That was really helpful video, especially comparing the mapping features against the others. One thing I want to call out though is, Polar uses magnetometer compass, whereas the others uses GPS digital compass with gyroscope sensors, and that may explain what you’re experiencing in the video, it is not advised to test the magnetometer compass right next to the digital watches that probably have a magnetic fields around it…
@@whybi the Suunto has a magnetometer compass too but with the additional gyro assisted technology.. would be cool to see Polar improve this technology (coding/algorithm), it’s not good if this is a hardware limitation because it’s miles behind the competition. But I feel like polar can do loads to improve the experience on the current watches which is good news 🔥 Tbh.. even when I’ve tested the polar compass on my opposite wrist with no magnetic interference, it’s still slow & cumbersome at the moment 🌟 Thanks for the comment! ❤️
The Suunto Race S is such a pleasure to use for navigation, the map is so responsive and easy to see that even in the context of a race in the trails you can clearly see where you have to go. Fenix here is also king with the ability to create routes on the watch and offline, with PDI, road and streets... In my recent visit to Rome I used the navigation to move around the city, find fountains to refill our bottles 😃 and so on.
Really like your real world usage with navigation videos. No one else is really doing that! If you want routeable maps Garmin's the only player in town though, a big shame. I moved to the AW Ultra 2 with Workoutdoors the mapping experience massively exceeds anything I've had from my Forerunner 955. With the exception of on device routing though. But with Locus Map's I get offline routing on my phone that I can then push the GPX to the AW. I've also had tons of bad experiences with random Garmin routes I did on my watch - one time it took my wife & I through a snow shoeing trail in the summer, was more of a rock climbing expedition & my wife still has a neck injury from it 2 years ago!
Mate! This is such a lovely comment, thankyou! I definitely pride myself in having “real-world” reviews ❤️ I neeeed to try out the AW Ultra 2! It’s too expensive for me to test that AND Garmin at the same time haha! But I’d love to see how work outdoors has improved over the years.. sounds really good from what you’ve said! Sorry to hear about tour bad experiences with Garmin’s routing, hope your wife eventually makes a full recovery 👊🏽❤️
I've got a Grit X Pro v1. It has the same compass calibration process. It definitely can be done when wearing the watch, but it is really a PITA. Out on a trail run, stop for a drink for one minute, spend three minute re-calibrating the compass before you continue. I'm really disappointed to see that this is still an issue on the latest generation of Polars. I don't know what those Polar software engineers are smoking, but it must be good stuff. There is no problem with starting a route at a random point once to course is selected, make sure you decide whether you are going the plotted direction or the reverse direction, click start and it will count down your distance from the course when you arrive on course it will tell you and you follow it from there.
@@steveforde7475 hahaha, definitely the good stuff 🤣 A shame to hear it’s been like that since v1. Yeah, it takes excessively long to calibrate, definitely considering the competition takes 2 seconds maximum (and rarely ever asks you to calibrate anyway) 🙈
I have the Grit X Pro as well, and I can do the calibration process in less than a minute while mounted on my bike and having the watch on my wrist; in fact, out of curiosity I just tried it with a stop watch while sitting in front of my desktop, and it took me 29 seconds while having my watch on my wrist, and 15 seconds while holding the watch on my hands 😅 Whereas I agree the process is overkill compared to the competition, I think you are exaggerating a little bit on the time it takes and its frequency. If you do not wish to calibrate, you can cancel the request by pressing the back button, I have done it in the past while doing some hiking and at least from what I have experienced it does not need to be calibrated that often.
Great to see the actual process of compass calibration. I thought it was bad with my older Vantage V, but this looks awful - I hope they quickly rectify this. I really want to stay with Polar. It would be nice if you could see the current time when on the map screen too.
Yeah! With Suunto, Garmin & Coros you rarely have to calibrate and when you eventually do.. it takes 2 seconds .. but the Polar calibration is abit of a joke at the moment hahaha. Yeah that’s a cool suggestion actually time+maps! Cheers for the comment mate ❤️
It doesn't take that much as they are making it look like, but it can always be faster, hopefully they will change the algorithm in the future. I did the test while watching this video with my Grit X Pro (I think it is the same type of compass) and calibrating with the watch on my wrist took me 29 seconds and with the watch on my hands it took me 15 seconds. Not as fast as flicking it twice, but certainly not as painful as intended to be in the video.
@@Asthbendriel Corr, I don’t know.. maybe I’m impatient but 29 seconds doing it as fast as you can sounds pretty painful to me 🤣❤️ I agree though.. hopefully Polar improve this 👊🏽
@@ActiveIdeas I never said I did it as fast as I can, I just used the stop watch to see how much time would it take me in average to do it because there are mentions of taking minutes to do so and I usually calibrate my compass before leaving and I had the impression it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, that long 😅
@@вованчикс if polar send me one I will compare the two.. I can’t afford to buy every watch released by every company unfortunately 🙈🙈 Tbh though.. all the software is the same on the M3, V3 and Grit X2 Pro.. so besides design and battery life you’re better in every way saving money and getting the more value for money M3! Hope this helps
in first quarter in update will be POI's in watches . And you can navigate direct from watches. Great future function i guess. But i hope, that Suunto will be get the same and Strength training... Coros will be improve maps where you will see name of streets, objects and more. 2025 will be interesting )) And DC Rainmaker said something about suprise in december (4th) Will see))
As MKBHD famously says.. buy a product on what it is TODAY, not on what a company ‘promises’ you in the future. So Q1 POI updates are great but.. it’s too long away bearing in mind the watch was already released a week ago. Ooo that sounds exciting, where did you hear about the December 4th release.. DC’s podcast or? 🙈
@@ActiveIdeas podcast DC and other blogger , forgot who)) so i'm, sure you know) you're right , but i really want this 2 features in Suunto, at least strength training...
@@ActiveIdeasI would love a watch with the aesthetics of Suunto but the software of Garmin. I love how Suunto watches look but I’m really not a big fan of their app I find their metrics are confusing to read compared to Garmins “training” tab on their watches. Also recovery on Suunto for some reason is buried deep in the watch. Suunto also need to stop cheaping out on the OHR sensor.
@@jamesmc0716 their new Race S HR sensor is actually fantastic! But yeah, I feel you.. would be cool to see Suunto add more software features as they’re killing it with hardware right now! 🔥
I think the main thing your viseo points out is that Polar is simply behind. Its pretty far behind as well. The M3 certainly has some great features even in navigation, but theres just not enough here to choose it over the Garmin or the Suunto. And the tragedy is, i dont know that Polar will ever catch up with how hard Garmin pushes yearly, but also Suunto now. Suunto really have crossed a threshold. If you must have Polar for whatever reason like web training tools etc, then the M3 is clearly the one. But if you want an all in one solution to mapping, its still Suunto and Garmin. Ive got both the Race and Vertical ( Dont ask why ), but unless your a triathlon bad boy or workout/runner, nobody can recommend Polar over other brands for outdoors. That software is basic at best, and will take a long time to get into shape. You can just go and buy a watch now slightly cheaper that can do it all now. Polar is in a very weird place for sure. They need a bread and butter product. I dont think the M3, pro x2 or v3 is it. Old half baked software with ony a few redeeming features on over priced hardware. There you go is said it. Thats from a person who used Polar for nearly 15yrs.
And just for context, all my friends who train/run are either established route runners, track runners or just workout based. In that scenario with with training programs, I will admit, you will struggle to beat polar even with it's stale watch and app UI. The insights into your training are top notch. But outside of that, it's just not good for the money.
@@blackhawk69100 hahaha, I feel you! I want to love Polar.. through my scientific background I gained a lot of respect for them but you point out some fundamental flaws that are simply too great to ignore! I think polar should dramatically cut the cost of all their products before they lose the market to competitors and as you said.. in the background work on a bread and butter product for 2025 .. it’s not too late for them but time is definitely slipping away 🔥
Yeah! For the functional athletics athlete, the training metrics are sick. And trying them on the computer was cool too! Infact on a desktop it all looked pretty fresh and well designed.. it’s just the app software and watch software now that need a revamp
@@ActiveIdeas I love an underdog story. We got that with Suunto. Let's all hope that happens with Polar. I would love nothing more then to be able to buy one again. For long-term training it's unbeatable. But as it stands at the moment, there's not a solid reason to from me. Unrelated but I was going through all the platforms and their features. It's interesting just how far some have come in 2024. Just maybe theirs a hint of a video there. Or maybe they all just do the same thing now and you just have to pick your flavour. Not so much Polar unfortunately. It's becoming a specific use case thing I feel.
@ that’s a cool idea for a video actually! Not sure how many people will enjoy it though other than hardcore fans like us 🙈 But yeah, 2024 has been a great year for sports watches actually! Doesn’t matter what brand you like, we all got something. Haha, I love an underdog story too, let’s watch this space!
Hey my friend! I think between these two watches I’d get the Polar M3. It has lots more features and amazing battery life 🔥 the phone application is a million times better with Coros though :/
Does anyone know anybody with a Polar watch? When I’m out running I’ll usually ask any runner I come across what watch they use and it’s always garmin once or twice it’s been Coros or Suunto but never ever Polar.
Hahaha 😝 Where are you from James? Polar are pretty popular in the UK with people in their 40’s and older. But yeah.. Garmin/Suunto/Coros are killing it at the moment. The question is.. hope king can all of these companies hold off Apple 😬😬
@@ActiveIdeas ha I’m up in Nottinghamshire I’m 41 😃, they are popular? I thought It went 1. Garmin/2. Suunto or Coros and Polar in last when it came to popularity?
@@jamesmc0716 oh sick!! 🔥 Yeah man, maybe it’s just better I’m from, & also spending time at uni all of the kit was made (validity & reliability tested) by Polar.. so anyone with a scientific background or who’s into triathlon.. wouldn’t surprise me if they chose Polar
@ yes from what I’ve read they have all the science experience but their watches over the last few years have definitely suffered. Also from a software point of view Polar have like 1 updates year and it’s caused them To fall behind on basic features that the rest have had for sometime.
That was really helpful video, especially comparing the mapping features against the others. One thing I want to call out though is, Polar uses magnetometer compass, whereas the others uses GPS digital compass with gyroscope sensors, and that may explain what you’re experiencing in the video, it is not advised to test the magnetometer compass right next to the digital watches that probably have a magnetic fields around it…
@@whybi the Suunto has a magnetometer compass too but with the additional gyro assisted technology.. would be cool to see Polar improve this technology (coding/algorithm), it’s not good if this is a hardware limitation because it’s miles behind the competition. But I feel like polar can do loads to improve the experience on the current watches which is good news 🔥 Tbh.. even when I’ve tested the polar compass on my opposite wrist with no magnetic interference, it’s still slow & cumbersome at the moment 🌟 Thanks for the comment! ❤️
The Suunto Race S is such a pleasure to use for navigation, the map is so responsive and easy to see that even in the context of a race in the trails you can clearly see where you have to go. Fenix here is also king with the ability to create routes on the watch and offline, with PDI, road and streets... In my recent visit to Rome I used the navigation to move around the city, find fountains to refill our bottles 😃 and so on.
@@iggalan love this! I also love what Garmin & Suunto are doing in the maps & navigation space 😍
Really like your real world usage with navigation videos. No one else is really doing that! If you want routeable maps Garmin's the only player in town though, a big shame.
I moved to the AW Ultra 2 with Workoutdoors the mapping experience massively exceeds anything I've had from my Forerunner 955. With the exception of on device routing though. But with Locus Map's I get offline routing on my phone that I can then push the GPX to the AW. I've also had tons of bad experiences with random Garmin routes I did on my watch - one time it took my wife & I through a snow shoeing trail in the summer, was more of a rock climbing expedition & my wife still has a neck injury from it 2 years ago!
Mate! This is such a lovely comment, thankyou! I definitely pride myself in having “real-world” reviews ❤️
I neeeed to try out the AW Ultra 2! It’s too expensive for me to test that AND Garmin at the same time haha! But I’d love to see how work outdoors has improved over the years.. sounds really good from what you’ve said! Sorry to hear about tour bad experiences with Garmin’s routing, hope your wife eventually makes a full recovery 👊🏽❤️
@@ActiveIdeas I got my AWU 2 from CEX, was quite cheap & A grade is good battery condition!
Hellll yeah, let's go!
I've got a Grit X Pro v1. It has the same compass calibration process. It definitely can be done when wearing the watch, but it is really a PITA. Out on a trail run, stop for a drink for one minute, spend three minute re-calibrating the compass before you continue. I'm really disappointed to see that this is still an issue on the latest generation of Polars. I don't know what those Polar software engineers are smoking, but it must be good stuff.
There is no problem with starting a route at a random point once to course is selected, make sure you decide whether you are going the plotted direction or the reverse direction, click start and it will count down your distance from the course when you arrive on course it will tell you and you follow it from there.
@@steveforde7475 hahaha, definitely the good stuff 🤣 A shame to hear it’s been like that since v1. Yeah, it takes excessively long to calibrate, definitely considering the competition takes 2 seconds maximum (and rarely ever asks you to calibrate anyway) 🙈
I have the Grit X Pro as well, and I can do the calibration process in less than a minute while mounted on my bike and having the watch on my wrist; in fact, out of curiosity I just tried it with a stop watch while sitting in front of my desktop, and it took me 29 seconds while having my watch on my wrist, and 15 seconds while holding the watch on my hands 😅
Whereas I agree the process is overkill compared to the competition, I think you are exaggerating a little bit on the time it takes and its frequency. If you do not wish to calibrate, you can cancel the request by pressing the back button, I have done it in the past while doing some hiking and at least from what I have experienced it does not need to be calibrated that often.
Great to see the actual process of compass calibration. I thought it was bad with my older Vantage V, but this looks awful - I hope they quickly rectify this. I really want to stay with Polar. It would be nice if you could see the current time when on the map screen too.
Yeah! With Suunto, Garmin & Coros you rarely have to calibrate and when you eventually do.. it takes 2 seconds .. but the Polar calibration is abit of a joke at the moment hahaha. Yeah that’s a cool suggestion actually time+maps! Cheers for the comment mate ❤️
It doesn't take that much as they are making it look like, but it can always be faster, hopefully they will change the algorithm in the future. I did the test while watching this video with my Grit X Pro (I think it is the same type of compass) and calibrating with the watch on my wrist took me 29 seconds and with the watch on my hands it took me 15 seconds. Not as fast as flicking it twice, but certainly not as painful as intended to be in the video.
@@Asthbendriel Corr, I don’t know.. maybe I’m impatient but 29 seconds doing it as fast as you can sounds pretty painful to me 🤣❤️ I agree though.. hopefully Polar improve this 👊🏽
@@ActiveIdeas I never said I did it as fast as I can, I just used the stop watch to see how much time would it take me in average to do it because there are mentions of taking minutes to do so and I usually calibrate my compass before leaving and I had the impression it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, that long 😅
@@Asthbendriel well if that’s your average it’s still absolutely terrible compared to the competition 👍🏽 I’m sure Polar will improve this though ❤️
Nice review, can you do a comparison with Polar Vantage V3?
@@вованчикс if polar send me one I will compare the two.. I can’t afford to buy every watch released by every company unfortunately 🙈🙈 Tbh though.. all the software is the same on the M3, V3 and Grit X2 Pro.. so besides design and battery life you’re better in every way saving money and getting the more value for money M3!
Hope this helps
in first quarter in update will be POI's in watches . And you can navigate direct from watches. Great future function i guess. But i hope, that Suunto will be get the same and Strength training... Coros will be improve maps where you will see name of streets, objects and more. 2025 will be interesting )) And DC Rainmaker said something about suprise in december (4th) Will see))
As MKBHD famously says.. buy a product on what it is TODAY, not on what a company ‘promises’ you in the future. So Q1 POI updates are great but.. it’s too long away bearing in mind the watch was already released a week ago. Ooo that sounds exciting, where did you hear about the December 4th release.. DC’s podcast or? 🙈
@@ActiveIdeas podcast DC and other blogger , forgot who)) so i'm, sure you know)
you're right , but i really want this 2 features in Suunto, at least strength training...
Suunto’s so close to dominating, would be cool if they added a proper strength training protocol/interface as well as an integrated LED flashlight
@@ActiveIdeasI would love a watch with the aesthetics of Suunto but the software of Garmin.
I love how Suunto watches look but I’m really not a big fan of their app I find their metrics are confusing to read compared to Garmins “training” tab on their watches.
Also recovery on Suunto for some reason is buried deep in the watch.
Suunto also need to stop cheaping out on the OHR sensor.
@@jamesmc0716 their new Race S HR sensor is actually fantastic! But yeah, I feel you.. would be cool to see Suunto add more software features as they’re killing it with hardware right now! 🔥
I think the main thing your viseo points out is that Polar is simply behind. Its pretty far behind as well. The M3 certainly has some great features even in navigation, but theres just not enough here to choose it over the Garmin or the Suunto. And the tragedy is, i dont know that Polar will ever catch up with how hard Garmin pushes yearly, but also Suunto now. Suunto really have crossed a threshold. If you must have Polar for whatever reason like web training tools etc, then the M3 is clearly the one. But if you want an all in one solution to mapping, its still Suunto and Garmin. Ive got both the Race and Vertical ( Dont ask why ), but unless your a triathlon bad boy or workout/runner, nobody can recommend Polar over other brands for outdoors. That software is basic at best, and will take a long time to get into shape. You can just go and buy a watch now slightly cheaper that can do it all now. Polar is in a very weird place for sure. They need a bread and butter product. I dont think the M3, pro x2 or v3 is it. Old half baked software with ony a few redeeming features on over priced hardware. There you go is said it. Thats from a person who used Polar for nearly 15yrs.
And just for context, all my friends who train/run are either established route runners, track runners or just workout based. In that scenario with with training programs, I will admit, you will struggle to beat polar even with it's stale watch and app UI. The insights into your training are top notch. But outside of that, it's just not good for the money.
@@blackhawk69100 hahaha, I feel you! I want to love Polar.. through my scientific background I gained a lot of respect for them but you point out some fundamental flaws that are simply too great to ignore! I think polar should dramatically cut the cost of all their products before they lose the market to competitors and as you said.. in the background work on a bread and butter product for 2025 .. it’s not too late for them but time is definitely slipping away 🔥
Yeah! For the functional athletics athlete, the training metrics are sick. And trying them on the computer was cool too! Infact on a desktop it all looked pretty fresh and well designed.. it’s just the app software and watch software now that need a revamp
@@ActiveIdeas I love an underdog story. We got that with Suunto. Let's all hope that happens with Polar. I would love nothing more then to be able to buy one again. For long-term training it's unbeatable. But as it stands at the moment, there's not a solid reason to from me. Unrelated but I was going through all the platforms and their features. It's interesting just how far some have come in 2024. Just maybe theirs a hint of a video there. Or maybe they all just do the same thing now and you just have to pick your flavour. Not so much Polar unfortunately. It's becoming a specific use case thing I feel.
@ that’s a cool idea for a video actually! Not sure how many people will enjoy it though other than hardcore fans like us 🙈 But yeah, 2024 has been a great year for sports watches actually! Doesn’t matter what brand you like, we all got something. Haha, I love an underdog story too, let’s watch this space!
11:12 to SKIP to the spicy Hiking Demo! What are your thoughts on this?! Have Polar done enough?
Danke für das interessante Video. Ich schwanken zwischen der coros pca pro und der polar. Was würdest du empfehlen.
Hey my friend! I think between these two watches I’d get the Polar M3. It has lots more features and amazing battery life 🔥 the phone application is a million times better with Coros though :/
@ActiveIdeas OK, my friend has it and has to recalibrate the compass for every tour. Is it the same for you
@@dirkheinrich2713 yes, you have to recalibrate quite often in Polar from what I’ve experienced so far! 😬🙈
@ActiveIdeas thank you have a nice day 👍🥳
@dirkheinrich2713 have a lovely day too mate 👊🏽
Does anyone know anybody with a Polar watch?
When I’m out running I’ll usually ask any runner I come across what watch they use and it’s always garmin once or twice it’s been Coros or Suunto but never ever Polar.
Hahaha 😝 Where are you from James? Polar are pretty popular in the UK with people in their 40’s and older. But yeah.. Garmin/Suunto/Coros are killing it at the moment.
The question is.. hope king can all of these companies hold off Apple 😬😬
@@ActiveIdeas ha I’m up in Nottinghamshire I’m 41 😃, they are popular?
I thought It went 1. Garmin/2. Suunto or Coros and Polar in last when it came to popularity?
@@jamesmc0716 oh sick!! 🔥
Yeah man, maybe it’s just better I’m from, & also spending time at uni all of the kit was made (validity & reliability tested) by Polar.. so anyone with a scientific background or who’s into triathlon.. wouldn’t surprise me if they chose Polar
@ yes from what I’ve read they have all the science experience but their watches over the last few years have definitely suffered.
Also from a software point of view Polar have like 1 updates year and it’s caused them
To fall behind on basic features that the rest have had for sometime.
IMO Polar's interface isn't great. Looks very old)
IMO, I completely agree with you 🙈🤣