Thumbs up for these comparison videos of sport watch brands and their eco-systems! This is super helpful insight for those of us who may be considering other brands down the line. Keep them coming!
Completely agree on this one. I used to have a Garmin device for about two years, and most of the time I wasn't even looking at all the available data as it consumed too much time for me to spare in the mornings, so what's the point of having all that? Polar gives me what I need, in a simple way to digest and as you say, in my case at least, it reflects what I feel most of the time, the times that it doesn't most of them as the day goes by it tends to be right in the end, and gives me useful feedback about it. I can agree the prices could be a little lower as it offers fewer functions for the same money as Garmin, but in the end, if you're a simple person and the feature set works for you, those extra features from the competition are barely gimmicks. I wish the GX2P lower its price by Black Friday, either way I am going to keep using my current GXP for a little longer, as it already gives me what I need.
Yes completely! Totally appreciate your thoughts. Have you tried one of those new subscriber 15% off things? That's probably what I would do is see if you can use an alternate email address just to get a new subscriber discount on a product purchase and see if that works. I don't know that I'd wait until Black Friday cause that just feels like a long time away And you should enjoy the much nicer upgrade in tech and hardware
Thanks for the comparison. I appreciate your reviews and feedback. I think Polar is probably one of the best watches when it comes to simply, concisely and accurately providing information regarding recovery, rest and training load status. Unfortunately, it is annoying that most of the information is hidden in the app or on the website. I would like a workout load graph on the watch, HRV trend. 24hr stress measurement and trend, a combination of nightly recharge and recovery pro. I don't know who needs ECG measurement when it doesn't provide any simple feedback! Not everyone is a GP or cardiologist. On top of that the price of Polar watches on the day of release is way overpriced. I currently have the FR965 because I have most of the information on the watch, a 24-hour stress measurement so I could keep track of the flu when I was sick. Garmin is updated on a regular basis, new features come in, while in Polar, unfortunately, updates are infrequent, no details of what has been fixed and no new features. I really like Coros' approach - they actively listen and implement their customers' ideas. Updates are large and frequent. For the time being, I'm staying with the Garmin.
Thanks for the video and a great point of view. I think also other youtubers (also the ones with most subscriber numbers) should also understand that Garmin is not for everyone and it's not also perfect. Ofcourse Garmin has all the metrics possible, but does everyone need those. Garmin does many things great but at least for me there is just little bit too much. E.g. the bodybattery, I feel even anxious looking that. Makes you want to have higher scores even though everything is just fine, just lots of sports and busy life... so after a while, just stopped to look that at all. Turned off the morning report etc... And I don't say that Polar or Coros or Suunto is the greatest either. Just that there are options. And people doing these reviews and impacting buying decisions, could understand that and tell that you don't necessarily have to look 10 different metrics to know how you feel. I don't think even premium athletes won't do that and they break world records :D
Agree with most of what you said, but if you are a runner and like to train with paced runs, Polar won‘t let you do that. So, running with Coros and accepting the minimalistic recovery data.
Thank you @FitGearHunter for your thoughts! Since Polar has always worked in close cooperation with the Lahti Sports School (I believe it’s that one), they rely heavily on solid sports science, publish white papers regularly, and this may also be why they present info that actually matters. They weren’t the first to add OHR, because in intense training where the nuances actually matter, you would and should need a chest strap anyway, which they state themselves. Interestingly enough only some German (but none of the US, UK reviewers) compare the AVERAGE heart rate over long sessions, which makes sense for the training load analytics, and there the Gx2P or VV3 are actually off by just a beat or two. I myself tend to wear the Verity Sense arm strap, partly because I don’t have to tighten the cr…p out of the watch, partly to save a bit of battery in the watch, and in the winter to be able to wear the watch over my sleeve, so I’m not bothered too much about jittering OHR in the watch. I’m a current and past Polar user, but now considering jumping to Suunto Vertical for other reasons. This post made the jump just that much harder…😂 Thank you for your efforts!
Yes to the verity and good luck on choice! And why not Race over vertical? Just curious - sorry to have made the choice harder, but I do love Suunto as well (but if you want my honest opinion I do think their OHR is going to be more limited on hardware than it is on algorithm. I think polar has a shot at correcting the algorithm with current hardware. On the flipside polar hasn't corrected the algorithm even since the V3 came out, so it's still uncertain, but at the end of the day I feel like the literal Suunto OHR hardware it's gonna be more of the limiting factor)
@@fitgearhunter for me the Suunto Race offers more or less the same stuff as the Polar Gx2P hardware wise. One is somewhat better with the OHR (a tad irrelevant as per my previous comment), the other one is somewhat stronger on the GPS-side (seems to be the general consensus) and with a new interesting button interface. The Vertical offers more battery life...loads more, which is nice when I do stage races, ultras, etc...and the comfort of "never" having to charge the watch. It also offers the one thing that i really miss in Polar - namely the possibility of setting running pace targets when doing interval training, and being able to read the average interval pace while running, and after the run. With Polar i have slap or press a button to mark a manual lap each and every time, which you easily forget, when you're going all-in. The running intensity zones just don't offer the same, and I still cannot read individual interval average pace in flow after the session. The third factor is that it's fully manufactured in Finland, and with green energy to boot. Being Finnish, it has to be either Polar or Suunto. No way around it. So it really boils down to the two ecosystems and their pros and cons; Polar with built-in planner and training analytics, but with Komoot and/or Strava as route planning add-on, vs. Suunto with built-in route planning, but relying on Training Peaks for the training planning and scheduling + analytics etc. Decisions, decisions...
@@gustavahenrikssonthank you for explaining this, great add on for another great review from @fitgearhunter. I'm debating between the Suunto Race and the Garmin Epix Gen 2 Sapphire, here in the Netherlands almost the same price. How is the support of Suunto? Good luck with your decision 👍🏻.
With all the recent developments at Suunto and Coros, introducing new watches, where do you think Polar stands with its platform and the new Vantage M3?
I haven't seen any of the other brands with the required activity percentage like Polar. Garmin and other brands seem to be too careful about their recommendations to avoid being negative. Also Garmin has metrics all over the place. Some are only available on the watch and other ones are on the app.
Yes Garmin ads a lot of different metrics across the spectrum! And definitely some are available on some watches and some on others and some on the watch only. But it is definitely negative or strong sometimes in the recommendations that makes! I'm constantly in the red for sleep and recovery!
@@fitgearhunter Interesting about the sleep&recovery on your Garmin. What does your Polar say on the same occasions? - have you slept with both watches on?
Polar is often recommended by sports professionals as well due to their dominance in lab and testing settings. I've lost count of how many H10s I've seen. Their the main brand that comes to mind when I think of heart rate monitoring
I just bought my Garmin Epix Gen 2 pro 51 mm and I’m on the fence I really liked the polar grit 2 titanium it’s a dang good looking watch. I can’t wait to see the new Apple WU X and I will have that watch it’s my favorite and my next fav, is the Garmin Epix 8 I think they may put LTE in it I really hope so!!! It’s why the Apple WU is still my fav as I have to older parents and 1 has lung cancer so while I am out I absolutely have to have cell service no matter what and many folks are in my boat and would rather use a watch and ear buds than to tote a bouncy phone in flimsy running shorts. Anyways thanks again for all you do!!
Oh gosh I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. That's really tough, and I completely understand the functional need for the cellular service. It's tough because I don't know how far Garmin is going to go with incorporating cellular into a device, like I don't know if it's gonna be fully functional, so that would just leave them in the best in class sports and training capacity but it's hard to compete against the Apple Watch for smart watch/smart phone capability
Seem that coros’ heart rate sensor accuracy is better than polar vantage 3’s heart rate sensor accuracy. Is it just me? Or you guys find it this way too?
@@fitgearhunter Thanks and appreciate! Now I am using Venu 3 and epix pro Gen 2. The rest is too much headache. Even the Coros vertix 2 ecg hrv is always off. Don’t know what happen. May be you could help us to do TH-cam comparing ecg HRV of Coros vertix 2, polar vantage v3, Garmin epix pro Gen 2. 🙏🙏🙏
My experience aligns with your assessment. The Polar app and even the watch itself (while not the most modern design) effectively present training and recovery data in a clear and user-friendly format. Having transitioned from an Apple Watch 5 to a Polar Grit X Pro and then a Pixel 2 Watch, I'm strongly considering the Vantage V3 with an H10 heart rate monitor to optimize my training in Zone 2. Polar's core strength lies in its robust data collection and analysis capabilities. This expertise is extending beyond their consumer products, as evidenced by their new data services for other companies.
Did you end up again at Polar or did you choose something else? I've had my eye on the Suunto Race S, but the Vantage M3 looks tempting. Also, for my use case maybe the Pixel Watch 3 would be suitable, but I'm anxious about its durability.
hi, I have polar v3, elixir sensor, but I can not trust Nigtly recharge and other metrics, how you will trust the HRV and other ANS as their PR (HR) tracking is absolutely not accurate and reliable. Confirmed in comparison with the h10 for many weeks. even in a static position, walking is the challenge for Polar where the error might be even 60bpm more, yes, yes, or 30bpms less...for the hiit I use h10 anyway. so RIP polar. they can present whatever they want, no trust in it. cheers.
Interesting points! Nightly recharge has been spot on for me in comparison to like 6 other devices - namely recovery or overall guidance - from Apple Watch Garmin Whoop and Ultrahuman
There is widespread misunderstanding of the subject as to the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. The sensor is sometimes inaccurate, and this happens in many watches from different brands - but this applies to sports of all kinds. This is affected by vibration - the movement of the watch on the hand during activity. When we sleep there is no such interference and the accuracy is very close to the measurement of the heart rate strap. Nightly recharge is very accurate and your concerns do not apply here.
@@mfcxmfcx5085 yes I agree on no disturbance at night so the accuracy can be trusted - but I will say that the accuracy during workouts definitely needs to improve and is well below current industry averages unfortunately
I don't understand how Garmin is the leader in any of this when there sleep stuff is completely wrong for me every single day. So when sleep is off and heart rate is off the any other is going to be wrong. Just my two scents.
Garmin is leading in terms of GPS and battery durability, somewhat OK on Heart tracking (don't quote me on this last one, as I forget the details of Quantified Scientist reviews atm). I have tried SuperSet! I can confirm it is growing into a mature and very well done app.
Hey! Heart rate is good - sleep stages appear to be less accurate but virtually nobody gets that right. Even the Apple Watch which gets it a little bit right is only doing so compared to a device that is maybe 80% right at best, so it's further diluted and sleep stages is not something a device should really strongly back reca on. Garmin gives recommendations mostly on heart rate, hrv, level of exertion the day before, long-term exertion, time asleep, depletion of body battery, stuff like that
@@fitgearhunter thanks for clearing that up for me,I am actually training right now with polar h10 connected to AWU1 and Garmin Epix Gen 2 pro 51 mm I absolutely love my devices just wish the sleep was better on both, Apple said exertion of 6.5 today garmin said rest but I just started listening to me, and if I feel great I head out!!! Thanks for all you do keep up the awesome videos
@@RumbleBack-iz3tl I do think Garmins GPS is industry leading, even on single band - but that's just from other reviewer friends of mine - I don't test those aspects
Thumbs up for these comparison videos of sport watch brands and their eco-systems! This is super helpful insight for those of us who may be considering other brands down the line. Keep them coming!
Appreciate the feedback! Very much!
Completely agree on this one. I used to have a Garmin device for about two years, and most of the time I wasn't even looking at all the available data as it consumed too much time for me to spare in the mornings, so what's the point of having all that? Polar gives me what I need, in a simple way to digest and as you say, in my case at least, it reflects what I feel most of the time, the times that it doesn't most of them as the day goes by it tends to be right in the end, and gives me useful feedback about it.
I can agree the prices could be a little lower as it offers fewer functions for the same money as Garmin, but in the end, if you're a simple person and the feature set works for you, those extra features from the competition are barely gimmicks. I wish the GX2P lower its price by Black Friday, either way I am going to keep using my current GXP for a little longer, as it already gives me what I need.
Yes completely! Totally appreciate your thoughts. Have you tried one of those new subscriber 15% off things? That's probably what I would do is see if you can use an alternate email address just to get a new subscriber discount on a product purchase and see if that works. I don't know that I'd wait until Black Friday cause that just feels like a long time away And you should enjoy the much nicer upgrade in tech and hardware
Spot on. There aren’t many videos out there this succinct on the subject, must watch (no pun intended).
Ha on pun! Thank you so much. I really appreciate it!
Thanks for the comparison. I appreciate your reviews and feedback. I think Polar is probably one of the best watches when it comes to simply, concisely and accurately providing information regarding recovery, rest and training load status. Unfortunately, it is annoying that most of the information is hidden in the app or on the website. I would like a workout load graph on the watch, HRV trend. 24hr stress measurement and trend, a combination of nightly recharge and recovery pro. I don't know who needs ECG measurement when it doesn't provide any simple feedback! Not everyone is a GP or cardiologist. On top of that the price of Polar watches on the day of release is way overpriced. I currently have the FR965 because I have most of the information on the watch, a 24-hour stress measurement so I could keep track of the flu when I was sick. Garmin is updated on a regular basis, new features come in, while in Polar, unfortunately, updates are infrequent, no details of what has been fixed and no new features. I really like Coros' approach - they actively listen and implement their customers' ideas. Updates are large and frequent. For the time being, I'm staying with the Garmin.
Completely agree all around! 965 is probably the most comprehensive fully feature packed watch for the price on the market for sure, good call.
Thanks for the video and a great point of view. I think also other youtubers (also the ones with most subscriber numbers) should also understand that Garmin is not for everyone and it's not also perfect. Ofcourse Garmin has all the metrics possible, but does everyone need those. Garmin does many things great but at least for me there is just little bit too much. E.g. the bodybattery, I feel even anxious looking that. Makes you want to have higher scores even though everything is just fine, just lots of sports and busy life... so after a while, just stopped to look that at all. Turned off the morning report etc...
And I don't say that Polar or Coros or Suunto is the greatest either. Just that there are options. And people doing these reviews and impacting buying decisions, could understand that and tell that you don't necessarily have to look 10 different metrics to know how you feel. I don't think even premium athletes won't do that and they break world records :D
Agree with most of what you said, but if you are a runner and like to train with paced runs, Polar won‘t let you do that. So, running with Coros and accepting the minimalistic recovery data.
Yes 1000%. Garmin even more so offers a ton of running capabilities and metrics and benefits and value there as well. Thanks for commenting
Thank you @FitGearHunter for your thoughts!
Since Polar has always worked in close cooperation with the Lahti Sports School (I believe it’s that one), they rely heavily on solid sports science, publish white papers regularly, and this may also be why they present info that actually matters.
They weren’t the first to add OHR, because in intense training where the nuances actually matter, you would and should need a chest strap anyway, which they state themselves.
Interestingly enough only some German (but none of the US, UK reviewers) compare the AVERAGE heart rate over long sessions, which makes sense for the training load analytics, and there the Gx2P or VV3 are actually off by just a beat or two.
I myself tend to wear the Verity Sense arm strap, partly because I don’t have to tighten the cr…p out of the watch, partly to save a bit of battery in the watch, and in the winter to be able to wear the watch over my sleeve, so I’m not bothered too much about jittering OHR in the watch.
I’m a current and past Polar user, but now considering jumping to Suunto Vertical for other reasons.
This post made the jump just that much harder…😂
Thank you for your efforts!
Yes to the verity and good luck on choice! And why not Race over vertical? Just curious - sorry to have made the choice harder, but I do love Suunto as well (but if you want my honest opinion I do think their OHR is going to be more limited on hardware than it is on algorithm. I think polar has a shot at correcting the algorithm with current hardware. On the flipside polar hasn't corrected the algorithm even since the V3 came out, so it's still uncertain, but at the end of the day I feel like the literal Suunto OHR hardware it's gonna be more of the limiting factor)
@@fitgearhunter for me the Suunto Race offers more or less the same stuff as the Polar Gx2P hardware wise. One is somewhat better with the OHR (a tad irrelevant as per my previous comment), the other one is somewhat stronger on the GPS-side (seems to be the general consensus) and with a new interesting button interface.
The Vertical offers more battery life...loads more, which is nice when I do stage races, ultras, etc...and the comfort of "never" having to charge the watch. It also offers the one thing that i really miss in Polar - namely the possibility of setting running pace targets when doing interval training, and being able to read the average interval pace while running, and after the run. With Polar i have slap or press a button to mark a manual lap each and every time, which you easily forget, when you're going all-in. The running intensity zones just don't offer the same, and I still cannot read individual interval average pace in flow after the session.
The third factor is that it's fully manufactured in Finland, and with green energy to boot. Being Finnish, it has to be either Polar or Suunto. No way around it.
So it really boils down to the two ecosystems and their pros and cons; Polar with built-in planner and training analytics, but with Komoot and/or Strava as route planning add-on, vs. Suunto with built-in route planning, but relying on Training Peaks for the training planning and scheduling + analytics etc.
Decisions, decisions...
@@gustavahenriksson thank you so much for sharing and this makes total and complete sense! Good luck in the decision process!
@@gustavahenrikssonthank you for explaining this, great add on for another great review from @fitgearhunter.
I'm debating between the Suunto Race and the Garmin Epix Gen 2 Sapphire, here in the Netherlands almost the same price. How is the support of Suunto?
Good luck with your decision 👍🏻.
So I’m trying to decide between this or a whoop. Which do you prefer or would recommend?
With all the recent developments at Suunto and Coros, introducing new watches, where do you think Polar stands with its platform and the new Vantage M3?
That exactly the feelings, that I ever had. Just on Point !
I have the polar grit x2 pro because i think it looks cool, tbh i dont care about the other stuff
Well done. Thank you.
Thanks so much. Really appreciate it
Great video, ty!
Thank you!
I haven't seen any of the other brands with the required activity percentage like Polar. Garmin and other brands seem to be too careful about their recommendations to avoid being negative. Also Garmin has metrics all over the place. Some are only available on the watch and other ones are on the app.
Yes Garmin ads a lot of different metrics across the spectrum! And definitely some are available on some watches and some on others and some on the watch only. But it is definitely negative or strong sometimes in the recommendations that makes! I'm constantly in the red for sleep and recovery!
@@fitgearhunter Yes agree, I see same trends, it's rather the amount of exercise that Polar is less shy to recommend.
@@fitgearhunter Interesting about the sleep&recovery on your Garmin. What does your Polar say on the same occasions? - have you slept with both watches on?
Polar is often recommended by sports professionals as well due to their dominance in lab and testing settings. I've lost count of how many H10s I've seen. Their the main brand that comes to mind when I think of heart rate monitoring
I just bought my Garmin Epix Gen 2 pro 51 mm and I’m on the fence I really liked the polar grit 2 titanium it’s a dang good looking watch. I can’t wait to see the new Apple WU X and I will have that watch it’s my favorite and my next fav, is the Garmin Epix 8 I think they may put LTE in it I really hope so!!! It’s why the Apple WU is still my fav as I have to older parents and 1 has lung cancer so while I am out I absolutely have to have cell service no matter what and many folks are in my boat and would rather use a watch and ear buds than to tote a bouncy phone in flimsy running shorts. Anyways thanks again for all you do!!
Oh gosh I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. That's really tough, and I completely understand the functional need for the cellular service. It's tough because I don't know how far Garmin is going to go with incorporating cellular into a device, like I don't know if it's gonna be fully functional, so that would just leave them in the best in class sports and training capacity but it's hard to compete against the Apple Watch for smart watch/smart phone capability
I was tempted to go for Garmin, but will stick to my Polar and exhaust the best of it.
There is definitely a huge case for Garmin and the more extensive capabilities there, but it also depends on training you do and needs you have
Seem that coros’ heart rate sensor accuracy is better than polar vantage 3’s heart rate sensor accuracy. Is it just me? Or you guys find it this way too?
I've personally found the most recent heart rate sensor from Coros to be unreliable for workouts of any significant intensity
@@fitgearhunter Thanks and appreciate! Now I am using Venu 3 and epix pro Gen 2. The rest is too much headache. Even the Coros vertix 2 ecg hrv is always off. Don’t know what happen.
May be you could help us to do TH-cam comparing ecg HRV of Coros vertix 2, polar vantage v3, Garmin epix pro Gen 2. 🙏🙏🙏
My experience aligns with your assessment. The Polar app and even the watch itself (while not the most modern design) effectively present training and recovery data in a clear and user-friendly format. Having transitioned from an Apple Watch 5 to a Polar Grit X Pro and then a Pixel 2 Watch, I'm strongly considering the Vantage V3 with an H10 heart rate monitor to optimize my training in Zone 2.
Polar's core strength lies in its robust data collection and analysis capabilities. This expertise is extending beyond their consumer products, as evidenced by their new data services for other companies.
Did you end up again at Polar or did you choose something else? I've had my eye on the Suunto Race S, but the Vantage M3 looks tempting. Also, for my use case maybe the Pixel Watch 3 would be suitable, but I'm anxious about its durability.
hi, I have polar v3, elixir sensor, but I can not trust Nigtly recharge and other metrics, how you will trust the HRV and other ANS as their PR (HR) tracking is absolutely not accurate and reliable. Confirmed in comparison with the h10 for many weeks. even in a static position, walking is the challenge for Polar where the error might be even 60bpm more, yes, yes, or 30bpms less...for the hiit I use h10 anyway. so RIP polar. they can present whatever they want, no trust in it. cheers.
I agree
Same with Apple and Garmin but Apple is more accurate at sleep than Garmin but they still have their problems also so you CAN NOT TRUST ANY OF THEM!!
Interesting points! Nightly recharge has been spot on for me in comparison to like 6 other devices - namely recovery or overall guidance - from Apple Watch Garmin Whoop and Ultrahuman
There is widespread misunderstanding of the subject as to the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. The sensor is sometimes inaccurate, and this happens in many watches from different brands - but this applies to sports of all kinds. This is affected by vibration - the movement of the watch on the hand during activity. When we sleep there is no such interference and the accuracy is very close to the measurement of the heart rate strap. Nightly recharge is very accurate and your concerns do not apply here.
@@mfcxmfcx5085 yes I agree on no disturbance at night so the accuracy can be trusted - but I will say that the accuracy during workouts definitely needs to improve and is well below current industry averages unfortunately
I don't understand how Garmin is the leader in any of this when there sleep stuff is completely wrong for me every single day. So when sleep is off and heart rate is off the any other is going to be wrong. Just my two scents.
Garmin is leading in terms of GPS and battery durability, somewhat OK on Heart tracking (don't quote me on this last one, as I forget the details of Quantified Scientist reviews atm). I have tried SuperSet! I can confirm it is growing into a mature and very well done app.
@@gianlucas They are not leading in terms of battery and GPS. Clearly Suunto is the leader in those terms
Hey! Heart rate is good - sleep stages appear to be less accurate but virtually nobody gets that right. Even the Apple Watch which gets it a little bit right is only doing so compared to a device that is maybe 80% right at best, so it's further diluted and sleep stages is not something a device should really strongly back reca on. Garmin gives recommendations mostly on heart rate, hrv, level of exertion the day before, long-term exertion, time asleep, depletion of body battery, stuff like that
@@fitgearhunter thanks for clearing that up for me,I am actually training right now with polar h10 connected to AWU1 and Garmin Epix Gen 2 pro 51 mm I absolutely love my devices just wish the sleep was better on both, Apple said exertion of 6.5 today garmin said rest but I just started listening to me, and if I feel great I head out!!! Thanks for all you do keep up the awesome videos
@@RumbleBack-iz3tl I do think Garmins GPS is industry leading, even on single band - but that's just from other reviewer friends of mine - I don't test those aspects