Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor Review

Polar FT4 HRM

The Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor is ideal for those wishing to use heart zones to monitor calories burned in a weight loss program.

The Polar FT4 HRM which was recently released has taken the market by storm. Manufactured by the leading brand in HRM- Polar, which has been around for 30 years and is based in Finland, it is designed for basic heart rate-based fitness training. The Polar FT4 brings together style and functionality, which is a tough task for any HRM manufacturer, with its right looks and maximum performance.

The Polar F4 heart rate monitor displays the real time (like any other Polar heart rate monitor watch, it can be set for a specific time zone), the heart rate and also the amount of calories burned. The last feature is particularly essential if you are training to lose weight. The Polar FT4 monitors and gives information when your fitness has improved. This tracking allows the user to keep record of his/her progress and lets them know how they're doing.

Polar FT4 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Bronze)

The Polar F4 heart rate monitor is waterproof and has a display that can be configured for different languages. It comes with a backlight, a chest strap for improved accuracy and a Heart Touch feature that allows for button free operation of the wrist unit.

The Polar FT4 heart monitor is ideal for those who are starting a fitness routine because it displays an automatic HR target zone based upon the user's age and tracks each workout's time duration spent in that zone. If the user's more experienced or a seasoned athlete, they can choose to manually set their target HR zone. The target zones can be represented graphically, helping the user stay on the desired intensity level, and has a visual and/or audible alarm. The HR can be displayed in beats per minute or as a percentage of the user's maximum heart rate. The display itself is big and easy to read even when moving around.

The FT4 comes inbuilt with the Polar OwnCal- a program that tracks the user's calorie expenditure for each workout session. The program lets the user set a calorie burn goal and can track their progress towards it. It also has the Polar OwnCode- a coded heart rate transmission that locks in on a code automatically and transmits the heart rate to the training computer. This feature allows for elimination of interference from other training computers. The FT4 can store a maximum of 10 Training Files, including the summaries.

The Polar FT4 HRM watch itself comes in 2 designs- a brown and a silver version complete with a backlight, date and weekday indicator, KeyLock feature and an alarm with snooze function. The display can be set for English, German, Finnish, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. It also has a low battery indicator and supports dual time zones. Unlike earlier Polar HRMs, the battery used (CR1632) can be replaced by the user and has a 1 year battery life. It is water resistant for a max depth of 30m.