The ECG 4 does the basics that you need. It has no lap counter but it does have a stop watch and calorie counter. The signal is pretty robust and I was able to use it on a number of machines at my club.

My biggest beef is that the calorie counter does not seem to have a reset function. To count calories, you enter a specific workout time under the countdown mode. Makes sense. You would assume that the next time you enter a countdown (e.g. workout session) time, that the calorie counter would reset. It doesn't. Just keeps going from the last end point. Obviously, you can do the math to figure out calorie burn per session, but it's annoying.

Has upper limit and lower limit heart rate settings with an audio alarm. That works fine.

The watchstrap and chest strap are reasonably comfortable.

I also have a HRM by SI for biking. The strap is just the same and I can interchange them, which is kind of cool. Not sure, but I think SI may have made the Freestyle ECG 4 under a private brand deal.

Overall, I like the monitor, just the annoying calorie counter snafu. What were they thinking.

Customer Service

FreestyleUSA.com Website (site listed in the owner's manual) shows only sports watches and doesn't even show heart monitors. Are they out of the HRM business? I will confess, I haven't called the 800 number.

Similar Products Used:

SI 90 Heart Monitor/cycling computer