Customer Reviews
Husband Likes It 
2008-01-19
I bought this for my husband as a replacement for his old monitor that had a wrist band that couldn't be repaired. He figured out on his own how to use this monitor: a plus for any product. I'd buy it again just because of the ease of use.
Updated Polar shows improvement 
2007-05-07
The new chest strap is lighter and more comfortable than my old hrm. Only complaint is the wrist strap buckle -- it could have been designed better.
they didn't send what I ordered 
2007-04-11
Ordered black, which was not available in this color at my local sporting goods store-got blue, which I could have gotten in the store with no S&H charge.
Also somewhat disappointed in the monitor, which works fine for HR, but doesn't give a running time.
Good basic heart monitor 2007-03-08
This is a good basic monitor. It works with the bicycles at the gym, automatically displaying your heart rate on the bike. Often, though, the bike number displayed is one beat off of the number displayed on your watch (i.e. 120 bpm instead of 121). There are no fancy features with this monitor -- it just shows your bpm while exercising and that is all.
HR monitor newbie, yup it works. 2006-04-06
I was originally hesitant to purchase any heart rate monitor because I wasn't sure if the basic feature of monitoring would work well.
I couldn't decide on a brand until I read the other HR watch reviews and discovered that Polar is one of the leading brands.
This watch is very simple. It's got 1 button! I bought this FS1 watch because I just wanted something to help focus my gym workouts. I wanted a few other features but didn't want to pay the 2x or greater pricing for it.
Pros:
- The single button on the watch is easy to get used to. Easy to start when you exercise
- Heart rate works well and reliably when the chest strap is well moistened. Good when you're already sweating.
- In the gym, there's a "Polar Heartrate Ready" logos on LifeFitness machines and some other machines (I'm a member at 24hr fitness). That indicates that it automatically reads the chest strap. So you don't even need to wear the watch!
Cons:
- When enabling the heartrate monitor (called "EXE or exercise mode on the watch), the HR feedback is autodetected, so the user can't do anything to test if it works. You just watch and wait. This could possibly be true about the other high end Polar watches, but this is a small usability thing that I don't like.
- The chest strap isn't uniquely coded so it can crosstalk. I haven't had the problem at the gym since I haven't been working out right beside anyone who's wearing a HR monitor. However, the HR meter on the adjacent gym machine will be funky when someone's using it =-P.
- No backlight. I refused to spend more money on a HR watch. But then, why does the backlight feature cost an extra $20. Shame on you Polar.
- There's no MIN and MAX feature. Why not, this watch is a computer and we've had calculator watches for 20 year? Why does polar sell 10 different watches for different sports? Polar needs to simplify their product line and offer better price for product.
- 2 year battery life. Another reason not to spend any more for a HR watch.
Hope that helps all the new buyers out there.
Stiff band 2008-06-11
The HRM works great. But the band is very stiff and hard to get on and off. The interface is a little querky but works well.
Works great - basic unit, no fuss, waterproof 2008-03-27
Bought this for my wife, she prefers simple to use over those thing that have feature bloat and are difficult to operate or remember how to operate. This thing just flat out works, and does it well, for a good price. I had little trouble with the setup as the way the menu works could have been a tad less annoying (it times out pretty quickly and then you start over), so I only gave it 4 stars, but setup is only once. Should really be five stars. If you are looking at this basic unit, buy it, as this does what you want and does it well. Display is easy to read, beeps can be turned off, etc.
Not for serious cyclists. 
2008-03-19
I bought this because it had the range to mount on my trike. And in that sense it works where others didn't. But it has several serious shortcomings. It shuts itself off when no signal is received for about five minutes. e.g., when you come to a rest stop. And when you start it again all of the previous data is lost. Also it is seriously affected by power lines and just stops working. As I ride a recumbent I can't see the monitor if it is mounted on my wrist. This probably will work for you in the gym or for short rides, but don't buy it if you are a serious cyclist. Also, when I called Polar for some help the tech was quite rude to me.
heart rate monitor 2008-03-10
This heart rate monitor works very well. The only thing that is missing is for the heart rate range to be put in for you. The FS3 does this. I bought an FS3 in a store for the same price as the FS2 here on amazon.
Not Bad for the Price 2008-02-01
I have been biking for awhile now and I recently got an indoor trainer and some DVD's to use to keep in shape over the winter months. So after doing them a few times I realized that I would be much better off if I knew my heart rate so I could train correctly for hard/easy days.
The first few times I used it I had problems because I was not wearing it quite tight enough because after I tightened it up it has worked perfectly. I have had it all the way from 70 to 194 bpm and it seems to react as I would expect for various levels of excursion.
My biggest complaint is that it doesn't keep track of the max heart rate for a training session, the more expensive ones do, so I guess you get what you pay for sometimes...but as long as you pay attention when you think you are getting close you can still find your max rate.
One other thing I saw on some reviews was that it was too small for men, but I'm 5'11 and nearly 200 lbs and it fits me, in fact I had it on too loose at first, yeah it is tight feeling but it has to be to work.
For someone just starting out this is a great tool and only has 1 button, so there isn't much complicated about it. I would recommend this to anyone looking to start heart rate training, it has been proven to really help build aerobic capacity and strength when done properly.
