Richard Gardner

This is a well designed HRM. I must admit, though, at first, I considered returning it as it seemed too simplistic. It doesn’t really seem to do all that much for the price when you look through the manual. After looking into alternatives though (and discovering that Garmin’s model doesn’t track calories unless you buy an extra footpod), I decided to give it a proper go (if nothing else, I’d have a decent backup model if I ever decided to go for a top of the range HRM).

So, onto the F6 itself. The unit itself, is, actually, very good. It is easy (and comprehensive) to set up (logging your height, weight, age, sex etc. — which gives you confidence that it is tracking your own personal fitness). You can then either train to automatic zones (defined by your age etc.), or can use Ownzone, which actually measures your heartrate through your a simple 5-stage/5-minute warmup (from walking to running, via given percentage rises in your HR each minute) and defines your own personal training zones. These zones are split into four intensities: Light (60-70% HR), Moderate (70-80% HR), Hard (80-90% HR), and a catch-all Basic (65-85% HR) for general aerobic work.

Once you choose your zone method, you can then choose one of these four zones, and your watch will alarm you if you go above or below (you can switch this off).

The other features (quickly) are just as well thought out and easy to use. A diary and file system, lets you review your workout data for the week. You can view zone and heart rate analysis, and also see what percentage of calories burnt was fat. Everything you’d need, really. You can then upload your data to the Polar website using a PC microphone and Polar Weblink, a small piece of software from the site.

One other thing that I didn’t initially like, was that it had a ‘chav’ style tribal design on the display. I’ve since discovered this can be changed on the Polar website, by putting the phone next to your speaker (it sends out a little morse code type signal, and your display graphic changes to what you want — bizarre but true)… I’ve now got Space Invaders on my watch screen, and it looks much better!

All in all, if you’re looking for a solid and reliable HRM, that does most of the things you’d need it to then this will do fine. It doesn’t do the specialist things that the more expensive HRM’s do (no laps, no distance tracking), but I think if you’re looking for that you wouldn’t be considering the F6 anyway. What it does do, it does very well, and makes everything so easy to use, it is a pleasure.