The Suunto Race, Polar Vantage V3 and Garmin Forerunner 965 are three of the best sports watches to come out in 2023, with all three of them sporting AMOLED displays and offering features like maps, extensive training analysis and accurate multi-band GPS.
Which is the best of the trio? In this video Mike, Kieran and Nick talk through which watch is the best in key areas like GPS and HR accuracy and battery life, and each give their verdict on which is the best overall pick for runners.
Check out our full reviews of all three watches:
Polar Vantage V3 Review from 3 Runners:
Garmin Forerunner 965 Review:
Suunto Race Review From 4 Runners:
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:16 – Design Overview
03:03 – The Run Test
03:07 – Design
05:55 – GPS Accuracy
09:51 – HR Accuracy
13:11 – Maps & Navigation
17:43 – Battery Life
21:56 – Training Analysis
27:24 – Verdict
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and in this video we're going to Be comparing the sunto race the Garmin 4 And a 965 and the polar Vantage [Music] V3 so the suo race Vantage V3 and Garmin 4 and a 965 are all AMOLED sports Watches that fall into a similar price Category and have similar features in Many ways so we thought it was worth Comparing as they likely to be watches The picking between if you are on the Lookout for an AMOLED watch with maps And multiband GPS in particular start With a quick overview of the design of The three watches but we're not going to Go into great detail here we do have Full reviews of all three on the channel Where you can get more details on the Design so in this section I'm just going To quickly pick out some of the Differences between them rather than Diving into every single sensor they Have so they're all AMOLED sports Watches as I mentioned they've got Similar screen sizes around 1.4 in uh And they' similar in size as well the Sunto race is a slightly larger watch But also slightly thinner but the watch Cases are pretty similar across the Board the sunto has a bit more metal on It in general I'd say and you can get a Steel or titanium version of the watch The polar Vantage V3 has an aluminium
Bezel and case whereas the Garmin 4965 Has a plastic case with a thin titanium Bezel on it the PO and the Garmin Watches both use gorilla glass for their Screens whereas the sunto race does have A sapphire crystal screen which is that Little bit more durable you also get a Little bit more water resistance with The sunto which is waterproof to depths Of 100 m whereas it's 50 m on the polar And the Garmin all the watches have Touch screens the polar and the Garmin Have five button setups whereas the Sunta goes for three buttons with one of Them being a digital dial all the Watches have the sensors in Tech you'd Expect in a top sports watch things like An altimeter multiband GPS Optical heart Rate sensor that will do things like Track your blood oxygen saturation as Well and then with the Garmin watch you Can connect to external sensors using Both Bluetooth and entt plus whereas It's just Bluetooth with the sunto and The polar going to dive into the battery Life uh with our real world testing a Bit later in the review but for now here Are the listed stats for each watch and We've listed them for watch mode Multiband GPS and then the longest Activity mode available the most Impressive power saving option like as You can see on the listed stats the Polar really Shines on these it's got
Some very impressive listed stats not Sure we really found that was borne out By real world use but one thing that Does stand out is how long the sunto Race will last in multiband mode and Then when it comes to your general use If you're turning the screen always on You are going to get a significantly Better life out of the Garmin and the Sunto but all of them are pretty okay Considering that they are AMOLED watches One area we're not going to cover off in The run test I did want to talk about Now is smart features because this is an Area where the Gin 4965 does have a Clear Advantage it offers extra features Like music storage and contactless NFC Payments which you won't get on the Polar and sunta watches Garmin also has The connect iQ app store which is not a Brilliant app store by any means Compared to something like the Apple App Store or Google play but it does have a Few extras you can add to the watch not Really stuff you're getting on the sunto And polar watches yet they are much more Focused on being sports watches you're Just getting basic smart features like Notifications a weather forecast app and Music controls for your phone so if You're looking at smart features as a Crossover watch the Garmin 4 and 965 Certainly has the edge that's something We'd all agree
[Music] On so it comes to the look and feel of The watches and how they feel on the Wrist wearing the 24/7 the Garmin and The polar are notably lighter and a Little bit nicer to wear I think they Feel a bit thinner on the wrist as well Even though the sunto is listed as the Thinnest watch of the three but Obviously the big Advantage with the Sunto when it comes to design is the Durability you're getting there with the Steel or titanium bezel and that Sapphire crystal screen in particular You know for the most part Gilla glass Is certainly fine for General use when You're running but I have scratched the Screen on the 4965 very slightly during A long trail run so if that's something You're worried about you are going to Get the hardier design with the sunto Race and some people might prefer the Chunkier metal look it has as well if You don't have particularly thin wrists Terms of interacting with the software And the user interface in general I do Think Gins is the most slick and easy to Use a lot of that will be down to what You're used to of course but I do think It's really well laid out and Garmin is Making the best use of its AMOLED screen And showing off loads of stuff with Bright colors sunto and Polo will Probably improve on that front in the
Future sunto can be a little bit laggy On the raise to wake and stuff like that But hasn't really been a major problem For me I think it's been a bit worse for Mike actually this and I've not really Had significant problems with it so Overall I think the user experience is Better on Garmin but you'll have a Pretty good time with the polar and the Sunto once you get used to them I don't Think they're quite as slick as the Garmin on design the Vantage V3 for me Is probably the most subtle and Non-sporty looks wise it's got slightly Cleaner lines than the other two the Centos bigger titanium bezel makes it The bulkiest of the three and it's Notably heavier on the wrist I think Less comfortable as well than the other Two watch is because of that the polar's A little fatter than the Garmin 965 and The 965 is probably the most compact and Nice to wear overall on 24/7 Comfort the Polar and Garmin sort of neck and neck But the strap wins it for the me on the Garmin when it comes to the AMOLED Screens I don't think there's that much To choose in terms of the brightness and Legibility when I'm out running they're All good if anything the polar and Garmin are a bit punchier than the sunto But it doesn't really make a whole lot Of difference when I'm running I found On the controls I quite like polar's
Bigger textured buttons that you get I Think the Garmin and polar touch screens Are marginally snappier and more Responsive than sunos I'm not the Biggest fan of the sunto crown either I Find it's a bit big and it's a bit Protruding it catches a bit on my hairs And on my skin I also find Sun's Navigation sometimes confusing it always Has been for me and it's definitely Laggier than the 965 and the V3 when you Start flicking through those screens Quickly now a quick word on durability As well my Garmin screen scratched quite Easily just during a run the others Haven't at least not yet that's not to Say they won't and I've been using the Garmin 4 and a 965 for much longer so It's maybe not a fair comparison but it Has scratched the other thing to say is The strap on the Garmin is a little bit More comfortable out of the three I'm Not really a fan of the sunto pin class But I find it really quite hard to get a Precise fit uh you can change the straps On all three though if you want to it's Another small thing as well but I much Prefer garmin's charger it locks in Place more reliably than the polar and The sunto magnet Chargers which I found Sometimes can fall off if you're not Careful how you place them GPS then well In most of my tests in Max accuracy mode I found the duel band accuracy to be
Pretty reliable across all three watches I've had pretty good correlation not Just on the total distances but also When you dig into the GPS track details Though there have been a few occasions Where the sunto race struggled most Adding small switchbacks that I didn't Do and taking traces kind of wide of the Paths that I've run whilst the others Lock on quite nicely it also really Struggled sometimes when I went through Under passes here in London the Garmin And po were pretty reliable bit of a Match there but all of them sometimes Stray one other consideration though That I found in my tests the polar Struggled in the lowest frequency power Saving mode on a couple of runs it was So far out that the distance tracking Became pretty meaningless so that's one Thing to consider if you're thinking About those longest runtime power Settings to do something like run an Ultra so in terms of GPS performance I Would say I've had a very good Experience with all three of these Watches during my testing period And I Think if I was looking or reaching for a Watch for a race or a run where I knew Potentially I could have some issues in Terms of GP GPS performance I'd have no Issues going for any three of these Watches now I have been using them in Those kind of top dualband GPS modes and
That mode is designed to in exchange of A little bit more battery life give you Better performance in terms of Positioning accuracy and scenarios where You are running near tall buildings and Kind of deeply kind of forested wooded Areas when you're in adverse weather Conditions as well too now I've done Plenty of runs with these watches Together and just to see how that you Know dual band mode kind of pans out now I've used the Garmin a lot more I've had It longer and I've generally found that Very good for me and on most of the runs I would say the sunto race and the Gman 4 1965 has felt a little bit more in Line in terms of that accuracy in terms Of that performance but I would say that The Garmin hasn't been immune to issues And I've actually seen a little bit of Better performance from the Vantage 33 And the sunu race and particularly in Scenarios where I have been running near Tall building so there was one run where I was in kind of Germany and Frankfurt I Was staying somewhere where I was right In the middle of the city loads of tall Buildings perfect kind of testing Scenarios for these watches what I found Is actually that the Vantage V3 and the Sun race actually performed a little bit Better just in terms of looking at the GPS tracks and looking at a little bit Closer in terms of how they kind of
Compared and I actually saw that the Vantage V3 and the sunto race performed A little bit better I've done races with The Vantage V3 and the 965 as well too And they've generally kind of held up Against each other so for me GPS Performance has been very good I would Class the performance of all three of These watches being at that kind of top Tier I put it up with things like apple As well too in terms of what we got on The Apple watch Ultra and it's dual band Mode as well too I think I may have had A bit more better performance with the Sun race and the g for 965 but as I said I found with the polar and the cinto Compared to the 965 in some scenarios Actually they performed better than the Garmin and its dual bound mode so it Comes to GPS accuracy I've used all of These watches for a lot of running Throughout my testing of the sunto race And polar Vantage 33 I tested them Against each other other and I was Pouring over GPS tracks all the time Used them for a couple of races I've Also used all three watches at the same Time a couple of times and tested them Against other Gins that I know to be Accurate and things like that and they Are all really good accurate watches in Multiband mode I'm pleased to say like Polar has sorted out its multiband Accuracy and Garmin and sunto I think
Are probably the leaders in terms of Accuracy with their multiband watches Across the range so over the time my Impression is what I've noticed probably Over several GPS traces and that kind of Thing is the polar is prone to making Slightly more errors in challenging Conditions it might smooth out corners a Little bit more it struggles a bit more With dead turns or in terms of the Pacing when you look at your watch and You do a dead turn the pacing goes a bit Wild on the Polar compared to the others They also have one race where it went Completely wrong and had a very odd odd Route track for some reason compared to Theun which was bang on course so Overall I'd say that the Gin C watches Have a little Edge on GPS accuracy but It's not massive the polar is still a Very accurate watch for me hor accuracy Has been a lot less impressive than the GPS accuracy on these watches i' say the Worst of them is certainly the sunto the Hotr sensor just is almost never right On my runs had a couple of blinders Early on but other than that it's been Pretty much wrong throughout my testing Actually even sometimes is inaccurate Outside of running you know just when I'm at rest which is really not a very Good sign for a heart rate sensor the Polar is probably the second worst and The Garmin is the best of a bad Bunch
I'd say so if you are just going to have One of these watches and you're not Going to ex connect an external sensor To track heart rate the 4 965 I think is The best but I would connect an external Heart rate sensor to any of them if I Was using them and really diving into Those training stats or indeed using Heart rate to guide my training sessions So in terms of rate performance we of Talking about the optical sensors built Into these watches performance- wise in Terms of running I found the 4965 to be The most reliable and most consistent in Terms that performance But ultimately And we always say this grab a chest Strap that's what I would do that Generally what I do to get the best Accuracy because when it comes to doing Things like high intensity kind of Running intervals kind of track sessions Then all three these watches are going To falter and I think ultimately that's Kind of what I've seen in my testing I've had the most reliable kind of Tracking on the 4 965 I think I put that Down to maybe the design and the watch Just fitting a little bit nicer on my Wrist to make sure the sensors sit most Reliably and you know able to deliver That data a little bit more reliably as Well I was expecting a bit more from The Polar Advantage Fe just because you know That's what polar is about to built on
Heart rate and this new kind of Elixir Sensor array which does include a kind Of upgraded heart rate sensor I just Haven't seen the massive improvements For me I've seen you know there's been Good runs but there's definitely been Plenty of bad runs where the average and Max heart rate re just not quite being There against a chest strap and then the Cinto race I think it just feels like The bigger watch in comparison doesn't Seem to sit as nicely on my wrist either And generally you know I've had a you Know hit and miss kind of experience With c's watches in general with heart Rate kind of tracking and this is Definitely a version or an example where I'm not seeing a great level of data you Know kind of whether it's dayto day but Also kind of during that kind of you Know running and whether it's kind of Just steady runs as well I think I kind Of put that down to the design maybe Just being a little bit bigger and just The way it sits I think a little bit Differently to the Vantage V3 and the 965 which I think has delivered better Heart rate monitoring performance But Ultimately from an optical you know Sensor point of view I think the 965 Would come out on top I think the Advantage 33 maybe next and then the Sunto race but as I said if you're going To rely on heart rate and all the
Training insights that are powered by it Then I would grab an external heart rate Monitor and to be honest on all three of These watches I had no she's pairing a Polar h10 a Garmin HRM Pro Plus chest Trp monitor to all of these watches it's Been absolutely fine from that point of View heart rate before I say anything Else about the optical sensors if you Want accurate data get a chest strap It's that simple none of these Optical Sensors match the accuracy of a chest Strap then if we're looking at which of The three watches in the test is most Reliable I think in my test overall it's Been the Garmin in most of my testing The polar V3 was on point the sunto had A tendency to lag and it Struggled as most obstacle sensors do With with runs with big shifts in Intensity the Garmin 4 and a 965 isn't Infallible and I had the odd Spike but It seems to be more consistent polar Came in next really though I don't think I'd buy any one of these over another Based on the heart rate accuracy now all Three watches offer decent navigation Skills but I think for me the Garmin Edges it here the 4 and a 965 has a few More features around you got things like Around me you've got points of interest And I think the one things the ability To create a round trip course from the Watch is dead handy that kind of sets it
Apart the sun's capabilities are strong To with offline maps they've also got Points of interest as well you can Navigate to and good turn by turn the Other thing I like about the Cento is The altitude navigation is really useful If you're following a pre-loaded route With some big lumps it will show you What's up ahead really nicely it's good For mountain and Coastal Ultras when it Comes to the polar it lack some of the Extra tools that those two watches offer But with root planning I actually think Po's tie up with Kimo is Ace I use Kimo A lot to plan Roots I planned the whole Danu run last or a couple of years ago With it and I think it's better than the Garmin and sunto Roots I find it's a Really easy tool to use I love that you Can find roots from fellow Runners so It's really handy to get a free region With the V3 that's something that Appeals to me for sure so into mapping And I'll start by saying that it's great To see that all three of these watches Offer free offline mapping on amed's Displays because I think you know when You have that color display here it Really does improve and Elevate the Experience of using and interacting with The maps now in terms of that mapping Experience I'll start with the you know Getting the maps on the watches Themselves on the G 965 they're already
Pre-loaded on the Polar Vantage 33 you Have to download them from The Polar web App and then sync them over to the watch Which means plugging it into a computer So not massively fun does take a little Bit of time and then the Sino race You've got to sync it from the CTO Companion phone app and you kind of Stick it back on the charger and then You do it over Wi-Fi so again not Massively straightforward does take a While to just take a portion of a map From a region as well too in terms of The mapping experience in general I Would say the 4965 still for me still You know still ahead in ways I think it Feels like there's more features behind It there's more functionality you know It's not perfect but it just feels a Little bit more polished and complete And that's understandable because this Is kind of new territory for Polar and Sunto and it's only been in the sunto Vertical really in terms of that full Mapping support and now it's on the race As well too the Vantage V3 or the Vantage Series has kind of relied on That kind of third party support from Kutes and now it's bringing it in and Doing it native But some things that are kind of missing Or you know just a little bit more work To kind of get them or get the same Functionality that you're getting in the
For 965 so like the turn by turn support You don't have it in the native uh maps On the Polar Vantage V3 but you can get That turn by turn if you make a route in Kut on the sunto race you have to create A route in the app and then enable turn By turn navigation and then you can Start using it from that sense so There's you know there's similar Functionality but the way you get there Way you can it's already you know on the Garment it feels a little bit more set Up already and letting you go out and Kind of use it and I think I I said There's a lot more modes behind the Mapping and navigation support I think In terms of detail of mapping I would Say the 965 is probably ahead for me and Then you've got the cinto race and the Polar Advantage V3 the maps are great on All three of these watches garments maps Are the most advanced they are rootable Maps so they know where you are on the Map which means you can create roots on The fly it knows when you go wrong it Can re-root you and do stuff like that You also get more Advanced tools like Clim Pro which I think is a brilliant Addition to the watch which looks at all The climbs and the scents you have on Your route and will tell you how far Along each climb what sent you are and Pick them out for you so which really Helps judge effort I found when using
The watch on really long uh long runs so The sunto and the P are are fine for Following routs couple of little quirks Like the polar doesn't show a breadcrumb Trail on the map unless you have a route Set up which I think is a bit annoying And I hope that's something that they Address with an update getting maps onto The watch is a fairly time cune process Of any of them you youve got to plug the Polar in which speeds it up but you have To find a wire the sunto takes a long Time to download maps over Wi-Fi with Garm you have some preloaded but if you Do have to add them you can do it via Cable or wirelessly so you have that Option and garm seem to have a good root Creation option within their apps which Does help get Roots onto the watch a bit More quickly with polar you have to do It somewhere else and indeed you have to Use Kut if you want to get turn by turn Navigation which is not ideal terms of The presentation of the maps I think It's good on all three watches but Actually on the gorilla glass displays I Think the maps are a bit brighter and Easier to read but with that sapphire Crystal you obviously get the extra Durability but I think it just dulls the Colors a little bit but they are still Very easy to read the maps on the sunto Race overall on this one i' say that Garmin wins navigation of these three
Watches just because of the extra tools It has there and the more advanced Maps But in terms of the practicalities of Following roots on your wrist all three Of them are very very good so with my Real world use with notifications coming Into all of the watches running almost Every day in multiband mode with the Always on screens enabled the Garmin and The sunto tended to last me about 7 Days Whereas the polar was more like 3 to Four days and if you look at individual Activities the sunto race is the one That's going to last the longest in Multiband mode which is what I really Care about polar has some very Impressive listed stats across the range Of battery life but tends not to really Live up to those stats that is something To be a bit wary of I'd say overall the Vantage V3 is the worst of battery life Across the board of these watches and Then the sunto is the best with a Garin Falling in between now if you look at The listed battery lives they suggest That the polar should offer the most Runtime in Max accuracy GPS mode Followed by the sunto then the Garmin Now in my tests though these watches Burned at a remarkably similar rate Polo Is coming up a long way short of that Claimed 61 hours maybe the settings that I've got on there maybe you need to Lower them down to get that full out but
On the plus side it has largely fixed Its battery thirsty overnight issue and Outside of running I get around the same Drop off as those other watches now so For a 1 hour run in Max GPS modes with The always on screen settings turned off On all the watch the Garmin burned Around 3 to 4% on average the PO was 3% And the sunto was 2% now for Ultra all Of these watches claim to have you Covered for at least 24 hours on regular GPS the sunto and polar offer much more In the lowest power modes with sunto up 12 hours and P up to 140 hours Garmin Only stretches to a Max of 34 hours in Ultr track and again this might depend On your screen settings among other Things but polar of sunto are better Equipped to offer some sort of tracking For multi-day Adventures I really like The sunto battery burn calculator that Shows you how much runtime you've got as You toggle through the different Power Modes the ability to be a bit more Granular in your power management GPS Options on Garmin is also a win over the Other watches particularly the polar Which doesn't let you choose The satellite settings it just asks you How often you want the watch to pulse Those satellites so it's not as nuanced As you might be able to get on the gar Okay so we get into battery life which Is a pretty important category here
Because with all of three of these Watches having an AMOLED display as We've seen with full smart watches that Have color displays with the same Technology and other sports watches that Does mean a bigger drop off in battery Life that you are generally going to Enjoy particularly if you are tracking On a regular basis particularly if you Decide to keep the screen always on as Well too compared to trans effective Displays which typically have been on These Watch series before polar sunto And Garmin move to AMOLED displays now In terms of my experience and how well The battery has performed now I've used All three watches in a mix of using the Raise to wake you're also using the Screen always on I've been using the Dual Band mode on all of these watches Which does drain the battery life Quicker as well too compared to regular GPS I've had notifications running I've Had kind of General kind of heart rate Monitoring as well in terms of Day-to-day performance what I would say Is I have the had the best performance From the sunto race and what I think I Put that down to really here is that There's a little bit less going on Day-to-day on the sunto race compared to The polar Vantage V3 and the Gin 4 965 There's a little bit more in on the Smartwatch side going on on the 4run 965
A bit more in terms of General Monitoring as well if you choose to kind Of turn it on and it's a similar story With the polar Vantage 33 there's just a Bit more going on in terms of day-to-day And you can see that battery drop off a Little bit more compared to the Sun race When you get into that kind of always on Mode again I think you get more on the Sunto race I think you get more on the G 965 I think you get less on the Polar Advantage V3 when you have it on and That always on display and you're also Tracking and doing all the other things That I've kind of spoken about so from An always on point of view I think you Get a little bit more on the sunto race I think the 965 probably comes in next And it's a polar advantage 33 and when You're talking about GPS performance I Said I've been using it that dual ban Mode I've I found that on the sunto race The battery drop off in the same in the Same runs using the same modes has been Less severe than the 4 965 and the Advantage 33 so if you're looking for The best performing dualband kind of GPS Performance I would say the ccet race Performs best I think it's kind of neck And neck between the Vantage V3 and the 965 after that so how good are these Three watches at analyzing your training Because ultimately they're all pretty Good at tracking your runs but when it
Comes to giving that additional Information which ultimately this is What you are going to be paying a little Bit more money for on these watches how Useful how well presented is that Information and ultimately is it Reliable and useful to use now what to Say about these three watches is they Definitely offer a comprehensive amount Of kind of training modes and also Training analysis so from that point of View now what I would say is I think From that training analysis point view I Think the weakest is probably the sunto Race and I put that down to but there's A lot of information there that the Sunto race provides and ultim I think You know whether it's on the Apple Whether it's on the watch I don't think It's massively well presented on the you Know across the board in terms of the Ecosystem I think you know the main one Here is the HRV um kind of recovery Insight or metric and it's something That you know it's a feature we've seen On both the polar and the Gins as well In different guises but I think in terms Of its usefulness and effect effess I Just haven't found the training analysis As useful on the sun rat I think there's Elements there that I think are clearly Good to have but I think in terms of Giving that to the user or giving it you Know let me see that every day and
Thinking well actually that's going to Help me dictate or maybe think about What I'm going to do next I'm not sure It's really worked that well for me now The polar Advantage V3 I think it Clearly has an advantage in terms of Being for me the best sleep tracker and You know create using that sleep Information that accurate sleep Information to kind of dictate The kind of recovery insights you're Getting from The Polar V 33 because if You compare sleep tracking performance Of these three watches the polar Vantage We 3 for me is on top in terms of Accuracy first and foremost where the Garmin is you know is typically what I've seen for gin where will generally Record an extra hour and it just doesn't Seem as reliable that sleep tracking and When you're relying on sleep so heavily In terms of those um that kind of Analysis I think you're getting you know Something a little bit more reliable From The Polar Advantage TR Fe Particularly in terms of recovery in Terms of the Garment I think what it Gets right is the presentation of data There's a lot of information there what It does is if you're struggling to kind Of take it all in it gives you that kind Of snapshot in terms of information so If you want that and you want a little Bit of guidance then it's very easy to
Take that on board features like Training readed in this are just easy to Kind of absorb and realize well actually This is something maybe today you know Based on the information that it's Pulling in that maybe I shouldn't be Training today or maybe I should look at Doing a lighter session you know it's Not definitive guidance but it's clearly Guidance I feel that can be useful and It's been in line with the kind of Training that I've done generally in the Time I've been using it terms of Training analysis I would say the gar 4 965 and the polar Vantage 33 stand out For me Vantage 33 because of the sleep Tracking recovery information G for 965 Because of the presentation of the date And actually the reliability some of the Things like training readiness that I Think can be useful features to have in Terms of kind of insights or you know Insights to look over over you know kind Of a training block whereas I think Think the sun race has a lot of Information but I think it needs to just Work and condensing it and make it a Little bit more user friendly overall Now training analysis these days I tend To look much less at the vast array of Training data that watches serve up Primarily because I don't really trust a Lot of it I've looked into a lot of the Science behind it anyway not at least
Not Beyond like a benchmarking tool in Many ways I think we're in danger of Over complicating things here and being Overloaded with data some of it which Crosses over and doesn't correlate and It's quite hard to know whether you're Stressed or whether you're not anyway Here's a couple of examples of two Watches worn over the same runs over the Same period and here's the training load Advice that you get and that shows you Why maybe I don't trust them when I've Seen these things side by side and if You take a look at some of the sunto Coach advice that I got just yesterday You can see see if you see the problem [Music] Here garmin's Hill score and endurance Score have some appeal for benchmarking That the others don't offer I think Po's Fuel-wise feature is a handy tool for Planning and tracking nutrition mainly As a guide though rather than something To follow as gospel I think that kind of Sets that apart for maybe it an ultra Tool I also like that the polar V3 now Lets you do an orthostatic test the Heart rate test using the new ECG Hardware that built into the buttons on The watch you no longer need to do it With a chest strap now the orthostatic Test is one of the best ways to measure HRV in the moment in the morning and to Give you that response to training and
Stress polar's weak view I think is Another tool that I think is better than On the other watches for showing you Really quickly the balance of your Overall training at a glance in a really Easy way to decipher training analysis Um all of these watches hit the basics Of training analysis well they'll look At your training load they'll suggest if You're overtraining and as you do more And more with the watches all of them Will get more and more accurate on this Front um I think Garmin does the best Job of not only tracking a bit more and Introducing some more interesting stats Like Hill score and endurance score but They also present all that data better On the watch as I say in general I think Gin Mak makes better use of the Amal Screen on the watch uh just cuz maybe It's had it around for a bit longer so You get a lot of nice bright colorful Graphs and things like that colorcoded Things I also do like the training Readiness stat you get on Garmin Obviously this needs accurate data going Into it to get an accurate data out but If I found that if I was using a a chest Stat for all my training and then Relying on it sleep tracking to be good Enough it's not really that accurate With Garmin sometimes but if it's good Enough you will get a pretty meaningful Training readiness snap from the watch
Which distills a lot of the stuff that The watch is tracking into one easy Number you can have a quick glance at Again this stat will get better over Time as you use the watch more and more Yeah I do think Garmin just as The Edge On training analysis in collecting and Presenting a bit more data in a slightly Better way but they all do the basics of Training Isis pretty [Music] Well my verdict then you've got three Capable watches here with big steps Forward for Polar and sunto who've Closed the gap on Garmin in terms of That Smartwatch style AMOLED display if Not the Smartwatch smarts themselves to Make the most of it quite yet I Personally don't buy a watch for Contactless payments or music but if you Do the Garmin is the better choice now Beyond that for me the Garmin 4Runner 965 leads the way here out of the three Watches I think the polar comes in Second and then the sunto despite the Considerably cheaper price tag what Comes in last for me when it comes to All round quality of design features Accuracy easy syncing the interface all Of the important stuff Garmin are still Ahead of the others here I think in most Respects there are moments where polar Shines I like flare touches like fuel Wise and the ECG watch orthostatic test
I think polar's design will probably Suit a broader group of Runners while Sunto is a bit chunky with a certain Kind of look Po's training platform is Much better than sunos if you're wearing Up those two and I think polar also Offers some smarter and better presented Recovery tools than you'll get on the Sun But if your budget allows you to Consider all three for me I would Recommend the Garmin 4 and a 965 first If you can only stretch to sto's price You still buying a very capable tool Here in the sunto race that will cover The basics well and a whole lot more it Is a good watch it is a step forward for Sunto and then the Vantage V3 probably Falls between the cracks of those two It's not the most kind of value overall Really for what you're getting it's also Probably not the most capable I think The Garmin gets that so yeah it's Somewhere in the middle if you like Polo You're probably going to like this best But yeah if you're looking for cap cap Ability and value it's the Garmin and Then the sunto okay so my votes on Whether you should go for the sunto race The polar Vantage V3 or the Garmin for a 965 now what I'll say is been testing These three watches I've gone back to Using just one of these watches and the Watch that I've gone back to has been
The Garmin 4965 now the reasons I've Gone back to this and the reasons why I Think this is the watch that most people Should still pick there's a few things Here first and foremost the performance Is there you know as I've mentioned it Hasn't been spotless and it hasn't been You know perfect in every scenario but Generally in terms of what I've wanted From it in terms of tracking in terms of Reliability of the Information 965 has been the most Consistent from that point of view I Think the other thing for me is the Packaging and the software it just feels A lot nicer to use day-to-day the way The training analysis is presented as Well and delivered I think that's really Important here as well too and I think That's another reason why we look at These high-end watches and what they Deliver it's about how they're Delivering them and how they are Delivered in terms of presentation on And off the watch and I think on the Watch The Go Front 965 just gets a lot More right compared to these two watches Now that is not to say that the C RAC And Vantage V3 are bad watches if I had To pick one after the 965 I would Probably be going for the Vantage V3 it Would be the cinto race if that software Wasn't just a bit a little bit kind of Laggy a little bit not quite there the
Vantage V3 feels a little bit more tidy In terms of a full package in terms of Performance in terms of what I've seen In terms of GPS in terms of the software In terms of what it's been like to use Dayto day terms of the battery life Performance it's good enough for me and I think though it's more expensive than The sunto race I've just found more Comfortable using it and I have when I've not been using 965 and i' I've Chosen between these two I've opted for The Vantage V3 it's a shame because I Think the C race it's a fantastic watch And it's a really good price but I think If cinto can address some of the Software things on here just package Things up a little bit nicely compared To the polar and the Garmin I think Offer a bit a bit better in the Presentation of training analysis as Well because GPS performance the battery Life performance is better in general in Most most and of these two compared to These two watches But ultimately for me It's not quite there as a package and if I was if someone was asking me between These three watches I would be saying The four and a 965 if you can't get the 965 I would be saying the polar Advantage V3 per personally B of my Experience C race is worth looking at But I think you've just got to be Hopeful that you know you're not kind of
Hampered or have an issue with the kind Of software side of things so I think There's a lot to like about the Performance But ultimately as a package I don't think it's as well polished as What you're getting on the polar and the Garmin so my vertex is if you're just Looking for the best watch of the three I would say it's the Garmin 4 and a 965 Just get a few extra features here that You don't get on the other watches Things like the smart features the Better navigation tools and mapping Tools training readiness I think it's Got really good battery life does nearly Everything the other watches do well as Well or better got great GPS accuracy Passable heart rate accuracy and I Really like the design of it so all in All it's a fantastic watch I say it's The best watch of the three but the Sunto race is the best value watch of The three because it is considerably Cheaper you get that upgrade and build Quality which will be very important for Some people and more important than Things like smart features get really Good battery life great GPS accuracy the User interface isn't quite as good in The sunto race it's not as fun to engage With day in day out but on the the Fundamentals of sports tracking it does Everything really really well and it is Cheaper than the other watches then the
Polar Vantage V3 is third place for me I Think it's a great watch but I just Think when you compare it to these two Watches it comes up short on a few Categories I don't think the GPX Accuracy is quite as good although it is Very good battery life is not quite as Good and then it still misses some of The stuff that is on the Garmin like the Music storage the better training Analysis the better navigation tool so Yeah for me it'll probably come down to A choice between the sun race and the Garmin 4965 4965 is a better crossover Watch in terms of the smarts set ads the Nice look the really bright screen and Some extra tools like I've talked about Uh the sun race is the is the one that Offers you a bit more value and then a Bit more of an adventure ready watch With that sapphire crystal display the Very long single activity battery life That kind of thing so those are the two Watches I'd be picking between if I was Looking at these [Music] Three all righty that is our comparison Of these three very impressive AMOLED Watches let us know what you think in The comments below if you're looking to Buy any of these or if you have any Questions about them please do like and Subscribe ring the little bell and we Will see you next time on the Run
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