Polar FT60 Men's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black with White Display)

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Basic Features:

• Time of Day Stopwatch
• Displays text in ENG, GER, FRE, SPA, ITA
• Water resistant up to 30m
• Backlight
• Alarm, date, and weekly indicator
• User changeable battery

Training Features:

• 100 files in memory Calorie Count
• OwnCal®
• OwnCode®
• WearLink®+ Transmitter
• Polar Fitness Test
• EnergyPointer
• 16 Weekly training summary
• Total training summary
• Polar STAR Training Program
• Speed and distance option
• PolarS1 Foot Pod option
• Polar G1 GPS Sensor option

Heart Rate Features:

• Continuous Accurate Heart Rate heart rate
• Manual Target Zone Visual and Audible Alarm in Target Zones
• HeartTouch Graphical target zone indicator

Data Communication:

• Compatible with polarpersonaltrainer.com Polar FlowLink option

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Pros :

• Nice set of features
• Good price
• Range of designs and colours

Cons :

• Data can only be uploaded to Internet
• Polar G1 GPS sensor capabilities are limited

The Bottom Line : The Polar FT60 heart rate monitor has a good set of features for its price. It’s available in 2 packages, ethier with or without the Polar G1 GPS sensor. If the GPS functionality is too limited for you, rather look at the Garmin Forerunner 405. However, for those wanting a heart rate monitor for gym training or general exercise, you can’t go wrong with the Polar FT60.

The Polar FT60 heart rate monitor is designed for people who take part in a wide range of activities, both in the gym and outdoor. The heart rate monitor combines a very modern design with lots functionality, creating a fitness tool which will appeal to a large range of people.

Product Features

• Polar STAR (creates training targets based on previous workouts)
• Polar OwnZone, ZoneLock and ZonePointer (helps to remain in specific heart rate zone)
• Polar OwnCode Transmission (prevents interference)
• Polar Fitness Test (determines you fitness level)
• Displays calorie expenditure
• Graphical display of heart rate
• Upload data to polarpersonaltrainer.com

Performance The Polar FT60 heart rate monitor has a very unique design that characterizes the FT series. Users have a nice variety of 4 available designs which are white or red display for male and purple or black for women. The wrist strap is very comfortable, providing a good fit and easy adjustment.

One of the major changes is the more artistic look to the heart rate monitor. The male orientated watches are more aggressively shaped and have a circuit board pattern printed on them, while the female ones have floral designs. In my opinion Polar have overdone this aspect of the heart rate monitor, which looks more like a toy than fitness watch. It depends on what suits your taste, with the Heart Rate Monitor Fitness office having mixed opinions over the subject.

The Polar FT40 offers a wide variety of features, yet navigating around the watch is pretty easily. The screen is well laid out, with use of icons and other graphics to reduce the amount of text and numbers. This makes the screen very easy to read, even on the move while running or cycling.

The watch is based around Polar STAR. This is a feature which takes feedback from your work outs and plans weekly training targets to help achieve your goals. New exercises can be downloaded from polarpersonaltrainer.com, although certain users have complained about the initial reliability of this service. This is really a interesting feature of the Polar FT60 heart rate monitor, so let’s hope that Polar can sort it out soon.

The Polar FT60 heart rate monitor uses the Polar t31 WearLink coded heart rate belt. It provides interference free transmission, as well as reliability and comfort. This is great for the gym environment, where the signals of gym machines and other heart rate monitor users will not interfere with your heart rate monitor data. The heart rate strap itself is comfortable to wear, with us only having one small issue with a non-working battery. One change of battery and everything was working perfectly.

The FT 60 heart rate monitor also has multi-sport capability. It is compatible with both the Polar S1 foot pod and Polar G1 GPS sensor, which provide speed and distance calculation for a wide variety of sports. The sensors are also easy to install and operate. However, we are disappointed that the Polar G1 GPS sensor only records speed and distance and not provide full mapping capability. If you want this features you should look at the Garmin Forerunner 405.

The Polar FT60 also can’t be link to the Polar ProTrainer software, which we find rather disappointing. Instead you have the ability to upload your data to the polarpersonaltrainer.com website. This is done through the special Polar Flow Link cradle, which if not included in your package will cost you extra. Upload is simple and in no time we were looking at our data, planning our calender and downloading new exercise ideas. However, it’s really not the same as having all the data on your desktop and could prove difficult for users who don’t having an affordable Internet connection.

Description  Review  Compare Polar FT Series  Heart Rate Monitor Buyer Guide  Compare Price

Description  Review  Compare Polar FT 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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