Polar A3 Series 1902750 Wrist Watch - Unisex Watch

Pros: Excellent monitor. Heart strap is compatible with most high-end treadmills with heart rate tracking.
Cons: Color. Stores only one work out at a time. Lack of documentation.

For anyone seriously into fitness with a tight budget, this is a good monitor for you.

The monitor calculates your preferred heart rate and stores your length of workout, time in preferred range, and average heart rate. A built-in alarm to...

Pros: Once you get it going, heart rate seems accurate
Cons: Can't read your times while in the heart rate mode, making timing yourself very ackward

First, my biggest beef with this heart rate monitor(HRM): if you want to time yourself over a given interval, you have to start pushing buttons to get out of the heart rate screen, and then push more buttons to display your heart rate again. This may ...

Pros: Display, options.
Cons: No light, color.

First I'd like to state that every athlete who wants to improve his performance should use a heart rate monitor. It enables you to check your heart rate during training and competition so you can keep your exercise on a healthy level.
Now, about the...

Pros: Works.
Cons: Programming is a royal pain.

The functionality is good. But the absolute craziness of the buttons will drive you to anger. You can see a chart at REI.com to compare the A5's features to other models. This is a no-frills unit, but has all the basics. It beeps if you're over or ...

Pros: gives average heart rate, time/date, time in target zone
Cons: only stores average heart rate data for last workout; undesirable color

I purchased my Polar A3 about two months ago. The key reason why I purchased an A3 over an A1 was the fact that it also tells the time, date, and elapsed exercise time. I was hesitant to pay the extra costs associated with getting the time functions,...

Pros: Low cost Essentials without the frills
Cons: Expensive if used extensively Not easy to use

I have now been using my A3 extensively for a little over a year (including the alarm function). While the clock function still works, the receiver no longer measures the heart rate. While the unit supposedly has a replaceable battery, Polar, on their Web site, recommends that the unit be returned to one of its authorized service facilities so that they can ensure the water resistance is maintained.

The problem with this is both cost and time without the unit. Standard battery replacement cost is $10, not including two way postage. And, they take up to 7 business days to turn the unit around, meaning up to two weeks total without the unit. I consider this to be an extremely poor design and in the end makes this unit very expensive to use if you use it extensively.

Unfortunately, alternatives are very limited.

I will say that I had a fairly serious bike crash while wearing it and the receiver impacted with and scraped along the road for a good distance. With the exception of a large amount of road rash, the unit continued to work fine.

Pros: Well constructed, appears accurate.
Cons: Instructions come from the Ford Edsel school of design. Web site offers nothing better.

This is, so far, an excellent product - I think.

It does appear to exactly match (+/- 5 bpm) a standard digital wrist watch with a "touch-here" HRM. Construction, design, all is fine.

However, Polar could take a hint from Casio or Timex on how to write instructions for multi-button devices. While the provided instructions give a flow for setting time, a detailed flow chart for all buttons, based on function mode, would be most helpful.

Even the PolarUSA.com site fails to offer any better instructions.

Pros: Reliable, easy to see, and easy to use.
Cons: A bit large for a woman's wrist and no color selection.

I've owned approximately 3 Polar watches over the past 5 years. The other 2 have failed or when I tried to replace the watch battery, the display went funky. My old A3, which I had previously used as my travel workout watch, is the one that is still ticking. I've replaced the watch battery several times and it remains waterproof. The display is large and easy to read and it displays the time of day (a function missing from some of the more expensive Polar watches). This watch picks up all three of my heart rate monitors (strewed randomly around my home gym) and has survived a number of triathlons with me. Overall, a great watch.