Hey people welcome to The Run Testers and our review of the Polar Grit X2 Pro. Polar’s new Garmin Fenix rival now packs a bright AMOLED display, accuracy-boosting dual frequency GPS, along with a more comprehensive suite of nav tools. It’s also a chunk pricier than the last-gen Grit X Pro and the the recent Vantage V3. So is it worth the extra dollars? Kieran and Nick it to the test. Watch our Polar Girt X2 Pro review to find out.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:21 – What’s new?
2:40 – Price & alternatives
3:10 – Key features
5:04 – The Run Test
10:05 – GPS accuracy
12:37 – Heart rate
14:07 – Battery life
17:22 – Verdict
Hey people welcome to the Run testers And to our review of The Polar grit X2 Pro it's polar's new Garmin Phoenix Rival it now packed a bright AMOLED Display accuracy boosting dual frequency GPS along with a more comprehensive Suite of nav tools it's also a chunk Pricier than the Vantage V3 and the last Gen grit X pro so is it worth the extra Dollars watch our polar grit X2 Pro Review to find Out what's new then well the grit X2 Pro Is pol's answer to the Garmin Phoenix 7 The Epix 2 Pro and the choros vertic IT Features many of the upgrades that Landed first on the Vantage V3 including A big bright AMOLED display accuracy Boosting dual frequency GPS and the same Upgraded sensor Tech there's a faster Processor in here too and offline Mapping plus a 43h hour GPS battery life That extends up to 140 hours in lower Power modes essentially it's the same Watch as the V3 just in a rugged robust Design and with a bigger price tag now Polar released two models of the grit X2 Pro there's a regular 79 G stainless Steel version there's also a li to 64 G Pro Titan which has a titanium chassis Both variants feature a nicely Responsive 1.39 in 326 PPI resolution AMOLED touchscreen display that's 15% Larger than you got on the previous Polar grit X pro and it comes with a
Scratch resistant sapphire crystal Glass Lens over the top the screen kicks out An impressive maximum brightness of 1050 Knits that's not quite as Punchy as the Apple watch Ultra 2's 3000 a knit but a Notable Improvement on the original MIP Grit X pro display like the polar Vantage V3 the grit X2 Pro offers dual Frequency GPS with the L1 and L5 Channels and a new signal boosting Antenna the bio sensor setup is the same As you'll get in the pilot pole Advantage V3 the Po's Elixir technology ECG nightly skin temperature and blood Oxygen sensors it also packs Po's fourth Generation Optical heart rate sensor and There are some updated algorithms in There designed to weed out some Risk-based heart rate inaccuracy see Specifically during interval sessions And strength training now navigation Smarts have also been improved the watch Now comes pre-loaded with offline topo Maps for North America and Europe you Can download other regions for free with Up to 32 gigs of storage there's also Breadcrumb navigation and support for Kut and straa routing other Hardware Highlights include a flashlight though Unlike garmin's popular built-in front Facing torch is poly actually just turns The screen into the flashlight it can be Slightly harder to aim the beam on those Polus says it has increased the
Processor speed by 129% over the grit X Pro the grit X2 Pro is also tested to Military standards and is waterproof to 100 M now as polar's Flagship Adventure GPS Watch the G X2 Pro isn't cheap the Regular model launches at $749 or so or £49 while the Titan lands at $870 or so Or £750 that's near 200 leap over the Original g x Pro it's also £130 priced On the pro lavantage V3 and a chunk more More expensive than the non AMOLED Choros verx 2s the 650b Garmin Phoenix 7x solar is probably the closest match For price and Size now when it comes to run tracking The great X2 Pro features Po's most Comprehensive Suite of training racing Recovery activity and sleep tracking but It's pretty light on shiny new tools the Most interesting additions include some New measurements for tracking speed on Ascents and descents there's vam and Vertical speed which measures the rate At which you climb or descend providing More accurate and insightful data when You train in varying terrain there's Also a new 3D speed readout that factors In the speed that you're moving on a Horizontal plane and vertically to Calculate your true speed as you tackle Those as sents now the grit X2 Pro Offers more than 150 sport modes
Including a triathlon sport mode it's Along with familiar tools like training Load Pro recovery Pro and nightly Recharge recovery insights you'll find On most polar watches there sleep plus Stages and sleepwise sleep tracking as Well the range of fitness and Performance benchmarking tests is Probably the best that you'll find on Any sport watch and that includes a new Walking test so new Runners can assess Fitness without having to go running Which is pretty handy if you're just Starting out meanwhile fit spark workout Recommendation serve up daily session Ideas link to your overnight recovery as Well those are good if you're not really Sure what to do for your training Polo's Unique fuel-wise recommendations are Also very useful for quantifying your Fueling needs for bigger Longer Endurance efforts while the estimated Energy uses break down for the day and For each work out is sort of a good Window into your main fuel sources at Least as a kind of estimate ballpark now Like the vage V3 the grit X2 Pro offers Nonmedical ECG tests which are great for Taking intentional HRV readings there's Spo2 levels which show your blood oxygen Percentage along with your Baseline and Current altitude and there's nighttime Body temperature monitoring as well Polar's work rest guide is another
Useful Edition here that uses heart rate To advise when to start a new set during A workout strength workout mainly Runners also get rist based running Power Here so a few General things I noticed During my testing of the git X2 Pro we Start with the design which I think is Really good it's a very slender watch And quite lightweight for these big Watches like if you compare it to the Other watches in this category things Like the Epic the Phoenix the choros Vertx 2s like it feels like quite a slim Watch on the wrist compared to those and I actually think the screen is very good As well for an AMOLED Sapphire screen I Think it's maybe the brightest and Clearest I've seen like when you get Sapphire crystal on these AMOLED watches Things like the Epic or the sunto race It can dull the screen a little bit to Have that sapphire crystal in front of It but that's not the case with the grit X2 Pro it's got a really nice display Maps are a nice addition we saw this With Advantage V3 and I think the fact They've now added the breadcrumb trailer Is very important that's just an obvious Feature to have with maps so it's good That polar has added that so you can see Where you've come even if you're not Following a route they're really nice Bright clear Maps they're still not as
Good as Gins which are fully rootable Maps you can create roots on the Fly They're a bit more detailed but they'll Certainly get the job done in terms of Guiding you through roots or helping you Retrace your steps say the user Interface on the watch is generally okay I I don't love every part of it but it's Fine and the smart watches are kind of Fine then again not as good as what you Get of Garmin in terms of music Streaming but probably the bigger Problem is connectivity like the polar Git X2 Pro will just lose my phone at Times and that is just really annoying It's frustrating when you can't sync Your activity over to the phone or You're not getting your notifications Through it just doesn't have as reliable Connection to the phone as other sports Watches or certainly smart watches also A few little frustrations with the Sports tracking that I've always had With polar that mean I don't like it Quite as much as of other watches so an Example of this is one morning I did a 20 time 60 seconds on 60 seconds off Workout and I used the grit X2 Pro Choros verx 2s and the Garmin epic Pro Setting that workout up on the Garmin And the choros is very easy there's a Quick interval setting on both watches You can do it on the watch you can set You know 20 times 1 minute on 1 minute
Off and then add in a warm-up and a cool Down and you know you start your run you Hit the lap button when you want to Start the actual intervals and Away you Go with polar the whole process was much More frustrating and annoying maybe I'm Missing something here but to do this This exact same workout and see things Was much harder with this watch so for One you can set an interval timer on the Grit X2 Pro but you just have to set two Timers so 60 seconds on and then another Timer for 60 seconds and that just Starts running when you start the Workout you can't set a warmup so you Just start the workout and 60 seconds is Counting down then another 60 seconds Will count down so you got to kind of Start it on that exact thing you can't Do a warm-up hit lap and start the Workout that's not how it work to do That you'd have to create a phase Workout in the partner polar Flow app or The polar flow website again much more Of a hassle and if you do that you have To set a target for each of those those Phases I don't want to Target I just Want to do 60 seconds and run and 60 Seconds of Jog and I don't need to have A heart rate zone Target or anything Like that in the end I did create a Phase workout on my phone with a target Of all heart rate zones for the 60 Seconds on just so there's no real
Target at all the watch wasn't talking To my phone at that point I had to reset The watch to then get that to syn across Did the workout that was all fine then It wasn't sinking over to the app Afterwards I had to reset the watch Again to make it talk to my phone and Then on the Polar Flow app you can't Actually see the breakdown of the 60cs You know reps you've done you have to go On to the website to see all those all Those reps you know detailed in terms of The distance covered and just the whole Thing was quite annoying basically Compared to Garmin and corus which made It really easy just in general I find Polar Sports Tracking not quite as Intuitive as easy to use for me with my Training as Garmin or choruses or sunos Even so some general thoughts and first Up on design I'd argue this is Po's best Looking watch yet I tested the stainless Steel version I found it generally Comfortable to wear I prefer a nylon Strap there the new Amal Lo screen Though is really quite excellent I found It snappy and night nicely responsive It's really bright really easy to see I Had a real struggle though with the Raz To wake I find it incredibly laggy and Unreliable to the point of frustration On runs it just doesn't fire when you Need it to I also wanted more control Over the screen timeout which is quite
Short those two things together I think Make it quite frustrating now when it Comes to Smartwatch features the Pro 2 Is a long way from rival device like the Apple watch polar generally still is Playing catch up with Garmin on those Things you get smartphone notifications Music controls for your paired phone but There's no phone free music or Contactless payments here it's short on Those things on connectivity I had the Same problems as Nick the gr X2 pro has A frustrating habit of really failing to Sync with the polar Flow app all the Time it regularly disconnects from the Paired phone so often I found I had to Reconnect it and sort of do that pairing Again it's definitely something that PO Needs to improve it makes it frustrating To use the addition of offline maps now Breadcrumb navigation they're really Welcome and though there's no way to Create a route on the watch itself I Really love the Simplicity of using Straa and Kut root syncing once you've Connected your account you can create Roots in either platform and they'll Sync if the phone actually syns to the Watch that's when that's working that is But so as an example on my first ever Trip up to the Lake District to check Out the 13 Valley Ultra Trail course I Was able to use straa on the train find A really popular 11 Mile route on there
Sink it with the watch and follow it Easily running virtually straight off The train there's no turn by turn Navigation for straa there though there Is for Kimo now Maps also really come Alive on that Big Bright AMOLED screen And the g X2 Pros faster processing I Think makes moving around the maps Particularly where you need to navigate Off your screen a little bit snappier I Still find using the physical buttons to Zoom in and out of those Maps somewhat Fiddly I'm still of and I just go to my [Music] Phone so it comes to GPS accuracy on the Watch I find the polar git X2 Pro to be Pretty good uh I find the Step Up in Accuracy with polar that we saw with the Vantage V3 with the Dual Band GPS on That is also here with the grit X2 Pro It is considerably better than what We've seen from Polar in the past but It's not quite top tier for me so Throughout testing I've been using the Grit X2 pro at the same time as a G Epics Pro and a choros verx 2s and I say Of the three the PO is the least Accurate of those three but it's pretty Close like I don't think there's a real Problem with the GPS on the Polar git X2 Pro it's accurate enough I could use it For all my training but isn't quite as Accurate as Garmin or sunos in Particular so I look at the GPS tracks
Using those watches it's they usually Pretty much all in line but the polar is The one that makes more mistakes it cuts More corners it has you know crosses the Road incorrectly and stuff like that it Tends to end up with a slightly Different distance as a result but Nothing too bad it also takes longer to Lock on at the start of a run than other Watches and I did have one run where it Went completely wrong like was really Cutting off huge sways of my run just Having me completely wrong so like I say Testing it against those other two Watches which are very good for GPS the Polar is the least accurate but overall I would say it is fine like I could Train with this watch Pretty happily Even someone who was very into GPS but I Would prefer the GPS accuracy of Garmin And sunto in particular which are a Level up on what you're getting here With the grit X2 Pro but it's a small Level it's still a pretty accurate watch Overall so when it comes to GPS accuracy I tested the gr X2 Pro up against other Dual frequency packing watches including The Vantage V3 sometimes the Gin 4 and a 965 and the choros vertx 2s in general I Found the accuracy good largely within An acceptable 10% margin for error on my Usual known distance routes I also did a City of London half marathon Race test And the great X2 Pro came up slightly
Short at 13.03 Miles during the Adidas Manchester Marathon it matched the Vantage V3 and the Garmin 4 and 965 dual Frequency modes within 0.1 miles I Clocked 0.2 mil over that official Distance as well again this is pretty Standard performance when it comes to GPS the reliability definitely dropped Significantly in the power saving every 2 minutes mode it was more than half a Mile out on two shortage test runs and Magnified over an ultra distance I think That might become too unreliable to Really be all that useful when you dig Into the GPS tracks in detail the polar Gr X2 Pro doesn't always snap to the Roads with 100% reliability but in my Experience very few watches consistently Do that the Apple watch Ultra is Probably the best but the great X2 Pro Was on par with the Gin 4 and a 965 dual Frequency but in my test I found the gr X2 Pro dual frequency accuracy was Really quite Good comes to the heart rate accuracy uh This has been pretty up and down for me Throughout my testing I it's probably Been better than I've had with polar in The past like even with the Vantage V3 I Very rarely had completely accurate runs I did have one very good run with the Grit X2 Pro actually that 60 seconds on 16 seconds off session I've talked about Already had very good heart rate during
That rising and falling in line with the Chest strap so for testing I've been Using a chest strap on one of the Watches I've been using at the same time And can see that the polar is often Wrong occasionally it's just really high For the entirety of a run which is of no Use and that skews all your training Data for a while but it has been okay For most my runs especially when the Conditions are warmer in colder Conditions it's more likely to go wrong And as with most of these watches or Indeed all of these watches I would pair A chest or an armband to it to get more Accurate data if you're going to use the Training analysis at all or do your Workouts based on heart rate but if you Don't want to use any external straps The sensor here is okay I think is Probably a little bit better than what I've seen from Polar in the past but you Are still going to have errors there Cropping up and you know that's how much That annoys you is going to depend on The kind of run you are and how much you Use heart rate on heart rate performance The optical heart rate sensor accuracy Was also good not entirely infallible But on the majority of my workouts and During my race test at the Manchester Marathon the great X2 Pro matched the Polar h10 chest trp very closely with Identical Max and average heart rates it
Occasionally struggled at the start of Runs for example on a treadmill session That I did you know you can see here That it eventually settled down so you Know sometimes it can happen with Opticals but overall in my test it was About as solid as Optical heart rate Gets now when it comes to battery life Polar is tweet the names of its battery Power modes across all of its watches it Now officially lists three new modes Performance training mode Eco training Mode and Smartwatch mode these aren't Preset modes that you can switch to on The watch itself as you might with a Sunto they're simply new labels to Describe a group of settings that PO now Uses to report its battery life overall Now you can refine your power settings On the watch choosing either single Frequency all systems or dual frequency GPS and have a GPS frequency of every 1 Second 1 minute 2 minutes or off for Each of them but Power customization Probably isn't quite as granular as you Might get on a garment now on paper the Polar grit X2 Pro battery life offers More staying power than the grit X pro You'll get up to 43 hours in the highest Accuracy dual frequency performance mode Up from 35 hours and 140 hours in the Eco trainining Mode that's up from 132 Hours in that longest lasting mode in Smartwatch mode with no GPS training the
Grit X2 Pro should last up to 10 days Compared to six on the original grit X Pro now in my tests the staying power Wasn't quite at Garmin and Juro 2 or Choros vertic 2 levels it's still Impressed the headlines included Overnight battery burn average of a 3% a 1H hour run in Performance training mode That's with all systems plus dual Frequency on Burn 4% a 3 and a half hour Marathon in Performance training mode That's all systems plus dual frequency Every 1 second burn 9% a 2hour 54 Marathon testing performance mode burn 7% a 1H hour run with single frequency GPS every 2 minutes burned 2% a 5H hour Run in dual frequency mode burned 15% Now one big Improvement is polar's Overnight battery burn sleeping recovery Tracking used to rinse the battery Whilst you slept but that's dropped to An average of 3% per night which is Pretty standard against the Gins though The corus verx 2s is even more stingy That only drops one % overnight now in My test with the kind of performance Training mode settings my watch came up Just short of the claimed 43 hours I got Close to 40 hours but there's plenty of Juice here for tackling day long or Multi-day Ultras if that's what you're Interested on one full charge I also Clocked around 13 hours runtime in 11 Days before needing to charge so the
Battery life on the grit X2 pro has been Pretty good for me I would say I've been Using it mostly for lots of little runs Rather than long runs because I've been Testing it before and after a marathon So I haven't been doing lots of very Long runs with the watch but it has been Lasting probably four or five days on a Charge with running or doing some kind Of activity every day and using the GPS I've always had the GPS in the most Accurate mode I've had the screen set to Always on which just shows that time There it doesn't really give you much of An or on screen but it does use a little Bit more battery of course in the week After my Marathon I didn't do much Activity at all it did last you know Longer than that four or 5 day period Kind of more like 6 days because you Know I wasn't doing much activity it's Pretty comparable to me to something Like the Garmin epics in the normal size But you can get AMOLED watches with Longer battery life these days the sunto Race and the Garmin 4965 are both have Longer battery life with AMOLED display Set to always on mode and the Garmin Epic Pro in the 51 mm size lasts a lot Longer it's about 10 days even with lots Of training with the screen always on But it wasn't a big problem I'd say only I would say it does seem to charge a Little bit slower than other watches I
Don't know if it's the charger I've been Using I've tried a few different ones But yeah it doesn't seem very fast to Charge and that's quite annoying so you Have to leave it a fair while for it to Juice up but or keep continuing to Experiment with different plugs but it Has been notably slower to charge than Other AMOLED watches I've been Using so verdict is going in I expected The polar grit X2 Pro to basically be The Vantage V3 with this more rugged Design with the sapphire screen and the Metal bezel and all that and that is Basically what you have here and it's Got very similar performance to the Vantage V3 which is overall very good Performance I would say I've got some Annoyances with the sports tracking I Don't think the GPS is as good as the Very best on the market heart rate Accuracy continues to be so so as with All Optical heart rate monitors but it's A pretty nice watch to use I like the Design of it a lot really nice screen Feels quite nice on the wrist and as a Watch I'd be happy to use to guide my Training but if you're looking at buying This watch the price is a huge problem It's really expensive and you're simply Going to get better watches for Less Even within polar's range the advantage V3 obviously doesn't have some of these Rugged design features which you might
Find essential but if you don't find Those essential the V3 is the same watch Essentially and smaller it's lighter and It's a lot cheaper you can go to Garmin And get simply Superior watches of AMOLED displays or without AMOLED Displays for Less you can find the epics And the Phoenix for Less the Garmin 965 Or 955 and just getting a whole load More features with Garmin and the Features that both watches have across Polar and Garmin I'd say that Garmin do Better than navigation features are Better they've got more smart features GPS is a little better the way they do Structured workouts and general things Like that I find better and more Intuitive and there's also the sunto Race which is cheaper again and that has The sappire crystal screen that you know The metal body AMOLED display longer Battery life slightly better GPS like The interface with sunto isn't quite as Good it's a bit laggy sometimes but it Is still a very good watch that I liked And I probably would prefer to use over The grit X2 Pro and it's also a lot Cheaper if you are bringing a watch out In this top tier of sports watches I Think Garmin are so dominant like if You're not going to be able to go Toe-to-toe on features which no one is Able to at the moment I'd say just Garmin has more features very well
Established features all very well Polished you've got to try and undercut The one price which is what sunto did With the race and that made it a very Compelling option I'd say on the market With the great X2 Pro po have come in With a more expensive watch that isn't As good and that just makes it Impossible to recommend a verdict then And overall I've be pretty impressed With the polar X2 Pro I think it's a Really good solid allrounder and it Definitely closes the gap on garmin's Leading Adventure watches but even with That punchy display slick looks the Snappy performance the good accuracy Those much improved navigation skills I Think it's still not quite as Accomplished or fully featured as a Similarly priced Garmin Phoenix 7x solar The significant price hike over the g x Pro can be explained I think in part by The new hardware but unless you're Wedded to the rugged design I think I'd Strongly recommend looking at the Vantage V3 which offers essentially the Same tools and performance for a big Chunk less
