The Polar Vantage V3 is Polar’s new top sports watch, with key upgrades on the Vantage V2 including an AMOLED screen, multi-band GPS and maps. Mike, Kieran and Nick have been testing out the Vantage V3 for over a month and give their verdict on the watch here, including how it stands up against AMOLED rivals like the Garmin Forerunner 965 and Suunto Race.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:13 – Design
02:47 – The Run Test: Likes
11:17 – The Run Test: Dislikes
18:23 – Verdict & Alternatives
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and this is our full review of The Polar Vantage [Music] V3 so three of us have been using the Vantage V3 for over a month now this is Polar's new topof the range sports watch Replacing the Vantage Ved 2 it's got a Host of upgrades that make it probably The best watch polar has ever made and Really help it now to compete a little Bit better against the best watches on The market from other brands it costs £519 in the UK $599.90 in the US and it comes in black Or silver and then you can get a black Blue or apricot strap silicon strap with It big new features is obvious very Straight away it's the bright AMOLED Screen you have on the watch it's a 1.39 In AMOLED touchcreen it can be set to Always on and it really is very nice and Bright this is Gorilla Glass rather than Sapphire glass Which is less durable but Does actually help the screen to pop a Little bit in my opinion you a little Bit of black ring around the screen Screen a small bezel there but nothing Too noticeable very similar to what you Get with other watches the case is Aluminium with a bezel of Aerospace Aluminium and you've got five buttons in In the usual polar setup with three on The right and two on the left of the
Screen it's a 47 mm case that's 14.5 mm Thick and it weighs 57 G with the strap So nice and lightweight another big new Change to the watch is the Gen 4 Optical Heart rate sensor which is again an Upgrade or is meant to be on what we've Seen from Po in the past the Vantage V3 Can take ECG measurements check your Blood oxygen saturation your skin Temperature at night along with all the Other kind of usual measurements you Expect things like heart rate Variability should not the ECG is not Medically certified yet but you can take On on the watch another big upgrade is The multiband GPS you have on this now Polar did introduce this with the ignite 3 watch but it wasn't very good but with The Vantage V3 it's me to been optimized They've made changes to make sure the Multiband GPS is more accurate as we've Seen with other brands like garm and Sunto have all introduced very accurate Multiband watches in recent Years big New software update on the watch is that It now has color maps on the watch which You download via the website uh you can Get turn BYT turn directions as well if You use routs created on the Kut app Which then share automatically across to Polar flow which then goes onto the Watch you got Bluetooth connectivity for Third party sensors but not entt plus You got wr50 waterproof rating barometer
Virtual flashlight but not a built-in One like on some Garmin these days and Then you've got a few smart features Like music controls and a weather Forecast I've got a nice weather Forecast app in fact battery life is Listed as 8 Days on a charge although That will come down if you have the Always score on screen enabled the whole Time and then you're going to get over 40 hours of training time with dual band GPS estimates slightly vary that's the Most accurate mode though so getting Over 40 hours somewhere between 43 and 47 is pretty impressive and it will go Up to 140 hours of battery in various Power saving Sports tracking [Music] Modes so three things I like about the Polar Advantage 33 and the first thing I'm going to start with is the Performance and the overall improvements In terms of using the software now I Think it's fair to say that with the Previous generation polar watches in General they've all felt a little bit Laggy and I've been using this alongside The 4965 and also the cinto race and the Cinto race for me was pretty laggy in my Experience the 965 is very slick and the Polar Advantage 33 is definitely as Slick as something like the 4 and 965 in Terms of kind of getting around the
Menus kind of interacting with the Interface it's a massive Improvement of Using this watch day to-day it's Something that PO needs to do and I'm Glad that they've addressed that issue With the advantage 33 so that's Definitely something that has massively Stood out in a positive way for me in my Time with the advantage 33 the other Thing for me is probably GPS performance Now I thought it was a bit weird when Polar added the Dual kind of frequency GPS or dual band GPS on the PO knight3 Didn't really make sense felt like it Had to come to the advantage now it has Come to the advantage and I do think it Has performed very very well for me as I Said I've been using this with the sunto Race the go for a nice 6 5 using their This dual band mode against those dual Band modes and I found it very good Overall and I've actually seen against The 965 particularly in areas where I've Been um kind of tracking near T Buildings where actually the Vantage Feed 3 has performed a little bit better For me as well I do find in general that Come does maybe smooth Corners a little Bit more than the 965 maybe the cinto in General but I have seen examples of Where it's performed really well and Performed better than the 965 which you Know on the garmin's multiband mode I
Consider the best in terms of you know Out there with cinto and the Apple watch Ultra in terms of dual bound performance I think Vantage V3 holds up very well From that point of view so if You' been Looking for a GPS boost and polar Bringing the vant 3 in line with other Top end kind of Premium multi sports Watches and I feel that the Dual Band Support on the advantage 33 is very good Here the other thing that I really like Here is a sleep tracking and the sleep Tracking hasn't massively changed but I Think more to do with the fact that the Sleep tracking doesn't see the same Level of battery drain that we've seen On the um polar Advantage V2 previously Now I think for me in terms of sports Watches in terms of running watches the Polar Vantage series or the polar Watches have in general delivered the Best seat tracking performance in terms Of accuracy in terms of reliability and I use it against other sleep trackers to Kind of test that you can only really go Into medical labs to get the you know Supreme accuracy but I found that it's Been mainly you know best in tune in Terms of my sleep time and as I said the Battery life isn't severe and you're Getting a lot of Rich sleep sleep metric I think you know take these watches into Where they need to be in terms of Thinking about recovery and sleep and
Recovery and doing that correlation I Think the polar offers a lot on that Front I think you can take things from It that actually can be useful in terms Of making decisions about your training And I think as I said I think the Reliability and the performance of the Sleep tracking is very good the battery Drop off from sleep tracking and all the Sleep features that polar offers isn't As bad or severe as Advantage feat That's something that I really like About polar's ecosystem and it's also Something I think it's improved in terms Of the kind of drain that you're seeing You know and allowing you to get that Really accurate sleep tracking power Those features that it does in a really Nice way but also make sure that you're Getting that good battery life that I You know have seen on the Polar Vantage V3 my first like with the Vantage V3 is The design it's a really nice looking Lightweight watch I love the way the Screen looks on this watch compared Actually to Sapphire watches of amalo Screens you get this feels brighter and More more colorful to me on this watch The case is really lightweight as well Buttons work well I haven't had any lag When moving through the various menus on The watch user interfaces is just okay Po could probably do a little bit more With this and actually get some better
Watch faces on there to take advantage Of the AMOLED screen but all in all I Think the design is a win the Vantage V3 Is a really good-looking watch and a Very pleasant watch to wear at all times Uh second like for me is that the GPS is So much more accurate than what we've Seen from Polar in the past the Multiband GPS on the ignite 3 was really Poor wasn't really better than standard GPS and even on the old level of Standard GPS I felt like polar was Slightly less accurate than other brands At times multiband GPS on the Vantage V3 Has been very good throughout the month I've been testing it I've been wearing The sunto race and the Garmin epics Pro Or the Gin 4 and a 965 at the same time The sunto and the Gin have the best GPS Accuracy on the market of the watches I've tested I've seen and for the most Part the V3 does match those standards Pretty well like I'd say the polar is Slightly less accurate it will make a Few more errors it will smooth a few More corners it had one really odd night At a race where it had the right Distance but just see didn't seem to be Tracking on the right lines at all so Yeah it's not quite as good as those but I' say overall it is very accurate GPS You can rely on it day in day out and I've used it you know as the only watch I've had for important workouts on the
On the streets instead of you know on a Track or something like that and and I Do think it's got good enough GPS and Then the maps they are really nicely Done on this watch and they're really Bright and colorful on this screen like When I was using the three watches all With maps from different brands at the Same time the polar uh Maps really do Stand out on this screen they're very Bright very colorful easy to follow Getting the maps on you have to plug the Watch into the computer which is a bit Of a fath but actually it's faster to do That than download them wirelessly like You have to with sunto so it does make It a bit easier to get stuff across onto The watch and overall it's a really good And important addition from Polar here Hope they continue to improve it perhaps By making rooting a bit more easier on The watch there's no inapp route Builder With polar whereas there is with suto And gin and others and you know if You're not getting the roots on Via kud Then you're not getting turn BYT Direction so they can improve it still But the maps and the navigation are a Big Plus on the V3 so I've had the Vantage V3 on my wrist for a good month Now and overall I'm impressed this is a Goodlooking well-designed watch where The hero is undoubtedly the big AMOLED Screen you've got here now don't get me
Wrong I can live without an AMOLED Screen on my running watches but it's a Really nice thing to have well when you Do have it now the V3 is still Unmistakably polar by Design it's nice And light to wear 24/7 and despite the Fact you've still got a little bezel There's still decent screen real estate For all your stats the accuracy for the Heart rate and GPS has been great for me So far as well so this is definitely Packing more than just a pretty face now Speaking of the face the first thing I'm Going to say is my likes is that screen Now as I said wouldn't recommend a watch Just for having an AMOLED screen but the Display is a big step forward here for Polar when it comes to display quality It's bright it's sharp the touchcreen is Nicely responsive still a little bit of Bezel here so not quite Apple EDG to Edge yet but it's legible in all Conditions and it just brings your Metrics upper level and it brings those Maps to life as well in a way that dll Old school screens don't I also salute The fact that polar have attempted to Try and improve the customization here Though it's limited but you've got Things like you can put some tapable Widgets on the face Garmin does Customize a better but this is hopefully A signal of intent from Polar to give us More options in the future I'm also a
Big fan of the accuracy in my test in Full accuracy mode using that dual Frequency up against the sunto race and A Garmin 4Runner 965 the V3 performed Really well not just on the o total Distances clocked but also when you dig Into the traes and Trace details and Look at those GPS paths as on maps it's Been a good match for both those Rivals With not too many stray traces through Buildings or onto the river and things Like that it's been good on rate for me Too I've put it up against the polar h10 Chest strap the 4 and a 965 and the CTO Race Optical and a 400 lb Frontier X2 Chest strap and the v3's optical sensor Has also been very good on the slower Runs it matched the h10 extremely well On intervals performed far better than The sunto race Optical which was quite Laggy But whichever watch you buy if you Want more accurate data get yourself a Chest strap that's my recommendation This is Optical good but it's not going To replace that now the other thing is Better overnight and offun battery life One really know thing polar seems to Have fixed here is the tendency for its Watches to rip through battery life Overnight and when you're not running my Test I've had just 3% on average burn Each night from the battery that's with All the tracking switched on and Anywhere between 2 and 6% during the day
Outside of my training that's with the Always on screen switched off though now I've been generally impressed with the Battery life performance on the run two 1 hour run in the highest accuracy GPS Mode average is 3% that's more than a Match for the Gin 4 965 and the sunto Race though I don't get near the 61 Hours runtime that polar claims overall On this watch now one word on some Extras as well I'm a regular user of Kut For planning adventures and I also think It's a nice touch getting one free Kimo Region and 60 days free straa thrown in With this watch just a little [Music] Bonus so one of the things I was less Keen on was the low power GPS accuracy Now I know that accuracy suffers when You flick into low power mode saving Battery basically by buzzing the Satellites at a lower frequency but in My test Po's low power mode has Performed so badly that at times the Data is essentially meaningless now I'm Talking about being miles out GPS traces Going straight line sort of crowly style Across the map now in Ultras and the Long distances that I like to run the Accuracy matters less but it has to be Anchored in some kind of reality and I've not had that here sometimes on the Runs and it means that in the longest Battery life billing it's also a bit
Meaningless because you can't guarantee Any of that accuracy for the battery Life the other thing is the strap once You've got nylon and adjustable like you Get on the Garmin and Juro and even the Slightly scratchier choros Pace 3 it's Really hard to go back and as much as it Might seem fussy I find the Vantage V Strap just isn't that comfortable now I Find I have to adjust it a lot to get a Good fit for workouts but then loosen it To avoid it being too tight for daily we If you forget to do that it gets quite Uncomfortable now for 500b plus I want Comfort the Gin 4 and a 9965 suff the Same to a certain extent but I think It's slightly softer and nicer to wear This one is syncing as well I've had Major issues with pairing my vantage V3 To my iPhone and then syncing the data With the polar Flow app too often I get Back from a run to find the watch Pairing isn't working anymore and I have To start everything from scratch Deleting the Bluetooth pairing Reconnecting the whole thing and now Even when I'm successfully paired and Connected I find having to push a button To instigate the data sync a bit of a Bind okay sort of small fussy things Again but the whole thing just isn't as Easy as Garmin auto upload yes Garmin Isn't infallible either but it is less Buggy than I found with the polar
Advantage V3 so the three things I don't Absolutely love about the polar Vantage 3 in my time with it I would say the First thing for me is that I think polar Obviously offers a lot of training Features but I find it a bit Overwhelming in terms of level of Analysis I think it could do a better Job of communicating some of that know Very useful you know insights and those Metrics but also I think just in a more Easy to understand way where I think That maybe somewhere like Garman does Offer that and offers that rich analysis As well too but I think in terms of Giving you that information presenting It in the app but also in the watch or On the watch itself as well too I think It could learn or could look to improve That experience I think overall because I think it does obviously clearly offer Some really nice useful insights but I Just think in terms of me taking them on Board I found it challenging to do and I Think there's elements that I quite like But also I think as a package I think it Just needs to work a little bit better In terms of the way it communicates Those training insights ultimately for Me the other thing I didn't absolutely Love we've got the this new Elixir kind Of sensor array and that brings in a Load of other kind of sensors and Metrics as well too but Al it for me I
Was looking seeing an improvement in Terms of heart rate monitoring Performance and there has been instances Where it's been absolutely fine I've Raced with this watch against heart rate Monitor chest trap it was absolutely Fine but it's also been kind of steadier Runs I've done where the average and max Heart rate readings and the heart rate Graphs haven't really matched up to a Heart rate monitor chest trap so I Haven't really seen that massive Improvement now me personally I would Always use a heart rate monitor chest Trap anyway if I'm relying on that heart Rate data and that fueling the other Insights that These watches like the p vant 3 can Offer you but UL it for me I was hoping To see an improvement because there was An upgraded Optical heart rate sensor Here I've just not seen it for me in my Time with the polar Advantage 33 so yeah The heart rate monitoring performance From an exercise point of view I've not Really seen the massive gains from the Advantage feed to and then the other Thing probably and it's a minor one I'd Say because J Mike Spence has been very Good with the polar Advantage 3 overall Is that you do get some odd kind of Connectivity quirks here with the V3 and It seems to disconnect itself from my Phone quite a lot which means having to
Kind of you know very regularly kind of Manually sync it and you know to get the The other kind additional things that You would get from whether it's Notification support the weather Features as well too and I don't know Whether that's a a known thing whether It's a bug whether that's something Polar has done very you know clearly to Maybe you enhance the level of battery Life that you're going to get here on Advantage V3 but that's just something Said it's not been something I've hated But it's something I've noticed a bit of A weird quirk in terms of the experience Of using this watch where you know Obviously you would assume it' be Connected or kind of pair to your phone And it hasn't been so I don't know if That's something po can look at and Maybe it is they kind of you know issue A kind of software update and that will Address that issue or whether it is an Issue at all but that's another thing That you know I'm not absolutely loved In my time but it's not something that's Ruined my experience of using Advantage 33 so yeah those are the three main Things that stand out for me in a more Negative light on the Polar Vantage V3 But overall as I'm going to get to in my Verdict I do think my time with the Polar Vantage V3 has been very good Overall dislikes with the Vantage V3
First is the heart rate accuracy which Has been really poor for me I'd say a Chest STP is an absolute must with this Watch and it's despite that polar's Improved this heart rate sensor but I've Not seen anything like that and it's not Really been the usual way that heart Rate uh monitoring goes wrong for me Which is it locks onto my Cadence or Something like that it's just weirdly Wrong it's sometimes low sometimes high No real p to it and I've been testing it Against a chest strap you throughout the Month I've had the watch and not Impressive at all this like it's winter Here things are a bit harder to test in The winter when your when your arms are Cold but overall the heart rate actually Just isn't there this is the case for me With most sports watches I'd say but There are some that you can rely on a Lot more than the Vantage V3 like the Latest Gins Apple watch are much better On optical heart rate accuracy just not Seen it at all with the polar next up is The price now we're going to talk about The price more in the verdict that's Usually where I talk about price of Watches but it's one of the biggest Dislikes with this watch because in it Is a really good watch has a lot of good Features but the price is too high it's Putting it against better watches Basically and that's the problem it's
Going to have I think again we'll come On to it in the verdict but the same Price as the 965 in the US it's Significantly more expensive than the Sunto race it's a very expensive watch And you are putting it against simply Watches that have more features or Watches that have the same features but Do them a bit better and that's going to Be a big problem for the Vantage 33 it's Probably going to be its biggest problem Because I have really enjoyed using the Watch but the price is too high a Relatively minor complaint this one is The battery life is not great like Always going to be a problem with Le Watches I'd say but in always on mode The Vantage V3 is looking like 3 four Days for me when running every day and That's not terrible that's okay for a Watch that looks this good and if you Turn the o on screen off it will get Towards seven days but actually we're Already seeing advances in this area and The sunto race and the Garmin 4 and a 965 last the same amount of time as the As the V3 when they have their screens Always on and the V3 doesn't H so and When they're in not in always on mode They'll go for over a week comfortably So you're going to get better battery Life by again looking at the rivals to The V3 in the similar brackets it's not A big problem like I said say for an
AMOLED watch but it just feels it POS a Step behind again here compared to what You're getting from other AMOLED watches And finally I would quickly mention this Is obviously a dislike but I don't think It's a serious problem this is my second Vantage V3 the first one I had during Testing the screen completely broke Basically like the am screen was no Longer coming on at all and if it did it Would flicker for a second then go off Sent it back to Polar this one hasn't Had any problems I don't believe this is A widespread issue but obviously thought I should mention it in the dislike [Music] Section verdict uh I'd say this is Polar's best watch for sure and a really Really good sports watch one I'd be Perfectly happy to use as my daily Driver as my main sports watch the GPS Is good enough you need to link a chest Strap but that's the case of I I do that Of all sports watches anyway and I like The other features on the watch and Especially how good it looks mentioned This in the dislikes the price is a Problem for the same price in the US you Can get the for in a 965 and 965 is a Little bit more expensive than the UK But not massive jump when you're at this Kind of price point and it is a simply a Better watch it does all the things that The Vantage V3 does most of them it does
A little bit better navigation it does Better the battery FL a bit better I Prefer the sports tracking on the gar The training analysis but that's Probably a matter of opinion but then The n65 adds more features like music Storage and NFC payments and the more Advanced navigation tools you get on Garmin like Klein Pro so even training Readiness and I think it's got a better User interface as well so at the same Price the Garmin is a clear pick uh over The Vantage V3 same goes for the sunto Race now it's got a lot of the same Features as the polar again I think it's GPS is slightly better it's got a Hardier design it's got a sapphire Crystal screen and you can get a Titanium model and it's significantly Cheaper than the vage V3 so again that's A clear pick for me so even with how Much I like the polar Vantage V3 there Are two watches in the category that I Would instantly say those are better Watches and I would recommend people buy Those watches instead if you buy the the Vantage V3 I don't think you'll be Unhappy I think it's a really brilliant Watch it's really well designed looks Great everything works fine but there Are two very obvious Rivals to it I Think out there and I think both of them Are a little bit better so that's Probably the biggest verdict of all
Unfortunately but as I say really good Watch enjoyed using it but yeah I Probably would look at the 965 or the Cinto race instead so my votes on the Polar Vantage V3 as a running watch is That this is probably the best polar Running watch that I have used and Whether that is a combination of it Really is just about bringing in line With the competition really and I think Polo has got a lot of things right on The Vantage feed three I think bringing That AMOLED spay and it's a really good Quality AMOLED display really makes it Feel like a much nicer watch to use While running but also dayto dat as well Too and for me it's that performance Boost really kind of what pulls Everything together and making that Software nice to use that is a massive Plus for the you know the polar Vantage 3 and the Vantage Series in general but Crucially you've got the performance There as well too whether it's that dual Band GPS whether it is that kind of Battery life performance with the AMOLED Display as well I think it's pretty Solid overall and I kind of I think Raced awake always on I think it over Across those two kind of uses it works Really well and performers really well And while the heart rate monitoring and That you know promised improved Performance or accuracy hasn't really
Been there you've got that support to Use a external heart rate monitor chest Trap and I think most people should do That if you are relying on heart rate Training anyway heart rate base Metrics so I think for me that all all The ingredients here make it a much Better watch to you know use for your Runs and a topend polar watch to match What else is out there now I've been Using the sunto race and the Gin 4 965 Side by side with these with this watch And you know we'll do another video on Those three watches beled what i' would Say is the only thing that's really Pulling me back to the G for 965 I think Is the approach to the trading analysis And I think as I mentioned in my things I don't absolutely love I think the Approach of garmin's uh kind of training L is how it presents that information to You on the watch but also off the app as Well but mainly what you get on the Watch I just think works a little bit Better on the garming watch but I think The polar Vantage 3 as a whole is a Massive Improvement of Advantage B2 a Much better watch it is more expensive In the US but it is cheaper than the G For 965 in the UK and I think if you're Looking from that perspective it's a Nice alternative to the G for 965 I Would still be going for the 4 and 965 As a package also you have to factor in
The cin race which is cheaper than both Of these but I would probably just Because of my the performance issues I've seen in terms of software in the Race I would probably still be looking At the polar vage 33 if I was pick Between those two watches but between The three I think the 965 just pulls me Back a little bit because of the the Approach to delivering the TR analysis And metrics that you get there with all While you're getting the performance the Am display and the kind of richer Smartwatch experience as well but Ultimately I've had a really good Experience with the polar Vantage 33 if This was the watch I was using for my Runs going forwards then I'd absolutely Be happy with that and I've not been Able to say that with previous polar Watches but I think that's massive Credit to Polar for making improvements Recognizing they had to bring it in line With other watches around this price and Yeah as I said a great running watch From Polar definitely the best polar Running watch I've used in a long long Time so polar has produced a very good Watch here it's not perfect but it is a Huge improvement over the Vantage V2 and I personally think there's a great deal Here to rival the Garmin 4 on a 965 the AMOLED screen is undoubtedly the hero But I think the overall design and the
General look is good it's nice it looks Slick on the wrist the GPS and heart Rate accuracy has been really good for Me and I've always been a fan of the way Polar serves up its training and Recovery data I also really like the Unique tools that polar brings like fuel Wise to help you with your fueling okay On balance of build battery accuracy and Breadth of features it's probably not Quite as good overall as garmin's top 4Runner and there are definitely some Issues with sinking and I've seen lots Of reports of people having screen bugs And problems out there if you go into The polar forums you'll see that but it Is 80 cheaper is it better than the new Sunto race a fellow aled rival as well Well I think it is but then the sunto is Considerably cheaper still and it's Definitely worth checking out our full Review of that one on the channel before You invest in this one so overall what I Would say here is that PO has made a Better Vantage model it's probably not Quite as good as the flagship 4Runner But it's a very capable watch and I will Be keeping an eye when this one drops in Price in a year's time it will Definitely become a whole lot more Competitive very very solid good Performer probably wish it was a little Bit cheaper right now but well worth a [Music]
Look okay that is our review of The Polar Vantage V3 let us know what you Think in the comments below please like And subscribe ring the little bell and We'll see you next Time
