I ordered the black model M5 and was very pleased with the watch except that I found the negative display ( white numbers on black background ) to be very difficult to see at dusk or in any low light conditions. It is not nearly as bright as the product photos show except at high noon sun. If you exercise mostly during full sun, it''s very readable, in fact probably less glare than the white face. Consider your exercise venue before you order. Could be my eyes, but after searching other forums on negative faces, I''m not alone. I wound up exchanging the black face for 2 white face women''s M5s. I was concerned about the women''s band on my wrist, but it still fit with a hole or 2 to spare. Trinow fitness was very helpful and I got them next day. The watch bodies are the same, so if I really decide I want the man''s band, I''ll order one, but don''t see the need right now.If you''re looking for a training aid to get you on track, this is it. I ordered the foot pod and bike pod and they both connected flawlessly and are pretty accurate when checked on a known distance. The chest strap is the most comfortable I have tried and it also links up quickly. We''ve been using them for about 3 weeks and so far I''m still very satisfied. We were hit or miss with our exercise routine, but the M5 takes the guesswork out and keeps you on track. You really need to maintain your heart rate at a training level for the correct amount of time to get a full workout, and the M5 has helped us do that. A big plus is all the devices use a user-replacable, common watch battery. Remember that Suunto is currenlty offering a free Movestick interface with the M5 & M4, so if you buy, log on to their site and print out the rebate form. Waiting on delivery of ours as of today 8/16/10. It allows you to upload and store your training logs. I''ll post a followup review in about a month.
UPDATE 1/28/11
I had to downgrade my review mainly because the software ( Movescount ) is pretty dismal when used with the M5. It''s mostly a social networking tool that misses even simple tools like plotting your current fitness position versus your goals. If you want to help Suunto design a Beta quality attempt at fitness software , you''ll love it. Not very intuitive.
Some points I have learned:
1. The foot POD and bike POD are fixed in their calibration with the M5. It''s close, but if you''re expecting a cycle computer , you''re out of luck.
2. The chest strap is the most comfortable I''ve worn and stays wirelessly connected to the watch pretty well.
3. If you should happen to fall off your excercise plan over a certain # of days, the watch will keep repeating the same day. Suunto''s way to fix it, reprogram it to a lower level and the restart at the bottom of the level you were at.
4. If you really need athlete quality reporting. This watch is not for you. It''s also not $500.
5. Still like the watch. It will keep you on track. For someone trying to get in cardio shape, it''s a good tool.
6. I paid $189 for mine. The price today is an indication that it''s not exactly flying off the shelves. I would wager you will see this watch settle in at about $125 or a little less.
7. The PC POD does connect flawlessly and tranfers data with no problem.
8. The standard watch battery is a good idea and battery life has been very good.
9. So.....Buy the watch and enjoy it, it has surely helped improve my cardio fitness. At present, don''t bother with the PC POD unless you like social networking more than fitness tracking.
Watch isn''t too big for my small frame, it''s comfortable to wear. The HR band is not uncomfortable.....I forget to take it off when I''m done b/c I don''t know it''s there. It is also compatible with the machines at the gym.
Would HIGHLY recommend this to all of my friends!!!
Buy Suunto M5 Heart Rate Monitor Now
I''ll start my review by saying I''ve never owned any other heart rate monitor...that being said...I bought the monitor because I started a workout program to lose weight. I wanted to monitor my heart rate and improve my performance over time. I''ve owned it and worn it almost daily for the past two months. It''s been with me walking to work, at the gym, cycling, skiing, etc.
Here''s why I have mixed feelings. My biggest complaint is at times, it''s tough to get a good heart rate reading. I''ve tried applying water to the pads, lotion to the pads, gelly to the pads, and I''ve even followed the picture in the instruction pamphlet by putting the pads under running water before putting the chest belt on. When first starting out, trying to get an accurate and consistent heart rate can be a terrible experience. You end up loosening the belt, tightening the belt, moving the sensor up, moving the sensor down, etc. in order to get it to read on the watch. It''s not like you can start your workout when you want to if you want to use the monitor, you have to get the thing to pick up your heart rate accurately and consistently which leads to delays often 5 10 minutes of shuffling around to get things to work.
Sometimes the monitor is inconsistent in readings. I''ve had instances where the monitor will say my heart rate is 128 when I can manually feel it''s actually 64 (and I''m at rest). The dual pickups double up sometimes. At other times, when bending over, doing situps, weight lifting, etc., the sensors will stop picking up your heart rate and it appears, a calculation is done internally to guesstimate how many calories you''ve burned. It can be very frustrating.
The small complaints include the "hard to see in the dark" points others have made. The light on watch flashes when you press it I''m sure that''s to extend battery life. The online "community" that Suunto put together for keeping track of your fitness and goals leaves a bit to be desired. Sure there are "groups" you can join but there is no search functionality to find the groups you have to scroll down an International List.
I''ll probably keep using it until it dies, but I''m not sure I''d recommend it to a friend or buy another one.
Read Best Reviews of Suunto M5 Heart Rate Monitor Here
I have been trying to get to lose weight by exercising. Typical first step... However, I have found that after you have consistently accomplished the first step, you are without a guide. I would like to lose weight and then I would like to increase my fitness level. With food limits in place I still saw no progress for 2 years, I was told that my heart rate monitor was not giving me real time results; thus, not guiding me properly to my weight loss goals. So, I researched heart rate monitors and found the market to be saturated with watches with perks. I work in the sports industry and know that the professional athletes use real time monitoring for fitness; however,I never believed I needed that kind of technology. WRONG! I bought a Suunto M5 women''s gold COMPUTER! I have lost 5 lbs while using my exercise suggestions and have never felt this confident about the results. I love my silent partner! I get advice, limits, encouragement and real time monitoring! Only drawback is my old routines required intervals... Needed interval timers ...but wait that routine did not work for me! Yay.... My watch was exactly what I needed.M5 looks great and is light weight and fits my wrist well, the heart rate strap is more comfortable than others I have tried... Syncs with the exercise equipment at my local gym (no more holding on to the hear rate handles), sounds indicate if outside of my limits and indicates when I am 50% complete (so I can continue my exercise without stopping to check).
Only drawback... How to remove an exercise session in history if you accidentally started the exercise for the day. Other than that I do not want to be found without my Suunto M5. Best silent partner you can buy!
Want Suunto M5 Heart Rate Monitor Discount?
This is my first HRM, finally bought after researched for a few months and asked many opinion leaders. I bought this along with a Sigma PC9 for my mom who doesn''t need a coded transmitter. I have used this for 6 weeks now, with 3-5 uses a week. I initially wanted to get M2 because of the beautiful look, but as it doesn''t support foot pod, I had settled for this one. I bought the M5 running pack that comes with the foot pod and the Movestick. It was setup and paired with the chest strap and the pod pretty easy and quickly. No issues to get reading from both the chest strap and the pod in all the workouts I''ve done. In terms of accuracy, it spots on --> benchmarked with manual pulse reading.With the help of this, I get motivated and in that last 6 weeks I turned from a person who have never ran a single bit, to be able to run 5km now.
There are cons of course, which I did not realize until now. But let me go through the pros first.
PROS:
1. The transmissions are coded that''s why it is more expensive than many cheaper HRM. This allows me to be able to train together with my friends who are using HRMs as well.
2. Very simple to use Just 3 buttons to operate. No lots of questions (unlike my mom''s Sigma PC9, where you have to answer 3-4 questions before you can stop/start).
3. Very large ''font size'', easy to read when you are running. Get the white face, BTW, it is very clear.
4. Has a backlight, easier for those who run in the evening or very early of the day.
5. Has a personal training (or virtual trainer) that motivates you to complete the plan for each day. It tells you to up or down the effort, with audible beeps.
6. Fitness Test is available (using Rockport Fitness Walking Test). Ya, I know it is a painful way to test your fitness, but at least it is available, and is useful for a beginner like me.
7. Movescount connection. It allows you to download the workout data into the movescount.com where you can review and save all your workout data. Another reviewer felt that this site is a complete waste of time/effort/cost, but it is very useful for me. For someone who cannot workout alone (I lose motivation/interest if I were to do this alone), I need this to keep connected to my gang of runner friends. We compare data, we motivate each other, and we compete with each other! Another kind of motivations. :)
8. Very comfortable chest strap. My mom''s Sigma PC9 could not pick up signal from her strap but could pick up my Suunto''s when my mom swapped with mine. It seems that the comfortable strap can wrap around the body''s curve better that allows better contact with skin, unlike those other plastic hard front piece in other brands. If you have a large upper tummy (like my mom), this would still hug around your chest comfortably and snuggly. I don''t have to tighten the strap too much. I actually let it loosely wrap around my chest, and it stays all the time, probably the silicon material holds on well to my skin. No need to feel suffocated by tight straps if you use Suunto''s, and in fact I always forget that I still have my strap (we usually go for breakfast right after the workout and I don''t feel anything foreign there!)
9. Battery is user-changeable. This is very important for me, as it is so inconvenient to send to the manufacturer for a change. Love this feature!
10. It is not too bulky as I had thought of a HRM. My wrist is only 5.5" in diameter, and the women wrist band fits my wrists perfectly. It is also very comfortable to put on wrist too.
CONS
1. I know that it doesn''t come with all those VO2 Max, Training Effect, EPOC measures (those are available in t-series), but I did not know that it doesn''t even show % in each workout range. Even my mom''s very cheap Sigma PC9 (less than $40) has these features. M5 only tells you the average HR, and max HR. It would be good if I can also know what % (or min) of my workout was in e.g. 120-140bmp, 140-160bpm, etc. This has bothered me a lot.
2. Foot pod cannot be calibrated. I had the impression when they don''t allow calibration, the accuracy should be quite good, but I was wrong. When I ran with my friend, we started together, ended together, for 1,600m (about 1 mile), I was short of 200m from her reading! We use the same model. I was told that in low speed the accuracy is quite far off, but the accuracy increase when speed increased.
3. It does not show Speed and Time/Timer together on screen. It shows 2 readings at the same time, with lots of combinations that you can toggle with the middle button. But they just don''t have this combination of Speed and Time/Timer. I need this because sometimes I wanted to keep to a pace when I''m on interval training for a period of time (e.g. 4x4min). I need to know both the pace and the duration, at the same time.
CONCLUSION
All in all, this is a very good basic function HRM for a beginner like me. But if you are looking for more features, go for the t-series. t6d is a good one. That would be my next HRM if I have the budget to upgrade. :)
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