13 responses so far ↓

• 1 Fullbright

  I am extremely disappointed with this unit. The display is barely visible under the best of illumination and invisible in many cases. The real problem is in the communication between between the watch and the computer. In spite of the sleek and stylish looking “Polar Flowlink” the transmission of data from the watch to the computer fails more often than not. In my case, I got to communicate the first time I linked it, after that I always got an error message. After five days I decided to return the unit to Amazon. I am not the only one that has had this problem, Polar knows about this failure, but… continues to sell the unit. Shame on Polar!

• 2 Un

  I’ve had this watch for about 2 months now and I’m very happy with it. The screen can be a little difficult to see indoors in certain lighting but for the most part its a non issue. I use it for biking, tennis, nautilus,kayaking, and daily walking. I find it to be a great motivator. My only issue is with the software link. It can be a pain but for the most part I have found a way around it. No matter what error I get from the system I find that if I just ignore it and continue to place my watch on the link system it eventually goes through. I have managed to transfer data even when it says “fatal system string error”. I just leave the message there and put my watch on the link again. I have had it transfer data every time. If you say okay to the message it just shuts the whole system down and then you have to restart your computer and start the transfer again. I basically work out every day of the week and I always transfer my data after I finish a workout I have never been unsuccessful in transferring my workout data. It might take 5 minutes because I have to keep putting the watch on the link and clicking retry after it says connection lost but I always get it through and probably 80% of the time it goes through on the first try.
  Overall I think this is a great watch, It looks great. It fits great I have really small wrists so I was pleased with its sleek look and more tapered fit.

• 3 Beardsley

  This workout computer had the potential to be a pretty revolutionary product. Unfortunately, the folks at Polar have gotten lazy, and are more interested in winning fancy design awards, than taking good care of their customers.

  I read all the bad reviews, and nightmare complaints here, and at the Polar forum. But I pulled the trigger anyway. I figured. . . the problems started a year ago, so they MUST be fixed by now. They aren’t.

  I did not have sync problems with the FT80, like a lot of folks. But after I got 6-8 weeks in with it, the watch said I had worked out 99:99:59, and lost all my weekly history and zones. There were people complaining about this literally a YEAR ago, so I thought they had to have fixed it by now. But voila. I have the problem.

  This problem can be fixed by updating the firmware. But that can only be done BY Polar AT their service center. Fine. . . I figure I’ll be without my heart rate monitor for the next couple of weeks, but at least it will be fixed. But wait. There’s more.

  Polar DOES NOT respond to their preferred contact method on their website. I have tried several times now, I all I get is an automated message that says they’ll respond in 24 hours. Then there is never a response.

  I can only assume that Polar LIKES the negative publicity, reviews, and customer complaints. First they turn out a product that is lacking simple features found in MUCH cheaper models, is nearly unreadable in anything but sunlight, has admittedly bad firmware and sync problems. . . and now they decide to ignore customers with issues.

  I can only hope that some unsuspecting person will buy this from me used, so I can switch to a Suunto. I figure Suunto can’t possibly have WORSE customer service than Polar.

• 4 Adli

  Mine slowly lost the ability to sync with my laptop. It eventually complained of a low battery, then refused to start up after the battery was replaced. I sent it back to Polar (under warranty); it was repaired in a timely manner; I now have no complaints.

• 5 Arroyo

  I do not have much to say on the features, which are abundant and as far as I can tell described correctly on the web site.

  When I bought the watch I was somewhat afraid that it would have the data transfer issues and so far everything works great. The other two scares, that the display was too dark and the watch was too big to be worn comfortably turned out to be unfounded as well – for my taste at least.

  Given that I needed a watch and a heart rate monitor at the same time (and most heart rate monitors are too ugly to wear as a watch) I figured that the FT80 would be a good deal – I would have spent roughly the same money anyway. Colleagues and friends have commented on my nice new watch, so I guess that this strategy worked out.

• 6 Chiechi

  I love this watch, I wear it everyday, great for my workouts, BUT the watchband in pale pink attracts dirt like a magnet…..I wash it but in less than a year I’ve had to replace the band….a real pain to get the replacement also. I wouldn’t have bought pink but it was sold as a promotion to fund breast cancer research in October.

• 7 Ives

  I’ve had this watch for about a month now, and I use it 3-4 times per week. This is my first heart rate monitor, and I wanted one that would just give me a better calculation of my calorie burn and time in target heart rate zone. This product does both of those very well.

  I haven’t had any problems getting the monitor to read my heart rate. When I read some of the other reviews, I was a little worried about not being able to replace the battery on the chest strap. Now, I don’t really see that as a big problem. By the time the battery goes out, I’ll probably be ready to “step up” to a better model with more features.

  I was pleasantly surprised that I can upload my workout information to the polar Web site. Their site is pretty basic, but it helps you keep track of your weekly and monthly progress.

  The documentation that came with the product could have been better, but, between the insert and the web site, I figured it out.

  Bottom line: Seems like a very good entry heart rate monitor.

• 8 Smoron

  The Polar f6 is easy to use, and the strap fits comfortably around your chest, I just got mine this week and so far there’s no interference problems with the transmitter. All the features seem to be accurate and reliable. Therefore i see no reason not to recommend this product. Don’t bother with the negative comments, I assure you it’s a good deal.

• 9 Tewes

  I get really frustrated with this product, because every workout I have problems with it. I will jog, and the monitor will say that my heart rate is 38 (When it works properly, it will say that my heart rate is 168-180 when jogging). Once I did a five minute warm up of cardio (jumping jacks, jump rope, jogging in place, high kicks, etc.) and looked at my watch, and it had zeroed out and said that in those 5 minutes of cardio I had only burned 9 calories. It is REALLY frustrating. The battery is fine, so I don’t know what the problem is. I wish it would work properly, because I love knowing where my heart rate is and how many calories I’m burning, and I love tracking my fitness. I don’t know what’s going on with this product. It’s driving my crazy.

• 10 Iribe

  Received the item 5 weeks ago. So far working fine. Ordered it through Amazon thinking the annual shipping membership with Amazon helps by ordering from Amazon. At the end of ordering process realized that additional $8+ shipping payment is required as the item is not directly from Amazon. On top of it, unlike Amazon’s prompt shipping; it took about/over a week to receive the poduct.

• 11 Nolls

  This was a surprise gift for my wife.

  She loves it, and esp. the calorie counting feature. I’m not too sure how accurate this is, however the primary feature works so well.

  I remember buying one of the first heart rate, back in 1995 and paying $500…this is amazing, now these are so cheap.

  It’s a nice lightweight design, the strap fits well. I’m not sure how useful it would be, but the sports bra combination is a worthy add on.

  It gets a 4 star as programming can be a little fiddle, and frustrating when you loose your data.

• 12 Vaughn

  I bought this product when I found out I was pregnant so I could maintain a workout without going over the recommended heart rate. It works well and has allowed me to stay in shape while pregnant. This is a great gift for any newly pregnant women looking to maintain her workout routine! The price is right and the red color is great!

• 13 Ignacio

  I love the Polar heart rate monitors for accuracy. I had a cheap Polar HRM several yrs ago (like this one) and the battery lasted quite a while – a couple years. It’s too expensive to send in for battery replacement (costs as much as buying a new HRM), so I bought a deluxe Polar HRM model the next time – approx. $250. The battery wore out really fast on the deluxe model and again, it was just too expensive to replace, so I just bought another cheap Polar HRM since I didn’t want to make another investment in a “disposable” HRM. I plan to research HRM’s and switch to another brand of HRM that has batteries you can replace yourself. The other con to this particular “cheap” model is that it picks up other people’s heart rates in a spinning class where you are packed in. Otherwise, it’s great if you are out biking on your own or in a cardio class that is more spread out. I love the Polar monitors, their durability, etc., but do not like the battery issue. I’m looking at the Garmins for my next one.

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