Requires gel for wetting or won’t function, misleading advertising on included features

I’ve edited my review, upgrading it from 1 to 2 stars and cancelled return of the product after discovering that while no amount of NORMAL wetting (sweat, water) will get the sensor to function, a conductive jelly such as that used on electrodes in hospitals for EKGs or (ahem, forgive the impropriety) “personal lubricants” will do the job quite well. While you may feel ridiculous squirting KY Jelly on your sensor prior to a race, it will guarantee an immediately functional and accurate HR result that will last throughout a 1 hour 45 minute race (in my case, a duathlon with two runs and a bike ride).

For those of you wondering, it was NOT an issue of chest hair or similar problems keeping the sensor from function. We tried the sensor on several people with hairless chests, using regular water and salt water. You just cannot get enough conductivity. Shame on you Polar for putting such shoddy stuff on the market.

My remaining criticisms still stand: after filling out the Amazon item return form I noticed a large banner on the product page saying Amazon had temporarily suspended sales of the item because of unspecified problems from other buyers.

Additionally, my unit advertised the ability to transfer data to my Mac or PC. I’ve been a Polar user for over a decade and this has always been an important feature for me. HOWEVER NOWHERE IN THE SPECS DID IT INFORM ME I HAD TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FUNCTIONALITY. In the age where Bluetooth can be incorporated into the tiniest of devices, this additional charge is a ripoff.

Coupled with the necessity to wet the sensor with a conductive lubricant to get it to work properly, I’d search elsewhere for an HR monitor, if there were an “elsewhere” to search. Polar seems to have a lock on the market and their products used to be high quality. Overall, very disappointed with this unit.