless I want to check out something other than my HR!

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CONS:
-NO Stopwatch
It does not have a stopwatch... I don't really understand why it wouldn't have a stop watch, but it doesn't. Regardless that wasn't a deal breaker for me, so I bought it anyway and still love it. I can do time math in my head, so not a big deal.

-Waterproof (30m)
As I stated it is waterproof, HOWEVER it does not work well because it cannot send the signal from the watch to the strap through the water. If you are training for some sort of marathon that requires you to be on foot and then in water it's perfect. You do not need to spend time removing it from your body. If you are trying to record your HR in the water, this HRM is NOT going to work for you. You can however pop out of the water with both the watch and monitor above the water and receive a reading after a few seconds, but in all honestly it will kind of mess up your statistics in accurate calories and average HR and max. HR.(ONLY tried in ocean salt water, NOT tried in chlorine pool). FOR MORE INFO IN PROS

-Calorie/HR Menus
Can't see calories and HR at same time. You have to scroll to a different menu to see it. Hardly a big deal, but convienence.

-Losing pieces
I hope you're not like me, but I tend to lose the piece that attaches to the chest strap from time to time :( I can be unorganized so it makes sense. I recommend putting it in the same place everyday. The piece that attaches to the strap is about 2 1/2'' long 1 1/4'' high and 1/2'' wide, and I CONSTANTLY MISPLACE IT. I'm always looking for it.

A HR Monitor Watch is one of those things that when you get your first one you wonder how you ever could live without one... They are addicting and take your excerice to new levels, whether you use them for hardcore workouts or just want to use them for walks. I can't imagine working out anymore not having my HR on me.

I had a Polar F6 before this one, and to be honest I did like that one very much. It was a basic, good qualitve HR monitor from, according to me, the best manufacturer in the business (Polar) that gave me all the information I needed (heart rate, calories burned). The biggest drawback with F6 is that you can't change battery yourself, and considering that the battery life seems to be around 10 months with about 2 hours use/day (Polar says 1-2 years with a 1-2 hours use each day) it gets pretty annoying not being able to change the battery yourself.

So... I wanted to upgrade a bit, but not too much. My need is still a pretty simple HR monintor with some basic features like the ones F6 has. But most importantly, I wanted a HR that has a user friendly battery change so you can do it yourself (which FT60 has). FT60 is a basic HR monitor, but it DOES have some more cool features than the most basic ones (like F6), so it's certianly an upgrade for me being used to the F6. After using this for about two months now I only have the best to say.

If you're thinking about F6 or FT60, I'd say put down the extra money and go for the FT60. Being able to change battery yourself is sooo much worth it.

I've used my FT60 for a few weeks. It replaced a Nike Imara HRM that developed problems when I tried changing the batteries. I'm primarily a runner, though I'm starting to do triathlons. I bought the FT60 because I wanted:
-not too bulky
-easy to use
-accuracy
-GPS option
-to be able to replace the batteries myself

I also thought the training programs would be fun to use, and they are. I was in a phase of wanting some motivation, and this device telling me I still need x number of minutes in Zone 2 for the week gets me out the door. Really like the styling and it's very intuitive to use, as another reviewer noted.

I knew when I bought the FT60 that it didn't have a stopwatch/lap timer function and was okay with that. However, it would be really nice to have. Odd that it's missing, because even very inexpensive sports watches have it. It seems Polar was thinking more in terms of "fitness computer" than "sports watch," but the fact is that a lot of us train in a variety of ways or change the way we train, especially people willing to pay this much for such a device. Sometimes you need a lap timer, for example.

Overall, it's pretty much what I wanted in an HRM, but seems like it would have been easy to add a few more basic features to make it a truly useful training partner.

I just bought this HRM two weeks ago. It is my 3rd polar hrm. It is certainly the best one yet. It is a little pricey but worth it. I like the way it monitors your progress. Then depending on what you did this week it will adjust what you need to do the next. For instance if you train too hard this week. It will tell you that you need some recovery days! Plus I love the fact that it sets goals for the whole week and just not for the day like the F11. Not that F11 isn't a good hrm. I just think if you are interested it buying one. Just spend the extra 50$. It's well worth it. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is that you can't not see your heartrate and the calories at the same time. However, I like the fact that it displays what zone you are in!

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. Great when it works but it's a money pit, so you may as well buy a cheaper one.
I bought this in Feb 2011. I loved it for the first 4 months that it worked. Then I replaced the battery (which supposedly will work for 1.5 years) and it worked for another couple weeks. Then it stopped working again, so I replaced the battery again, but that didn't help. The seal around the battery no longer kept moisture out so as soon as I started to sweat, it would stop working. Massive defect in an exercise monitor on your chest. Finally I paid for priority shipping and sent the whole thing back to the Polar Repair Center in Michigan. I am well within the first year of the full 2 year warranty. Now they have the nerve to charge me another $23 for parts after a small discount they labeled as "warranty", or they won't send it back. This was the most expensive electronic I've ever bought that only lasted a few months, and it just keeps costing me more money. Take my advice, DO NOT BUY. Even at the now lower price, it's going to cost you $1-$2 per use if you get a unit as reliable as mine.

I purchased the Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor in December 2010. I was preparing to go to a live in athletic training facility for 6 weeks (3weeks with 1 week break and another 3 weeks). I am on my 4th week there. I used it on the week I was home as well, to monitor my progress while away. This watch does so much more than tell you your heart rate and how many calories burned. Once set up (not very hard) the watch knows what "zone" your heart rate is in. The most important thing for me to know while trying to lose fat and gain lean muscle mass, is that when I am doing cardio to be in zone 2 - which is the fat buring zone, and spares lean muscle from being used as energy from the body. There is a range, and that range is set based on the individual's resting heart rate, etc. The watch keeps track of every day you have it on (if you keep it on past workouts). You can see your weekly workout data (how many hours on and total calories burned each day/week and from what zone). This can be uploaded to a website that can help monitor progress made as well as tips on how to train more effectively. The watch also tells you if your fat burn is improving or cardiovascular strength improvement. I really rely on the information the watch has for me. The monitor is comfortable and can be adjusted to fit around your chest easily (especially when it gets too loose from inches lost!). With this watch though, you need to purchase the accessory to upload the data from the watch to the computer, but not really a big deal. The price was very good, comparing to retail stores and even the athletic facility who sells it for over $[...]. Shipped fast, easy. Connection can get lost from strap to watch occassionally, but with adjustment of strap or moistening it resolves that issue. I love it and wear it every day. Been great watching my calories burn up when I am just relaxing as my metabolism has increased. Very happy!!

I am thrilled with my recent purchase of the Polar FT60 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (I've been using this for a little over one month). I am a runner that covers around 25 miles per week, and I also enjoy group classes at my local gym. I use the monitor for both, and find it extremely user friendly and comfortable, even on my longer run days. I am very petite, 5'1" and about 110 lbs, and was worried that the strap would be too big, but it ended up fitting me perfectly. There is also plenty of room to adjust for a larger frame. The thing I love most about the Polar FT60 is the training programs that are available. It is very motivating to get updates after each workout, and also weekly, regarding the improvement to your level of fitness. Since there are varied programs, almost anyone could find one that applies to their individual goals. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase.

I used to have the Polar F11 in Pink Fizz, which was also great, but I lost it during a vacation and had to get a new one. :( I was researching other watches and this new model got great reviews. At first I thought it was too expensive, but when I saw that this one was only 50 dollars more (on eBay!) I decided to go for it.

I love it! Its pretty big of course, but it has so much functionality; it has set up my workout goals and when I finish each workout it tells me "Fitness Level Improving," or "Train more in zone 2", etc to give me an idea of what to do. And then if I meet my goals it congratulates me with a starburst and a picture of a trophy. It may be silly, but that trophy was what got me to do a workout last night when I didn't feel like it!

I really want to get the foot pod (I don't go far enough to worry about gps) but for right now it's been very helpful in it's own, and I definitely am glad I got it.

I love the new design - the face is flatter so it isn't as likely to get scratched or catch on things. Easy to read display, LOVE the color, and more functions than I have learned to use yet! I also really like the chest strap. The old design didn't work well for me - it would stop reading my heart rate any time I would be doing intense cardio (i.e. running, jumping, using arms along with legs in cardio workout, etc.) and wouldn't pick it up again until I slowed down. This was getting very annoying, and I think it was partially due to the stiffness of the plastic piece that goes across the front of the ribcage. It may work fine for men, but it doesn't seem to be fitted enough for some women. This one is perfect - it just has a small plastic piece that snaps onto the flexible chest strap, and it hasn't had any problem maintaining a read on my heart rate no matter how much I'm moving around!
A bit pricey, and I would have been happy with a less expensive watch with fewer functions if they had offered one in a decent color (lime green doesn't do it for me!) with the same chest strap. A little annoyed that Polar really makes you shell out the $$ if you want a nice color watch. Overall, though, I would recommend this watch and chest strap.