Polar has just announced their Vantage M3, a watch that aims to complete a trio of watch hardware options from the company, and ultimately, complete their transition to AMOLED devices. I kinda honestly thought that they’d skip making an M3 and would let the Polar Pacer line bring up the rear, but M3 it is. Ultimately, it doesn’t much matter what they call it, because as you’ll see, the differences are purely hardware based.
And that’s the notable thing. Over the last 12 months (almost to the day), Polar has now released three AMOELD watches: First, the Vantage V3 last October, then the Grit X2 Pro last March, and now the Vantage M3. All watches AMOLED, all with mapping, and all with identical software features. Yes, identical. The idea being that consumers can choose which hardware they want, with the differences simply being exterior case/band design, battery life, and display size. That’s it. And Polar says that’s the direction going forward as well, and doubled down on that by announcing their next set of features for early 2025 that’ll come to all three watches.
In any case, I’ve been testing the M3 for the last little while, putting it through its paces on runs, rides, swims, and everything in between – including just 24×7 wear. I’ve got a pretty good feel for where it works well, and where it falls a bit short. With that, let’s dive into it.
What’s New:
In some ways, this is an easy section, because the answer is ‘not a lot’, when compared to the Vantage M2, at least in terms of big ticket items. However, the devil is in the details, because there are actually a ton of little ticket items that have been rolled into the Vantage V3/Grit X2 Pro software platform over the last year, that might otherwise be skipped over. In any event, here’s what’s new:
– Switched from MIP-based display to 1.28” AMOLED display
– New display includes touchscreen (that M2 didn’t have)
– Switched from 2nd Gen Optical HR sensor to 4th Gen Sensor
– Added SpO2 tracking
– Added Skin Temperature Tracking
– Added ECG feature (note: does not include Afib detection)
– Added dual-frequency/dual-band GPS/GNSS
– Added offline maps (yes, full color offline maps)
– Added route/navigation following/guidance
– Added voice guidance (with paired headphones)
– Added Hill Splitter feature
– Added watch face widgets/adjustments
– Added Recovery Pro with Orthostatic Test
– Added SleepWise
– Added FuelWise
– Added Walking Test, Running Test, Cycling Test
– Added Vertical Speed & VAM metrics
– Added 3D Speed
– Added running power
– Added display flashlight feature
– Added barometer (M2 didn’t have one)
– Weight is 53g, case size is 44mm wide and 12mm thick
– Uses standard 22mm bands
– Display is Gorilla Glass 3
– Bezel is stainless steel
– Maintained same 7-day smartwatch & 30 hours GPS tracking spec
– Internal storage is 32GB (same as Vantage V3/Grit X2 Pro)
– Processor is 275Mhz, RAM is 37MB, and battery is 310mAh
– Display is 325ppi @ max brightness of 1,500 nits
– Supports temp range from -20*C to +50*C (same as Vantage V3/Grit X2 Pro)
– USB-C charging cable using same as Vantage V3/Grit X2 Pro
– Price is $399USD/EUR or 349GBP. Offered in white or black
– Battery is fully replaceable via Polar Repair Center (certain markets)
Here’s a few photos of it (and obviously, there’s the entire video of footage up above, including a user interface tour):
I think it looks quite nice actually, especially the accents and button design.
So then, what’s the difference between the three watches? Well, in short:
– Grit X2 Pro is $749USD, Vantage V3 is $599USD
– Vantage V3 & Grit X2 Pro have 43HRS GPS & 140hrs in Eco Training Mode, vs 30hrs/70hrs on Vantage M3
– Grit X2 Pro/Vantage V3 is 1.39” display, M3 is 1.28” display
– Grit X2 Pro/Vantage V3 have 1,050 nit display, M3 is 1,500 nits
– Grit X2 Pro has 100m water resistance, Vantage M3/V3 have 50m water resistance
– Grit X2 Pro has 810H durability mil spec, others do not
– Grit X2 Pro/Vantage V3 has 1.39” AMOLED display, M3 has 1.28” display
– Grit X2 Pro is sapphire crystal glass, versus M3 is Gorilla Glass
– Grit X2 Pro has a stainless steel case, Vantage V3 has an aluminum case, plastic case
– All three have some form of metal bezel
Here’s a look at all of them side-by-side:
And from the side:
I will finish up by saying I’m still a bit surprised Polar decided to continue the M3 series. While long-time Polar regulars/fans will understand the differences between the M & V series, most people new to the brand won’t easily decode these on first sight/search. Thus, I would have thought that the Polar Pacer/Pacer Pro series/branding would have made more sense to bring up the rear (plus Grit + Vantage series). Obviously, companies like Garmin have far more byzantine and sprawling naming and model layouts, but given Polar’s goal of attracting new customers, simplification is key. Anyway, I had to fit my two cents in here somewhere. I’m sure we’ll talk about it more in the FIT File Podcast.
A Look At Accuracy:
Now, taking a Quick Look at accuracy, on the whole things seem pretty good – and seem actually improved over the Vantage V3 & Polar Grit X2 Pro that I’ve tested over the past year. It’d be interesting to see if updates arrive on those watches to address HR accuracy issues I’ve seen from an optical heart rate sensor standpoint.
In any event, let’s look at a handful of workouts from the past little while, starting with last night’s interval workout:
Here you can se this is virtually spot-on, albeit with a few second delay on some of the interval recovery pieces. But no major errors here to be concerned about.
The same is true of another interval (running) workout from a few days prior, also very solid performance there:
Meanwhile, a trainer workout I did was OK-ish. Not amazing, but not bad either. Just a tiny bit latent at times, in that you don’t usually see optical HR sensors be latent on indoor workouts (outdoors is different).
However, the heart rate accuracy on this longer ride was definitely hot dumpster fire mess status. While some watches struggle outdoors on roads, this should have been pretty easy, but alas, you can see the struggle bus was real.
Switching over to some GPS tracks, overall things look reasonably good here. For example, I did an interval run with a gazillion loops around this circuit, and the tracks are very much spot-on:
Some very slight differences (by a few meters) between watches, but all very close:
Here’s another run, this one from last night, a bit more meandering at first:
Notably, on this section near some high-rise hotels/buildings, the M3 did struggle slightly compared to the Apple Watch Series 10, and Garmin Fenix 8. Not hugely, but just a tiny bit cutting some corners:
That said, up in the mountains on twisty-turning roads while cycling (including at speed), it had zero issues nailing the tracks:
And speaking of those mountains, here’s the elevation profile. I see a few meters difference to the dedicated bike computers, but it’s a pretty consistent offset, and overall, very close:
Ultimately, Polar seems to have done a generally good job with both heart rate and GPS accuracy on the Polar Vantage M3, across both these sets above, as well as other workouts I’ve done with it.
New Features Next Year:
In addition to announcing the Polar Vantage M3, Polar has also announced a new software update for the M3/V3 & Grit X2 Pro, that’ll come early next year sometime (Q1 2025). That update has four core components (screenshots below):
– Adding new watch faces
– Adding a new workout launcher
– Adding POI (points of interest) data to the offline maps
– Adding ‘Find my Phone’ feature
Notably, with the POI feature, you can both show and navigate to various POI points. Do note that POI is different then road/trail names.
Here’s what the new workout launcher will look like (pictures all from Polar):
And then the new find my phone feature:
And then finally the new watches:
In addition, in that same Q1 2025 timeframe, Polar will (finally) roll out TrainingPeaks integration for structured workouts. Thus, you’ll be able to push a structured workout from TrainingPeaks to your Polar Flow account, and then onwards to your watch.
Notably, this will basically support just about every halfway recent Polar Watch from the last long while, including:
– Grit X, X Pro, X2 Pro
– Vantage M, Vantage M2, Vantage M3
– Vantage V, Vantage V2, Vantage V3
– Nacho Cheese, Nacho Cheese Pro
– Ingite, Ignite 2, Ignite 3
– M200, M400, M430, M460
– Pacer, Pacer Pro
– Unite
– Flow for Coach, Flow for Web Service
Got all that? Good. I’ll dig into it once it is released next year.
Final Thoughts:
While I’ve been critical of Polar’s pricing of their other two new watches (Vantage V3, and especially Grit X2 Pro), I think the Polar Vantage M3 is actually pretty reasonably priced for a somewhat premium mid-range watch (in terms of looks/feel). Polar certainly has the backend features now on the Polar Flow platform to justify a $399 price point, even if that Polar Flow platform is showing a bit of age these days. In terms of the M3 and my testing over the past while, it’s generally doing well in terms of accuracy and usability during workouts. I’ve seen a couple weird display quirks (such as seen while recording my video), but on the whole, things are working as expected.
If I look at Polar going forward though, they really need to expand and invest more in their firmware (and platform) development teams. Given the next feature update is 3-6 months away (depending on when in Q1 2025 it lands), we’re talking basically a year between feature updates for their watch platform. And said planned update set is only 4 features, 3 of which are pretty minor. Most of their competitors are dropping 3-5x that number of feature updates each quarter, across vast swaths of watches (see COROS or Garmin, and even Suunto if you include their flotilla of apps they develop each quarter).
That said, I think Polar is on the right track hardware-wise, and I greatly appreciate the concept of a single software platform (and a single set of features) shared across numerous hardware options. Thus, you can pick which price point matches your budget and still have the same software features as the watch twice the price. I love that concept, and wish more companies would do it. But that can’t come at the expense of slow feature development.
Nonetheless, I think for the meantime, the Polar Vantage M3 will be a solid upgrade option for existing Polar users who may own a wide swath of older Polar watches that would be ripe for upgrade to something like the M3, gaining those users a heap of features.
With that – thanks for reading!
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Hopefully you found this review/post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
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And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with just about any Bluetooth Smart sport sensors, you can use just about anything though.
This dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart sensor will transmit cadence not only to your bike computer/watch, but also 3rd party apps like Zwift, TrainerRoad, and more.
Speed sensors are primarily useful for offroad usage. I don't find much of a need for one while road-cycling, but for mountain bike trails they can help alleviate speed/distance issues with poor GPS reception in dense trees.
This is a strap I often use in testing/comparisons. It's dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but it also supports the 5kHz analog heart rate transmission for older gym equipment. Also, it has workout storage/recording in it and supports two Bluetooth connections.
This is a great strap, especially if you're going to the gym. It's dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but it also supports the 5kHz analog heart rate transmission for older gym equipment. Note that it only accepts a single Bluetooth connection, versus dual-connections for the Polar H10.
I'd argue the Polar OH1 Plus is the best optical HR sensor out there. So while it might seem odd to get this when your watch also has a optical HR sensor, this one is just better most of the time. Plus, it also has workout recording storage. Dual ANT+/Bluetooth.
The Polar Verity Sense is the newer variant of the Polar OH1 Plus. And while it might seem odd to get this when your watch also has a optical HR sensor, this one is just better most of the time. Plus, it also has workout recording storage. Dual ANT+/Bluetooth.
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Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
That’s not true. Vantage M3 makes sounds – during training, during countdown and alarm, marking training phases and transition to a new interval, etc. Such typical Polar sounds, if someone had e.g. M400, they know ;)
Hi
Do you think the OHR on M3, V3 and X2 PRO are running on the same firmware that analyses the data coming from the OHR. Meaning that all three watches should have, in theory, the same accuracy on wrist based heart rate.
I’m still rockin’ my Vantage M (5 years) that replaced my swollen battery compromised V800 (what a chunker)! I missed the baro, temp sensor, and sounds from the V800 so I’m excited to see some of those hardware items making it to the M series. And, it’s getting some big-ticket items like the pricier models. Too bad I’ve gone farsighted enough that I’ll have to wear my readers to take advantage of the mapping feature…. or really seeing anything else on the watch face.
So Polar did finally manage to correctly record both power & cadence from your tested indoor trainers as well as support trainer control via bluetooth FTMS?
Seems like instead of launching this watch some resources could have gone into solving the cycling computer issues, it’s quickly becoming a deal breaker for me. Any rumblings of an update to the aging M460? Or partnership with an existing cycling computer maker?
I don’t think going into the bike computer realm would be a wise use of resources to be honest.
There’s already way too much competition in that segment, and we’ve seen COROS enter it recently, and while they can get the basics solid, stuff like routing/mapping is incredibly challenging (and a ride I did just this weekend illustrated that super well).
Yes, what we need is a bike computer that can be used with Flow so we get the training load calculations etc from the imported HR data. It does not have to be a new Polar bike computer. For example an agreement with Wahoo would be perfect.
This would definitely be useful if you could do it directly. I currently use the RunGap app to manage info between Strava, Wahoo, and Polar flow. It works fine but is an extra step.
About all things mentioned the main update for me will be structured workouts and integration with TP (and hope with other “open sources” such as intervals.icu That is THE factor keeping me away from Polar. Had a bad experience with Suunto reliability (lasted 2 years and dead ) and switched for a Rival Element which at EUR 99 was a steal … with structured workout integration … If and when it dies, then might think Polar.
I agree around the focus on shipping features on a more regular cadence. Good to see transparency on upcoming features too.
I would be curious what you think the feature gap is in terms of what the majority of folks would actual need to close the gap on garmin. I know these is a tonne in the details on metrics and maps but not sure most folks use them. The new features for fenix 8 seem very small if you don’t need the dive feature so much so can’t see many folks upgrading
For me with better features around climbing more like climb pro and a track feature would be great but that’s about it, the mapping already meets most of my needs but it would be nice to route to poi and home base
I would love to see polar be more explicit around shipping features for at least the reasonable life of the product
Adding too much makes for complexity of experience for features which folks don’t use so are these really that many killer things polar need to ship ?
“I would be curious what you think the feature gap is in terms of what the majority of folks would actual need to close the gap on garmin.”
I don’t see how they can, at least at similar price points. There’s just so many features Garmin has, some of them widely used, some of them slightly used. The thing people like to counter-argue, is that nobody uses all those features. And yes, that’s correct.
But the thing one misses with that statement, is the that people do use them, just not everyone. Everyone’s “most important” feature is a different feature. In totality, that’s why Garmin dominates the segment. I might not use (ever) something you use every day. But Garmin covers both of us, and then covers a gazillion other scenarios.
Thus, companies have to compete on price instead (since they certainly aren’t beating Garmin in accuracy of HR or GPS in the last few years). We’ve seen Suunto do that with the Suunto Race and Race S. And it’s doing exceptionally well sales-wise, as a result.
We saw Polar go the other direction with the Grit X2 Pro, and all the data I’m seeing shows non-existent sales and interest. Whereas I think the Vantage M3 is priced reasonably well, though obviously hosed if Garmin comes along next year and launches a FR275 or something at $399. But, Garmin wouldn’t. Because Garmin is continuing to try and get more and more premium with their pricing. They’ll inch that up to $499 or such (for a whatever-named device with mapping).
Ultimately, we find ourselves back in the COROS Pace 3 vs Forerunner 255 problem. The Pace 3 is a fantastic watch at $229 when nothing is on sale. But Garmin has figured out that all they need to do is price the FR255 at $249, and boom, sales of Pace 3 evaporate.
I think COROS is on the right track though with features/price/etc. I think Suunto is too. And I want to see Polar figure out their update/software cycle to match the competitive realities of today.
Thank you for taking the time to write this, I think it helps make things more clear to those of us out here trying new things and wanting to dip toes in new brands. This stuff is not cheap and experimentation is costly. This is what makes your reviews so important. Furthermore I love the collar with Des. It is great to see how both of you look at new products.
Yup! It’s not quite as clean as a Garmin watch, due to the fact that Polar uses authenticated Bluetooth (versus just dual open ANT+/Bluetooth), but it works.
15-20 years ago the Polar S720 watch and CS600X cycling computer were the unbeatable combo. That was pre GPS era. But HRV was involved in calories and vo2max calculation.
These are the real features, not 16:9 cinema and youtube on the watch.
Hi Ray, I’m missing some information about open water swim accuracy. It might be very important for some of us. Do you have any information about this?
How is the swilling performance of the M3 ? I own a V2 and I find the swimming accuracy, being in the pool or outdoors, not so great to say the least. I also wish the touch screen would not react at water drops…
Has Polar announced a fix for their hardware having troubles syncing with the iPhone’s Polar Flow app? Syncing sometimes works, sometimes takes over 10 minutes (for a single workout), sometimes continues for hours without going through…
It’s unbelievable that they haven’t figure this out in 2024, but there you have it. And when you ask support, they say their engineers are aware of it.
Frankly, I’m still supporting the brand but if I can find a Suunto made in Finland I’m ready to switch …
I’ve had issues with syncing with the iPhone app. They were fixed by deleting and reinstalling the app. I also seem to have an issue with my pacer pro where I have to do a factory reset after every firmware update.
I found these ‘solutions’ using the polar help pages so they are clearly aware of them
Does the compass require frequent calibration like other Polar watches?
Based on my experience and your description of use of the Grit X@ during a long hike one one sometimes has to calibrate them using lots of arm and wrist movements severao times per day and each calibration takes several minutes.
Regardless of that it seems attractive and is a watch I would consider If I change from my present Polar Pacer
When i am looking at Polar Flow and Garmin connect apps at the same time i am not certain that Flow is lagging behind. Web interface is different story – anyhow – it may overwhelm you with number of options. It’s like with wahoo vs garmin – definitely garmin shows/records more – but even simple things are not well implemented – e.g. stats per lap. It took me long time to change and understand Garmin’s philosophy, and still not 100% convinced that this is good ecosystem – i simply prefer other platforms e.g. intervals.icu to analyse what Garmin is recording. On the other side people who are not data/tech geeks may not be even willing to check all configs and stats on watch. When i asked my wife and daughter (both use polar watches) to see if my garmin fits them – they were just irritated – said it’s too complex to use more than start and stop of training recording.
Does the Polar Vantage M3 allow skipping phases in phased targets, in the middle of a session? That was the feature I was missing the most in my Polar Vantage, which recently died after 4 years 4 months (blank screen, no charging, no response to buttons).
Skipping phases is very useful if you run with a group and need to catch up, or just change your mind, or or just made a programming error, but don’t want to abandon the whole session.
There is no information in Polar’s watch manuals about this, but apparently, the V2 can do it (link to liviunastasa.com)
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Looks like a nice option :)
What device(s) do you use to track and compare the elevation to? Asking because I’d like to verify the accuracy of my Garmin FR165. Thanks.
Does the M3 have vibrate and sound like the V3 and GX2 or just vibrate?
Good point, just vibrate.
That’s not true. Vantage M3 makes sounds – during training, during countdown and alarm, marking training phases and transition to a new interval, etc. Such typical Polar sounds, if someone had e.g. M400, they know ;)
Hi
Do you think the OHR on M3, V3 and X2 PRO are running on the same firmware that analyses the data coming from the OHR. Meaning that all three watches should have, in theory, the same accuracy on wrist based heart rate.
I’d assume they are (or shortly will be).
Hi Ray,
Ha, Ha, Ha…. Is there a Polar watch I missed: Polar Nacho Cheese and Nacho Cheese Pro;
Frankwin
Thanks for the great review.
there is also a barometer added which gives running power from the wrist
Ahh, good point!
Man, the M2 feels like a decade ago, but was only 3.5 years ago.
I’m still rockin’ my Vantage M (5 years) that replaced my swollen battery compromised V800 (what a chunker)! I missed the baro, temp sensor, and sounds from the V800 so I’m excited to see some of those hardware items making it to the M series. And, it’s getting some big-ticket items like the pricier models. Too bad I’ve gone farsighted enough that I’ll have to wear my readers to take advantage of the mapping feature…. or really seeing anything else on the watch face.
Great review!
Any info about M3 cycling power-meter & indoor trainer control (FTMS) compatibility, e.g. with Kick (Core)?
PS I must have missed the release of Polar’s Nacho Cheese Pro :-)
I haven’t tried it with the KICKR CORE, but did use with my Quarq power meter, and JetBlack Victory trainer.
Thank you!
So Polar did finally manage to correctly record both power & cadence from your tested indoor trainers as well as support trainer control via bluetooth FTMS?
No spo2 during sleep. Deal breaker for me.
What do you use SpO2 for? It is generally considered one of the least (or less) useful metrics.
Sleep apnea.
Ray, check the test when you talk about the devices compatible to TP and flow you say Nacho…. Geat review as always
I would compare Polar M3 with Suunto Race S. Which is better? I think that the new M3 is a Polar response to Suunto Race S.
Hello Ray,
you mentioned the display twice in the differences of the atches:
– Grit X2 Pro/Vantage V3 is 1.39” display, M3 is 1.28” display
vs
– Grit X2 Pro/Vantage V3 has 1.39” AMOLED display, M3 has 1.28” display
Thx for the review!
Joe
Thanks!
Seems like instead of launching this watch some resources could have gone into solving the cycling computer issues, it’s quickly becoming a deal breaker for me. Any rumblings of an update to the aging M460? Or partnership with an existing cycling computer maker?
I don’t think going into the bike computer realm would be a wise use of resources to be honest.
There’s already way too much competition in that segment, and we’ve seen COROS enter it recently, and while they can get the basics solid, stuff like routing/mapping is incredibly challenging (and a ride I did just this weekend illustrated that super well).
Yes, what we need is a bike computer that can be used with Flow so we get the training load calculations etc from the imported HR data. It does not have to be a new Polar bike computer. For example an agreement with Wahoo would be perfect.
This would definitely be useful if you could do it directly. I currently use the RunGap app to manage info between Strava, Wahoo, and Polar flow. It works fine but is an extra step.
About all things mentioned the main update for me will be structured workouts and integration with TP (and hope with other “open sources” such as intervals.icu That is THE factor keeping me away from Polar. Had a bad experience with Suunto reliability (lasted 2 years and dead ) and switched for a Rival Element which at EUR 99 was a steal … with structured workout integration … If and when it dies, then might think Polar.
Polar dont have bike computer is a Big problem. Any rumor?
No rumour at all.
So I bought a Sigma Rox 12.1, for its oke. And better than Garmin’s gpsmap 66s.
The only down size of the Sigma, there is no possibility to import data from Sigma to Polar. And that’s sucks on the Polar side.
I agree around the focus on shipping features on a more regular cadence. Good to see transparency on upcoming features too.
I would be curious what you think the feature gap is in terms of what the majority of folks would actual need to close the gap on garmin. I know these is a tonne in the details on metrics and maps but not sure most folks use them. The new features for fenix 8 seem very small if you don’t need the dive feature so much so can’t see many folks upgrading
For me with better features around climbing more like climb pro and a track feature would be great but that’s about it, the mapping already meets most of my needs but it would be nice to route to poi and home base
I would love to see polar be more explicit around shipping features for at least the reasonable life of the product
Adding too much makes for complexity of experience for features which folks don’t use so are these really that many killer things polar need to ship ?
“I would be curious what you think the feature gap is in terms of what the majority of folks would actual need to close the gap on garmin.”
I don’t see how they can, at least at similar price points. There’s just so many features Garmin has, some of them widely used, some of them slightly used. The thing people like to counter-argue, is that nobody uses all those features. And yes, that’s correct.
But the thing one misses with that statement, is the that people do use them, just not everyone. Everyone’s “most important” feature is a different feature. In totality, that’s why Garmin dominates the segment. I might not use (ever) something you use every day. But Garmin covers both of us, and then covers a gazillion other scenarios.
Thus, companies have to compete on price instead (since they certainly aren’t beating Garmin in accuracy of HR or GPS in the last few years). We’ve seen Suunto do that with the Suunto Race and Race S. And it’s doing exceptionally well sales-wise, as a result.
We saw Polar go the other direction with the Grit X2 Pro, and all the data I’m seeing shows non-existent sales and interest. Whereas I think the Vantage M3 is priced reasonably well, though obviously hosed if Garmin comes along next year and launches a FR275 or something at $399. But, Garmin wouldn’t. Because Garmin is continuing to try and get more and more premium with their pricing. They’ll inch that up to $499 or such (for a whatever-named device with mapping).
Ultimately, we find ourselves back in the COROS Pace 3 vs Forerunner 255 problem. The Pace 3 is a fantastic watch at $229 when nothing is on sale. But Garmin has figured out that all they need to do is price the FR255 at $249, and boom, sales of Pace 3 evaporate.
I think COROS is on the right track though with features/price/etc. I think Suunto is too. And I want to see Polar figure out their update/software cycle to match the competitive realities of today.
Thank you for taking the time to write this, I think it helps make things more clear to those of us out here trying new things and wanting to dip toes in new brands. This stuff is not cheap and experimentation is costly. This is what makes your reviews so important. Furthermore I love the collar with Des. It is great to see how both of you look at new products.
Thanks for being a DCR Supporter!
Will this cast HR to the Peloton/Zwift/etc?
Yup! It’s not quite as clean as a Garmin watch, due to the fact that Polar uses authenticated Bluetooth (versus just dual open ANT+/Bluetooth), but it works.
What? A vantage M series watch will/already share HR with a non-polar external device!?
Well, officially the M2 should since the early 2022 update :-)
I’m still rocking the original Vantage M and it doesn’t.
A map screen without at least two data fields is a sign of a weak watch. Map plus pace and HR is the minimum I expect.
15-20 years ago the Polar S720 watch and CS600X cycling computer were the unbeatable combo. That was pre GPS era. But HRV was involved in calories and vo2max calculation.
These are the real features, not 16:9 cinema and youtube on the watch.
Hi Ray, I’m missing some information about open water swim accuracy. It might be very important for some of us. Do you have any information about this?
How is the swilling performance of the M3 ? I own a V2 and I find the swimming accuracy, being in the pool or outdoors, not so great to say the least. I also wish the touch screen would not react at water drops…
Has Polar announced a fix for their hardware having troubles syncing with the iPhone’s Polar Flow app? Syncing sometimes works, sometimes takes over 10 minutes (for a single workout), sometimes continues for hours without going through…
It’s unbelievable that they haven’t figure this out in 2024, but there you have it. And when you ask support, they say their engineers are aware of it.
Frankly, I’m still supporting the brand but if I can find a Suunto made in Finland I’m ready to switch …
I’ve had issues with syncing with the iPhone app. They were fixed by deleting and reinstalling the app. I also seem to have an issue with my pacer pro where I have to do a factory reset after every firmware update.
I found these ‘solutions’ using the polar help pages so they are clearly aware of them
Does the compass require frequent calibration like other Polar watches?
Based on my experience and your description of use of the Grit X@ during a long hike one one sometimes has to calibrate them using lots of arm and wrist movements severao times per day and each calibration takes several minutes.
Regardless of that it seems attractive and is a watch I would consider If I change from my present Polar Pacer
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Any news if any of the new software update components will also come to the pacer/pacer pro?
When i am looking at Polar Flow and Garmin connect apps at the same time i am not certain that Flow is lagging behind. Web interface is different story – anyhow – it may overwhelm you with number of options. It’s like with wahoo vs garmin – definitely garmin shows/records more – but even simple things are not well implemented – e.g. stats per lap. It took me long time to change and understand Garmin’s philosophy, and still not 100% convinced that this is good ecosystem – i simply prefer other platforms e.g. intervals.icu to analyse what Garmin is recording. On the other side people who are not data/tech geeks may not be even willing to check all configs and stats on watch. When i asked my wife and daughter (both use polar watches) to see if my garmin fits them – they were just irritated – said it’s too complex to use more than start and stop of training recording.
Does the Polar Vantage M3 allow skipping phases in phased targets, in the middle of a session? That was the feature I was missing the most in my Polar Vantage, which recently died after 4 years 4 months (blank screen, no charging, no response to buttons).
Skipping phases is very useful if you run with a group and need to catch up, or just change your mind, or or just made a programming error, but don’t want to abandon the whole session.
There is no information in Polar’s watch manuals about this, but apparently, the V2 can do it (link to liviunastasa.com)