Just bought polar ignite little over a month ago. And I waited over a year before I bought it. I am not that surprised that they released something new, because I was kind of waiting it, but when nothing happened, I just bought one. Although, these features doesn't seem to add much. I agree that this shouldn't be a new watch. Why would someone buy this if they already have ignite? They did not fix the problems original Ignite has, but just made some new features. They should have made more options to select which notifications the watch gives you while you are training. Training related and message/phone call related.
Thanks for sharing. Yeah, I feel like I'd be a little upset if I recently bought an ignite unless it was discounted. It would be nice to see some features rolled into the Ignite 1's firmware. Thanks for watching!
I asked Polar about any firmware update to Ignite1 (I have that for more than a year). They said No! I'm very disappointed. Clearly it's greed on Polar's part. They are foolish too. Ignite1 users will not buy Ignite2 because it's not a major upgrade. They will not be losing users like us as prospective Ignite2 buyers. So why not keep us happy and loyal by having a firmware update to give us at least some of the new features? It's not a problem at all from a technical perspective.
Thanks for this review, especially the comment on how you can’t get notifications from your phone during an activity. I was considering replacing my ancient and now nonfunctional Garmin Forerunner with a Polar, but this is a dealbreaker.
I have Ignite 1 and just lost a charging cable for it. To be honest I was expecting a little more from Polar, at least good sensor. Yet, I have had problems with it, sometimes it just reads the pulse really bad, no matter how you place the sensor and how well you wipe contact surfaces (wiping sensor/hand/repositioning/placing it on inner side of the arm/switching hands). It happened more often when my weigt was too excessive (32% body fat vs 23% now) but still tends to occur - it really sucks when you do weight lifting or cardio training, you are half way done and you see your HR in grey zone around 85bpm while you have to hyperventilate. Calories are also strange, they go like crazy, especially that Ignite does not recognize activities well. My old Garmin VivoSmart HR band (2016) was able to detect when I drove forklift at work or car in the traffic. Polar counts all driving as steps and when I was driving reachtruck daily (watch on right hand which operates fork - not moving at all) I was doing 13000 steps at 10am and up to 30000 steps during work day. Sitting. For more accuracy I had to take Ignite down into my pocket while still using VivoActive :D Situation got better since I no longer drive machines but still I drive the car. Connectivity is also crap, sometimes Ignite does not want to connect at all, sometimes it synchronizes automatically way too often. Synchronization itself takes ages (sometimes up to 5 minutes) even if it has to update only short period of around 1-2 hours. Screen is poor in terms of sensivity, sometimes it makes problems to navigate it with sweaty hands during training. Now I consider something new but I guess I am back to Garmin - maybe Venu 2?
Thank you , dear, sir, for this fine review! I really needed your perspective and your thoughts of this smartwatch, I am about to purchase this model (having the previous model) Wishing you all the best! Best Regards from Sweden
Just ordered the first ignite watch two days ago and then saw this update. Took me years to finally be in a position to spoil myself with a fitness watch and so much time to choose...now I just really hope polar will be understanding and let me upgrade 😭
Both this and the Vantage M2 have the old OHR monitors. That is disappointing. I had the Ignite 1 and could not see it at all in direct sunlight. Polar has to do better than this.
It would have been nice to see the update HR sensor in these. I think that hardware change alone would at least show that there's been some physical changes. Part of me understands why they refreshed these models to make them more relevant though.
To be honest, after a few months in the market now, I've seen no big changes in HR accuracy, and for some people, Precision Prime 1.0 is actually better, so I don't mind it that much, as wrist HRM is not perfect anyway no matter which sensor we're talking about. The only almost-black-magic one is the Apple Watch from what I've seen, but it's so ecosystem-locked and so restrictive with battery life it's not even worth it in many cases.
Many thanks for the review, it was very useful. May I ask you, what would be your choice between the Polar Ignite 2 and Garmin Vivoactive 4? Thanks in advance.
That depends what's more important to you. The Garmin is a bit "smarter" with more phone integration and has optional offline music storage on the watch. The Polar is better for wellness / sleep tracking. The choice is yours!
Nice Review, Thanks! Does the Ingite 2 have the the Cardio Load Screen which as the Grit-X has? If not, is there any other screen showing the increasing/declining performance level directly on the watch? Thanks!
So on my Ignite 2 (which is beta) I do not have "Training Load Pro" which is the screen that displays your fitness increase/decrease. However, in the marketing material I was given it states that the Ignite 2 WILL have training load pro. So I'm not sure what's going on here but I'm hopefull it will get it when it's available.
@@ChaseTheSummit Got feedback from support. It will show the TRIMP value after a session but not the Cardio Load Screen. Only in Polar flow. Very sad :/
From my experience with Polar watches (over the past 7 years), historically Polar updates features with new hardware. Software updates with Polar watches are for bug fixes and performance enhancements only, No New Features. The Polar a360 cannot have the same features as the a370 with a software update, even though they are identical watches (externally). Likewise, the same is true with the Polar Ignite and Ignite 2. When you purchase a Polar watch, the features listed are the ONLY features the watch will ever have. All new feature upgrades are with new watches. That's Polar. Thanks for the review RL
I've noticed the trend as well. Fortunately Polar is actually going to add Weekly Summary, HR sensor mode, and Music Controls to the Grit X. And also HR sensor mode to the Vantage V2 so it seems like they may be changing their tune!
Garmin will add features to 1 generation old devices. For instance the 945 gets updates that the Fenix 6 gets. But once a 955 (or whatever) comes out the 945 won't receive new features. Coros does a great job with this. They send firmware to all of their devices as long as the hardware can support it!
They're pretty different. The Pace 2 is more of a dedicated sports watch where the Ignite 2 tries to be more of a smartwatch. Pace 2 offers more battery life, proper triathlon/multisport mode, power meter support, etc... while the Ignite 2 offers a vibrant display. They're both great just for different purposes.
I am looking for a watch that is more focused on the gym and strength training. Would you recommend this watch or something like theGarmin Forerunner 245?
Both would do the job. The Polar Ignite 2 is great at tracking wellness related stuff. The Forerunner 245 is a better running watch as it has a transflective display and better battery life. Hope that helps!
I think they're quite similar. The main difference is that the Vantage M2 has a proper triathlon mode while the ignite 2 does not. Ignite has a bright vibrant display, while the Vantage M2 has a transflective dull display. Hope that helps!
Bringing out new devices and abandon the old ones seems to be polars policy. Same goes for the Vantage V and V2. Interesstingly they are not reducing prices for the outsmartend V. Neither do they offer any real updates for the V1.
Polar is releasing a firmware update to the Grit X to include some of these new features which is a good sign. Hopefully they do the same for the M and original Ignite.
To be honest this is more like refreshed version for the ones buying the first watch, not for the ones who already own one. Probably V3 is gonna be the switch for the ones who already have a V1.
It appears to be better. I think they're using the same Sony GPS chipset that most of the watches on the market are using now. That's to say it's better but not perfect. Hope that helps.
I just received the Ignite 1 a couple days ago (I did get a 30% discount when purchasing). In your opinion would it be worth it to return and wait for the ignite 2 to come out? Or should I keep the ignite 1? I have a garmin I use to track my runs and will only be using the ignite to track my les mills classes.
Not sure if those features are worth giving up the discount. Thank you for responding. Even without the HR broadcasting, if I wear a HR chest strap the ignite 1 would still track my HR, correct? Just not cast it to other devices?
I had the Ignite v1, but the GPS is terrible compared to my Garmin 645, but both are worse than my 735xt!!! Looking at your video, looks like the same GPS issue is still there. A shame, cos I really like Polar Flow and how they show your information, but the GPS isn't at all good.
I'll need more testing with the ignite 2 before I make a conclusion. This is a beta unit so it's not what will ship. There's still a month before the ignite 2 will become available... things might change! I'll be sure to make a follow up video if they do.
I can't stand that flat tire display and that gaudy logo. It is 2021 and Polar still can't figure out not to do that and rid the darn huge ass logo on the front which is why I'll stick with Garmin.
Sharing HR with other devices is pointless, as Polar Ignite by itself is inaccurate with HR measurement and unless you have got H10 strap, you cannot rely on it, so all changes in a new Polar Ignite 2 do not seem to have any relevant value
For sure. Wrist based sensors aren't perfect. However, sharing the HR with your treadmill or at a gym can be handy if you are zone training. Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit I 've used Polar Ignite for one year and I can say it works fine but only if you have H10 for any training. Instead of adding unnecesarry functions Polar should have implemented more cardio-rest features even like Polar v650 has, which unforunately they stopped selling. th-cam.com/video/gkHoBw8zJ3k/w-d-xo.html
So basically they could update software for all watches for all happy customers but they release 2 basically pointless watches... also music control is completely useless as even basic earbuds, headphones can control music, volume, etc ... not excited at all
Part of me understands why they released new devices to drive sales and "refresh" the models. I guess I just wish there were some new features or hardware changes that would make this a clear upgrade over the original Ignite. Even if they just added the new Precision Prime 2.0 HR sensor I think that would make this watch more exciting.
Good news, the Grit X is going to receive a firmware update with all of these new features including HR sensor mode, music controls, and weekly summary.
We'll see what the future brings. This is a pretty solid update for an affordable watch. $200 doesn't get you much in Garmin's Ecosystem but that COROS Pace 2 is certainly pretty sweet at the price.
Had the first Ignite in my cart when this dropped haha
Time to swap it out for the Ignite 2!
2 reviews in one day; busy man! Good stuff!
It was a stretch!
NOTE: Latest software upgrade have brought these customization options to Unites as well! Thank you Polar!! ☺
That's great news!
Aha! I guessed right, it was a new Polar that you're testing in the last video... Thanks, looking forward to this.
Haha good guess!
Just bought polar ignite little over a month ago. And I waited over a year before I bought it. I am not that surprised that they released something new, because I was kind of waiting it, but when nothing happened, I just bought one. Although, these features doesn't seem to add much. I agree that this shouldn't be a new watch. Why would someone buy this if they already have ignite? They did not fix the problems original Ignite has, but just made some new features. They should have made more options to select which notifications the watch gives you while you are training. Training related and message/phone call related.
Thanks for sharing. Yeah, I feel like I'd be a little upset if I recently bought an ignite unless it was discounted. It would be nice to see some features rolled into the Ignite 1's firmware. Thanks for watching!
I asked Polar about any firmware update to Ignite1 (I have that for more than a year). They said No! I'm very disappointed. Clearly it's greed on Polar's part. They are foolish too. Ignite1 users will not buy Ignite2 because it's not a major upgrade. They will not be losing users like us as prospective Ignite2 buyers. So why not keep us happy and loyal by having a firmware update to give us at least some of the new features? It's not a problem at all from a technical perspective.
I had a recent software upgrade that brought some of these features to my old Unite. Try updating yours and see if they did the same for the Ignite 1.
Thanks for this review, especially the comment on how you can’t get notifications from your phone during an activity. I was considering replacing my ancient and now nonfunctional Garmin Forerunner with a Polar, but this is a dealbreaker.
It's such a weird limitation. I'd love to see them change this.
I have Ignite 1 and just lost a charging cable for it. To be honest I was expecting a little more from Polar, at least good sensor. Yet, I have had problems with it, sometimes it just reads the pulse really bad, no matter how you place the sensor and how well you wipe contact surfaces (wiping sensor/hand/repositioning/placing it on inner side of the arm/switching hands). It happened more often when my weigt was too excessive (32% body fat vs 23% now) but still tends to occur - it really sucks when you do weight lifting or cardio training, you are half way done and you see your HR in grey zone around 85bpm while you have to hyperventilate. Calories are also strange, they go like crazy, especially that Ignite does not recognize activities well. My old Garmin VivoSmart HR band (2016) was able to detect when I drove forklift at work or car in the traffic. Polar counts all driving as steps and when I was driving reachtruck daily (watch on right hand which operates fork - not moving at all) I was doing 13000 steps at 10am and up to 30000 steps during work day. Sitting. For more accuracy I had to take Ignite down into my pocket while still using VivoActive :D Situation got better since I no longer drive machines but still I drive the car.
Connectivity is also crap, sometimes Ignite does not want to connect at all, sometimes it synchronizes automatically way too often. Synchronization itself takes ages (sometimes up to 5 minutes) even if it has to update only short period of around 1-2 hours.
Screen is poor in terms of sensivity, sometimes it makes problems to navigate it with sweaty hands during training.
Now I consider something new but I guess I am back to Garmin - maybe Venu 2?
Thank you , dear, sir, for this fine review! I really needed your perspective and your thoughts of this smartwatch, I am about to purchase this model (having the previous model) Wishing you all the best! Best Regards from Sweden
Do you need your phone with you to use GPS like runs and other activities?
Nice video Dave, thanks .
Thanks G Edd! You're always early with the comments!
Just ordered the first ignite watch two days ago and then saw this update. Took me years to finally be in a position to spoil myself with a fitness watch and so much time to choose...now I just really hope polar will be understanding and let me upgrade 😭
Fortunately you’re in the return period! I’d definitely swap out for the Ignite 2!
the screen looks great. is that because your lighting are great?
It's a super bright/vibrant screen similar to something like an Apple Watch or Garmin Venu. Definitely not my lighting helping it out!
Both this and the Vantage M2 have the old OHR monitors. That is disappointing. I had the Ignite 1 and could not see it at all in direct sunlight. Polar has to do better than this.
It would have been nice to see the update HR sensor in these. I think that hardware change alone would at least show that there's been some physical changes. Part of me understands why they refreshed these models to make them more relevant though.
To be honest, after a few months in the market now, I've seen no big changes in HR accuracy, and for some people, Precision Prime 1.0 is actually better, so I don't mind it that much, as wrist HRM is not perfect anyway no matter which sensor we're talking about. The only almost-black-magic one is the Apple Watch from what I've seen, but it's so ecosystem-locked and so restrictive with battery life it's not even worth it in many cases.
Nice video. Again 🌟
Thank you!
Many thanks for the review, it was very useful. May I ask you, what would be your choice between the Polar Ignite 2 and Garmin Vivoactive 4? Thanks in advance.
That depends what's more important to you. The Garmin is a bit "smarter" with more phone integration and has optional offline music storage on the watch. The Polar is better for wellness / sleep tracking. The choice is yours!
@@ChaseTheSummit Thanks a lot for your opinion!!! 😊😊
Nice Review, Thanks!
Does the Ingite 2 have the the Cardio Load Screen which as the Grit-X has?
If not, is there any other screen showing the increasing/declining performance level directly on the watch?
Thanks!
So on my Ignite 2 (which is beta) I do not have "Training Load Pro" which is the screen that displays your fitness increase/decrease. However, in the marketing material I was given it states that the Ignite 2 WILL have training load pro. So I'm not sure what's going on here but I'm hopefull it will get it when it's available.
@@ChaseTheSummit Got feedback from support. It will show the TRIMP value after a session but not the Cardio Load Screen. Only in Polar flow. Very sad :/
From my experience with Polar watches (over the past 7 years), historically Polar updates features with new hardware. Software updates with Polar watches are for bug fixes and performance enhancements only, No New Features. The Polar a360 cannot have the same features as the a370 with a software update, even though they are identical watches (externally). Likewise, the same is true with the Polar Ignite and Ignite 2. When you purchase a Polar watch, the features listed are the ONLY features the watch will ever have. All new feature upgrades are with new watches. That's Polar.
Thanks for the review
RL
I've noticed the trend as well. Fortunately Polar is actually going to add Weekly Summary, HR sensor mode, and Music Controls to the Grit X. And also HR sensor mode to the Vantage V2 so it seems like they may be changing their tune!
This holds true for garmin as well. The only company that doesn't do this garbage is Apple. That's the thing apple is good for
Garmin will add features to 1 generation old devices. For instance the 945 gets updates that the Fenix 6 gets. But once a 955 (or whatever) comes out the 945 won't receive new features. Coros does a great job with this. They send firmware to all of their devices as long as the hardware can support it!
That's why Polar watches have no value second hand.
just subbed. Would you recommend the Coros Pace 2 or the Polar Ignite 2. Coming off a garmin 245M which recently died.
They're pretty different. The Pace 2 is more of a dedicated sports watch where the Ignite 2 tries to be more of a smartwatch. Pace 2 offers more battery life, proper triathlon/multisport mode, power meter support, etc... while the Ignite 2 offers a vibrant display. They're both great just for different purposes.
@chase the summit, have you tried the latest firmware update for the ignite2?
I have, and I'll have more Ignite 2 coming soon!
Most confortable watch I own
I am looking for a watch that is more focused on the gym and strength training. Would you recommend this watch or something like theGarmin Forerunner 245?
Both would do the job. The Polar Ignite 2 is great at tracking wellness related stuff. The Forerunner 245 is a better running watch as it has a transflective display and better battery life. Hope that helps!
@@ChaseTheSummit It does. Thank you!
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for review! 😊 Is this as accurate as Vantage M2 in terms of fitness features like calories burned, gps, heart rate, steps etc?
I think they're quite similar. The main difference is that the Vantage M2 has a proper triathlon mode while the ignite 2 does not. Ignite has a bright vibrant display, while the Vantage M2 has a transflective dull display. Hope that helps!
Will you be doing a bit more testing on the HR accuracy?
Yup! This is just my experience so far after 5 runs. I’ll update with more once I have more time with them.
Do you need to carry your phone in your pocket to access de music??
Yes, there's no music storage on this watch. Only music controls.
Bringing out new devices and abandon the old ones seems to be polars policy. Same goes for the Vantage V and V2. Interesstingly they are not reducing prices for the outsmartend V. Neither do they offer any real updates for the V1.
Yes, very disappointing! Polar can easily give users of Vantage1 and Ignite1 a firmware update to incorporate at least some of the new features.
Polar is releasing a firmware update to the Grit X to include some of these new features which is a good sign. Hopefully they do the same for the M and original Ignite.
To be honest this is more like refreshed version for the ones buying the first watch, not for the ones who already own one. Probably V3 is gonna be the switch for the ones who already have a V1.
Weather widget looks useful, but I wish it had pay and find my phone. Even so, I prefer wearing my ignite to my garmin vivoactive
Thanks for sharing!
The Ignite 1 had a rather poor GPS accuracy. Has that been improved with the Ignite 2?
It appears to be better. I think they're using the same Sony GPS chipset that most of the watches on the market are using now. That's to say it's better but not perfect. Hope that helps.
I just received the Ignite 1 a couple days ago (I did get a 30% discount when purchasing). In your opinion would it be worth it to return and wait for the ignite 2 to come out? Or should I keep the ignite 1? I have a garmin I use to track my runs and will only be using the ignite to track my les mills classes.
It depends. 30% is a sizeable discount. Do you find a lot of value in the new features like HR broadcasting, weekly summary, and music controls?
Not sure if those features are worth giving up the discount. Thank you for responding. Even without the HR broadcasting, if I wear a HR chest strap the ignite 1 would still track my HR, correct? Just not cast it to other devices?
How is this comparing to the garmin venu sq music?
That would actually be an interesting video and I have a Venu SQ on hand. Stay tuned.
Do you think its worth waiting for the Garmin Venu 2 instead of going for this one?
That would depend on your budget .
Venu 2 is almost twice the price and has an AMOLED display compared to this watch which has LCD, a good quality one, but still LCD.
Is it stiil OK to buy the first one?
Sure! Just make sure you get a great deal on it!
I had the Ignite v1, but the GPS is terrible compared to my Garmin 645, but both are worse than my 735xt!!! Looking at your video, looks like the same GPS issue is still there. A shame, cos I really like Polar Flow and how they show your information, but the GPS isn't at all good.
I'll need more testing with the ignite 2 before I make a conclusion. This is a beta unit so it's not what will ship. There's still a month before the ignite 2 will become available... things might change! I'll be sure to make a follow up video if they do.
I can't stand that flat tire display and that gaudy logo. It is 2021 and Polar still can't figure out not to do that and rid the darn huge ass logo on the front which is why I'll stick with Garmin.
Thanks for sharing. In person the logo isn't that obtrusive but I do wish the display was actually round.
How do I find my calorie count as I'm working out?
You can add calories burned as a data field using the Polar Flow app to customize the sport profile.
So sad.. Hope Garmin will announce new stuff soon!
I'm sure they will. This is just the beginning of the season!
Flat tyre design in 2021?
🤷♂️
oh no, disappointment. Hoped the new watches would be from Garmin.
I'm sure it will come with time!
@@ChaseTheSummit I am so impatient 😬
Any chance of getting full review or you gave up? :D
There's more coming on the Ignite 2. Just so many other things to cover! Stay tuned.
Sharing HR with other devices is pointless, as Polar Ignite by itself is inaccurate with HR measurement and unless you have got H10 strap, you cannot rely on it, so all changes in a new Polar Ignite 2 do not seem to have any relevant value
For sure. Wrist based sensors aren't perfect. However, sharing the HR with your treadmill or at a gym can be handy if you are zone training. Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit I 've used Polar Ignite for one year and I can say it works fine but only if you have H10 for any training. Instead of adding unnecesarry functions Polar should have implemented more cardio-rest features even like Polar v650 has, which unforunately they stopped selling. th-cam.com/video/gkHoBw8zJ3k/w-d-xo.html
Nice tatoo... Do you speak Greek?
I don't speak the language. My mom was Greek and the tattoo is in her memory 👍
I just found my new smartwatch
So basically they could update software for all watches for all happy customers but they release 2 basically pointless watches... also music control is completely useless as even basic earbuds, headphones can control music, volume, etc ... not excited at all
Part of me understands why they released new devices to drive sales and "refresh" the models. I guess I just wish there were some new features or hardware changes that would make this a clear upgrade over the original Ignite. Even if they just added the new Precision Prime 2.0 HR sensor I think that would make this watch more exciting.
Still that same ancient "flat tyre" display with low resolution. Display manufacturer must have given these storage leftovers to Polar for free.
Love it or hate it... it's got a little flat tire. 🤷♂️
Another watch that has got more watch faces than GRIT X ...
Good news, the Grit X is going to receive a firmware update with all of these new features including HR sensor mode, music controls, and weekly summary.
Polar is becoming a boring training watch they need to compete with Garmin or else they will filed bankruptcy!!
We'll see what the future brings. This is a pretty solid update for an affordable watch. $200 doesn't get you much in Garmin's Ecosystem but that COROS Pace 2 is certainly pretty sweet at the price.