Polar F4 Womens Heart Rate Monitor Watch Blue Ice
Featuring a new, slim design, the F4 is Polar’s first heart rate monitor designed specifically for women. It’s packed with innovative training features to help you toward your exercise goals, including:
- Zone Pointer: A visible and audible feature on the display of your heart rate monitor showing your target heart rate zone and where your current heart rate is within that zone.
- Polar OwnCal: Shows your energy expenditure during one exercise session as well as your accumulated kilocalories during several exercise sessions. You can set daily and weekly exercise goals in terms of calorie expenditure with the OwnCal feature. Because the OwnCal tracks both the energy expenditure during one exercise session and the accumulated kilocalories during a longer time (e.g. one week), it helps in achieving both short-term and long-term goals.
- Fitness Bullets: Shows a bullet on the monitor’s display for every 10 minutes spent exercising/training in your target heart rate zone. The Time in Target Zone feature calculates the amount of total exercise time spent in your personal target zone. You can use this feature together with the Total Exercise Time to determine the effectiveness of your exercise program.
Key Features:
- Display of heart rate, exercise time, and average heart rate
- 24-hour clock with day/week indicator and stopwatch
- Large easy-to-read display with split screen
- One-year average battery life
- Water resistant to 30 meters (100 feet)
Manufacturer’s Warranty
The original purchaser of this heart rate monitor is backed by a limited warranty that states that this product that the product will be free from defects in material or workmanship for two years from the date of purchase.
Note:
Polar heart rate monitors are precision instruments; consumers are not advised to change their own battery. Polar recommends that all service be done by an authorized Polar Service Center which will include a warranty for 90 days on repairs and 6 months for batteries.
About Polar
The first EKG accurate wireless heart rate monitor was invented by Polar back in 1977 as a training tool for the Finnish National Cross Country Ski Team. The concept of “intensity training” by heart rate swept the athletic world in the eighties. By the 1990s, individuals were looking to heart rate monitors not only for performance training needs, but also for achieving everyday fitness goals. Today, the same concept of heart rate training is being used by world-class athletes as well as everyday people trying to lose weight. Polar is the leading brand among consumers, coaches, and personal trainers worldwide and the company is committed to not only producing the best products, but also being the leading educator on the benefits of heart rate based exercise.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Just what I needed!
I’ve wanted a HRM since I started working out about a year ago, but I couldn’t muster the courage (or money!) to get this one until recently. I bought another one that only gave you your heart rate on demand (instead of constantly), and it drove me up the wall. So I sucked it up and bought this as a replacement.
I LOVE this watch. I was floored at how easy it was to use. I didn’t even have to read the handbook to figure it out. The chest strap is surprisingly comfy. Yes, you will probably need to wet the probes before you start working out, but I put it on, run around the house picking things up or doing laundry and it usually works when I’m ready to go out for a walk/run. I love that the watch blends in and looks like a regular watch so you can wear it without feeling like you are wearing a man’s watch or a small computer!
The only problem I have with the watch is that I can’t get it as tight as I would like because the strap kind of sticks when trying to attach it or take it off. Nothing major, I just have to remember that I have to be more aware of it than I would of a normal watch.
**If you are a larger woman, the watch automatically comes with a size “medium” strap, but it fits me with room to spare. I highly suggest trying the one it comes with before ordering a larger one!**
Bottom line: LOVE this product. If you want something that will work easily and well, buy this HRM!
1 Star Polar seems to need some competition
First, if you buy one of these be aware that it’s extremely easy to accidently wipe out all the personal and cardio info it stores. There isn’t any way to lock this monitor to protect such loss.
I sent this monitor in for repair. They emailed me to tell me they received the monitor. They emailed me to tell me they replaced the circuit board. They had my monitor over a month. I got this monitor back and it works exactly the same as before I sent it in. They did nothing to it. Yes I know how to read and I always read the manuals for everything I buy. This monitor does not display the time when brought to the transmitter belt like it say’s it will in the manual. There isn’t any way for me to have this display the time while it is monitoring.
1 Star Can’t use it with Sun Tan Lotion
I got this F4 as a Christmas present in 2008. Two weeks later the buttons cracked and fell off. Polar sent me new buttons, and two weeks later the buttons cracked again. I sent the unit to polar two more times and the buttons only lasted 2 weeks each time.
I called their service department and escallated the issue. I spoke to Albert, who said that sun tan lotion damages the buttons so they break. He suggested either not using sun tan lotion or wearing a wrist band under the watch. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! I live in San Diego and I wear sun tan lotion 360 days per year. Polar said their new units do not have that problem, but they would not replace my F4 with a good one.
I will never buy another Polar product.
5 Stars A real life saver.
This little device actually saved my life while running…. A great investment at any price….
4 Stars Good Buy
I am very satisfied with this purchase. The only reason im not giving it five stars is because it doesnt have a stop watch or a pedometer. I have a small wrist, and the watch face is a good size especially if you dont like a bulky look. It is comfortable and the band stays put. It is easy to operate, and set up. you can easily turn the sound on or off. The strap is probably the same as all others and occasionally when i switch from doing cardio to weight training the clasp will pop apart, but that only happens occassionally.
