Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Suggested Retail Price: $119.95

Rating: 8/10

Top Features

• Personalized target heart rate zone indicator (Polar Zone Pointer & Polar OwnZone)
• Personalized calorie burn counter (Polar OwnCal)
• Block signals from other monitors (Polar OwnCode)
• Polar Precision Performance 4.0 software with SonicLink

Product Specs

• Displays heart rate, average heart rate, and exercise time
• Full clock and stopwatch function with day of the week indicator
• 1 year average battery life
• Water resistant to 100 feet (30 meters)
• 2 year limited warranty

Disadvantages

• Software can be difficult to use
• Instructions can be confusing

Review

The Polar F6 is a very popular Polar heart rate monitor.  It comes with a fairly large amount of extra features, though since it's considered a fitness and cross-training model, it doesn't comes with many features that are made specifically for cycling or more intense running.  However, if you are looking for a fitness and cross-training model, the Polar F6 is one of the best.

Like most Polar heart rate monitors, the F6 comes with all the basic features you would expect.  Bedsides the very basics, like displaying heart rate and average heart rate, the F6 also emphasizes personal statistics.  This includes the Polar Zone Pointer and Polar OwnZone technologies.  These features function by first entering basic information about yourself into the heart rate monitor to establish your personal physical condition.  Then the Polar OwnZone will establish a safe and effective target heart rate zone for you, and will even guide you through a warm-up routine.

Another popular feature for the F6 heart rate monitor is the Polar OwnCal function.  Like the Polar OwnZone, it works by first entering some information to establish your physical state, and then calculates how many calories you have lost by factoring in the intensity of your workouts.  Also, you can set daily and weekly calorie goals on your heart rate monitor, and the F6 will keep track of your progress.  This is a very nice feature, and will be greatly appreciated by anyone trying to lose some weight.

As good as the Polar F6 is, there is still room for improvement.  First of all, the Polar Precision Performance software leaves much to be desired.  There is no way to use the software without using the internet, which is overly complicated and can be inconvenient.  And once you make it through the cumbersome process of uploading your information, it really doesn't track anything that you couldn't easily do yourself.  Hopefully Polar will come out with easier to use and more useful software some day, because it would be a nice addition to their heart rate monitors.  Additionally, the directions in the manual can be confusing, and it might take a bit of practice to be able to use all of the features in the F6, though it does get easier over time.

Putting the software aside, the Polar F6 is once of the best general purpose heart rate monitors available.  As long as you don't need a heart rate monitor made mostly for cycling or competitive running, this model is highly recommended.