| The Polar F4 heart rate monitor is very popular | | | | Informative visual feedback: First, you can view |
| among female exercisers. It has all the expected | | | | fitness bullets on the display. Each fitness bullet |
| basic features: continuous heart rate (HR) | | | | represents 10 minutes of exercise in the target |
| monitoring, heart rate training zone with alarms, | | | | heart zone. You can easily see how long you have |
| stop watch for timing exercise duration, average | | | | been exercising in the intended zone. Second, you |
| and maximum exercise heart rates. At first | | | | can view heart rate limits on the display. A heart |
| glance, these features per se are very | | | | symbol (Zone Pointer) flashes between the two |
| commonplace. So what exactly makes the Polar | | | | limits, showing where the current HR is within the |
| F4 stand out amongst the crowd? Let's find out | | | | range. If the heart symbol disappears, you are |
| from the end users! | | | | exercising either below or above the set range! |
| The Strengths of F4 | | | | Heart rate display option: HR can be displayed as |
| From user reviews, the main pluses of the Polar | | | | beats per minute (BPM) or as percentage of |
| F4 are found to be: | | | | maximum HR (% MAX HR). When displayed as a |
| Sleek and modern design: It is stylish, light weight | | | | percentage, it can save you from doing some |
| and not bulky. It can thus be worn as an ordinary | | | | tedious mental arithmetic to convert from BPM to |
| time piece. In addition it has various color options | | | | % MAX HR. |
| to suit your preference. | | | | Target setting: You can set a calorie goal for the |
| Size and comfort: The size of the wrist band fits | | | | exercise session. You can also set a time goal (via |
| well on a woman's wrist. The wrist band has | | | | the use of fitness bullets) of exercising in your |
| many holes and so it can be worn on both small | | | | chosen target zone. You can watch how you goal |
| or fairly large wrists. The chest strap is | | | | progresses as you exercise. It will give you a |
| comfortable to wear and hardly noticeable once | | | | feeling of accomplishment at the end of the |
| worn. | | | | session. |
| Versatile usage: The monitor has been used to | | | | Workout summary: You get a short summary for |
| monitor rate of heart beats in all kinds of sports | | | | the session. You can also review some weekly |
| and exercises: spinning classes, walking, jogging, | | | | totals (e.g. total calories) so you know how much |
| playing tennis, working out on gym equipment etc. | | | | you have exercised this week. |
| Simple manual: It is easy to set up and there are | | | | Work out reminder: It gently reminds you via |
| no pages after pages of complicated instructions. | | | | text display every full hour if you have not |
| Being tech savvy is not required. | | | | exercised for 3 days. |
| Two button interface: It is easy to use with only | | | | Reliability and durability: Many users have reported |
| two buttons. Many heart monitors use 4 or 5 | | | | using it for months and years without any |
| buttons to operate, adding to the complexity. The | | | | problems. |
| Polar F6 has 5 buttons, for example. | | | | Now that we are done with the strengths, let's |
| Gym equipment compatibility: Many treadmills, | | | | look at the weaknesses. |
| elliptical machines can read the signal from the | | | | The Weaknesses of F4 |
| chest strap and show the heart rate directly on | | | | The minuses commonly aired by the users are: |
| their display. As a result it is neither necessary to | | | | Lack of backlight: It is not possible to read the |
| hold the handle bars on the gym equipment nor | | | | display when running in the dark or working out in |
| to wear the receiver wrist watch. | | | | a dimly-lit room, for example. |
| Very accurate heart rate measurement: Users | | | | No pause: You can either start or stop an |
| have reported very accurate, almost faultless | | | | exercise session, but you cannot pause and then |
| monitoring of their HR. | | | | resume a session. |
| Very accurate calorie counter (OwnCal): The | | | | Lengthy setting: It can take a while to change |
| calorie reading from Polar F4 has been compared | | | | time or adjust weight as the number can be |
| with that from Apex Body Bug (extremely | | | | adjusted only upwards in one direction. If you |
| accurate) and both show similar results. It is | | | | overshoot, you have to keep pressing until the |
| certainly much more reliable than estimates from | | | | number reaches the top of the range. The |
| most pedometers or gym equipment as its | | | | number will then loop around and start from zero |
| calculation is based on individual height, weight and | | | | again. |
| gender. | | | | Summary |
| Two line display: Two pieces of information can | | | | All heart rate monitors have pluses and minuses. |
| be read simultaneously. Various exercise | | | | It can however be seen that the Polar F4's |
| information can be browsed on a single button | | | | strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. This |
| press: calories, HR, target zone limits, exercise | | | | article has hopefully shed some light on why the |
| duration, fitness bullets and time of day. | | | | Polar F4 is so popular among female exercisers. |