Polar S720i Heart Rate Monitor

The main features of the Polar S720i heart rate monitor are:

• Continuous heart rate monitoring
• Aged based maximum heart rate calculation
• Polar Fitness Test: It gives OwnIndex and predicts maximum heart rate.
• You can measure speed and distance while cycling by turning on the bike functions. You can also measure cadence (*) or power output (**).
• Temperature and altitude measurements
• Record your heart rate in 2 ways: Basic Use or Exercise Set.
• Basic Use: You exercise without any settings.
• Exercise Set: Choose between Basic Set and Interval Training Set. You can preset up to 5 Exercise Sets.
• Basic Set: You can set up to 3 heart rate training zones and up to 3 consecutive timers and a recovery calculation.
• Interval Training Set: This consists of a warm up phase, followed by up to 30 repeating interval (and recovery) phases, and finally by a cool down phase. You can choose 4 types of interval types: time-based interval, heart-rate-based interval, distance-based interval or manual interval. You can also program a time-based, a heart-rate-based, or a distance-based recovery calculation at the end of an interval.
• Heart rate zone alarm can be turned on or off.
• OwnCal calorie counter
• Record lap and split time up to a max of 99 laps.
• Stop watch
• Extra large display
• Real time information display: Current heart rate, average heart rate, heart rate as % of Max HR, stop watch, time of day, split and lap times, lap number, calorie count, current, average and maximum speed, trip distance, altitude, temperature, cadence (*), output power (**), left right pedalling balance (**), pedalling index (**), memory left and recording rate.
• It can record heart rate at 3 sampling rates: 5 seconds, 15 seconds and 60 seconds. Note: The total recording time is dependent on whether features like speed, cadence, power or altitude are switched on.
• 99 complete files: Date and time of exercise, duration, average and maximum heart rates, recovery value, total distance of exercise, average and maximum speed, average and maximum cadence (*), avg, max and min altitude, avg, max and min temperature, avg and max output power (**), avg and max pedalling index (**), left right pedalling balance (**), limits of target heart rate zones, time in, above, below target heart rate zones, calories burnt, cumulative calories burnt, cumulative exercise time, cumulative riding time, odometer, detailed interval training information, detailed lap information (including many pieces of cycling information at the end of lap).
• Samples file allows you to recall all the recorded heart rate samples, with each sample showing the heart rate and the time when the sample was taken, plus the following detailed information: stopwatch, speed, cadence (*), altitude, power (**), left right pedalling balance (**), pedalling index (**).
• Records file keeps cumulative information across several sessions including calorie expenditure and various pieces of time and distance data. It also records various maximum data: max speed, max cadence, max altitude, and max power.
• Basic time keeping: Time, date, alarm, two time zones
• Backlight
• Water resistant up to 20m
• Polar UpLink to transfer data from a PC to the Polar S520 heart rate monitor. Requires a Windows PC with a sound card and loudspeakers or headphones.
• Coded analogue wireless transmission from its chest strap.
• PC communication via infrared technology. This requires a PC with a IrDA port. If it doesn't, then an optional Polar IR Interface for USB (or RS 232) port is required. The IR technology can perform both download and upload.
• Polar Precision Performance Software: Use it for detailed analysis of downloaded training data (complete file). It can also be used to prepare settings which are then uploaded to the wrist watch receiver. Some special settings include 7 alarm sound reminders, 3 display alternatives when Heart Touch is activated and options lock (which locks your options while you are exercising and can only be unlocked using the PPPS).
• Bike mount, Polar speed sensor included
• Polar cadence sensor is optional
• Polar power output sensor is optional

Note 1: * = only if optional Polar Cadence Sensor is fitted
Note 2: ** = only if optional Polar Power Output Sensor is fitted
Note 3: The differences between the Polar S720i and the Polar S520 are denoted in bold above. Comparisons are not made between Polar S720i and Polar S610i because the S610i is an effective upgrade of the S410 whereas the S720i is an upgrade of the S520.
Note 4: Polar S720i and Polar S710i possess the same features. The difference is that Polar S720i heart rate monitor comes in a stainless steel case whereas Polar S710i comes in a plastic case.

Summary

The Polar S720i heart rate monitor has many of the same features as the Polar S520 but it has a much larger memory for the recording of your exercise heart rates and uses infra red to communicate between the computer and the wrist watch receiver. It also does temperature and altitude measurements.

Furthermore its cycling measurement capabilities can be expanded greatly with the addition of an optional power output sensor. It is then possible to track cycling performance by correlating heart rate input with power output. Speed or pace is not necessarily the best way to track output intensity in cycling, due to a variety of factors like winds and hills.

Useful Information

Not sure which heart rate monitor is right for you? Take a look at the Which Heart Rate Monitor page.