ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Polar Grit X2 Pro is on the market for $749 or for $869 when you purchase the Titanium variant.
- The rugged design, vibrant OLED show, correct GPS monitoring, highly effective Polar Circulate coaching options, and lengthy battery life make the watch a winner for athletes.
- It’s costly in comparison with opponents, the Bluetooth connection is inconsistent, and the consumer interface wants a bit of labor.
GPS sports activities watches are superior wearables, as folks paying greater than $500 for a watch are on the lookout for greater than a pedometer. That mentioned, strolling is without doubt one of the most elementary types of train that’s accessible to most individuals, and the well being advantages of strolling can’t be neglected. My grandma walked two miles a day for my total life, and she or he lived to 100 with only a few well being points, all the time believing that strolling was a key issue for her longevity and high quality of life.
To check the pedometer performance of some gadgets, I lately wore the Polar Grit X2 Pro on one wrist, a Garmin Enduro 2 on the opposite with an Apple Watch Extremely 2 in hand, an Oura Ring on one hand, and an Amazfit Helio Ring on one other hand. I then walked for 5 periods, manually counting my steps out loud as a result of I’ve seen latest articles the place even easy pedometers fail, for a complete of 10,021 steps.
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The Polar Grit X2 Pro was the champion with a complete rely of 10,008 steps, adopted by the Apple Watch Extremely 2 (9,930), the Garmin Enduro 2 (9,887), the Oura Ring (9,761), and eventually the Helio Ring (9,530). It is encouraging to know that you may belief the Grit X2 Professional to offer an correct rely when actively strolling, however that is not the total story.
After waking up, preparing for work, after which driving to the prepare station, I observed that the Polar watch had already recorded greater than 1,260 steps at first of my day when the Garmin on my different wrist confirmed simply 240 steps. It then did extraordinarily nicely whereas I actively walked throughout my counting periods.
The appropriate facet of the Grit X3 Professional (prime) and Vantage V3 (backside)
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
The Polar Grit X2 Pro additionally confirmed the most important improve in step rely after I was simply sitting at my desk working in between my strolling periods. Polar could also be changing non-step actions into steps, so whereas this can be very correct for particular strolling periods, remember that your each day rely of steps shall be overestimated.
I wore the Garmin Enduro 2, Oura Ring Gen 3, and Polar Grit X2 Professional for a busy morning with errands and yard work. The Enduro 2 confirmed 5,814 steps, the Oura Ring confirmed 6,473 steps, and the Grit X2 Professional had me at 12,134 steps. Certainly, it is best to use the Grit X2 Professional for particular exercise monitoring and never as an total each day step counter.
The Polar Grit X2 Professional is sort of the identical watch because the Polar Vantage V3 with the identical inner specs, coronary heart charge sensor, and consumer interface. The Vantage V3 suffered from some coronary heart charge sensor inaccuracies at launch, so when Polar launched the Grit X2 Professional, the corporate launched an replace to repair coronary heart charge efficiency accuracy and reliability. Coronary heart charge monitoring apart, the surface case design is the most important differentiator right here, together with some GPS antenna tweaks optimized for the case design.
The Grit X2 Professional is constructed for outside adventurists with the primary ever Polar MIL-STD-810H certification that additionally has a 100-meter water resistant score, in comparison with 50 m for the Vantage V3. I personally want the rugged attractiveness of the Grit X2 Professional, however I am not satisfied these attractiveness are well worth the $150 value distinction. The Titan model with the titanium case, as an alternative of stainless-steel, and the extra leather-based band can be good to have, however that’s one other $120 over the Grit X2’s $749.95 value level.
In case you are shopping for a Polar watch, then you might be shopping for it for sports activities and exercise monitoring, areas through which it excels. The Polar Circulate web site is unbelievable, and the smartphone software has been improved over the previous couple of years.
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Whereas Garmin and Coros even have helpful web sites, the Polar Circulate customization and particulars are the gold normal. I really like spending time viewing my coaching, exercise, operating index, and cardio load reviews to verify my progress and encourage me to do higher. The free customizable coaching applications are additionally excellent for runners like me.
Since I reside on a hill and each single run contains hills, I really like the Hill Splitter performance and the way the hills and my efficiency on them is proven with none required setup on my facet. Different watches require a path to be entered for hill monitoring, however Polar makes use of GPS to detect uphill and downhill terrain. Polar was additionally the primary to launch with operating energy on the wrist, and it continues to make use of this metric in its applications.
The left facet of the Grit X3 Professional (prime) and Vantage V3 (backside)
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
As a lot as I really like the Polar Grit X2 Professional and the Vantage V3 for the unimaginable Polar Circulate software and web site that helps you enhance your efficiency, there are just a few small issues that annoy me so typically I’ve a tough time sticking with a Polar look ahead to lengthy.
Listed below are some examples. Urgent the bottom-left button brings you to a bit of the watch with choices corresponding to Begin coaching, Strava Dwell segments, Settings, and extra. You may press the highest and bottom-right buttons to maneuver up or down the record of choices with an infinite scrolling method in order that once you get to the highest or backside of the record, the UI robotically strikes by means of the record once more.
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Say you then select Settings, center button press or a faucet on the show. If you end up in Settings, checks, or Strava Dwell, you now have a unique expertise the place the choices cease on the prime and backside so you must press repeatedly to get again to the opposite finish of the record. It isn’t an important UX.
I additionally discovered that I commonly, each two to 3 days, need to restart the watch so as to get it to sync by way of Bluetooth to my iPhone. No different wearable I exploit has a lot hassle syncing reliably to my iPhone. I am unsure if it’s the older Bluetooth 5.1 radio or a Polar software program subject that hangs up syncing, however it’s an annoyance.
The Grit X Titan, Grit X2 Professional, and Vantage V3
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
Generally the Polar Grit X2 Professional misses an evening of sleep monitoring, which then impacts restoration and different steering within the Polar ecosystem. You may barely modify the sleep interval of an evening, however you can’t add missed days.
One other frustration is the common requirement to calibrate the compass. Most watches require that you simply make determine eight arm rotations often for compass calibration, however on the Grit X2 Professional you must transfer a ball round on the show utilizing critical arm gymnastics. Not solely have I seen calibration fail just a few occasions, however calibration is required each few days. I just like the map/compass dwelling display widget, however stopped utilizing it because of the calibration requirement.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Polar Grit X2 Pro is clearly Polar’s finest GPS sports activities watch, particularly when you go along with the Titan mannequin that has that pretty leather-based band included within the package deal. GPS positioning is correct, coronary heart charge monitoring is constant in most conditions, and the included functionality of Polar Circulate is hard to beat.
Provided that the Vantage V3 gives the identical experiences for $150 much less, it is powerful to justify the Grit X2 Professional only for its rugged attractiveness. I might additionally prefer to see Polar spend a while on the watch consumer interface to enhance the consistency and usefulness.
Polar’s Grit X2 Pro is the corporate’s finest sports activities watch. In case you are on the lookout for assist with coaching applications and monitoring your actions so as to enhance your well being and wellness, then this watch is a compelling possibility. The colourful OLED show and rugged design look unbelievable, and the battery will final you a minimum of per week, even with common coaching periods and sleep monitoring each night time.