Polar V800 Doesn't Read Right Heart Rate
(Pocket-lint) - Polar has been scaling downwards the concrete size and improving the look of its GPS fitness watches throughout the last few production cycles. The latest V800 has competitor Garmin clearly fixed in its sights, with running, cycling, and swimming activities paired with built-in GPS and centre-charge per unit monitoring compatibility (via a chest strap).
Based on specification lone the Polar looks to be on the up. But with modern smartphones and activity trackers aplenty bachelor, has Polar managed to update this leading line enough to be competitive? We've been training with the Polar V800 over the last few months to find out.
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Design and build
The build quality of the V800 is hard to error. Information technology features metal buttons, a scratch-resistant glass screen and comfortable rubberised strap that feels spot-on for a sports watch. That said, the long face of the watch might not be bonny to everyone – although information technology does offer a big readout that'southward easy to come across during an activity.
The V800 is slim plenty to be worn all solar day and tin slip under a sleeve if needed. Information technology'south approaching subtle enough to pass for a normal digital sentinel, with just the red Start push to the side sticking out from the other silvery-colour ones. They're all textured so like shooting fish in a barrel to use with blank or gloved fingers.
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The watch comes pre-loaded with unlike metric screens like heart rate, laps or altitude and footstep. But we're fairly stunned that there's no selection to alter readout screens right there on the watch. The aforementioned applies to the abode screen which displays time, date, and your name (for whatever reason), but requires a physical tap for activity data to be displayed.
To view things like heart rate, altitude or stride on screen every bit y'all want them you'll need to setup your own information pages via the included Polar software (more details on that later). To setup data pages you'll need to spend a flake of fourth dimension deciding what you lot desire to see when out on an action. While this is slow initially it makes for a more personalised visual readout that'south invaluable when training.
On a run
Before heading out on a session you lot'll need to larn a GPS signal for tracking to exist agile. Connecting to GPS satellites varies by length of time, but on our first attempt information technology took under a minute. The V800 then learns its position in the earth and where the nearest satellites are likely to exist, then if you lot first an activity from that location again it tin can acquire the indicate faster, resulting in our choice-upwardly time reduced to nearly 30-seconds after longer utilize.
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Polar has congenital GPS into the V800 but has opted for a separate chest strap heart-rate monitor (included in the £399 60 minutes package, absent in the lookout man-only £349 parcel). At that place'due south no built-in optical heart-rate monitor to exist found here, which is an increasingly common feature in devices, such as the TomTom Multi-Sport Cardio. In that location might be an argument for improved battery life potential, but given communication has to occur between the chest strap and the device via Bluetooth we tin't see it beingness of a huge bear on.
The eye-charge per unit sensor strap can be used to train in certain zones for specific desired results. For example, if y'all desire to burn fat you tin set the watch to help keeping yous in that zone: a chirp and vibration will alert you when you've slipped outside the desired zone, allowing you to work harder or step off the gas to stay within that limit. While this is smashing you tin't set goals for things like step or cadence, information technology's restricted to time and distance but.
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If you desire however more information Polar also sells its Pace sensor (£59), which can be attached to running shoes. Speed and altitude are a given from the sentinel, but this sensor accompaniment will as well monitor cadence (i.e. footfall) to allow you know how much piece of work your legs are doing over a given distance. Ideal for improving technique to relieve free energy and increase output.
Triathletes: Cycle and swim
For cycling, other than strapping the V800 around a bicycle's handlebars, there isn't a specific attachment included. Wearing the device on a wrist makes it tricky to read data without taking one hand off the handlebars, and as in that location'due south no optical heart-rate sensor there's no reason to do this. The sentinel doesn't have full mapping simply there is a navigation mode where information technology will directly you using a screen arrow and distance measure.
The V800 comes with a built-in altimeter, useful for those who like a hill climb, while Bluetooth cadence and speed sensor compatibility (not included; £59 for both; £39 for cadency sensor only) makes for a fully-featured setup. For indoor training GPS is unlikely to work well, and then you would do good from creating a mode with GPS turned off and those sensors linked up.
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While Garmin offers its Vector engineering science to guess power at the pedals, Polar offers Await Keo Power Bluetooth pedals to compete. We've not used these, and given their £1,439 price tag doubt that many people - except for the ultra-serious - will ever get to dabble in such engineering science. The Keo setup sounds a lot pricier than the Garmin Vector equivalent, simply shop around and the price point should be nearer to £ane,100.
As the V800 is waterproof to 30-metres, it's also kitted out for swimming. Within this mode it's possible to measure fourth dimension, centre rate, distance and analyse strokes in the puddle using the SWOLF score. Before firmware versions of the V800 didn't offer such detailed metrics in this department, so you may crave a software update to get the most out of it.
In that location is also multi-sport mode for triathletes that allows multiple sport recordings to be linked together for easy recording while training. A elementary tap of the button that would unremarkably pause activity volition toggle over to the adjacent conditioning action.
Bombardment life
Longevity per charge is a fundamental feature in any fettle device, and the V800 performs well in this section. We went on five runs of at least 45 minutes each, used the watch daily for action tracking, and uploaded enough of data over Bluetooth via the associated app. Even later on this there was still about a quarter battery shown on the screen meter.
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According to Polar the V800 tin offer "up to 13 hours training time, l hours in GPS low-power fashion, 30 days in time mode with daily activity monitoring". Our real-world utilise establish that easily on par with those expectations, and on par with the likes of the Garmin Forerunner 920XT.
In short the battery shouldn't be an issue for most runners, cyclists and even triathletes. While transitional training will take longer, and therefore chew through more juice and mean more charges necessary, the Polar V800 will go along the bulk of users from having to recharge too often. It's a lot better than an Android Wear smartwatch.
Polar Menstruation software
While the Polar V800 watch face may exist limited its accompanying Polar Period app and browser software certainly isn't. The app connects easily, via Bluetooth, to iPhone or Android phones. Whenever y'all desire to sync a simple press and concur of the dorsum button does the play a joke on – plus data transfer is rapid.
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The Polar Period app not only lays out your sports training but besides displays your daily activity, from steps right through to slumber quality. To be honest wearing the V800 to bed feels likewise large and cumbersome, but the app supports Polar's other wearables, and then it's expert to take it available in the wider context.
In that location are plenty of training options as well. You tin can create a workout with sections - like sprint, rest, cadence goals - and and so repeat them for an interval conditioning. This repetition option makes information technology nice and easy to setup, while adding workouts to favourites for quick access is equally simple. Another helpful offering is Race Pace Target where you lot enter the distance and time you want and information technology will automatically assist in keeping yous at the correct pace.
Pairing is pretty elementary with data sent from the watch to telephone, or via a USB cablevision to computer and and then to Polar Menstruation. Even so, there isn't any option to practice so over Wi-Fi directly like some of the contest offers. There'south as well no built-in option to export information over to other apps, and so yous're tied to Polar and its community of global users (unless exporting GPX data manually and then uploading the file to a tertiary-party manually, if you can be bothered).
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While the Garmin ForeRunner 920XT has embraced app notifications to make keeping in contact while training easier - a smart survival move given how smartwatches are making an attack on GPS watches - the Polar V800 has at present been updated to do the same.
Verdict
At a time when sports watches are under threat from smartwatches and action trackers, companies like Polar demand to adapt fast. The V800 offers a robust characteristic set, is an accomplished GPS tracker with an impressive battery life and big brandish, but has some quirks which hold it back from greater success.
While the V800 is eventually unproblematic to use, it requires plenty of grooming via software rather than via the lookout man interface itself, which feels unnecessarily complicated. The menus should exist improved, synching beyond platforms could work better, and exporting data from the software to third-political party platforms should also be an choice.
The Polar V800 is a great running companion for track and road runners and we similar the ability to toggle betwixt cycling and swimming activities for triathletes. With competitors like Garmin offering everything the V800 does and even more than, at a lower price, it's tough to recommend the Polar to anyone other than runners or those who capeesh its looks and big screen.
Source: https://www.pocket-lint.com/fitness-trackers/reviews/polar/133249-polar-v800-review-tempting-for-triathletes
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