POLAR Vantage M –Advanced Running & Multisport Watch with GPS and Wrist-Based Heart Rate (Lightweight Design & Latest Technology), Black, M-L

The Polar Vantage M is a dream watch.To properly review this product, I think it's valuable to illustrate what motivated the purchase in the first place. I'm a personal trainer of 16 years. All throughout my career, I've been a strength and conditioning coach, corrective training expert, performance trainer, and so on. The one thing I was never much of an authority on was cardio. I'm full of type-2 muscle fibers and generally consider cardio torture.One day, I woke up, feeling malcontent and disturbed by my lack of fulfillment from the last 16 years of adulthood. Long story made short, I decide I want to become a Pararescue (PJ). The trouble with this ambition is that I lack competency in cardiovascular exercises.A friend of mine introduced me to the Maffetone Method. It sounded good, but I needed a reliable means to measure my heart rate.After researching a ton of products, the Polar Vantage line seemed like the most appropriate (particularly for the ZoneLock feature). I've used it for my zone training, pool, sleep monitoring, and more--this watch delivers!I'm thoroughly pleased by the format, accuracy and presentation of the watch's monitoring. The sleep feature has been fantastic. I used it to compare 4 different pillows and determine which one promoted the longest REM sleep. The swimming measurements are outstanding. The watch is awesome!The software has room for improvement. I think the biggest issue is the separation of apps... Trying to determine when to use Polar Flow and Polar Beat is not inherently obvious. I do use the H10 sensor as well, and I can't tell when the two are working in concert. I'd love to see the two apps combined into one app and perhaps increase the transparency of the apps' operations. It's not something to lower the rating over, but it is the sticking point of this product.

I’m 55 and I great shape but I don’t consider myself a tech guy. I purchased this watch to help with lap times in motocross. I have found it very easy to use and intuitive. It tracks my trail runs amazingly, it does segment times on its own and shows me where and for how long my heart rate goes. I’m a contractor and knew I did a lot of walking at work usually carrying weight each and every trip. My Dr always blows it off when I tell him that my job is very physical, well it turns out that a typical day for me is about 20k steps…and that before I hit the gym if I have energy!! Can’t wait to show him. I don’t like wearing my watch to sleep as I sleep pretty well. I’m very surprised how much I like this watch

I’ve had quite a few smart watches with everything on from Garmin to Samsung etc. I loved garmin but wanted a change so I got a Samsung , too many bells and whistles and battery life was terrible, had to charge it everyday and phone ap was awful . I bought a vantage M , I workout about 2 -3 hours a day and walk and use the gps and only charge it 2 times a week which is great . The screens not bright but it’s good and you can see it no problem . The accuracy of the HR matches up with my H10 and tracks my sleep Pretty spot on , if I don’t sleep right like over 4 hours it doesn’t track it . The polar ap is great as you can sync it to my Apple iPhone or the computer and see it through the web which is great it gives you all your health statistics . I’m really glad I picked just a sports watch to workout as I got kinda tired of smart watches and notifications and things that run your battery to death . Who needs different screen faces and gadgets to change songs or listen to them ? . Perfect for what I need to track my lifestyle

I have been using this watch for over a year. It follows my heart rate well. My primary exercise is indoor rowing and therefore it can't measure much else. It also now follows my sleep reasonable well, except that it cannot account for waking up and then going to sleep again. It only counts the first sleep cycle. The battery lasts for 4-5 days on a charge. The charger fits onto the watch and I would prefer a more stable locking mechanism. It often falls off before I completed a charge. It now syncs with my iPhone much better than it did with previous firmware.Most importantly, the first thing you should do is buy a 22 mm velcro strap to replace the supplied strap. It is much more comfortable and easier to get a consistent heart rate. The replacement strap costs about $8 and it is very easy to swap out the straps (about 30 seconds).

This is the watch I have been waiting for! I have been a runner/walker/bike rider/swimmer for almost 40 years and have used a LOT of sports watches, including Polars, and in recent years, GPS apps and watches; but they all had some problem. Either battery life was too short, or it didn't use GPS or only did one sport well or needed a special adaptor, etc. This does it all and does it well! I got this one because of its reported battery life and battery life is truly phenomenal (I used it and it's GPS for a marathon, going 26 miles over 10 hours and only used 33 percent of battery!). Push-button easy to switch between different sport modes (walking, running, bicycling, swimming, multisport and tri, indoor workout, etc.), easy to customize the screens to give me the stats I want to see for each; and syncing with the app and recharging couldn't be easier! And the GPS is reliably accurate (before trusting it, I tested/compared it with my other GPS watch and apps over a known distance, and the Vantage M was the closest).