Average battery life: 8 months (training 1 hour per day, 7 days a week)
Battery type: CR 2025
Battery sealing ring: Silicone
Includes battery cap tool for easy battery changing
Water resistance: 30 m (Suitable for bathing and swimming)
Operating temperature: 14 °F to 122 °F
Training computer materials: PMMA lens with hard coating in top surface
Training computer body materials: ABS+GF metal parts stainless steel
Wrist strap and buckle materials: Polyurethane (TPU)/Silicone, stainless steel
Backlight
Power save mode: turns off display between midnight and 6am. Screen can be turned on by pressing any button and will stay on for five minutes during power save mode
Time/Date features: date, dual time zone, 12/24 hour format, weekday or everyday alarm, alarm snooze
Heart rate monitor accuracy: ± 1% or 1 bpm, whichever larger. Definition applies to stable conditions
Heart rate display: Beats per minute or percent of maximum
Heart rate measuring range: 15-240 BPM User manual
Compatible with the following accessories (not included):
I have a Polar M400. Great watch. Zero complaints about it. It's rechargeable though and died during my marathon. It might be handy to have one with a cell battery...except I'd prefer GPS.
I'm a big proponent of HR monitors for workouts and have used Polar for years. But I really can't stand those chest straps. They are the most accurate tech currently available, just very uncomfortable for me. Currently using a Mio Alpha that is a wrist based HRM. Must be worn fairly tightly to block out stray light but otherwise is also pretty accurate (though sometimes it has difficulty initially locking on to my HR). Note that daily trackers cannot provide accurate HR unless they are worn very tightly and have continuous measurement, otherwise they only do an occasional sampling which is averaged out to throw out the outliers since they aren't that accurate, this is not good enough during an actual workout but fine for general health tracking over long periods (days and weeks).
@alextse I splurged and boight myself i Garmin 235 using the dcrainmaker Clever Training discount. It's quite comfortable to wear, even to sleep in, and has no prob teading my heartrate. V small wrists (female), v light skin.
I wear the watch on the inside of wrist, not for the sensor, but i just wear watches that way - otherwise i bang the faces against stuff too much. But the sensor works great when i rotate the watch to outside also.
@f00l Hey that Garmin looks pretty nice! Interesting that they moved away from the Mio/Philips sensor on this new device. I saw one review that matched the Garmin data against a chest strap HRM and the plot was very similar, so far it looks like a winner. I also wear my Mio Alpha on the inside of the wrist, I gotta believe my pulse is easier to read there than on the outside.
@alextse Also amazon had one of those impact-glass screen protectors for it that was easy to put on. Also it has a great battery, easy to read in sunlight. No touchscreen, which i like.
Huge watchface, which i like. People think it looks good.
Has a bike mode. Not sure re swim mode. Uses ant+ external monitors if you want them, but syncs to phone by bt, and u can get your texts/email/caller id notices if u want. You can swim w it, but i dunno re underwater heartrate. It might, but built as running watch not triathlon watch. Re battery, daily use hardly depletes the charge at all. If u turn everything on including gps etc, dunno if you can get the battery thru leadville or western states, but those ultra type people prob know what will work for them. Anyway i really like it.
For someone who wants tri/ironman specifics, i suspect the next up in the garmin 900 series or the garmin fenix 4 (due in spring) with have wrist hrm monitors.
Spozedly garmin gps watches sync to every online fitness site you heard of.
All this crap is a fad. Nothing that requires a strap and a wrist watch will ever work. All tech is now desperately trying to find a use for the overminaturizing of electronics. They did it but nobody cares. When you get a watch that makes people think I look good?? I'm all in.
@adr5 for me, this is all busy BS. I have been an exerciser my whole life. Mostly I run but when I get bored I do other stuff. Everyone needs to apply a few simple rules. If you go too hard you will not sustain. Listen to your body. Whatever your schedule go to it, if it feels bad cut it short of slow it down. If it feels good push. But always show up. That is the most important thing. These monitors tell you what you already know.
If your a horse, well that's a horse of a different color.
I am often wrong i admit, but if you are the person who needs to buy one of these, you will drop your exercise program in 2 to 3 months.
As far as I can tell from the manual, it reads Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and uses it in "smart" features, but doesn't display it anywhere. It does have customizable zone alarms.
@f00l Yeah, I know some Polar products offer that feature which is why I knew to go looking for it. I have a low end Polar that doesn't have it, no point in me upgrading if I can't get the feature I'm missing.
Already have a Polar T31 chest strap which works great with the cardio equipment at the gym. Insta-meh because that watch is fugly.
Had it not looked like a prop for a 40 year old sci-fi film, I might have been on the fence. Reading the specs afterward, I would have cancelled the order on general principle.
The power save mode only works between midnight and 6am? That's when I work, not to mention the best time to hit the gym in January. Way to thumb your nose at grave shift people, Polar!
Specs
User manual
Compatible with the following accessories (not included):
Condition: New
Warranty: 2 Years Polar (page 51)
Estimated Delivery: 1/12 - 1/14
Shipping: $5 or free with VMP
What’s in the Box?
1x Polar RCX3 Watch
1x Heart rate monitor
1x Chest strap for heart rate monitor
1x Battery cap tool
Pictures
White watch face
Black watch face
White watch 3/4 view
Chest strap
Running heart
Price Comparison
Very thorough review
$219.95 List, $99 at Amazon (60 reviews, fulfilled by Amazon)
Find a relevant price comparison? Please share it in a comment in this thread
Warranty
90 days
And the beat goes on -- as sonny and Cher would have said
No thanks. Maybe if it's model number was r2d2 or c3po.
Watch that heart rate-- this deal has a pulse on winning the fitness battle
Wow, the new product offering displayed after my first F5 click. Impressive.
Your aerobic what? I must know. But I don't want to buy this.
I'll be surprised if they sell 100 of these
@mcemanuel Up to 115 already!
@brhfl only sold 175 at 5:15 PM... was sort of right!
weird looking quadcopter
I have a Polar M400. Great watch. Zero complaints about it. It's rechargeable though and died during my marathon. It might be handy to have one with a cell battery...except I'd prefer GPS.
@Zypher It has an add-on GPS sensor available.
Geez someone drove in on the short beemer tonite. Wot is it about strapless heart rate monitor that is so hard to understand?
it's the big one-
(click it-I'm getting better, but not perfect yet)
Great way to strike all of the new year resolutions to lose weight. I'm in that Meh boat, just won't be wearing this watch in the process.
I'm a big proponent of HR monitors for workouts and have used Polar for years. But I really can't stand those chest straps. They are the most accurate tech currently available, just very uncomfortable for me. Currently using a Mio Alpha that is a wrist based HRM. Must be worn fairly tightly to block out stray light but otherwise is also pretty accurate (though sometimes it has difficulty initially locking on to my HR). Note that daily trackers cannot provide accurate HR unless they are worn very tightly and have continuous measurement, otherwise they only do an occasional sampling which is averaged out to throw out the outliers since they aren't that accurate, this is not good enough during an actual workout but fine for general health tracking over long periods (days and weeks).
@alextse
I splurged and boight myself i Garmin 235 using the dcrainmaker Clever Training discount. It's quite comfortable to wear, even to sleep in, and has no prob teading my heartrate. V small wrists (female), v light skin.
I wear the watch on the inside of wrist, not for the sensor, but i just wear watches that way - otherwise i bang the faces against stuff too much. But the sensor works great when i rotate the watch to outside also.
@f00l Hey that Garmin looks pretty nice! Interesting that they moved away from the Mio/Philips sensor on this new device. I saw one review that matched the Garmin data against a chest strap HRM and the plot was very similar, so far it looks like a winner. I also wear my Mio Alpha on the inside of the wrist, I gotta believe my pulse is easier to read there than on the outside.
@alextse
Also amazon had one of those impact-glass screen protectors for it that was easy to put on. Also it has a great battery, easy to read in sunlight. No touchscreen, which i like.
Huge watchface, which i like. People think it looks good.
Has a bike mode. Not sure re swim mode. Uses ant+ external monitors if you want them, but syncs to phone by bt, and u can get your texts/email/caller id notices if u want. You can swim w it, but i dunno re underwater heartrate. It might, but built as running watch not triathlon watch. Re battery, daily use hardly depletes the charge at all. If u turn everything on including gps etc, dunno if you can get the battery thru leadville or western states, but those ultra type people prob know what will work for them. Anyway i really like it.
For someone who wants tri/ironman specifics, i suspect the next up in the garmin 900 series or the garmin fenix 4 (due in spring) with have wrist hrm monitors.
Spozedly garmin gps watches sync to every online fitness site you heard of.
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/04/polar-rcx3-in-depth-review.html
Masters of understatement. Forty-Six Pages of review.
BTW, where does one find a pair of those "running shoes"?
This thing looks like it stepped out of a 1973 East German sci-fi film.
I was hoping for bike polo as an option on the survey .
I gotta Fitbit charge hr, does the job
All this crap is a fad. Nothing that requires a strap and a wrist watch will ever work. All tech is now desperately trying to find a use for the overminaturizing of electronics. They did it but nobody cares. When you get a watch that makes people think I look good?? I'm all in.
Until then enough with the fershlugina.
I'm exhausted.
@Bkmack polar has been doing it for decades and it works. they even make these for horses.
@adr5 for me, this is all busy BS. I have been an exerciser my whole life. Mostly I run but when I get bored I do other stuff. Everyone needs to apply a few simple rules. If you go too hard you will not sustain. Listen to your body. Whatever your schedule go to it, if it feels bad cut it short of slow it down. If it feels good push. But always show up. That is the most important thing. These monitors tell you what you already know.
If your a horse, well that's a horse of a different color.
I am often wrong i admit, but if you are the person who needs to buy one of these, you will drop your exercise program in 2 to 3 months.
Besides I'm right on one thing it's ugly.
@Bkmack
You need one of these....
@thismyusername I want it, I want it.
Anyone know if this will sync with Runkeeper or iOS Health or any comparable app? Internet is yielding mixed results in my searching.
@tankardofale I think you have to have an add-on widget to data sync. The strap independant from the watch works with some phone apps.
Review: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/04/polar-rcx3-in-depth-review.html
@dlskidmore that looks like the same forty-six page "Very thorough review" linked above in the specs.
Included strap does not operate underwater, need an add-on T-31 strap for swimming.
As far as I can tell from the manual, it reads Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and uses it in "smart" features, but doesn't display it anywhere. It does have customizable zone alarms.
@dlskidmore
I have heard that the Polar RS800CX displays raw HRV data. I have not played with this watch, so dont know if that's true.
You see them on ebay. W.I.N.D. chest strap, which i think means a Polar H2 or H3 strap, but again, not sure.
@f00l Yeah, I know some Polar products offer that feature which is why I knew to go looking for it. I have a low end Polar that doesn't have it, no point in me upgrading if I can't get the feature I'm missing.
I wonder if this will work with my employer's system... they sell the RC3 for this.
Already have a Polar T31 chest strap which works great with the cardio equipment at the gym. Insta-meh because that watch is fugly.
Had it not looked like a prop for a 40 year old sci-fi film, I might have been on the fence. Reading the specs afterward, I would have cancelled the order on general principle.
The power save mode only works between midnight and 6am? That's when I work, not to mention the best time to hit the gym in January. Way to thumb your nose at grave shift people, Polar!
Can't believe there are people buying this crap.
You can get much advanced smart health tracking products like Mi Band HR at less than $30.
I'm still waiting for the Sweet Tooth and Lazy Bones Action Figures / Stuff Plush Dolls
Mine arrived dead on arrival. Meh has yet to resolve my issue or give me a refund. Anyone else have problems?
@ymherrera have you been in contact with support?