Polar RS800CX Run -- Five Things to Know Before You Buy

Several weeks ago I purchased the Polar RS800CX with Stride Sensor technology. I’ve been an owner of polar heart rate monitors for nearly fifteen years so it was kind of like putting on an old sweater.

Polar is the world’s pioneer of heart rate monitor technology and they have dominated this market for decades. But their market share has ebbed in the last five years as athletes turned to GPS technology from Garmin and other companies. I’ve been using both the Polar RS800CX and a Garmin 405 in training and have learned a lot about the strengths, and weaknesses, of both. Here is what I found:

You’re Not Having a Heart Attack! Even though I’ve been using Polar monitors since 1992 I haven’t always been a happy customer. In the early days it seemed like false heart rate readings were the norm. I can’t remember how many times I’d be running along at a leisurely pace only to see my heart rate fluttering around 240. Oh my god, am I having a heart attack?! Fortunately after so many false readings my worry was eroded by buyers remorse. Thankfully those days are over. The most recent Polar monitors I’ve owned, including the RS800CX, have given me consistent and accurate heart rate readings.

Batteries Optimal - As an ultra runner, battery life is a huge issue for me. If you're training for over eight hours at a time, it will be for you too. The battery life on my Garmin 405 is less than eight hours. This is not an issue for a 5k runner, even a marathoner. But what if you train or race for eight, twelve, even sixteen hours or more? This is where GPS technology starts to falter. Its all too common for me to look down at my Garmin 405 GPS to see a blank screen from a dead battery on runs over six hours. Sure, other Garmin models (201 and 301) might last a little longer. But until technology improves, consider GPS devises a luxury with a short leash, that leash being a limited battery life.

Battery life is not a concern with the Polar RS800CX. Not only do you get accurate heart rate readings, but your distance traveled can be measured using Polar's Stride Sensor without the timing limitations inherent with GPS units. This is a water resistant foot pod that measures your speed/pace, distance and cadence. Based on my own experience, I found the Stride Sensor to be quite accurate. On a recent long run the Polar Stride Sensor was within 3/10s of a mile of my Garmin around mile 30 before the Garmin ran out of batteries. Better yet, you don’t have to charge the Stride Sensor every time you use it! For an additional cost, the Polar RS800CX comes with an optional GPS unit that can be used in lieu of the Stride Sensor. I chose not to purchase this.

Cadence, Dear Friends, Cadence - When Lance Armstrong assumed the throne in the cycling kingdom, “cadence” was knighted his silver bullet. Fast, efficient peddling at 90 RPM, it was said, launched Lance from zero to hero. So happens, 90 SPM (strides per minute) is the magic number for runners -- that is if you want to run as efficiently as the elites in the sport. Anything slower than this, regardless of pace, is not as efficient. Once I realized the RS800CX measured cadence, I measured mine right away. I was pleased to find it was between 86 and 88 SPM. I was less pleased with the concentration it took to maintain 90 strides per minute. What’s cool about the Polar RS is that it monitors your cadence real time—up hills, over trails, on the street—then gives you an average cadence for each run.

Beam me up, Scotty – one of the things I found with the RS800CX is how easy it is to transfer data from the device to my computer. Polar utilizes infrared technology to send data from the device to a pod that plugs easily into any USB port. My experience with this system, despite very little patience with software in general, has been very good. I hold the Polar up to the pod, push go, and within 30 seconds my workout information is loaded on the computer. Polar uses a proprietary software – Pro Trainer 5 – which provides extensive analysis using charts and graphs. Distance, heart rate, pace, and cadence are all tracked real time and graphed out automatically for you to see visually on your screen. Averages for all of these data points and outdoor temperature are also recorded.

Running Index, Flatlanders Only? The RS800CX contains a unique fitness measurement program called Running Index. This is designed to measure your training progress and fitness changes. This is simply a measurement of your running economy. The faster you run at a give heart rate, the better your score. This is a great method to track your condition, but it's not without its flaws. When testing myself, I've scored a 62 on certain runs ("very good"), and under 50 ("average") on other runs. What I've learned is that this system is only good for running on flat courses, because it doesn't recognize when you're climbing hills. For example, if you happen to be running up a long mountain hill, all it knows is you're running slow and at a high heart rate. Result? A low rating. You might as well be fat and out of shape. Nonetheless, you can still use the index to measure your fitness progress by comparing your score from week to week on the same course.

Do I recommend the Polar RS800CX? I'm not one to make hearty recommendations for products. What I've learned is that people have their own biases for and against products. What one man says is great another man despises. Yet, if I were to compare the Polar RS800CX to the Garmin 405 which I also own and have used extensively, I must say I prefer the Polar. The Polar doesn't have limited battery life, it provides good distance and heart rate measurement, it measures cadence, transfers data easily to my computer and, yes, it looks cooler!

Replacing the battery on the wrist watch is not without its challanges. It would appear to be an easy turn of the seal on the bottom of the device. This I did. Getting the gadget to come loose of the watch once turned is the challenge. I broke one my best steak knifes trying to pry this succer out! Polar, help!

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Garmin Forerunner 405 Review. 10 Things to Know Before You Buy

I recently upgraded my Garmin 301 with the Garmin 405. I did this for several reasons. First, my 301 was falling apart, and the only way I could charge it was with the USB cord that plugs into my car. The wall charger it came with stopped working altogether. The heart rate monitor also stopped working. I’d seen photos of the Garmin 405 and it looked like it might even pass for a wrist watch, not the black pill box the 301 so closely resembled. I’ve been using the Garmin 405 for over a week now, and here is what I found:

1. This is no simple stopwatch with a GPS. The Garmin 405 is more akin to a body probe with an attitude. It beeps at you when you touch it in the wrong place. Then it barks at you when you yell at it. You must prepare for this one. A tutorial, a seminar, a degree, anything to get to know the software inside. I don’t recommend trying to learn it while running. I nearly tumbled into a bed of cacti tinkering with this thing on a run.

2. Never, ever lose the charger. Unlike the 301 that would take any old USB cord, the Forerunner 405 can only be charged using a custom "clip" that comes with the device. If you lose the custom charger, well, good luck. You will have to buy another custom charger. Gone are the days when you could charge your Garmin in your car on the way to a run. A fifteen minute drive used get me an hour of battery life. I’ll miss that.

3. Don’t be fooled by Garmin 405’s good looks. I was originally interested in the Garmin 405 because I thought it was slimmer than its bulky GPS brethren. Then I saw it. While smaller and sleeker than both the Garmin 301 and 305, this newer Garmin is far from dainty. I would describe it as a GPS in “thin” disguise. Bulky, but with good lines. Still too big to wear around as a watch in most circumstances.

4. This watch functions using “touch” points, not buttons. To scroll though the menu and settings you must “touch” the bezel of the watch. At first use I was worried about this system. I accidentally rubbed the watch on my shirt, and this mere touch caused the 405 to scroll though several screens and left me in the bowels of the settings menu. Fortunately I found the screen lock function to avoid this from happening again.

5. The satellite search time is much quicker with the 405. One of my biggest gripes of my Garmin 301 was the length of time it took to sync with the satellites. I can’t even recall how many times I stood in the middle of the street interminably like an idiot waiting for the GPS to link up. Of course smarter and more anal runners always place their GPS outside several minutes before a run, thereby avoiding the pre run loiter. The Garmin 405 gets around all this by simply linking to the satellites very quickly. It took the 405 eleven seconds to get a link when I tested it, whereas I’ve waited for minutes at a time for my 301 to link. Thank you Garmin!

6. The heart rate monitor actually works. I have to say that I was very disappointed with my old Garmin, the 301, heart rate monitor. It simply didn’t function with the GPS, and continued to give false heart rate readings, often greater than 200 bpm on long runs. Now I’m a pretty fit runner, but 200 beats per minute? I finally stopped using the 301’s heart rate monitor and bought a Polar heart rate monitor to wear on the other wrist. For the last year I’ve run double fisted, Polar HRM on one wrist and Garmin 301 on the other. The Garmin 405 brings a heart rate monitor and GPS together in one package that works.

7. Data is transferred to your computer, automatically. I’m not a big data transfer guy, but I did experiment with this feature. It doesn’t take an IBM engineer to get this started, but it does take patience, one of those old world virtues never bestowed on me. I made it as far as loading the software and transferring the data. When I attempted to look at the information on the computer, I couldn’t find it, let alone load the program to view it. Do I really plan to use this? Hmmm. Move on.

8. Like its predecessors, the 405 has many features that could be very helpful to the techie runner. Auto pause, auto lap, auto scroll, virtual partner, specific workouts, and courses are all included. Again, like the data transfer feature, these are features I generally don’t use often, if at all. One cool thing I noticed however was the “back to start” function. Here a runner, if lost, can ask the watch to navigate him or her back to where they started. Not a bad feature when you’re lost on a mountain. The only down side is you have to make it back before the battery dies (8 hours) or you’re SOL.

9. Limited use when wet. Even the owners manual states that “if he bezel is wet, wipe the bezel dry before using it”. Hmmm, did anyone tell the designers that runners generally sweat when running? Do I have to carry a hanky now? I haven’t experienced a problem with this yet, but I’m not one to mess around with the watch while I’m running. Scrolling between screens is all I need on the run and the auto scroll feature should take care of this. Auto scroll allows the user to design three customized screens for workouts and the watch will automatically scroll through these screens.

10. Limited Battery Life. The manual says the 405 has a full 8 hours of battery life using the GPS. However, I did a 4 hour run with the 405 and within three hours the watch was signaling a low battery. The fact that I was not wearing the heart rate monitor strap could have contributed to the shortened battery life. I tested the 405 again, this time wearing the heart monitor strap. After my two hour run there was 70% of the battery life remaining. My guess is the battery life is shortened when you don’t wear the heart monitor strap because, like a cell phone, the device is constantly searching for signal that doesn’t exist.

Would I recommend the Garmin Forerunner 405? I’m not sure I can make that decision right now. Until I subject the device to more field testing, including some five-plus hour runs, I have to reserve judgment. I will keep you “posted”.