Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Sensor

Both my husband and I use these with the Polar FT7 watch for a wrist display we can check during runs and Runkeeper for data tracking, and we love them.I have tachycardia (POTS) and it's important for me to both exercise frequently and monitor my heart rate while doing so, to make sure it doesn't get too high - even on meds and other treatment, it's easy for me to exceed 80% max HR in the first minute or two of a run without pushing myself much. The Polar sensors have been great for this - they're very reliable. It helps immensely to be able to tell when I'm tired because my POTS symptoms are worse versus when I'm simply tired.Also, *if* you use a Polar wrist display or the Polar Beat app (more on that below), Polar uses a very accurate algorithm to calculate calories burned based on heart rate (plus age, weight, height, and gender). This is great when I'm counting calories for weight loss.I also love that the sensor detaches when you're not using it, so the battery doesn't drain as fast.One of my few complaints is that my husband's monitor seems to be more prone to losing signal or showing a clearly incorrect heart rate (very high or very low) than mine is (although mine does that occasionally). This may be a problem with the watch (apps don't always pick up the same inconsistencies). I've also had it happen when the band wasn't tight enough, or the battery was close to dying - and I suspect my husband's chest hair has something to do with his more frequent inconsistencies. None of this is a big enough deal to drop a star, especially compared to previous monitors I've used.Watch Pairing: It pairs easily with the FT7 watch; we'd both been using those with the included non-bluetooth sensors, but the watches picked up the new sensors within 30 seconds. We didn't need any special pairing procedures; the watches picked up the signal on their own - and as far as we can tell, they don't get mixed up even when we're running side by side.Phone Pairing (Android): The important thing to remember here is that you don't pair the sensor with the *phone*, but with the *app*. If you go into the Bluetooth pairing settings in your phone, as you would to pair a headset, it won't find a signal for the heart monitor. This is normal. Instead, make sure Bluetooth is on, go into the app you want to use, and check the Settings. Most third party apps have a setting you can turn on to use a heart rate sensor. If I remember correctly, MapMyFitness handled both that and sensor pairing in the Settings when I used it; RunKeeper handles pairing from the map screen (turning on the sensor setting adds a gray heart in the bottom right corner of the map, which bounces when it detects an unpaired sensor and turns red and beats when it's reading your HR). Check the FAQ on the app's website or do a search if you're not sure.Apps (Android):- Polar Beat (Polar's app) is okay for stationary or studio workouts, but just okay. It does give you a nice HR chart and that lovely accurate calorie count that Polar is so good at. However, you'll want to keep it on your body if you're moving around a lot, because this app loses signal very easily if you get your body in between the sensor and the phone. For outdoor workouts, there are much better free apps available; Polar Beat would frequently fail to map my run at all, or stop somewhere in the middle when it lost GPS signal, and its distance measurements weren't particularly accurate. I haven't used it for runs since March 2015, so this may have changed, but I'm not holding my breath.- Third Party: I haven't found an app yet that doesn't pair easily with this, since Polar is the standard in heart monitors. I'm a fan of Runkeeper since it gives you access to your heart rate charts without a subscription, but that's personal preference. I've also easily paired it with MapMyFitness, Endomondo, some random app that's supposed to calculate your "morning readiness" from heart rate, and probably some other workout apps I'm forgetting about. Take your pick - most of them have pairing instructions on their websites if you need them.- Multiple App Pairing: You can use the monitor with multiple apps simultaneously IF the apps allow - some don't. For example, I was able to use it with MapMyFitness and Polar Beat (for accurate calorie count) at the same time without problems; Runkeeper, however, won't even detect the monitor if another app that's running is already using it. For best results, use the window cascade feature to look at what you have running in the background, and close everything that connects to the monitor if you don't need it. However, there's no problem with having multiple apps installed and paired with it as long as they're not all running; you don't have to re-pair each time you switch apps.For reference, both my husband and I have HTC One M8 phones.Multiple Devices on Signal: I've had no problems with the monitor transmitting to the phone and watch at the same time, nor with it sharing the phone's bluetooth signal with headphones.Random tips: If you can't get your phone to pick up the signal, do the usual (reboot, close and restart app, turn Bluetooth off/on). Then check to make sure the strap is snug, especially across the front of the chest, and make sure the sensor is snapped in securely. You can wet the sensor area of the inside of the strap (the vinyl-like part) with water (or, if that's not enough, with salt water or electroconductive gel) if you're still having problems. After that, check the battery. I also find that sometimes the watch, if you have one, is a more reliable test of whether it's working than the phone is.Changing the Battery: Pretty straightforward DIY. I've found it's easiest to use a narrow key ring to turn the battery cover, and make sure to *pay attention* to how the battery cover is oriented in the "loose" position before you remove it, because it's really hard to loosen it again if you replace it in the wrong position and tighten it, and it's not water/sweatproof unless it's seated right. It fits tight, but I had no trouble with it even though I'm sometimes not strong enough to open sealed jars.In summation, this is awesome and I love it. Mine has been working fine for almost a year with one battery change, my husband's for 7+ months. We'll see how long the fresh batteries last.

This review is more about Polar customer service than the product.The V800, the Polar Loop, the H7, and the H7 strap are great, really great in fact, but customer service is horrible - here is the exact feedback (below) that I sent to Polar.Please note, this is the 4th H7 unit I have used or purchased and I have a Polar Loop which is great also.I have recorded hundreds of workouts with the H7 and it works really well - but after about 10 months my went a little wanky. It was covered under warranty which was good, but I felt that I need to post my feedback to Polar to let everyone know about my customer service experience with them.So here are all my customer service issues below.To Polar:BTW - this exact feedback is going on heartratemonitorsusa.com, amazon.com, AND dcrainmaker.com and any where else I can find to put it.Poorly and improperly staffed - no information about doing inventory so I would wait on the phone for 20 minutes to have your voice service tell me that someone would call me back which they never did - waste of 20 minutes - this happened 4 separate times.End of year update broke automatic GPS start location which I have reported 2 times - the first time the CSR did not record the error message - found this out when I called back in about a separate issue and decided to do a follow-up.The error message is as follows - "A. lap location not saved. No GPS data available." I assume that A. means "automatic ". So when Automatic Lap is chosen in a sport profile and set to Location - this error message pops up. Never happened before the update.Server maintenance was not re-announced after an announcement saying it would be delayed, so I spent an hour and did a botched factory reset on the day the servers went down because the error message in Polar FlowSync said that it COULDN'T sync with the V800 - nothing about the servers being down - I thought I had an issue with the watch. You have our emails - send out a notification for gosh sakes. How hard is that to do? It is the little things that make the difference.You "lost" my warranty repair replacement watch band (sitting on a shelf per the CSR) - so I had to zip tie my watch onto my wrist for almost a month. I would not have know about this unless I would not have called in to follow-up because I was waiting for so long for it to arrive in the mail. I was told 3-5 business days and I waited an extra week because of the holidays. I you would have sent it out the first day I called (which you could have) it would have been here before the new year.You "repaired" my HR7 improperly - in fact you didn't repair it - you sent back a new strap instead of replacing transmitter - when I received the unit back, it still did not work (after almost 4 weeks) which is totally unacceptable.Poor technical support delayed my return of the unit for a week - the CSR REFUSED to listen to me about my understanding that it was the transmitter and NOT THE STRAP.Luckily I had decided to buy a new Polar HR7 from a store - I did this before I sent the unit in to be repaired. And guess what - the new unit worked instantly. In fact, I had access to another Polar HR7 and it worked perfectly also. I was so irritated when I tried out the unit you sent back. I couldn't believe you guys just didn't send out a new unit. And your repair notes STILL say it was the strap which is a lie. At this point, I don't think you even tested the unit.Your alert messages in the IVR are complete lies. You did not have high call volume, you were understaffed doing inventory. I know this because I was in call center work for almost 15 years. Quit lying to your customers - it reduces your integrity.You have wasted my time, stretched my patience, and lied too many times for me to trust you. Sad thing is that your products are awesome and have helped me lose 45 lbs after being sick for several years.The more I deal with you, the more I am reminded of all the sorry customer service that ICON FITNESS provides for all their treadmills and such - just horror stories that never end. That is why we have not purchased a home treadmill - TRUST.As you try to gain ground in the activity fitness tracker world you better learn this - trust, integrity, and customer service generates and RETAINS customers. You have too many competitors to screw up for even a short period.