I have been testing the Polar Pacer Pro GPS sports watch. Polar State: “This is a next generation ultralight sports watch with integrated barometer that equips athletes with advanced tools to improve running economy, training sessions and sports performance. ”. Read on for my thoughts.
Polar Pacer Pro GPS Watch Features
There are numerous features so I am listing a few that I think are the most important.
- Dimensions: 45mm x 45mm x 11.5mm
- Weight: Without strap 23g; with strap 41g
- Display type: MIP – Memory in pixels (low power consumption, high contrast and brightness of the screen)
- Screen size: 30.48 mm (1.2 in.)
- Screen resolution: 240 × 240
- Storage: 32MB
- Case Material: Plastic
- Screen Material: Gorilla Glass
- Bezel Material: Aerospace Aluminum
- GPS, Glonass, Galileo, QZSS
- Connectivity: Bluetooth
- Water resistance 50 m
- Barometer
- Compass
- accelerometer
- Five color options
- removable watch strap
Battery:
- Battery life training mode, up to: 35 hours
- Battery life watch mode, up to 144 hours
- Battery life with power saving training mode, up to 100 hours.
- Price: £231 to £289 depending on color
- See: Polaras well as Amazon (I receive a small commission for sales through Amazon)
My Thoughts: Polar Pacer Pro GPS Watch
Polar has taken many features from its higher-spec GPS watches and designed them into the Polar Pacer Pro, but at a cheaper price. The watch is more focused on running. (Note that there is a version of Polar pacemakers and that it has fewer features.)
There are other modes, like cycling, strength training, HIIT, walking, and triathlon, which are pretty much all I need. Sometimes I use a kayak mode or a ski mode, but some watches have so many modes that it seems a bit overkill. For example, a very special “siren” mode in Suunto 9 Peak Pro.
I understand brands want to compete on features, but I’d rather they focus on creating a GPS watch that’s great for one of two sports while keeping the price down. This is what Polar seems to be aiming to achieve with the Polar Pacer and Polar Pacer Pro.
There are some differences when you compare the higher spec and more expensive Polar watches. The Polar Pacer Pro does not have a touchscreen and has a slightly smaller watch face size. The Polar Pacer Pro is also made of plastic, rather than a lightweight metal. I don’t think these are major problems.
There are some positives to the cheaper Polar Pacer Pro, such as a nice, bright screen, even when it’s bright and sunny outdoors. You can choose from a variety of different watch faces (found in the watch settings section).
One area you need to consider is battery life. There must be some sacrifices for the price of this watch and this is where Polar has probably made some savings. The battery lasts the last few days, but not weeks like other higher-spec sports watches like the Garmin Enduro.
In normal watch mode, while doing some outdoor activities, the Polar Pacer Pro should last up to around six days. I have about four to five days, but it depends on what I did each day.
In training mode, making more use of GPS for tracking, etc., Polar calculates that it is about 35 hours of battery life. There are some power-saving training modes you can use to make your battery last a little longer.
Compare this to more expensive watches like the Garmin Enduro, Suunto 9 Peak Pro and Coros Apex 2 Pro and you will see that the battery life is more limited. That being said, many people want a watch that they can wear for a big day, or a couple of days, and are happy to recharge it with a power bank or at home.
I think it’s a bit of price versus battery life with sports watches these days.
A great feature is the barometric altimeter, which accurately tracks elevation. This is an excellent feature for a lower priced watch. Plus, there’s a hill splitter mode that collects real-time data so you can see your pace on ascents and descents. This is good for keeping track of your hill reps and intervals as you do them. (Note that the most basic Polar Pacer doesn’t have a barometer.)
The heart rate monitor is on the wrist. This is rarely as accurate as a chest heart rate monitor, but they are getting more accurate. If the watch doesn’t fit snugly on the wrist or if it bumps and shakes while exercising, the watch may lose pulse tracking, but overall, tracking similarly for me, I found it as good as others further. expensive watches.
The watch has a mode to track Vo2 max while walking, as well as Vo2 max while running. To do this, you need to get into the « testing » area of the watch. I’m never that convinced of the accuracy of the VO2 max data, but it’s helpful to compare week to week for personal insight.
Navigation on the Polar Pacer Pro is done using breadcrumb tracking rather than a full map. If you’ve uploaded routes, such as Komoot GPX files, you’ll receive turn-by-turn directions, and if you get off track, the watch will point you in the right direction to find your route again. (Please note that this watch will not show you your route tracking details.)
I found the GPS tracking and accuracy to be excellent. It compared well to other more expensive sports watches I own/have tried and also to the GPS watches of friends who were with me.
However, one thing that irritated me a bit was that the stop activities button is different from the start button. If you press the start button after starting an activity, the activity stops. To finish the activity you have to press another button. This is different from my other sports watches and left me baffled until I checked the manual online. I guess you’ll get used to the buttons if it’s your main watch, but this seems a bit strange to me.
There are bluetooth tethering options for devices like cadence pods, heart rate monitor chest strap, etc. Note that these are not compatible with Ant+.
Like many modern sports watches, there are other useful features such as weather forecasts, music controls, and one-way message notifications such as text messages (you can see them but not reply).
Polar offers a lot of training data. The Polar Flow app has more limited data reporting, while the desktop version has much more data and statistics to evaluate.
You can also use a FitSpark feature to get fitness training information. This is based on your fitness level, activity history, and recovery data. This is actually quite good and there are prompts if you want them. The prompts provide tips on exercises and training you can do to improve your fitness.
There is a nightly charge recovery measurement, as well as a sleep tracking mode, which can be very useful. Many sports watches offer lifestyle information such as steps taken, sleep patterns, etc., and Polar has plenty of data for you to view. Nightly Recharge shows you how well your body has coped with the general stress of recent activities and reveals data like HRV, REM, and breathing rates.
Another feature is called FuelWise, which allows you to set your « fueling » requirements to remind you to keep eating/hydrating through activities.
There are also timers on the watch, a « serene » mode with breathing exercises, and live segments from Strava.
The watch syncs with an app that provides all the usual data you’d expect. You can view daily, weekly, and monthly stats like steps, distance, active time, calories used, and « useful » sleep at a glance.
Conclusion: Overall for the money this is a great sports watch and especially one for runners. He also seems smart.
