Polar F6 Men's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black Coal, New Design)

Description  Features  Review  Compare Polar F Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

Description  Features  Review  Compare Polar F Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

The main features of the Polar F6 heart rate monitor are:

• Continuous heart rate monitoring
• Manual setting of heart rate training zones
• Two automatic methods of setting heart rate training zone: one age-based and the other fitness-based on the DAY of your exercise (OwnZone)
• Both automatic methods allow you to choose four exercise intensities to determine you heart rate training limits: Basic, Light, Moderate and Hard
• Heart rate can be set and displayed as BPM or % of Max HR
• Heart rate zone audio alarm beeps when you train above or below your target zone
• Visual zone pointer on the wrist watch keeps you training within your target zone
• Instant (and post-exercise) display of calories burnt (OwnCal)
• Instant (and post-exercise) display of time in target zone
• Stop watch to start and stop exercise session
• Short post-exercise summary: Duration, calories burnt, average heart rate, maximum heart rate
• Full post-exercise summary (Daily File): Time started, duration, calories burnt, fat percentage of burnt calories, maximum heart rate, average heart rate, time in training zone, training zone limits
• It stores the last 12 Daily Files (exercise sessions).
• Current week summary (Diary). It tells you the sum total of stats for this week: total number of sessions, total duration, total calories burnt, and total time spent in your light, moderate and hard exercise zones. It is saved every Sunday as a weekly file.
• It stores the last 12 Weekly Files.
• Cumulative stats of sessions since the last reset date: Total number of sessions, total duration, total calories burnt
• Basic time keeping: Time, date, alarm
• Backlight
• Polar UpLink to transfer data from a PC to the heart rate monitor. (Requires a Windows PC with a sound card and loudspeakers or headphones.)
• Polar WebLink/SonicLink to transfer data from the heart rate monitor to Polar's fitness trainer website. (Requires a Windows PC with a sound card and a microphone.)
• Wireless heart rate monitor with a coded analogue chest strap transmitter and a wrist watch receiver
• Water resistant up to 50m

This is a long list of features. Compared to the preceding model in the same series (Polar F4), the Polar F6 heart rate monitor has got much better capabilities to track and analyse the results of your training through the days and the weeks. It gives you a good picture of the progress you have been making.

Main differences between Polar F6 and Polar F4

The differences are highlighted in bold in the list above. Here are more details.

• OwnZone is an additional fitness-based automatic method of setting your heart rate training zone. You are asked to do a series of short warm up exercises. The watch measures your heart rate resulting from doing these activities. At the end of it you are given your heart rate limits for the current session.
• When setting your heart rate limits via either of the two automatic methods, you can choose your exercise intensity depending on your training goal for the session: If you are having an easy session, selecting Light will set the zone to between 60 and 70 % of your maximum heart rate. If you choose to have a hard session, selecting Hard sets it to between 80 and 90 % of your maximum heart rate. Ditto for Moderate (70 to 80 %) and Basic (65 to 85 %).
• It can display, out of the calories that you have expended, what percentage of it is due to fat being burned. If very little of your calories burnt are due to fat, and you are trying to lose weight, you should be looking at training at a different intensity.This feature in the Polar F6 heart rate monitor can be quite useful for someone looking to lose weight.
• When reviewing excercise sessions, it is now possible to see what the training zone limits were.
• The Polar F6 now has memory to save 12 individual session data (12 Daily Files) and 12 summary session data (12 Weekly Files). You can review them to analyse your past performance and check your progress.
• It is possible to download data from the Polar F6 heart rate monitor to a Polar web site for further analysis. Note that this is not the same as downloading data to your computer for analysis. Your data is stored, analysed and displayed on the web site, not locally on your PC's hard drive.
• The coded analogue transmission now reduces the possibility of cross-talk when other heart rate monitor users are nearby.

Summary
The Polar F6 heart rate monitor is the first monitor in the Polar fitness series to give you the ability to review in detail the past training sessions. The fat percentage of burnt calories feature is very useful for weight manangement. At $119.95, it is $20 higher than the price of Polar F4.

Description  Features  Review  Compare Polar F Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

Here's my review of my shiny new toy: a Polar F6 heart rate monitor. In the box there is the watch, a transmitter band, and an instruction/warranty booklet.

There are two styles of the F6 - men's, and women's. Mine is a women's style though the thing is still really big. Reminds me of those old calculator watches. Despite its size, it's still pretty with a floral design around the watch face. It also comes in green, pink and black for women and just black for men.

Setup was easy. First, you enter your details into the watch as per the instructions. Next, you strap on the transmitter, making sure you moisten the contact strips. Then you press a button on your watch and bingo! Your heart rate will appear within 15 seconds and will stay that way, giving you real time updates to it.

With a few more button presses, it'll start to record your heart rate, calories burned, and duration of the workout until you stop it. After stopping it, it'll give you a summary of these figures, with an average and a maximum heart rate.

I was worried that the transmitter wouldn't stay put or that it'd be uncomfortable. However, it stayed where it was supposed to and after awhile, I forgot about it.

There's a lot more settings to it than I've tinkered with so far. I know that you can switch it from beats per minute to heart rate percentage (the latter being most useful to us WWers in calculating intensity levels) and that it records up to 12 of your workouts that you can review. If you want it to alert you when you've reached a particular heart rate zone, it can do that as well.

You can also download software to your computer that enables you to change the watch settings (including the logo on the front) or to upload your exercise data to an online tracking program. You will need speakers or a microphone to do it, but it's pretty nifty - it transmits info using bleeps and bloops from your speakers or your watch.

The first thing I did was install a new logo from Polar's logo gallery. That's my new watch face on the left; it's just too darned cool. I've also played around with uploading my exercise file from the watch to the online program. There was some trial and error (on my part), but once I got it working, it worked like a darn. The tracking program looks like it'll be very useful in recording my exercise. I like that I can go in and see info about each of my exercises, including calories, and heart rate percentage.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to take the guess work out of calculating calories burned during a workout. Thanks to this lil' baby, I now know how many activity points I should be recording...and eating!

Description  Features  Review  Compare Polar F Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

Description  Features  Review  Compare Polar F Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

If you're trying to lose weight and get in shape, a heart rate monitor (HRM) is a great way to monitor your intensity and make sure you're working in your target heart rate zone. Many monitors not only provide a continuous heart rate reading but also tell you if you're working in your zone and how many calories you're burning.

With the variety of HRMs out there, it's hard to know how to choose the right one for you. Before you spend your money, check out the factors you want to consider when buying a heart rate monitor.

The type of HRM you buy will often depend on your fitness level, needs and goals:

• For Basic Model: Look for a basic model and functionality that offers your heart rate monitoring like the Omron Heart Rate Monitor HR-100C, Timex T5G941 Heart Rate Monitor, Polar FS1

  - Omron Heart Rate Monitor HR-100C is basic heart rate monitor that is inexpensive, easy to use and doesn't require hours of time spent reading a manual to figure it out. You get a continuous reading of your heart rate, an alarm that tells you when you're in your heart rate zone, time of day display and a daily reminder alarm. At around $30-$50, this is a great price for what you get and users will be pleased with how easy this is to use.

  - Timex T5G941 Heart Rate Monitor is basic model that's easy to use, offers basic heart rate and workout information and is a favorite among exercisers. The display is large, so you can easily see the numbers and it includes an activity timer to rack exercise time as well as information about minimum, average and maximum heart rate for each workout. Most exercisers like the fact that you can change the battery yourself (something you can't do with all HRMs) and that you can figure out how to set it up without spending hours reading the manual. At around $30-$60, this HRM is perfect for people who want the basics for a great price.

  - Polar FS1 is the perfect choice for the exerciser who doesn't want to fool with a lot of buttons during their workouts. The extra large display and the one-button functionality make this monitor easy to use and easy to see. The basic features include your heart rate, a visual and audible alarm that lets you know if you're in your target heart rate zone, a stop watch and, of course, a clock. At around $50-$60, this monitor will give you what you need without all the bells and whistles. There are the higher models of Polar FS1 which are Polar FS2 and Polar FS3.

  Features of basic model	Omron HR-100C	Timex T5G941	Polar FS1	Polar FS2	Polar FS3
  Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring (see what your current heart rate is on your wrist watch and how it fluctuates while you are exercising )	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Heart Rate Training Zone with Alarms (manually set your heart rate alarm zone, lower and upper heart rate limits in which you will be doing your exercise)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Duration of Exercise Session (tells you how long you have been exercising)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Average Heart Rate of Exercise Session	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Maximum Heart Rate of Exercise Session	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
  Basic Time Keeping (for example, won't let you set the date and a wake up alarm)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Backlight	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
  The aged-based automatic setting of heart rate training zone (Max Heart Rate = 220 - Your Age)	No	No	No	No	Yes

• For Weight Loss: Try a HRM that tracks time spent in your heart rate zone and calories burned such as the Polar F6. Polar F6 does more than just display your heart rate, but isn't so high-end that you'd have to get an engineering degree to figure it out, the Polar F6 is an excellent choice. The F6 has a variety of functions, from tracking heart rate and workout intensity to calculating calories burned and time spent in each zone. It also provides a weekly summary of your workouts that can help you stay motivated and set new goals. There is the lower model which is Polar F4. The higher models are Polar F7, Polar F11 and Polar F55.

• For General Fitness: Try one that helps you improve fitness with information about intensity and training zones, like the Polar FT60. If you're into fitness and want to improve your workouts and/or lose weight, the FT 60 offers personalized workouts that adapt according to your workout habits and goals. The FT 60 gives you weekly targets (such as to workout a certain number of minutes) based on your goals and tracks how you did. Aside from your heart rate, the FT 60 also offers a fitness test, calories burned and it keeps track of all your workouts. The FT 60 is also compatible with the Polar GPS Unit (which is Polar FT60G1) and FlowLink which allows you to transfer data to your computers. At around $197, this is a pricey heart rate monitor but offers great motivation for people who have specific goals. The lower model is Polar FT40 and the higher model are Polar FT 80 and Polar FT 80 w/ G1 GPS.

• For Athletes: Consider a HRM, like the Garmin Forerunner 405 HRM, that offers multi-sport support, workout feedback and advanced features such as GPS and downloadable data. If you're a multi-sport athlete, you may want a more serious heart rate monitor like the Garmin Forerunner 405 HRM. You get a heart rate monitor, GPS tracking and the ability to create your own workouts as well as analyze everything from your pace and distance to calories burned. One stand-out feature is the courses, which lets you compete against your previous workout by comparing heart rate and pace - a great way to see if you're improving from workout to workout. This is also a good one for triathletes because you can transition between sports without resetting it. The lower model is Garmin Forerunner 305 HRM and The higher model is Garmin Forerunner 405CX HRM.

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