Polar FT80 Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black)

Let's start with bottom line. I love and enjoy my new Polar FT80.Got it about a month ago after training for a couple of years with an older version of a Polar heart rate monitor. The FT80 is a big step forward and upward.First the physical aspect. The chest belt is wider and much more flexible and comfortable. Wetting it before the training to make sure the heart monitor connects well to the body is much easier and more reliable.It stores 100 training sessions in its memory, so my whole training regiment for the last month can be reviewed. It also accumulates summaries so I can review the results on a weekly basis. This makes it much easier following my calories intake/spending on a daily or weekly basis.During aerobic training there is a display that shows both the calories and the time spent from the start of the session. The previous version required jumping between two different displays to see these.I set a weekly goal for training calories spending. I did not get the GPS Sensor or Foot Pod since all of my training is in the gym. I do not know how well they work, but if it is as well as the components I have, it should be very enlightening to get all the extra information like distance and speed statistics. It is also possible to set weekly distance goals.The concept of heart rate based training zones is implemented very well. The time spent in each zone is recorded separately for each training session and accumulated through the week. The target time to be spent in each zone is also set on a weekly basis.There is a special strength-training mode that shows the heart rate on a graph. On the same display I also see both the heart rate and the time from the start of the session, so I can time the rest between the exercise sets based either on time or my heart rate. It also suggests when to start the next set, although it currently gives me only about 30 seconds for rest and I feel I need more - or maybe I need to challenge myself more :-)When my gym visit includes several sections like warm-up, strength training and aerobic training, I record them separately in the appropriate modes. Then when I come home I synchronize the watch very easily through the FlowLink with the [...] site and it stores all my training history. It also shows my target status, training-zone statistics and graphical curves of the heart-beat during all the training sessions.I just skimmed through the training program feature, so I cannot comment on it. I did see that I can define a detailed training program with pre-defined exercises or add new ones I define myself. I'll probably do it further down the line.It is even much better as a watch. It has a Stopwatch application with a nice multiple-laps recording feature and the wrist-band is very comfortable.Finally, it even looks very nice - rounded, hi-tech shape. It looks different....Told you I love it :-)

After reading a lot of reviews, I went ahead and bought the watch even though the product has 3 starts to its name. The watch does what it supposed to do. The cardio machines recognizes the heart strap device and is accurate. I love the graph bar image that shows while doing your physical work out. The watch has many features where the watch gives you your weekly results.I understand the watch's image is hard to read but I love it. I know a lot of people don't like the LED brightness of the watch but I like it overall and doesn't bother me one bit.Overall I would recommend this watch for people who manually records their workout like me. I record everything by hand and record it in my workout program instead of using the watches.

The watch itself is substantial and well-built; it appears as though it is likely to withstand some heavy workouts. The buttons are little hard to operate (the lower right-hand button especially).The work-out mode is especially helpful, in my opinion. The graph (pictured in the icon) provides visual feedback during your strength training and I've found it a good and useful function.Unfortunately, the software (both the watch and the website) is rather limited. I'd like to see more ability to customize the workouts (it is a complicated task to create and transfer workouts--this should be streamlined). I'd also like to see the next generation have more watch functionality. For example, it would be helpful to have the ability to split workouts on the fly (say you are switching from cardio warm up to strength training).The website is basic. I'm sure the team spent a lot of time designing it; however, it is fairly rigid when it comes to displaying your data and there aren't any ways to tie in different products (for example, it would be great if you could consolidate data from other products such as fitbit, etc.).Overall, I'd recommend this product and look forward to future generations having greater capabilities.

Apparently this monitor has many great features...well I don't care if it can hand you a protein smoothie when you're done working out! If you can't read the display...it's useless.I read about the display issues prior to purchasing---but to be honest, I thought those people complaining about the display were either whiners, or....old with bad vision. I am neither. When I took it out of the box, I thought that perhaps the protective plastic over the display was tinted...it was not.Outside in bright sunlight it is passable, but inside the gym, and especially in a spinning class where the lights tend to be low...forget it! You have to keep reaching over to press the display light which is only on for a second.Your effort should be spent on your workout, not trying to read your monitor. I am returning mine.