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Sports Watch Lineup
Posted on Dec 10th 2010 11:00AM by Kristen SeymourFiled Under: Fitness, Reviews & Products
Time is always -- always -- a factor, especially when you're trying your hardest to fit in a few workouts. And that's why it's of the utmost importance to have a great sports watch.
We've checked out four fabulous and affordable watches that were released this year. Which would be your pick?
Polar FT1 ($69.95)
Polar is a highly respected name within the sports watch industry, and the water-resistant FT1 is no exception. It comes with a Polar T31 coded transmitter, which straps around your chest. It features a single button to scroll through the various modes (EXE, which measures heart rate; FILE, to view training information; ZONE, to set your minimum and maximum heart rates manually; TIME; and DATE). It took a good bit of reading the manual to get it properly set up, but once we got the FT1 figured out, we were pleased with how easy it was to use and read.
Mio Motion ($99.95)
The Mio Motion features a pedometer and a heart rate monitor that doesn't require a chest strap, making it a great option for those who find them uncomfortable, and it has eight modes: Time, Step Count and Goal, Target Heart Rate Zone, Resting Heart Rate, Alarm, Chronograph, Countdown Timer, and Dual Time. It also has various pedometer functions, including speed and distance. In theory, we love it and all the features, but we found the heart rate sensor wasn't as sensitive as we'd hoped (sometimes it worked well, sometimes it didn't seem to read anything at all), and we have our doubts about just how accurate the speed and distance mode are -- there's no GPS, and there were times when it clocked our jog at a slower speed than our normal walk.
Puma Cardiac II (regularly $100, on sale for $85)
The Puma Cardiac II is another watch with a heart rate monitor chest strap with features including Time, Heart Rate Monitor (which uses either preset HR zones or a manual Hi/Lo HR zone); Chrono; Countdown Timer; a Daily Alarm/Chime; and indicators showing calories burned, average heart rate, and a lap counter. There are four buttons, and while pretty much just one is used for switching from one mode to the next, there's no way we could change some of the more complicated settings by memory. Also, although the display is large, it's not very bright and not the easiest to read.
Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap TapScreen ($90)
This has fewer features than some of the others -- there's no heart rate monitor or pedometer -- but what it lacks in fancy function it makes up for with user friendliness. The TapScreen makes counting laps in the pool or on the track super easy, and we found it to be our favorite for interval training. The large display is easy to read, and it looks really nice on our wrist! It also features hydration/nutrition alarms and a Target Time Pacer to tell you whether you're going too fast or too slow.
More Gadgets from That's Fit:
Fitness Gadgets Gift Guide
Taxi Pedometer
The Power Wheel
We've checked out four fabulous and affordable watches that were released this year. Which would be your pick?
Polar FT1 ($69.95)
Polar is a highly respected name within the sports watch industry, and the water-resistant FT1 is no exception. It comes with a Polar T31 coded transmitter, which straps around your chest. It features a single button to scroll through the various modes (EXE, which measures heart rate; FILE, to view training information; ZONE, to set your minimum and maximum heart rates manually; TIME; and DATE). It took a good bit of reading the manual to get it properly set up, but once we got the FT1 figured out, we were pleased with how easy it was to use and read.
Mio Motion ($99.95)
The Mio Motion features a pedometer and a heart rate monitor that doesn't require a chest strap, making it a great option for those who find them uncomfortable, and it has eight modes: Time, Step Count and Goal, Target Heart Rate Zone, Resting Heart Rate, Alarm, Chronograph, Countdown Timer, and Dual Time. It also has various pedometer functions, including speed and distance. In theory, we love it and all the features, but we found the heart rate sensor wasn't as sensitive as we'd hoped (sometimes it worked well, sometimes it didn't seem to read anything at all), and we have our doubts about just how accurate the speed and distance mode are -- there's no GPS, and there were times when it clocked our jog at a slower speed than our normal walk.
Puma Cardiac II (regularly $100, on sale for $85)
The Puma Cardiac II is another watch with a heart rate monitor chest strap with features including Time, Heart Rate Monitor (which uses either preset HR zones or a manual Hi/Lo HR zone); Chrono; Countdown Timer; a Daily Alarm/Chime; and indicators showing calories burned, average heart rate, and a lap counter. There are four buttons, and while pretty much just one is used for switching from one mode to the next, there's no way we could change some of the more complicated settings by memory. Also, although the display is large, it's not very bright and not the easiest to read.
Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap TapScreen ($90)
This has fewer features than some of the others -- there's no heart rate monitor or pedometer -- but what it lacks in fancy function it makes up for with user friendliness. The TapScreen makes counting laps in the pool or on the track super easy, and we found it to be our favorite for interval training. The large display is easy to read, and it looks really nice on our wrist! It also features hydration/nutrition alarms and a Target Time Pacer to tell you whether you're going too fast or too slow.
More Gadgets from That's Fit:
Fitness Gadgets Gift Guide
Taxi Pedometer
The Power Wheel
