Polar

Exactly as advertised, arrived quickly and safely and works just fine. Thanks very much

I purchased this strap for use with my Garmin Edge 800 after having had 2 x Garmin Heart Rate (HR) Monitor chest straps each fail after about 18 months of heavy usage, and I did follow the care instructions regarding washing, the tightness of the strap and I used ECG gel between skin and pickups. After reading various forums I found that the Garmin HR pickup head will fit directly onto the Polar HR chest strap poppers and the general consensus is that the Polar strap is a superior item at a cheaper price. I have now used the Polar strap for a month - 500 miles on a bike - and I am very impressed. I find it more comfortable than the Garmin strap and if it lasts longer it must be better as it is far cheaper to replace.

This is my second strap in less than a year. I have a Garmin Fenix3 and when the contact pads on the back of that HR strap started to come away, I resented paying nearly 40quid for a new one, so when I found out that this one works, I purchased. You need to use a sharp knife to cut away some of the rubber around the poppers in order for the Garmin sensor unit to snap in place, but after that I found the strap performed very well. I like that the sensor strip cover the whole strap in one piece rather than the 4 pads on the Garmin one. However, sadly after just a few montbs, when unpopping the Garmin unit one day, one of the poppers came away from the strap. I bought a replacement again, but shortly after, I noticed the price of the official Garmin ones have come down too, so next time I'll probably buy Garmin. I'm going to try to be more gentle when unpopping the unit now, but it's a shame the strap didn't last at least a year. I always look after my kit, but I guess you do get what you pay for at the end of the day... Buy cheap, buy twice.

Just as described.

Bought two new straps, bothe were defective, Polar customer support was an abject waste of time. Sensor not the issue. New strap kept missing large chunks of HRM readings, approx 50%. Polar customer care doesnt seem to exist and merely wastes time. A useless ai and then unresponsive customer care team. Avoid, ending all polar related usage.

I bought a Garmin Edge 800 back in 2011 with the premium 'Soft Strap' heart rate monitor, which gave loyal service until last month (03/2014), when I had problems pairing the heart rate module with the 800 (after a software update to version 2.70). When the module would pair the 800 would first show your heart rate, then either just show a single reading or more often than not would go blank, the readings (despite not been visible/single reading), would also record a heart rate that was very erratic when viewing an uploaded ride on Garmin Connect/Base Camp. At first I thought this was a problem with the software update but a search on forums found that other people were not only having the same problem with the module after software updates (earlier than 2.70), but people reported that their's just stopped functioning a few weeks after purchasing or warranty replacement (so I count myself lucky it lasted three years). What all the forums recommended was to replace the original strap with this Polar Soft Strap, though sceptic, after all the heart rate monitor was working perfectly prior to the update I decided to purchase the Polar strap. Still sceptic even when I clipped the Garmin module onto the strap switched on the Edge 800 and it detected it first time, my scepticism was soon dissipated when the reading stayed constance and/or fluctuated according to my heart rate. If your looking to replace your Garmin soft strap because your having the same problem that I had or just looking to replace a worn tatty strap then look no further than the Polar strap, its half the price of the replacement Garmin soft strap and despite been slightly wider its a lot more comfortable to wear, particularly around the ribs, the Garmin always felt tight when breathing out which I don't get with the Polar, in fact I hardly notice I'm wearing it this might be because the electrodes on the Polar are more flexable and softer than the Garmins. The only downside I found with the Polar strap is that the module kept popping out when the strap was stretched (I'm what you would call 'Barrel Chested'), and the fact that the distance between the pop studs on the module is slightly narrower than the studs on the strap, this was overcome by slightly bending the thin wires inside the studs out a bit and now it holds firm no matter how much you stretch it. Overall I'm very pleased with the Polar Soft Strap and would recommend it to anyone who needs to replace a faulty Garmin strap or looking for a more comfortable strap to the Garmins.

These things used to be bombproof when bought pre-2023, but for some reason every strap I've purchased since September 2023 has had the connectors come off within a couple of months (I've gone through 3) The data itself is good but the durability has nosedived in recent months

I bought this to replace the strap for my Garmin FR220 heart rate monitor. The Polar strap is compatible with the Garmin transmitters (both use press-studs to attach the transmitter to the strap). The Polar strap is reputed to provide a better signal and overcome the known Garmin problems of spikes, excessively high HR records during the start of a workout, and susceptibility to wind effects (more relevant to cyclists than runners). You can find out more about this these issues on the excellent DCRainmaker website. The Polar strap needs minor modification to work with a Garmin transmitter - just to trim about 1mm off the plastic collars around the press-studs on the strap. This will take you about 30s with a sharp knife. Once that's done you are good to go. After a few runs, I can confirm that everything is true - the HR plots for my runs now omit the "Garmin Spike" of high HR during the first 5 minutes, and everything works perfectly. It has saved me from wasting money on a complete new strap & transmitter.