I've been using my GoWearFit (band plus display) for about a week now, and thought perhaps some of you might be interested in how it compares to a Polar 55?
This is a rather long post ...
I'm a gadget-collector, and I love analyzing real data; being a techie scientist by day, perhaps that's not surprising
I find that my three main gadgets: pedometer, Polar 55, and my GoWearFit all help me in different ways.
The Polar 55 is a typical HRM - chest band (pretty comfortable), and a wrist band. You need to wear both. The GoWearFit can be bought as just an arm band/sensor, and you can invest in a wrist display. I sometimes wear it with just the sensor, and sometimes put the wrist display on too. If you set the wrist display near you while you work out, it will still pick up readings; also, you can quickly re-synchronize display and armband without losing data.
For heavy exercise periods when I'm watching my HR, especially Cardio Coach, IMAXx, HIIT types of things, I'm finding I prefer the Polar 55. It is easier for me to track my intensity levels with the more rapid updating of HR that the Polar gives, and that makes it easier to adjust. The Polar appears to subtract out the estimated BMR, and the GoWearFit appears not to - I'm not sure of this, but when I wore both devices at once I found I'd get readings within say ten percent of one another as long as I made that correction. I have not confirmed this so you'd want to check it out
For long term wearing, the armband is very comfortable, and normally I don't like gadgets on my arm. I like the convenience of being able to leave the display off during a workout. That's especially nice for STS; I was always bumping my polar when doing the quick change of wrist weights! I left the armband with the sensor on for almost seven days straight, except to shower and when visiting facilities that don't let me use a wireless devices, and it was never an issue. The band fits very neatly under a loose long sleeve shirt, but is definitely visible if you wear a tight one. It's not big but noticeable. I wear suit jackets most of the time, and that hid it just fine. In that sense, a pedometer is better, because you can stick it in your pocket.
I really like being able to watch my calorie burn during the day, and I use the Trip function quite a bit. You start a Trip on the displayband the same way you start one for your car - by pressing the button til it clears. I used it to watch specific exercise sessions. Also, and even more useful, I used it to see how active I really am during the workday and on the weekend. I was really shocked to find that when I'm working in one particular facility, I'm burning 500 *fewer* calories then when I'm working from my home office. I thought it would be the other way around! I've begun to use it to see whether I can increase my overall activity during similar kinds of work days. I know, very very geeky
While I prefered the Polar for realy HIIT cardio like CardioCoach, I have to admit it was a tooss up for kickbox style and bootcamp workouts. What I liked about GoWearFit for these is that you can easily see how many minutes you spend in the vigorous category versus the moderate exercise category. You have the choice as to how to make the cutoff, too: I went with the typical 3-6 mets moderate, and 6+ mets vigorous. It was surprising to me that in some cases I wasn't working quite as much in the vigorous category as I thought; the difference was too subtle to show up in the overall calorie burn. I also loved being able to see the graph of the workout, which you get through the online account. You get spikes that show essentially minute by minute what your met rate is. I learned that I am working at a higher met rate for the first half of STS Legs than I am for the second. I guess I'm getting tired and slowing down a little ...
I really am getting a kick out of all of the online features, even though I'm normally opposed to buying gadgets that lean on a subscription. But it's an eye-opener to watch the met changes, and I'm also surprised by the sleep monitoring section. It may even be helpful in getting a handle on my insomnia ... I can already see regular patterns of waking up, and it's always been easier for me to work on issues when I have some method of measuring. The sleep efficiency part of the online analysis could be exactly what I need.
The pedometer is an ok compromise. Sometimes I am not allowed to carry an unapproved wireless gadget into a facility, and I never did like wearing a HRM strap for more than an hour or two anyway; a pedometer can be popped in a purse or a pocket. Sometimes I forget it is in the pocket ... that's been a problem ... but still, seeing the step count go up is enjoyable and it often coaxes me into doing just a little extra walking around the house, or makes a cleaning chore seem more fun because I'm 'earning' steps towards my 10k/day goal. The pedometer display isn't as visually interesting as the gowearfit graph of steps, though.
One other thing that might be interesting: I was not able to recharge my GoWearFit from midday Monday to evening Friday, but it didn't lose any data and stayed on just fine. That was terrific! I am so loaded with gadget chargers that it's a pleasure to leave one at home for a change. Even my cell phone can't go this long.
Gadgets are what you make of them; but I do love experimenting and I personally am happy with GoWearFit and my polar, and will continue to use them. The pedometer is increasingly being left behind. If I had to pick one, it would probably be the Polar 55 (since it does not require a subscription), and because I am not trying to lose weight (am maintaining). The GoWearFit is a very close second now, and I might give it the nod if I were actively trying to lose weight because you can wear it all day long and analyze your activity patterns so easily.
Now don't get me started on my Nike sensor
Hope this was helpful - my apologies for such a long post, but I did warn you up front