Polar Vantage M2 – Advanced Multisport Smart Watch
Polar Vantage M2 – Advanced Multisport Smart Watch – Integrated GPS, Wrist-Based Heart Monitor – Daily Workouts – Sleep and Recovery Tracking – Music Controls, Weather, Phone Notifications
From the brand
Polar Flow
Polar’s free app and webservice platform, providing personalised online training and guidance .
See your progress, set your goals, plan your sessions, and analyse your performance with all of your exercise and sleep data synced automatically.
Polar Flow syncs to a wide range of popular apps (Strava, Nike Training Club, Peloton, and more).
| Dimensions: | 4.6 x 4.6 x 1.25 cm; 45.36 Grams |
| Model: | 90085160 |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Polar |
| Department: | Unisex |
| Dimensions: | 4.6 x 4.6 x 1.25 cm; 45.36 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
Great watch does what it says and more, this is my second Polar watch my first being the M400 which I was impressed with too easy to use and reliable.
Happy with purchase. Seems to be accurate. Nice alternative to Garmin which I’ve been using for years. No problems. I’m a big guy so need to use the large strap which comes in the box as well as a small strap. Nice feature being able to broadcast heart rate to cycling computer (Karoo 2).
This came from Amazon Warehouse supply so box was a bit damaged but watch itself was perfect.
I’m a keen runner, cyclist and swimmer and about to get into triathlons. I wanted a watch that tracked open water swimming with decent GPS and also monitored heart rate whilst swimming. I also didn’t want to spend a fortune as some of the Garmin triathlon/multi sport watches Cost a fortune. I thought this watch, albeit not the latest model, covered all my needs at a really reasonable price of 160. After a couple of weeks of use I am really chuffed with it. Clear and relevant info on the screens, great gps accuracy even in open water. Accurate indoor swimming lap tracking. Heart rate generally accurate apart from I notice it’s not great whilst cycling, but I use a chest strap with my cycling gps ( and you can connect a HR strap to the watch for better accuracy). Only slight niggles when I compare to my old Garmin Forerunner 35 are; not as many alarm repeats – you only get one alarm per day, and the battery life isn’t as good – 3-4 days between charges if you use it for exercise tracking regularly. Overall a brilliant watch for the price – highly recommended. Looks ok on the wrist too!
This watch really focuses on fitness, the recording of your heart rate, miles, time are all very accurate. The sleep tracking gives you a indepth review on your sleep each day which has now become a habit to check when I wake up.
This watch is not touch screen, this button controls are very easy to operate and turns out very useful when doing activities such as running, just click the bottom left button and your workout is paused.
The phone notifications is OK, they show them but you have to press a few buttons, scroll down, click on them to expand the message. Basically the function works but unless you phone is strapped to your arm, just pull your phone out.
Music control is pretty OK. It’s there and I have no complaints about it!
Screen brightness, you cannot change the screen brightness, it has a button you press to brighten the screen when needed for a few seconds. It’s a little annoying you cannot set it to high brightness all the time though.
I think this watch dominates in the fitness area and lacks some love in the smart watch area. If fitness is your goal then you’ll get along fine, if your goal is fitness and making life a little easy then maybe look at the more expensive options Polar has to offer.
I seen a lot of reviews about the app showing to much information, it has a creative dashboard which you can control to show you as much as you want. The sync time is roughly, 10-15 seconds, which was another thing that was pointed out. If your too busy to wait 10-15 seconds then I feel sorry for you.
I’m personally really enjoying the watch but I think I’m going to upgrade as I really do want some more options, touch screen controls, easy to read notifications, etc.
I recommend this watch for sports enthusiastic people only!
You will read every where that the display isn’t bright enough but I honestly don’t know what people are on about as it’s fine, it’s clear to read, even under water.
GPS seems to locate in a respectable amount of time and is accurate.
Lots of info in this watch and will be more than ample for the majority of people for a lot less than other brands to get similar info.
If you were thinking about getting this watch then just do it, you won’t be disappointed.
Easily links with Strava, TrainingPeaks etc.
It really collects a lot of data.
The sleep data are very precise, but the steps are quite doubled. It is not a problem for me because I always have my iphone with me, but other people may find it annoying.
The hardware of the watch is pretty, but I can confirm that the screen in scarcely illuminated and the buttons non super comfortable to press (there is no click sound) but very intuitive, even during training.
The heart monitor os good (I used to have a Polar chest band).
If Polar would perfect the hardware of the watch, this would be an excellent item.
That said, I can see the in-depth benefits of the M2 and Polar application suite over a sustained period of training, so I will persevere.
I am making mistakes with my scheduling and routines but they are 100% user errors and not the product. I will make this work for me and will stay with the Polar product line from now on.
If you’re using this just for running then there will be too many bells and whistles for your needs, built in by Polar to stay level with the aforementioned competition.
If you’re a runner then you’d probably be better off buying a Garmin Forerunner 245 instead.
So far every polar I’ve owned has developed a significant problem within 1-2 years of use.. luckily Amazon are great and refund or replace each time
One time I switched to Garmin, but their interface, app, website were horrible and the GPS inaccurate.
I’d much rather stick with polar, let’s hope this one lasts!
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 initially bought a Suunto 5 but found the wrist-HR to be wildly off, the GPS was slow to sync, the watch bulky and despite the great look of the copper bevel against my black skin, it was already scratched and coming off after a week. The watch face was also only visible when it was at a specific angle and difficult to see while running, especially in the dark.
I bought the Vantage M and trialled it against the Suunto 5 before returning the latter. What I love about Polar is their first class support. The Vantage M has all the features I need, the GPS sync is quick and the watch is less bulky with a thinner strap than the Suunto. After using a Polar watch that needed a battery change every couple of years, I was worried about having to charge one every few days but a charge lasts about a week and recharge time is less than an hour, so it doesn’t feel like a chore.
Negatives of the Vantage M for me are that the wrist-HR is still not great, the watch does not sit comfortably in the right place on my wrist unless I have it uncomfortably tight, the 8 green/orange HR sensor lights are incredibly bright, and it won’t record sleep data unless you are prone for at least four hours. So I still have to use a chest strap for good HR (I upgraded the H7 to an H10) but at least I can windsurf and swim without having to carry my phone. Finally, the combined cost of the Vantage M and H10 was the same as the Suunto 5 by itself.
But other than that, you can’t fault this watch! It gets the job done, and Polar Flow has been so useful for me in improving my running fitness. All black looks stylish in all settings, I’ve worn this with my suit and it’s very nice. Versatile no matter what I’m wearing.
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.
In terms of upgrade this watch is a better looking fitness watch and better battery life. The battery connection is also much better and charging is very quick. The polar flow software on PC is the same but with a few more stats – sleep, cardio load etc. (nice but in my opinion not overly essential)
If your sole aim is to get accurate heart rate from the watch, I think it this is not the watch for you. I have been on a few runs already using only the watch the heart rate varies too much to be relied upon. I haven’t been able to figure out as I have worn tight, loose, further up wrist etc – but nothing changes the inconsistency of the readings when doing a run. I think a lot depends on the shape of your wrist and the colour AND movement is a large factor, but without being an expert I’m not sure what science goes behind it. So cycling might be ok, but swimming would be very challenging) However that being said on normal everyday use it is fine and tracks the heart rate for sleep etc.
Luckily I already have a chest strap and that works fine. But being an experienced runner I run more on pace and feel and only use the chest strap on easy days to ensure that it is kept easy, so not overly bothered about all the fancy stats. I was looking at Garmin and do think their forerunner series would had been a better fit for those running fanatics and loves the stats. It might have a better wrist strap heart monitor but don’t know for sure.
However since I was already invested in Polar brand, and also was not too bothered about the wrist based heart rate and the watch looks a lot better than a lot of other watches out there, it is small upgrade in the right direction in terms of looks but Polar still needs to up their game some what in the internal hardware.
Further update on wrist heart rate – it is possible to get more consistent heart rate. The skin has to be the same tone where the sensor is going to lie ( I had a tan mark from previous watch) and it needs to be strapped quite tight (it does feel uncomfortable at first but you get used to it), so when you clench fist you can feel the pressure from the band, this is to stop the movement and make the contact with skin as flush as possible. Any gaps where light can get in affects the heart rate sensor. It is still not as accurate as chest strap, but is a compromise if heart rate is a must.
What I love:
– It has a huge number of different sports/activities (including Les Mills classes) that it can track and allows you to load 20 onto your watch at any one time. For anything not on the list you can use “other” and still track what you’re up to.
– For what its worth the run, swim and cycling data it collects is really impressive.
– The training load status is really motivating. It takes a few weeks to understand your fitness regime but if you’re having a sluggish few days or you dont push hard enough during your workouts it’ll tell you that you’re not being as productive as you could be. This gives me a real boost. I’m terrified of disappointing the Polar! (Although note downside below.)
– It monitors your training and offers suggested workouts right on your watch. It can be quite refreshing to press a couple of buttons and have a workout ready if I’m feeling a bit brain dead.
– The app is really helpful and detailed but its even better to have a watch that doesn’t NEED the app. The majority of the information you can get from it, you can find right there on the watch (and in colour).
Things that could be improved:
– There is no way of the watch knowing if you’re injured or unwell. It has therefore told me I’m de-training when I’ve rested for a few days or had some less intense workouts for a week. It would be useful if there was a way to at least log the reason for the dip in training so it was accounted for when looking back.
– The steps count seems suspiciously high. I’ve been with friends with other fitness watches and my steps appear to be much higher than theirs, despite doing the same activities. I’m not sure who’s is right and who’s is wrong though! Steps are not so important to me though so I’m not too bothered about this.
– It’s not possible to only load some data/activities to strava or other third party sites. I like to just record my runs or hikes on strava rather than every gym class or workout, but you either link it all or none at all. This is a shame.
All in all I’ve been really impressed with this watch. I’m a female with quite small wrists and it doesn’t feel too bulky at all. It’s much more suitable for my varied fitness schedule than some of the other fitness watches out there.
– When I run or walk my heart rate accuracy isn’t great, about 20-30bpm higher than registering on a heart rate belt worn at the same time. Curiously it is much more accurate when cycling.
– Enable ANT+ as Polar has already done on a couple of its belts; this would allow me to connect my Wattbike and HR belt to the watch whilst using Zwift.
– Pool swimming seems accurate but please reduce the minimum pool length – 20m isn’t short enough.
But overall a really good watch.
I was used to have a RC3 GPS.
Pros > Got a lot of sports and you can change the way you see the time. The GPS works very quickly and you can monitor your heart rate every time. Also has a sleep meassurement.
Cons > The heart rate is not accurate. Really bad one. I was running at 4:00 per KM and my heart rate was 118 which is really very low. Also, you can not change the view of the sports. On RC3 GPS you could select what you want to see.
Anyway is a nice watch, but no accurate on the heart rate.
Battery life – I only charge it once a week, which is perfect for me, as I run 5 says a week and feel like I am constantly plugged into some charger or other.
GPS – takes a little while to connect but no more than a minute, never showed an incorrect recording or map so far.
HR – wrist based heart rates are sometimes a little dodge but so far it seems to have served me well. I have manually inputted my HR zones as they were too long for peak performance and they work for me much better now.
Ease of us – menus are easy to navigate. I know there was a bit of feedback that the buttons are slippy, but I’ve never had an issue whilst running. I actually find it easier to use than my previous touch screen which disliked cold or sweaty hands!
Polar flow/cardio load – I’m an absolute data junkie and the app/desktop site is amazing for getting all my stats through on. Cardio load is really handy for monitoring your current strain.
For me it does everything I nee it to, at a cheaper price than the equivalent Garmin.
Before starting a session, you find the corresponding exercise in the watch and hit a button to start recording. WIth the Vantage you get a colour screen dispaly that shows you feedback on your heart rate, pace, distance etc, but I found that the dispaly can be customised to suit your needs, so when running I just have the heart rate zones showing so I know which zone I should be in to get the most out of my session. I don’t like running in my glasses, and with my previous watch I struggled to see the display, but this is not an issue with the Vantage. Once you’ve finished you stop the recording and then sync the watch with the app. The level of detail and feedback within the app is great, and I can already see via the feedback analysis that I’m getting fitter as my predicted finish time is getting better. I can see even more detail by going into my Polar flow account online on my laptop, the re-live feature is particulary nice.
Some of the exercises in my diary are stretching or body resistance routines, for those I get to follow a video of a person demonstrating the exercises via the app, so I can follow in real time ensuring I get the correct form and timing -it’s like having your own personal trainer in your phone.
I don’t just enjoy running though, I like walking, swimming, bike riding and hiking too. The watch stores 20 different sport profiles, but there are many more to choose from within the app, I’d say over 100, but I’ve not tried counting them all yet.
I’m really enjoying all the features and with the recent software update I got a few more. Hopefully the training will keep me on track for a persoanl best in my half marathon.
Having seen my friends/colleagues using GPS watches for their activities and curious to see if it will make my training life easier, I was having a look around and decided to try this Polar Vantage M. So unfortunately I have no other predecessors or other brands to compare it to but so far, having used it for around a month, I am very happy with it!
What’s new to my training is the Polar Flow and the Personal Training regime it offers with videos as well as being able to analyze my daily activities with the heart rate monitoring. The way it assesses your training load is great and keeps you motivated to try and maintain your fitness. It even has a Field Hockey tracking mode!! It’s light weight, compact and I happily wear it with some wrist sweatband coverage (for protection) when I play Hockey and seems to do a great job.
I have noted the other reviews comparing it to other GPS watches. However I can say, here is one happy customer who is hopefully utilizing it’s potential to the max. Not hugely fancy but I feel it’s ticked all my boxes.