Polar Vantage M2 - Advanced Multisport Smart Watch - Integrated GPS, Wrist-Based Heart Monitor Daily Workouts - Sleep and Recovery Tracking - Music Controls, Weather, Phone Notifications

This is my review after a month of use. I will probably update it once I’ve had the watch longer, but so far it’s brilliant. I’ve previously used a Fitbit Blaze to monitor my heart rate while running but wanted more out of the watch. This does everything I need. GPS is one of the main features I wanted along with manual lap marking for intervals. I regularly go out running now without all the paraphernalia (phone, headphones, armband) I can just start the watch and go. As some others may have mentioned, my only niggle is that sometimes the GPS does take a long time to initiate. The watch is easy to navigate and setup. There’s no touch screen but not a feature that the watch really needs. It’s easy to get around with the side buttons. On the right side the middle button does all the confirmations and the buttons above and below navigate the info screens and menus. I’ve had no issues with accuracy. In fact I’d say it’s even improved as my Parkrun measurements are much closer to the actual race distance. The polar flow app and webpage are also easy to work around. The webpage obviously displaying more info and the ability to set specific run/ activity goals by calendar. The performance feedback is also easier to understand than Strava’s fitness feedback in my opinion. This is a stunning watch.

As a GPS HRM, it works really well, is very accurate against benchmarks & pre-determined maps, for cycling, running and OW Swimming. The only issue I've has with it to date is it isn't that accurate in a pool, missing a number of turns. It's able to recognise different strokes, but not always the turn a the end of a length. This provides flawed pool swim metrics. So for example, you swim an 800 in 12:00, it records a 725 in 12:00, very different pace... Is worse when doing back / breast strokes. Other than that, it's ace, and for 90% of what I do it's perfect, and I can live without putting pool workouts on Strava. There may be a future software upgrade that cures it, who knows. Think it's still better than any alternative under £500

Upgrade from brilliant M400 only because the battery died after 6 years. Have a few mixed feelings. Positives: - nice design with copper colour - quick set up - accurate on distance and map - many options and features - very good battery, with 24/7 HR off last for about week with 5 (8hrs) sessions - quickly finding a GPS signal - possibility of personalising screens for sessions are brilliant - HR monitor accurate Negatives: - Down button doesn’t want to work randomly - sync random problems, have to restart watch few times to connect it back to iPhone 11, just can’t see each other on occasions - sometimes screen spontaneously skips to different sports when trying to turn on the training - digits could be more apparent, M400 had much bigger and readable - on the lap summary can’t see the average pace for the lap - no option for personalisation of the lap summary screen Watch, Polar Flow app & iPhone are always up to date. Tried twice hard reset for above issues but remains.

I have waited for nearly five months of use before writing this review, mainly because I wanted to give the watch a fair try. I had read some very negative reviews about it and to be honest was taking a leap of faith when I bought it. However, I should never have worried. This is my fourth Polar device and by far the best!! If you are looking for a no nonsense accurate device to record your training sessions, and look good as your day to day watch, then this is the device for you. I train 4-5 times each week, with a varied range of activities from circuit training, running, swimming, cycling, both indoors and outside. I have found the Vantage has recorded all activities accurately and reliably. I do wear the H10 HRM most of the time, but even without I find the Vantage keeps an accurate record of my HR. It is a sturdy watch with a decent strap - believe me I put these areas to test every day!! Coupled with the continuing development of the supporting App, I have found this to be a brilliant device and would recommend to any day to day sportsman.

I nearly bought an Apple watch 3 but stayed with Polar after owning pervious watches that I loved even if they looked a bit utilitarian. They have arguably changed my life, health and fitness wise. The new Vantage M really blows me away. PROs The sleep tracking is so detailed it reads if you are stressed and suggests improvements, can sense if perhaps you are falling ill, the exercises are fantastic and helped with a night time stiff back, the screen when you are doing exercise (see outside of box) is amazing I use it mostly for cycling, the battery life is off the scale even if you use GPS its easy a week and seems to fast charge in no time. It looks great - still with a slightly big bezel and the watch display is a bit boring. It takes a of time to work out that each watch display has an option behind it and the sheer depth on information on the app and exercises but in a week or so you are up to speed. The only negative I have is that the heart rate accuracy when doing exercise can under estimate your heart rate unless you have it located exactly where it should be and tight-ish (slightly too tight for my liking) so to save a visit to Polar site a good index finger above wrist bone and tight enough that pushing both sides of strap does not lift the watch enough to see the hear rate lights. IN a nutshell take some time with this watch and follow its recommendations its excellent. After some months of use a little update. Turn on the night time do not disturb otherwise screen will light up and wake you up when watch near your face sleeping. Second point has irritated me more. I notice when road cycling and short sprinting (circa 30 sec) up a hill absolutely full gas that sends me into the red watch shows me green until I'm over the hill and recovering. If I do this several times in a ride it underestimates effort and all the clever analysis tells me to to do more! I asked Polar and they said all optical have their flaws and buy a £80 heart rate strap like I had with my old polar F5 donkeys years ago. Thats not why I spent £200 on a smart watch with cutting edge sensors and not £25 on a cheap smart watch. The fix is that the sampling needs a "dynamic" mode that would reduce the exceptional battery life but provide a more accurate HR monitor. FINAL Bought for £53 strap and now all hr super precise. It does underestimate time in red without the strap. Should be sold as a pair.

Used for almost a month, the running programme has got me back into that, alongside weights. Lost 6% body fat during momth. The hr zones i auto calibrated and do seem about right, e.g i can run for relevant times in the different zones. Seen gains on fit test and running score over that time. No way of checking accuracy though as I don't have the chest strap. The online stuff is great too, with detailed feedback and editable sections, really useful for me as I can add weight, reps and sets onto the strength sessions. Only criticism I'd have is that the running programme sessions, that match up with fitspark sessions, do not have the same graphics on watch and instead you have to be near something to watch the video provided workout instead. I'd say you'd need to be able to use the online stuff alongside the watch to make the most of this one though.

I am no longer a fan of the Polar Ecosystem. This is because I previously owned two Polar M430s (and a Polar Scale) and both watches displayed wildy inaccurate heart rate readings whilst I exercised. I could no longer tolerate these heart rate dropouts, which were as low as 90 bpm after exhausting workouts, some lasting as long as two hours. The Polar OH1 armband seemed promising at first and was fairly accurate for a while, but then it kept showing readings (on the Polar Beat app.) between 90 to 100 bpm (despite repeated factory resets). These readings ought to have been between 140 and 150 bpm. So I was very eager to purchase the new Polar Vantage M, primarily because Polar claimed that their new Fusion heart rate technology was very accurate and a big improvement over their previous technology used in their older products. Not so, at least, for me. All weekend, I tested the accuracy of its heart rate technology, or lack of it. The heart rate drop outs were just as bad as those I experienced with the M430s. I tried moving the Polar Vantage up and down my forearm, sometimes lower than my wrist bone, then in small incremements higher towards my elbow, as far as the last hole on the wrist strap would allow. The heart rate readings still fluctuated considerably throughout my workout, despite relaxing my wrist and maintaining the same level of exercise exertion. I tried loosening and tightening the watch at various points on my arm. No change in the rapidly and wildly fluctuating bpm readings, again, even as I kept the exercises at a constant rate and effort. Furthermore, I do not have any adverse heart conditions which might lead to inaccurate heart rate readings. I am very disappointed, and I do not feel like talking about the other features of the watch because the so-called Fusion technology was my main reason for purchasing it. I would add that even during rest periods, i.e., just sitting down and stationary, the Polar Vantage bpm readings jumped rapidly up and down from 70 to 90 bpm. So no consistency there, either. I do not intend to purchase any more heart rate watches. Polar products have put me off. (As for the Polar Scale, it works, but you can buy a body weight scale with similar specs for a fraction of the cost.) Instead, and considering that the Polar OH1 malfunctioned, I will now try another brand of heart rate straps which can be worn on the upper arm, such as the Scosche Rhythm, in the hope that it will prove more reliable than the Polar OH1 and provide accurate heart rate readings during exercise. For those looking to buy this watch in order to obtain accurate heart rate readings during exercise, or even at rest, be prepared to be utterly disappointed. (Or, you may get lucky.)

The display is dim, nothing like as bright as in the adverts, the back light makes a small difference, the contrast is not very good, okay by day but not good at night. Smart watches are far brighter and much easier to read. The tilt wrist function that brightens up the screen when you lift your arm does not always work. The altitude climb and descent measurement's are often about 30% different when first viewed, but after a few hours they are normally within 60 feet when viewed in the history log on the phone ? But the question is how accurate is distance if your are running up and down hills, not on the flat when it appears to be miss measure the verticals ? Running the same route on the flat gives the same distance each time. The cardio measurements are very good with its four green pick up LED's on the rear. Battery life is good and the charging connector is good quality. And, don't forget to take it off pause when you stop, as it does not auto recognize that you have started running again and does not record the mileage.