Polar AXN700 Altimeter, Barometer, Temperature, and Compass

Sales Rank & Price Trend

Product Details

Customer Reviews

Do not buy any Polar product!

I'm a gigantic idiot for buying a 2nd Polar watch, this time the AXN700, after my 1st Polar watch stopped working in less than 3 years. After chalking up my first Polar to plain bad luck I researched HRM watches and picked the AXN700. I liked the AXN700's appearance and features, and I assumed the titanium structure would mean increased durability. Not so lucky...

The AXN's band is very China-like and attached to the watch by 2 tiny plastic hooks on each side. Plastic hooks that bend, break and eventually snap. It took 1y months of regular usage before it happened to me. Ugh. 0 for 2 with Polar. A side complaint about this watch is the computer would freeze up if the internal memory was close to reaching maximum capacity...so I got use to regularly transferring my workout data to my computer once a week. The infrared data transfer is pretty slick and that's what I give the watch 1 star.

Another assumed benefit about the AXN700 is that it comes with a 2 year manufacture warranty. Since my watch broke in the 17th month I thought I was safe. I contacted Polar Electro Inc in the state of NY and they told me to submit a warranty claim. On the phone, I explained to the Polar rep that I bought my watch new, in a sealed box, on this site. I have the original warranty card that has my name on it. I have the original receipt. Heck, this watch didn't go into production until 2006, so my watch is maximum 2 years old. I shipped the watch to Polar at my expense for repair. Polar returned it to me 3 weeks later NOT repaired. The sent it back to me without any explanation (ugh) so I contacted Polar to find out more. I thought, this has to be a mistake - so I called...after holding on the phone for 40 minutes, I found out because my watch was purchased from an unauthorized Polar dealer, my manufacture warranty was void. Figures. Because Polar only supplies their products to authorized dealers I hoped for an explanation to how I could possibly buy a watch that wasn't transferred to me via an authorized dealer. The 3 different reps I spoke to were mentally incapable of following my line of reasoning. Figures. So, despite that I have a warranty card in my name, along with a receipt in my name proving my watch is 17 months old, I am S.O.L.

So get this, apparently the manual discloses the watch must be purchased from an authorized dealer but you can't read the manual until you purchase the watch and break the box's seal. Even more, the outside of the watch's box proudly reads that the watch comes with a 2 year mfg warranty but the fine print inside the box tells a different story. Be careful when dealing with Polar products. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of NY and the Attorney General of NY. 3 different individuals at Polar told me that all I could do is buy a replacement band on the Internet. Coincidently-not, all the replacement bands are sold out / out of stock EVERYWHERE I have looked. Geez, wonder why?

I'm buying the new Garmin Forefunner 405 watch that comes out in June 2008. Crossing my fingers on Garmin...

Nice option

This is a nice combination of fitness and aventure wrist computer unit. Yes it is bulk but it has a lot features. look for the S725x as an option if you do not use the compass. If you need a lighter watch for daily use with compass and hr go to suunto x6hr. i hope it helps.

AXN700

The watch is a mixture of Titanium and Rubber. Not very elegant, since the Titanium looks plasticky next to all the plastic (yes, Titanium can indeed look like plastic). Extremely bulky. I was amazed at how thick the watch was when I got it. It is about 1/2" thick. This product is not inconspicous.
It has a lot of functions of which the altimeter and HR monitor work best. Obviously the Altimeter needs to be calibrated every time the weather changes. Says its good for skiing, but the strap cannot expand to fit over clothes or a wetsuit. Also the buckle is extremely badly designed. It is almost 2mm thick at its hinge, and the strap (even when it has some play) will push the hinge into your skin so that when the watch slides and moves the buckle will rub into your wrist and gives you a blister. Polar should have invested the Titanium on the buckle not the frame. It also has a scratch prone screen.
If you think this is a HR monitor that can be worn everyday because it looks more like a watch than an HR monitor, you are mistaken. It is simply too thick.
That said, there is a lot of technology packed into this wristop computer as Polar refers to it. But the interface is pretty bad and the Fonts are (of necessity) very small. I couldn't even set the time without reading the manual. You are able to record workouts and transfer them to your computer, but in this price range you are better off getting an HR that is compatible with Polar's speed and distance sensor.

Ultimately this watch needs to be slimmed down, get a redesigned buckle, given a much better user interface to access all its technology, and be made usable with gloves or a wetsuit on. It also should be made compatible with all Polar's accesories. For a flagship product it kind of sinks underneath its own weight. From an aesthetic point of view, it looks way cooler in the brochure than it does in real life.

Useful item for a runner or extremist

I have had my AXN700 for more than a year. I have used the unit with following ways:

1. When running, jogging or skiing I store the exercise and then load into my laptop via IR. This is an easy way to store your exercises and have an up-to-date exercise calendar. From the exercise calendar you can also see how your body reacts to a periodic exercise. After a while, you see that the same jogging trip can be done in shorter time with a lower average heart rate. Seeing is believing.
I find it very motivating to see my proceeding on my lap-top screen. I have never ever been able to keep record of my exercises by traditional means Now the AXN700 does it for me. Great!

2. I have also used my AXN700 while hiking at Austrian Alps. Actually I was curious about the accuracy of the altimeter and took my Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSX with me. Last October I was very close to Kitzbuehel at mountain called Schwarzkogel, told at local maps to be 2030 meters high. I calibrated the altimer of my AXN700 at the Kitzbuehel Bergbahn station before leaving to the hike and surprise, surprise: There was a difference of 3-4 meters between the readings of these two units: Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSX and my AXN700. I was surprised about the accuracy of the AXN700.

The unit itself is a bulky one, but I guess that the designers behind the design have tried to find something which looks to be used within harsh environment. And it is not even thought to be used with a white shirt and black tie...

It is a nice device!

Like it - but flawed

I like this watch, but it's hard to give it a good review. It has all the heart rate monitor functions you could hope for and the altitude, temp and compass do come in handy occasionally. However:

The wrist band is poorly designed. My two-year-old was looking at the watch and broke the band in about 30 seconds (and it has a unique design which can only be repaired by sending it back to Polar). Kids are tough, but this watch is supposed to be for outdoor use and breaking so easily is unacceptable. My kid can't break my Casio G-Shock.

It's very thick, such that people are asking me all the time what that thing on my wrist it. These days, you could probably fit a whole PC in the volume. It also makes the face very susceptible to scratches.

The temp reading is useless on your wrist due to body temperature. Not a fault with this particular design, but it does greatly reduce the utility.

Compass not really useful for navigation since there's no way to "sight" along the watch or read it while sighting.

Despite large size of the display, many readouts are very small and the display can't be customized.

Never was able to get it to download to my computer. I have a standard Dell laptop with IR port and neither the IR or sound connection ever worked. Why not just use a mini-USB port like everything else that connects to a computer?

So basically, save your money. Buy a nice simple Polar monitor/watch ($100) for normal use and a real compass (which are $40) or GPS unit (which cost less than this watch and provide more accurate elevation) for outdoor use.