My watch arrived yesterday and I have to say it is very hard to see the display. I typically use readers at night when I'm relaxing but can not use them during the day at work so thru out the day when checking my heart rate I could not clearly see it. I found this frustrating. If you are older or need readers like me, not sure this is the best option for you. In addition, I found it interesting that you can not turn off the watch so the battery is constantly being used which in turn will run the battery down and this watch does not come with any additional batteries. Overall, it works nicely and the chest strap is comfortable and adjustable but the problem of the display ruins it for me.

Many times while exercising - mainly walking outdoors - the watch will stop detecting the heart rate monitor and you have to completely stop and restart the workout. Very frustrating as it breaks your stride and then to record your workout, you have to add up multiple entries. I expected far better from Polar. It became enough of an issue that I stopped using it.

I bought this to do one job--track my heart rate as I run, and it does that impressively well. I wanted something low-priced without fancy bells and whistles. The display is easy to see when I run, and I've had no problems losing the connection between the watch and the monitor.

I have a slender build, but I'm able to tighten the chest strap satisfactorily to keep it in place. The strap feels well made from comfortable material, and the watch isn't so big as to look ridiculous on my wrist. The watchband has plenty of holes to size it accurately, even for my small wrist. I found instruction videos on the company's website that were clear and easy to follow, and that made operation very easy. I highly recommend watching them. I think the watch would be tricky to figure out without the videos.

I just received my watch in the mail yesterday and it has a low battery and I cannot see the display because of it ... Also the only instructions I received with this watch were In Spanish. While I could just go Replace the battery I shouldn't have to do that on day 1. This is awful and I will be returning it. I'm sure it's a great watch but I will not be able to find out because I don't have instructions on my language and the battery in the watch is defective

PSA: To replace your chest-strap's battery, simply use the metal buckle on the end of the watch strap to pop off the battery cover. It'll come off with ease and you won't need to worry about the broken plastic covers or the ridiculous "shipping fees" to have a service center replace the battery for you.

First Impressions:
As the first HRM I have ever purchased, I wasn't too sure what to expect from this device. The packaging it arrived in was nothing flash, a relatively plain box which had the watch, the chest-strap and the chest transmission device all neatly bundled together with a couple of user manuals. All the batteries came pre-installed, so turning on the watch and completing the easy-to-follow setup wizard was a simple ordeal.

Quite naturally the first thing I noticed was the watch buttons. They were smaller than I first expected, and pressing them gave very little tactile feedback, while taking a surprising amount of pressure to get them to actuate. Pressing the buttons rapidly to finish the First-Time-Setup-Wizard as quickly as I could left my digits feeling quite sore as the buttons repeatedly dug their devilishly small outlines into the tips of my fingers.

The next thing I noticed was how lightweight the watch was. The waterproof looking design combined with the all-plastic construction of the watch and straps gave me an initial impression yelling "This thing looks cheap". But the HRM instantly redeemed itself as I strapped on the watch and finally noticed how lightweight the watch was, which is only good news for something you're meant to wear while working out.

Next was putting on the chest strap. It took a few seconds to find where the plastic clip went due to the big washing label concealing the small fabric loop where the clip was designed to go. It had momentarily crossed my mind to cut off the label, but I'm glad I didn't as I might have errantly cut off the all important fabric loop if I had rashly brought the scissors out without first figuring out how the strap went on.

Wearing the chest strap for the first time was an interesting experience, although not uncomfortable, I could hardly describe it "pleasant". Where the rubber electrode met bare skin it gave off the impression my skin was being gently roasted, despite running it under cold water as per the user manual's instructions, and the strap itself not actually physically heating up. This was likely caused by the rubber trapping body-heat against the body, which leads to a very noticeable, and rather unusual sensation.
However, the strap itself felt very secure, and there never seemed like it was in danger of falling or slipping out of place during the workout. If i could get used to the strange heat-sensation coming from the chest strap, it would be considered fairly comfortable, but instead the strap weighed on my mind akin to a pebble-in-the-shoe.

The watch and chest strap synced almost instantly and the controls and menu of the watch are intuitive and informative. I took very little time to figure out how to navigate the simple menus and screens, and the buttons are laid out in an intuitive up/down and okay/back button setup. What the buttons lacked in tactile feedback the watch made up for with its audible beeping as you scrolled, and the workout audio is immensely helpful to inform you when you fall outside of your target heartbeat range. Your ideal heartbeat range as well as calculations for calories burnt are all automatically calculated for you as you enter in your height, weight and gender in the setup wizard.

All in all a valuable addition to my workout, in time I may grow more accustomed to the presence of the chest-strap, but in the meanwhile the only thing holding this product back from a 5 stars is that the chest strap adds an unusual "pressure" around the chest that requires some time to get used to.