Highgear Loft Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Heart Rate Monitor, and Thermometer

Editorial Review
Highgear Loft Altimeter. Keeps track of heart rate, direction, altitude, and time... ...heck, it also gives you a full-featured weather report! Everything you need to stay in tune with your body and your surroundings is displayed right on your wrist with the Highgear Loft! Take a look: ECG-Accurate Heart Rate Monitor: Working range: 30bpm to 240bpm; Target zone; Audible and visual heart rate; % max / calorie counter; Altimeter function: Digital altimeter with working range of -2,305 ft. to 30,045 ft.; Stores 15 altimeter data readings with altitude, time and date; Current, accumulated and max altitude in feet or meters; Graphic altitude trend display; 1 ft. altitude resolution; Barometer function: Sea level pressure and absolute pressure display; 1 mbar resolution... working range: 300bbar to 1100 mbar; Weather forecast; 24 hour graphic pressure trend display; Thermometer: User option for fahrenheit or celcius; Working range from 14 degrees F to 140 degrees F; Chrono: Resolution 1 / 100 second (24 hour max time range); Max 50 laps / 20 runs; Lap timer, split timer, best and average lap times; Even more cool features: EL backlight system; Mineral glass lens; Water resistance up to 100 ft.; Consumer replaceable battery.; Order Now! Highgear Loft Altiware Altimeter
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Customer Reviews

Unbeatable features, questionable quality

2008-07-08
I went to REI looking for a camping watch: a digital watch with a backlight for an upcoming 2-week camping trip in Wyoming. I am also a cyclist who loves to climb hills and mountains. The Highgear Loft, with a heart rate monitor and altitude, seemed like the perfect combination.

The watch worked well, with accurate heart rate measurement and altitude. The buttons were sometimes slow to react, especially the SET, which is annoying as you need to set the altitude at the start of each ride as it is based on the barometric pressure.

It worked well from trips to the Black Forest all the way up to the top of Mt. Evans, CO. I calibrated it at 10,400. When I reached the top of the highest paved road in North America, 14,200 ft, it only said 13,800 ft. Given the snow that was falling, and the thunder I heard on the way up, a small front may have moved in. This is accurate enough for me.

After 9 months of having this on the handlebar of my bike, the metal ring surrounding the face fell off. (This has also happened to other Amazon reviewers.) I didn't realize that the ting-ting sound by Walden Pond was the watch self-destructing, and by the time I noticed, the piece was long gone. The watch still worked but I was unsure about its integrity. May have been waterproof... don't know.

So why am I giving this a 3 instead of a 2? Because there is nothing out there for this combination of features for this price. (Mine was $96 at an REI closeout.) There are HRM watches and altimeter watches, and ones that have every feature. But I already have a Shimano Flight Deck bike computer, and just need HRM, while altitude is a nice-to-have feature. If I get another, I'll just super-glue the bezel ring in place.

Nice functionality, bad quality

2007-09-12
I wore this watch maybe 5-6 times and the ring around the watch face is coming loose. I suppose for $99 you can't ask for a lot, but this is really shoddy.

great watch

2006-12-28
I received this watch as a gift, and I LOVE it. The heart rate monitor has worked flawlessly so far. With a lot of HRMs, you hear about wild readings one way or another, or dropping the signal, but the Loft hasn't had any problems. The altimeter is a lot of fun to play with, and it's cool having a watch that literally predicts the weather. The only complaint I have is that the temperature is always too high. For instance, right now, sitting at my desk in a room that's about 65 degrees, it's reading 83.5 degrees. It's read as high as the 90s when temps were in the low 70s, tops. I know this probably has to do with it sitting close to the body, but I wonder how useful a thermometer is that will always be skewed by body heat this way.

This doesn't diminish in any way how happy I am with the watch as a whole. It's well-built, stylish by sports watch standards, intuitive to use, and full of fun features. I'd buy from Highgear again.

RandM

2006-05-10
I bought this watch for the heart rate monitor function and it is great. I have been using it for 3 months and have not had any problems. The monitor is easy to use. With one button you can change the screen from time, to calories, to hbpm and percentage of maximum heartrate. Even better is the display which has numbers twice as large as the other brands. This is helpful for early morning runs and baby boomers like myself with fading vision. For the money and features, this watch is a steal.

Nearly got it right, but....

2006-04-29
I really liked the heft of the watch and the comfort of the monitor strap, but I had too many problems with it to keep this watch. First, the signal reception is mediocre. Of all the monitors I tried this one had the most trouble getting a signal (though when it did, it was spot on). The worst was the watch face printing. I'd had it for 3 weeks and been gentle with it and the black paint inside the etched numbers and letters was half missing showing bare metal underneath. Very shoddy-looking. The altimeter worked fine, but I had little use for the weather indication. It's only supposed to be right up to 6 hours out, and it was right only inrefquently right at all.

In all, the watch feels great, was comfortable and nice looking (at first) but the details are lacking. I'd give this a pass and look at some of the Polar models (which is what I got to replace it).