If you want a heart rate monitor that is quick, simple and to the point, the the Polar FT4F is for you. The Polar FT4F heart rate monitor watch gives you basic heart rate based features to make training simple and easy to do. The Polar FT4F heart rate monitor automatically will determine your heart rate zones based on your age (or you can do this manually), tells you the calories you are burning during training and the total when finished as well as making it easy to transfer your data to the computer.
Polar FT4F Heart Rate Monitor Details
- Automatic age-based target zones/limits
- Polar OwnCal – determines calories burned during training sessions as well as over time.
- Polar OwnCode (5KHz) – automatically locks in code to transmit heart rate to training computer. Prevents interference from other devices.
- Shows fitness progress based on heart rate
- Wrist unit shows calories burned
- Comfortable textile transmitter
Manual & Automatic Age-Based Target Zones
Working out target zones yourself can be frustrating and if you would prefer to have them calculated for you, the Polar
FT4F heart rate monitor can do it! The FT4F watch works it based on your age and will give you heart rate target zone limits which can be determined either by a percentage of your maximum heart rate or beats per minute depending on your preference. This will help you train effectively but also safely.
You can also manually enter your target zones if you want to be more accurate and are comfortable determining them on your own.
Target Zone Visual & Audible Alarms
As well as automatically determining your target zones, the Polar FT4F heart rate monitor will also create visual and audible alarms to let you know when you go out of a preset target zone.
Polar OwnCal
The Polar OwnCal feature calculates the number of calories that you burn during a traniing session as well as showing you what you have burnt over a cumulative amount of time.
Polar OwnCode
The Polar OwnCode feature prevents interference from other training devices, automatically locking into a code to transmit the heart rate data to the trainign computer.
Water Resistant
The Polar FT4F watch is water resistant to 30m.
HeartTouch
You can access different training information without pressing buttons. This is handy in the winter when you may be wearing gloves.
Recording Feature Extras
Totals – You can have 10 training files with summaries. You will also be able to see your training data from your last reset and this will enable you to follow long term training goals.
Training Feature Extras
Target Zone Graphs – The FT4F heart rate monitor displays your heart rate zone on a graph to help you stay in the zone you need to.
Other Features
The Polar FT4F heart rate monitor watch also comes with the following features:
- backlight
- date and weekday indicator
- dual time zone
- can display text in different languages
- low battery indicator
- 12 and 24 hour time display
- alarm and snooze options
- user-replaceable battery
- keylock locks training buttons
Price
The Polar FT4F heart rate monitor is available from $60-$115.
What Customers Say
The average rating for the Polar FT4F was 4.5 stars out of 5 – so highly rated.
Customers liked:
- the fabric chest band (other heart rate monitors are usually plastic)
- the user-servicable battery
- the ease of use
“I have no complaints at all, and for the price, I’m extremely pleased. I only wish there was a way to download the training files from the watch to my computer, but a spreadsheet also works just fine.”
“I needed a simple heart rate monitor to use in Spinning classes. This is a solid performer for basic heart rate or % max readouts. Nice big numbers for easy reading even in the dim light of a morning spin class. I comes with the fabric chest strap that is a little more comfortable than the standard hard plastic.”
“…very accurate heart rate monitor with a very comfortable chest strap and very easy set up. “
Customers didn’t like:
- cannot view all your workout stats at once
- cannot see your time while you workout
- you have to buy software that costs $80 in order to download the info onto your computer. You also need infra-red on your computer.
- Some customers found the transmitter unreliable
“…This is a major drawback for me. So much so that I am returning it. The other downside is that the chest strap that comes with it just barely fits me. I am smaller framed, but not tiny (wear a 30″ bra), and even with the chest strap adjusted all the way small, it’s a hair too loose. It worked okay under my sports bra, but I was still worried while jogging that it would slip down.”
“If the transmitter worked correctly, this would be the perfect device. Unfortunately, I’ve had to stop several workouts to fiddle with the strap in order to make it properly send out the signal. This has (for obvious reasons) been a problem for my workouts. “
“I bought this because my personal trainer recommended it and the biggest problem is it stops transmitting during the workout so you dont get accurate information. I started to research this problem on the web and it seems to be pretty common. It seems its a crap shoot, some get one that works fine and others have nothing but headaches and with no customer support I wont be buying another one. “
Overall, the Polar FT4F heart rate monitor is a good starter heart rate monitor or for those looking for some simple and easy to use.