Customer Reviews

Timex T5J983 Midsize Digital Fitness Heart Rate Monitor Watch

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For me the #1 point in buying this Timex watch was the fact that you can replace the batteries without sending it back to the manufactuer (unlike polar), you can replace the battery in the HRM strap at all without having to replace the whole thing (unlike polar) and you can replace the watch straps, period (unlike polar). When I got it I was very pleased at how it looked on my wrist, pretty much looks like a polar too. So I feel like I got a great deal. It looks almost white in the picture, in person its a definite lighter grey which I'm quite happy with.

It is easy to setup, the books are step by step, after about 30 minutes of playing with it and everything customized and to my liking. The watch & HRM straps are generously long for an average sized woman and I do not feel the HRM strap when I am working out.

Really small, definitely a feminine look. The daughter loves it and with the HRM, all's well in the world.
The actual receiver has much closer range than originally anticipated, but this isn't the Olympics either. Good product.

HOWEVER: changing the battery for a Timex is akin to brain surgery. I've done it three or four times and it is not for the average person.
Beware of the watch battery, it devalues an otherwise great product.

I purchased this HRM over a month ago and have been using it a solid four days a week. I was willing to take a chance on the Timex instead of some of the other higher priced HRMs out there, and I'm so glad I did. It is a great product!

My only additional comment is; though its advertised as a unisex watch, my husband would never choose to ware it. Its small and too feminine looking, but works wonderfully as a ladies watch and perfect for me!

After a heart attack and triple bypass, I wanted a dependable pulse meter for training purposes. I was very athletic, competition runner and swimmer in high school prior to my M.I. which is probably what saved my life. As a result of my earlier athletic endeavors, I knew something about timing technology and training methods. I was looking for a useful and durable pulse meter under $100.

My cardiac rehab nurses recommended Timex as a good choice in pulse meters among an extensive list. They recommended a less sophisticated and less expensive model. I did some research and chose the T5J983. I am glad that I did.

The watch has all the features of much higher priced models: multiple zone settings and warnings, lap timers, superb stop watch technology and excellent digital communication between chest band and watch. In addition, the Indiglo feature allows the watch to be read in any light or no light.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied. The watch performed as I expected. The band is as comfortable as I imagine a chest strap can be. For the price, it is an great buy.

It worked fine for a while, even without interference from machines at the gym. Before a year was up, it stopped working. The watch part still works, but the strap doesn't transmit any data. I have replaced both batteries and still, nothing. I would have expected more especially since I didn't beat it to death and wear it every day

I am extremely pleased with my investment. I am new to running, totally out of shape (sedentary most of my 35 years), and overweight (I am 300 lbs). I wanted to be able to monitor my heart rate without spending too much, but also get something that will serve me well for a while as I get more active. I did a lot of reading and a lot of comparing before settling on this model. I've had it a couple months now and it is very user friendly. The booklets that came with it are very informative and would be appreciated by anyone new to using a HRM.

With a 44" chest, the transmitter is tight, but not uncomfortably so. It blends in with the feeling of my sports bra and I forget I even have it on. There is still some play in the elastic so it could probably fit someone a little larger.

The watch/receiver is not so big as to be masculine, but I wouldn't consider it feminine either. Unisex is a good term for it, but if you have a large wrist, I can see where it would look smaller and more dainty. I (5'8") have the same size wrist as my dad (5'7") and even my boyfriend (6'1") can wear it without it looking too small. So to say "men wouldn't want to wear it" isn't really fair. If you have a medium to small wrist/hand, it will look proportional. If you have a large wrist (man or woman), it is going to look petite.

With my experience so far, Timex will be at the top of the list when I decide to buy another HRM.

I just bought this hrm, I tried it out and it works fine, does everything it advertises to do. It is small compared to most POLAR models, I used to own a polar ice,not sure about the model number but at the time I paid $125 for the polar, which the wrist strap started getting darker and it looked weird though I tried scrubbing it, I hope this one doesn't do the same.I love the indigo light option, easy to use. I've seen a lot of complaints of how difficult this watch is, yes it does a lot of things and most likely I will not use all of them, but THERE IS A MANUAL, read it!!!! it tells you step by step how to set up, I also do not understand people saying it's not intuitive because anything you press it has a title to what it does, it tells you hold to set,so you know if you hold the button you are going into a set up of that mode, each mode has a name, chrono, timer, alarm, recovery, review etc, AND the set up buttons have + and - so you know which one moves the time up or down when setting it...SO WHAT EXACTLY IS SO DIFFICULT ABOUT IT????I have no idea. The chest strap is comfy, I am not slim or even fit, I would go with chubby but not morbidly obese and it still fits me. The one I got is a grey color, I think a man can use it, it does not look feminine.

I am not giving it 5 stars because I have seen reviews of it failing within 6 months and I might just change my mind in 6 months. Just to keep in mind, POLAR hrm will transmit in average for a year if you use it daily, so I don't expect my battery to last over a year but I do expect the hrm to keep working as I change batteries.

I chose the Timex HRM over a Polar HRM because 1) This HRM has user changeable batteries on both the watch and chest strap (Polor chest strap batteries are not user changeable) and 2) I thought I could get the same features on a Timex as I could on a Polar but for less money. Let me just stay straight out, I returned this Timex after using it for a couple weeks (Amazon was great about the return) because I hated using it, and I now own a Polar FT4, which I LOVE! I found the Timex VERY diffult to set up, the buttons/menus are not intuitive, and the buttons are hard and ackward to push. It also overcounted calories burned.

I purchased this product as my first heart rate monitor watch. I have been very pleased with it so far (been using it for one week now). It is easily one of the best looking heart rate monitor watches I've seen on the market. It's very small and slim lined, especially great for a female. I have been only using it for measuring heart rate %, heart rate zone monitoring, and calorie counting...very interesting! I am hoping to learn how to use some of the other functions in the coming weeks, especially for running and biking.

One important note: I was surprised at how small/tight the chest strap was! I am a lean 5'5" and 135 lbs female, and I had to put the strap on one of the loosest settings. It feels like it has stretched a little during this week, but it's really tight (which I'm sure it needs to be to work well...good connection). I don't know how many males could fit this chest strap...maybe very thin, lean running types.

Great heart rate monitor watch at a great price.

I bought this to replace a Polar I had earlier. Although this does what I need it to...monitoring HR and my total calorie count... it is more than what I need with the different laps it can track. I haven't figured all that out since I really don't use it for that. It shuts off
from tracking after 1 hr so I need to log onto the website that came with the instructions to see if there is a way to expand that. My workouts are 1.5 hrs so if I am not watching (like the first few times), I miss my stats for the last 30 mins. So,I am keeping the product because overall it does what I want it to, but I probably could have kept it simpler.