The Polar F4 heart rate monitor is an intermediate heart rate monitor. It is a wireless analogue heart rate monitor specifically designed for women who are exercising for fitness or for weight management.
Note: BPM = Beats per Minute. % of Max HR = Percentage of Maximum Heart Rate.
The main features of the Polar F4 heart rate monitor are:
Continuous heart rate monitoring
Manual or automatic setting of heart rate training zone using either BPM or % of Max HR
Heart rate displayed as BPM or % of Max HR
Heart rate zone audio alarm beeps when you train above or below your target zone
Visual zone pointer on the wrist watch keeps you training within your target zone
Instant (and post-exercise) display of calories burnt (OwnCal)
Fitness bullets: One per 10 minutes in target zone (an indirect way of showing time in target zone)
Stop watch to start and stop exercise session
Post exercise summary: Duration, time in target zone, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, calories burnt
Cumulative stats of sessions from a given date: Total duration, total calories, total number of sessions, average frequency of sessions per week
Basic time keeping: Time, date, alarm
Exercise reminder if you haven't exercised for 3 days
Designed for women with small wrists
Polar UpLink to transfer data from a PC to the heart rate monitor. (Requires a Windows PC with a sound card and loudspeakers or headphones.)
Wireless heart rate monitor with an analogue chest strap transmitter and a wrist watch receiver
Water resistant up to 50m
Note: There is no backlight on the Polar F4 heart rate monitor.
This is quite a long list of features. The F4 is the next model after the FS3 in the Polar fitness series. It is actually useful to compare their differences, which are highlighted in bold in the list above. Bold in black means the features are found in F4 but not in FS3.
The additional features for the Polar F4 heart rate monitor are:
It is now possible to set your heart rate limits in terms of the percentage of your maximum heart rate. If you want to train in the 75% to 85% zone, just set 75% as the lower limit and 85% as the upper limit. You don't need a calculator (which you are unlikely to have in the gym) to find out what the corresponding BPM is.
It can likewise display your current heart rate in terms of percentage of your maximum heart rate.
You can see how many calories you have burnt so far while you are still exercising. When you have finished the session, you can see the total number of calories you have expended.
It displays roughly how much time you have spent in your target training zone via the Fitness Bullets. You get one Fitness Bullet (up to a maximum of six) shown on the wrist watch for each 10 minutes of time spent in your training zone. However, once you have finished your session, you can see exactly how long you were training in your target zone as part of the summary.
It provides the cumulative sum total of statistics from your training sessions starting from your last reset date.
It now comes with an ordinary wake up alarm.
It reminds you via a simple message on the wrist watch display if you haven't done any exercise for 3 days. Useful if you don't have enough discipline or motivation to keep training.
The Polar UpLink feature is not a data analysis tool. It does not allow you to download data from your monitor to your computer for further analysis. It does allow you to upload certain specific information from your computer, via some special software, to your wrist watch. This feature is of limited use to most users.
Summary
The Polar F4 heart rate monitor contains significant enhancements over its preceding model FS3. Its suggested retail price is $99.95, $10 more than a FS3.
Next up in the Polar fitness series is the Polar F6.
Update: There is a Polar F4M heart rate monitor, identical to the F4 in terms of features, with the exception that its wrist watch is a larger unit more suitable for men. It is availabe for sale in Europe but I am not sure if the unit is available for sale in the United States.
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