(Please note that my full in-depth review is now published and available based on the final unit and functionality. Read it all here!)
Today, Polar fully announced their new V800 GPS integrated triathlon watch. The watch covers all three sports – swim, bike and run – and does so with newfound Bluetooth Smart connectivity for sensors and phones alike. Further, it includes a built-in activity monitor for the remainder of your day when you’re not working out (like a FitBit/Fuelband, or Polar’s recent Loop device).
I’ve been using the V800 for a few weeks now, putting it through its paces in all sorts of weather from cold to…well…colder. While the device is still months away from release, and many of the features are not yet enabled in my beta unit, I’m going to run through what the plans look like and the features that’ll be included. I’ll be noting areas where things are ‘paper plans’ versus ‘already in the unit’. Note that I’ve had a ton of discussions with Polar over the last few weeks about the device, covering a lot of ground – so I’m trying to include as much of that as possible in areas where the functionality isn’t yet enabled in my test device.
First though, just as a quick note, Polar sent over the V800 for me to poke at. At the end of my poking, I’ll send it back to them – just like everything else from all companies I receive – and then I’ll go out and get my own device through normal retail channels. Just the way I roll. You can support the blog through various partners listed on the sidebar and at the bottom.
Let’s get on with it!
Oh…wait – one final thing: This isn’t a review. Yes, for real. These are my standard In-Depth Reviews. This post is just a first/early look at the unit, well before everything is done. Come back later this spring for the full review. Ok, let’s go!
In The Box & Size Comparison:
Polar would like me to point out that the box isn’t final. Nor are it’s contents. Though, I will assume that the V800 box will ultimately actually include the V800. Which, would be sorta important. Mine also included a small note to me, sorta like a love letter, except without the lipstick kiss.
Inside the box you’ll find a bunch of components, the three I’m going focus on are the three things you’ll likely find. First is the watch itself:
Then, we’ve got the USB charger. The charging clip looks somewhat like the Timex Global Trainer and the Polar Loop charging clips shacked up and had offspring.
Finally, there’s the Polar H7 Heart Rate Strap. Note that whether or not you get this will depend on which bundle you buy (with or without the HR strap). If you already have the Polar H7, then no need to buy the bundle with one.
What is notable however, is that the H7 is unique in that it will transmit over two frequencies: Bluetooth Smart, and 5kHz. The second frequency is used if you want to receive heart rate (HR) data while underwater. If not, then any Bluetooth Smart strap on the market will do.
With things unpacked, let’s take a quick look at how it looks size-wise against a range of current on-market triathlon and upper-end running devices:
As you can see, it fits in pretty well. It’s a bit smaller width-wise than the FR910XT, though about the same thickness. It’s obviously much thicker than the FR220/FR620, but, it also does a heck of a lot more.
Finally, for those coming from past Polar units, here’s how things shake up against the Polar RCX5 (the last full featured triathlon-focused unit Polar made), and the more recent Polar RC3 (first GPS-integrated running focused unit Polar made):
Let’s head outside and take it for a run.
Running:
If there’s one thing I’ve done, it’s a lot of running with the V800. And you know what’s my favorite part? Just how fast the satellites pickup. Like most new units on the market, the V800 includes satellite pre-caching, which means that it caches up to 3 days of satellite location information for quick reception.
Below, is a short video showing me turning on the unit for the first time some three thousand miles away from the last place I turned it on:
Now, here’s another video, this time showing me turning it on a day after I last turned it on:
Blazingly quick. Really sweet.
At this point, the watch will show that it’s connected to your Bluetooth Smart HR strap, and show your heart rate value on the ‘waiting’ screen. You’ll also see the GPS percentage if it’s still looking for them.
Once it’s done all that, you’ll go ahead and tap the side red button to begin the workout:
Once you’ve tapped that button, the unit is recording and actively displaying pace/distance/heart rate, and any other metrics you’ve configured. By default, it has a number of pre-configured screens. Here’s a quick look at them:
When it comes to laps, you have two options. First is to manually press the lap button (lower right) to trigger a lap. The second is to use automatic laps based on a preset distance (such as 1-Mile or 1-KM). Or, you can do both together:
The V800 does support having automatic laps at the same time as manual laps. Think of them as two separate sound-tracks (and actually, they are audibly separate, as you’ll get notifications for both).
The screens are fully customizable, though, that wasn’t enabled yet on my device, so I just stuck with what was given to me. The customization though will occur via the Polar Flow site, allowing you to add stats like Lap Time, Distance, or any number of other metrics to your screens.
From a running functionality, the unit includes a feature called ‘Race Pace’, which allows you to race against a known time/distance target. This looks and sounds similar to Garmin’s Virtual Partner feature. It does not however allow you to race against a past historical activity (such as last week’s activity).
Looking at more general instant pace, I found the unit quite smooth. Below, a short video clip from a run:
The unit also includes ‘Tap gestures’, which allow you to tap the screen of the watch to retrieve information such as recovery status or take/set laps. Further, you can also leverage Polar’s Heart Touch feature, which will enable you to customize the unit to perform a given event when you touch the watch to the HR strap (your chest).
When it comes time to pause or save your workout, you’ll do so by tapping the left ‘back’ button, which pauses it. If you hold that down for three seconds, it’ll save the workout:
Once saved, you’ll get a long screen of summary information that you can scroll through:
If your phone is within range, it’ll upload that data automatically via Bluetooth Smart and the Polar Flow app, to the Polar Flow site (with WiFi/Cell service). The mobile app is however capable of doing offline data analysis as well.
Below, you can see an example of a workout uploaded to the Polar Flow app from the V800:
At present, the Polar Flow app isn’t quite enabled for connectivity to the V800, so I couldn’t upload any demonstration workouts myself to show you how it works. However, you can see my Polar Loop review, which covers much of the Polar Flow app in far more detail. Most of the app will remain the same for key aspects such as activity monitoring.
From an accuracy standpoint, thus far, things have been nearly spot on with the FR620 and FR220 I’ve had on some recent runs:
Navigation and Routing Capabilities:
The V800 includes some nice navigation and routing capabilities. I’ll start with the most basic, and then build on that into the more advanced features. First, it includes a ‘Back to start’ function. This function gives you ‘as the crow flies’ directions back to the starting point of your activity:
This is useful in city environments where you just want to get back, and don’t particularly care if it’s back the same way you got there. The V800 can also go back to an alternate saved location point (such as your house, etc…).
This is different however from ‘Track Back’ style functionality, which tracks back on the exact same route you came. That functionality tends to be used in trails/mountains where you must follow the same track back (due to rivers, etc…).
The V800 further includes ‘Route Guidance’ capabilities, which enable the unit to follow pre-planned routes, as well as previously recorded routes. It can also follow shared routes from Polar Flow. At launch in April, it’ll just follow exiting routes, or shared routes – down the road, they’ll allow you to create your own routes. In this mode, the unit uses it’s magnetic compass to provide guidance breadcrumb style along the route. You can see an example of how the user interface will look in this mode, below:
It will be most interesting to see how others in the space react to these changes. From a competition standpoint, Suunto has all of these functions in the Ambit 1/Ambit 2 (plus a whole lot more). Meanwhile, Garmin decided against adding these functions in their higher end FR620 that were previously available in earlier generations of their units.
Cycling:
It’s been many years since Polar has released a useful cycling product. No, the RC3 doesn’t count (sorry, it’s a running watch, not a cycling-specific computer). But that appears to have changed with the V800. This will be Polar’s first new unit to support Bluetooth Smart accessories such as cadence sensors and power meters. And in doing so, it’ll also be the first watch on the market to support Bluetooth Smart power meters.
All of the features available to you in the running mode are also available to you in the cycling mode (minus the running footpod of course). They key difference is that in cycling mode you’ll switch over to ‘speed’ versus ‘pace’, which means using MPH or KPH such as 20MPH or 15MPH. Also, you’ll get data from the aforementioned sensors.
Polar will be coming out with both a Bluetooth Smart speed-only sensor and a Bluetooth Smart cadence-only sensor. At present, they don’t have a Bluetooth Smart speed/cadence combo sensor in the lineup. But, they will allow you to pair to other Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence combo sensors from other companies (such as the Wahoo BlueSC).
In some ways, this is the same pattern we saw with the Bluetooth Smart stride sensor, where Polar simply changed the protocol stack on it, but left it in the same ugly casing. Hopefully sometime between now and April someone in Finland realizes that people don’t want to buy two sensors both using zipties that were originally designed in 1998. It’s time to move to quick-release rubber bands and combo sensors like the rest of the industry did a few years ago.
Ultimately though, it doesn’t matter too much, since you can just buy 3rd party units anyway.
Next, we’ve got power meter support. Polar will support Bluetooth Smart power meters starting in June 2014, with an update that will be made available then.
That timing corresponds with Polar’s planned availability of their Polar/Look Keo power pedals being available in a Bluetooth Smart variant. Though, you don’t need the Keo Power system in order to get power information. Once the update is made available, Polar will support any Bluetooth Smart capable power. Today, that’s the widely available Stages Power meter, as well as the just-started-shipping PowerTap G3’s with Bluetooth Smart caps.
Now, I’ve argued that I’d like to see Polar bring that firmware update timeline closer to April. Ultimately, I don’t see any overlap between potential customers of Stages power meter ($699), and Polar’s power meter ($2,500US). I think it actually offers Polar much more if they move that timeline up and ‘secure’ the Bluetooth Smart watch/head unit market before a competitor comes out and does it for them. But, that’s just my two cents.
Lastly, and most applicable to cyclists, is that the V800 includes a barometric altimeter. This altimeter is automatically calibrated via GPS, though, it can be calibrated manually with a known elevation. This is useful as it provides what is typically more accurate elevation data than GPS-based altimeters found in most running watches (such as the Polar RC3).
Swimming:
[Update – March 2014: At this point the wording I’m seeing now from Polar seems to indicate that the V800 will not launch with swim tracking capabilities (i.e. distance/pace), but rather, only HR tracking – like past Polar products. Instead, this will come later in the year.]
The Polar V800 will include the capability to track swimming both indoors (in a pool), as well as outdoors (openwater). Additionally, like some past Polar units, it will include the capability to track your heart rate underwater while worn with a compatible Polar heart rate strap (the H7 is one such strap).
While indoors, the unit will track laps like all other indoor-swimming focused watches on the market, and use internal accelerometers to determine distance, pace (speed) and stroke related metrics. This is based on knowing the length of the pool (you enter that), and then it will detect turns (either flip or open turn) at the end of each segment. When in an outdoor pool, you’ll still want to use the indoor swim mode. It will use the internal accelerometers to determine distance, pace (speed) and stroke related metrics.
When outdoors, the unit will use GPS to track your swim. This will be in conjunction with accelerometer based information to provide for stroke information outdoors. [Update Feb 1st: Polar seems to be slightly changing their tune here a bit, saying that outdoor swimming metrics won’t be available at launch, but potentially down the road. Adding this note inline, though I had noted it in the ‘update’ section a week or two ago.]
Finally, the unit can connect to Polar’s H7 strap for underwater metrics. The H7 is required (or, past T31 coded straps with 5kHz transmission) because it transmits a secondary signal that will penetrate underwater. A standard Bluetooth Smart strap cannot penetrate through the water, and thus, will not work (for example, the Polar H6 won’t work, neither will any other HR strap from any other vendor).
Please note that as of this writing, the V800 beta build does not yet include swimming functionality, thus, I have been unable to try it either indoors or outdoors from a lap/openwater swim perspective. I have however taken it swimming and into water repeatedly, where it has a waterproof rating of 30 meters (~90ft) deep.
[Update – July 8, 2015: Today Polar added Open Water Swimming features (distance & stroke) to the V800; and these metrics are now also available in the Swimming profile for indoor swimming]
Triathlon, Multisport, and other sports:
The V800 includes a triathlon ‘multisport mode’. This specific term is used when a watch can be seamlessly switched between the multiple legs of a triathlon (or other multiple sport event), without requiring you reset and/or restart the activity. This means you can seamlessly transition from Swim to Bike to Run, and the unit will show the appropriate sport information and displays for each leg of the event.
The unit includes two variations. The first is an automatic Swim/Bike/Run option, and the second is a ‘Free Multisport’ mode, allowing you customization of the sport segments. After you’ve completed the segments, the unit will record the event in its entirety, with each of the segments containing separate information that’s visible to Polar Flow (the online Polar website for the V800). You’ll also have transition times recorded as well.
Further, like past Polar products, you can configure the unit to use numerous sport profiles from their online catalog. These are pulled from the Flow web service, but are predefined by Polar and cannot be added or changed (such as the name or function). These profiles can however be further customized with display fields of your choosing, and configuration such as how different metrics are displayed (i.e. pace vs speed, kilometers vs statute, HR%Max vs HR BPM, etc…).
The only downside to the multisport mode is that the V800 won’t have any quick-release kit or ability to quickly attach it/detach it to a bike. It will support a standard Polar bike mount, but that requires you to get it setup on the bike, which isn’t something you’ll want to do during transition.
Activity Monitor/Tracker Feature:
In addition to traditional sport tracking modes (like running and cycling), the V800 also includes the ability to monitor your activity throughout the day, including your sleep. This puts it in the same category as devices like the FitBit, Nike Fuelband, Polar Loop and the just announced Garmin Vivofit.
The V800’s goal in tracking your activity outside of sport is to be able to give you a holistic view of your daily output expenditure – 24×7. From this, it can more accurately give you calorie recommendations, as well as recovery recommendations. These are consolidated into the activity tracker dashboard view on the unit, which shows you a composite of your day – from workouts to walking around to sleep:
Sleep is automatically calculated without the need for pushing any buttons when you fall asleep. Note that sleep is actually measured separately from rest. ‘Rest’ is defined as inactivity within a single day, whereas ‘Sleep’ can span a day (since you might fall asleep at 10PM and wakeup at 8AM). Both are tracked using the internal accelerometers, similar to how the Polar Loop works.
The V800 will track steps and distance and report that to the Polar Flow phone app. Which in turn, uploads it to the Polar Flow site. At present, the watch doesn’t actually show you steps or distance, though it does show you calories for the day. I’ve argued however that having an activity monitor that doesn’t show you the activity on the device…is sorta pointless. Hopefully they’ll adopt my viewpoint between now and April.
The calories for the day include your baseline (staying alive) calorie requirements + workout calories burned + walking around activity + adjustments for altitude (yes, really).
Next, that information can be fed into their Training Load and Recovery calculations, which estimate how hard your effort was and how much time it might take to recover from it. This includes adjustments from resting and activity monitor information as well. This then shows up in two places. The first is on the unit itself:
And the second is within the app & associated site. While the activity monitor piece is actually active currently in my unit, my ability to get the data out is not yet active. Thus I can see the bar going across the screen as I wander around, but I can’t actually tell you how many steps that is. So, accuracy comparisons will have to wait for down the road in the full in-depth review.
Smart Coaching Features:
The V800 includes a slew of new features aimed at bridging the gap between simply providing data, and providing coaching instruction. Polar calls these “Smart Coaching” features, and there’s a bunch of them, some new, and some more vintage.
On the new side, we’ve got these three:
Training Load and Recovery: This is designed to provide a holistic picture of training load and recovery. This is similar to other load/recovery systems that you see within other platforms such as Training Peaks and TSS (Training Stress Score).
Running Index (RI): This provides a ‘score’ for each of your runs, which accounts for both aerobic fitness and running economy based on heart rate and speed. In addition, the RI value is compensated by barometric altimeter data as well.
Jump Test: This test requires the Polar Stride Sensor, but enables you to “assess leg muscular strength and power output”, along with “neuromuscular fatigue”
The above three, join the following other features on the V800:
Training Benefit: After each workout, this details out the effect of that workout, as seen on the unit in the summary information.
Smart Calories: This is uses Polar’s OwnCal system, which while outside will compensate for the impact of altitude (for example, training at 5,000ft)
Fitness Test: This is sorta like a VO2Max test, basically trying to determine how fit you are and then from there it can start to measure gains in fitness.
Orthostatic Test: In this test the unit uses your HR data with HRV (RR) to determine fatigue levels and recovery from workouts.
Looking at the earlier mentioned Training Load piece, Polar divides each workout up into one of five categories with a corresponding recommended recovery time:
Extreme: >49 hours
Very High: 25-48 hours
High: 13-24 Hours
Moderate: 7-12 hours
Light: 0-6 hours
The workout data is then combined with historical data to determine your recovery times. The unit will use the previous 14 weeks of training history to help determine these recovery times. In addition, it’ll account for other activity from that day. For example, if you spent the first 4 hours of the day at the mall walking around like a madman doing last minute Christmas shopping, and then you ran 15 miles, it’ll compensate for the fatigue from both.
Below, you can see the Running Index scores plotted over time for some apparently rather fast runner.
From a ‘what’s cool standpoint’, I’d say the RI and Training Load pieces are the most relevant, and the biggest leaps forwards for Polar to be competitive with other platforms out there. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the calculation side they reveal longer-term on the Training Load piece, as most other platforms detail a bit more of the science behind the numbers. Further, it’ll be interesting to see how Polar’s platform compares with existing systems out there.
Polar Flow – Online Analysis Site:
Once you’ve completed your workout the unit will automatically upload it via your phone (or PC) to the Polar Flow site. This is Polar’s new fitness-focused site going forward (away from PolarPersonalTrainer.com). The site will enable everything from device customization online (and then push to the device) to workout creation and analysis.
In addition, Polar will make available tools to migrate data from Pro Trainer 5 – so those folks hanging out on the desktop software can make the leap. As part of my final in-depth review I’ll take a look at how the features match up.
For those using either the Polar Beat or Polar Loop today, much of this won’t seem radically different. What is different however are many smaller nuances of the display of the data to fit better with the features of the V800.
Below is an example of a cycling workout from the V800 uploaded to the Flow site. You’ll notice that in addition to the common maps and summary information, you’ve also got social information up top – such as likes and comments (these are controlled through privacy settings). So it’s somewhat Strava like.
The site includes calendar and summary views of all your activities, so you can look at totals by different metrics over time (such as a weekly or monthly report).
As you saw earlier, the site also includes the new features related to Training Load and Running Index, and as well it will track the Fitness Test results, Orthostatic Tests, and Jump Tests.
Further, the site will enable you to compare completed activities against your past historical efforts (for example, the same course), as well as other people’s efforts (friends, coaches, me…). Though, this feature will not be available at launch.
Today, the Polar Flow site does some fairly cool stuff when you upload workouts from Polar Beat, for example, this workout I did yesterday that shows portions of the route along the way:
Here’s a running workout at the high level as well:
All this carries through to the V800. Further, as noted earlier Polar is adding in the ability to create workouts on Flow and then transfer them to the device. These workouts can have multiple steps and targets, as seen below.
Of note above is the ability to ‘Save a copy to my favorites’. Within the V800, there’s a concept known as ‘Favorites’, which are easily accessed from the main dashboard. These are frequently accessed workouts that you may do often, and don’t want to dig down into the watch a bit deeper to access:
As you can see, the site looks years better than the PolarPersonalTrainer.com site does/did, and is coming along nicely since it was introduced this past fall in conjunction with the Polar Loop activity monitor.
Obviously, given it’s somewhat new there’s still some gaps compared to other competitive platforms, but everything I’m seeing points to Polar having the right resources focused on bridging these gaps. One area that hasn’t yet been announced is whether or not the V800 will have a live tracking function (like the Garmin FR220/FR620), which would also likely be integrated into the Flow site and likely be made available across other devices/apps like the Polar Beat app.
The one area that remains outstanding however is open access to the data. Polar had planned to have the Polar Flow site have an API in place by the end of the year, and I don’t believe that’s been implemented yet. It will be critical for Polar that all workouts from the V800 (Swim/Bike/Run/Full Tri) are able to be exported to 3rd party services for other/further analysis. This includes ensuring that those exported files includes all relevant data such as laps, sensor data and location data, at 1-second recording rates.
Coaching Platform:
In addition to an online site to track your workouts, Polar will also be introducing a new online site/service that coaches can log into and specify workouts for coached athletes. This would allow a coach to prescribe a given custom workout to an athlete, and that workout would automatically appear within the scheduled workouts for the given athlete (from the athletes online dashboard). Then, the workout would be available to transfer to the watch for the athlete to execute.
Once the workout is completed by the athlete and uploaded, the platform will allow a coach to view the athlete’s completed workout automatically and make comments on the workout via the site (which will be visible to both parties).
This is notable because the major player in the space today – Training Peaks – doesn’t actually have full device integration. And on the device competition side, Garmin doesn’t have any sort of coaching platform. While some may see this as a new venture for Polar, that’s actually not accurate. In fact, Polar has long had various coaching platforms used primarily in the educational system (schools/universities/teams), with special coaching software and even school-focused variants of some of their popular heart rate monitors (which held slightly different model numbers).
At this point, Polar doesn’t have a ton of information about the program. In fact, the sum total of information they were able to give me was approximately one PowerPoint slide, of which, the first line was the title of the program, and the last line was the embargo date. So, there’s a lot to be unveiled here.
It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out. On one hand, it’s pretty cool sounding. However, on the other, it’s going to be challenging for Polar to make ground in this area since coaches will be highly reluctant to go to something only good on a single platform (Polar) for a single device (V800). Individually coached athletes typically are on a wide variety of devices across a wide variety of price ranges, and most individual athletes won’t simply go out and buy a new $400 watch + new accessories for it.
However, where Polar likely will have a better run of things will be for teams, such as entire track teams and other sporting teams. In those areas where the organization provides the units and can ensure uniformity of devices, Polar will be able to deliver a very compelling offering that no other device maker can do today.
Product Comparison Charts:
I’ve added the V800 to the Product Comparison Tool, which means you can mix and match it against any other watch/unit that I’ve ever reviewed for feature comparisons. While I’ve validated everything below with the Polar product team in Finland and in the US, do keep in mind that because it’s still early in the release cycle things could change (either good or bad changes). For the sake of simplicity, I’ve just selected the Polar V800, Polar RCX5, Garmin FR910XT and Suunto Ambit 2s in the chart below. However, you can easily make your own change with any device you want here at this link.
| Function/Feature | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copyright DC Rainmaker - Updated April 9th, 2021 @ 10:20 am New Window | ||||
| Price | $449 | $220.00 | $399 | $319 |
| Product Announcement Date | Jan 6th, 2014 | Mar 21, 2011 | OCT 4, 2011 | APR 29, 2013 |
| Actual Availability/Shipping Date | May 2014 | June 2011 | JAN-APR 2012 | May 2013 |
| GPS Recording Functionality | Yes | Separate GPS Pod | Yes | Yes |
| Data Transfer | USB, BLUETOOTH SMART | irDA Wireless | ANT+ Wireless | USB |
| Waterproofing | Yes - 30m | Yes - 30m | Yes - 50m | Yes - 100m |
| Battery Life (GPS) | Up to 50 hours | 1 year (GPS separate) | 20 Hours | 50 hours |
| Recording Interval | 1s | Adjustable | 1s or Smart | Variable |
| Alerts | Vibrate/Sound/Visual | Sound/Visual | Vibrate/Sound/Visual | Sound/Visual |
| Backlight Greatness | Great | Good | Great | Great |
| Ability to download custom apps to unit/device | No | No | No | Yes |
| Acts as daily activity monitor (steps, etc...) | Yes | No | No | No | Music | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Can control phone music | No | |||
| Has music storage and playback | No | |||
| Streaming Services | No | Payments | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Contactless-NFC Payments | No | Connectivity | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Bluetooth Smart to Phone Uploading | Yes | No | Via Wahoo Fitness Adapter | No |
| Phone Notifications to unit (i.e. texts/calls/etc...) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Live Tracking (streaming location to website) | No | No | No | No |
| Group tracking | No | |||
| Emergency/SOS Message Notification (from watch to contacts) | No | No | No | No |
| Built-in cellular chip (no phone required) | No | No | No | No | Cycling | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Designed for cycling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Capable | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Configuration/Calibration Options | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter TSS/NP/IF | NP | N/A | Yes | No |
| Speed/Cadence Sensor Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Strava segments live on device | Yes | |||
| Crash detection | No | Running | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Designed for running | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Footpod Capable (For treadmills) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (internal accelerometer) |
| Running Dynamics (vertical oscillation, ground contact time, etc...) | No | No | No | No |
| Running Power | With extra sensor | |||
| VO2Max Estimation | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Race Predictor | Yes, via Race Pace | No | No | No |
| Recovery Advisor | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Run/Walk Mode | Yes, via timers | No | Yes | No | Swimming | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Designed for swimming | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Openwater swimming mode | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Lap/Indoor Distance Tracking | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Record HR underwater | With Certain Polar Straps | Yes | No | No |
| Openwater Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Drill Mode | No | N/A | No | Yes |
| Indoor auto-pause feature | Yes | N/A | No | No |
| Change pool size | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Min/Max Pool Lengths | 20M/Y to 250 m/y | N/A | 20m/22y to 100y/m | 15m/y to 1,200m/y |
| Ability to customize data fields | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Captures per length data - indoors | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Alerts | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | Triathlon | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Designed for triathlon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multisport mode | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Workouts | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Create/Follow custom workouts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| On-unit interval Feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | Barely |
| Training Calendar Functionality | Yes | No | Yes | No | Functions | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Auto Start/Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Partner Feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Virtual Racer Feature | No | No | Yes | No |
| Records PR's - Personal Records (diff than history) | No | No | No | No |
| Tidal Tables (Tide Information) | No | No | No | No |
| Weather Display (live data) | No | No | No | No | Navigate | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Follow GPS Track (Courses/Waypoints) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Markers/Waypoint Direction | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Routable/Visual Maps (like car GPS) | No | No | No | No |
| Back to start | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (added Aug 30, 2013) |
| Impromptu Round Trip Route Creation | No | No | No | No |
| Download courses/routes from phone to unit | Yes | No | No | No | Sensors | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Altimeter Type | Barometric | None | Barometric | Barometric, GPS (FusedAlti) |
| Compass Type | Magnetic | None | GPS | Magnetic |
| Optical Heart Rate Sensor internally | No | |||
| Heart Rate Strap Compatible | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Heart Rate Strap Capable | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Speed/Cadence Capable | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Footpod Capable | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Power Meter Capable | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Lighting Control | No | |||
| ANT+ Bike Radar Integration | No | |||
| ANT+ Trainer Control (FE-C) | No | |||
| ANT+ Remote Control | no (but can control GoPro) | No | No | No |
| ANT+ eBike Compatibility | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Gear Shifting (i.e. SRAM ETAP) | No | |||
| Shimano Di2 Shifting | No | No | No | |
| Bluetooth Smart HR Strap Capable | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Capable | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bluetooth Smart Footpod Capable | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bluetooth Smart Power Meter Capable | Yes | No | No | No |
| Temp Recording (internal sensor) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Temp Recording (external sensor) | No | No | No | No | Software | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| PC Application | Polar Flowsync - Windows/Mac | PPT/Websync | GTC/ANT Agent | Moveslink Agent |
| Web Application | Polar Flow | PPT.com | Garmin Connect | Movescount |
| Phone App | iOS/Android | Polar Beats | iOS/Android | Suunto Movescount |
| Ability to Export Settings | No | No | No | Yes (online) | Purchase | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Amazon | Link | Link | Link | Link | DCRainmaker | Polar V800 | Polar RCX5 | Garmin Forerunner 910XT | Suunto Ambit2 |
| Review Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
Again, remember you can easily make your own change with any device you want here at this link.
My Initial Thoughts:
In general, I’m very impressed with what Polar has stated they plan to do with the watch. I think it represents a significant jump forward for them as a company, and to a large degree, an acknowledgement of how far they’ve fallen behind in recent years. But, the V800 joins the Polar Loop (and prior to that, Polar Beat) as recent products that really nailed the markets they are looking for. For example, I think it’s brilliant that they’ve included an activity monitor into the unit – helping bridge the gap between a typical watch and the FitBit’s of the world. It’s also sweet that they’ll likely become the first wrist unit to support Bluetooth Smart power meters. Further, bringing in-house a coaching platform will also be a very interesting move to watch.
On the battery life side, they’ve made an interesting play at both the Garmin Fenix and Suunto Ambit, going with a low-frequency update mode to get 50hrs of GPS-on time for extended workouts. Typically, the unit will get 13hrs of GPS time in 1-second recording mode. I’ve argued to them that splitting the difference in a ‘Ironman’ style mode like Suunto added would be appealing for many folks who need just a few more hours to finish their iron-distance events (up to 17 hours).
Now, as I alluded to – everything is great on paper. But, the unit I have today has pretty much just the core running functionality active/ready. Thus, all the ‘good stuff’ that you want out of the unit won’t come for some number of weeks or months, in later beta cycles (all before final release of course). Thus, I can’t know for certain how it’ll turn out. Though, Polar tends to have a very solid track record of doing what they say – and doing it in a generally bug-free manner (much better than most others).
Of course, there are some minor nits that I have with the unit that aren’t beta-related. But I think that Polar will listen to the feedback I’ve given them (both publicly here, but in more depth privately), and I suspect we’ll see those things resolved by release. They seem eager to listen to my suggestions and have conversations about them, so that’s great to hear.
Overall though, I’m looking forward to seeing the final product come together. The technical platform they have (with Bluetooth and the accelerometer), means that the sky is the limit for how they want to implement new features and functionality in software updates, so they’re well positioned for the foreseeable future.
Frequently Asked Questions – V800 and related:
This is my attempt at reducing redundant questions based on common and/or expected questions. I’ll continue to add to this over time as I see repeats. Thanks!
When will it be available?
Polar is stating April 2014 for availability, with the blue color variant coming a bit later.
Update 3/29/2014: Polar is saying units will start shipping in late April, with arrivals in early May.
How much is it?
$399/€399 without the HR strap, and $449/€449 with the HR strap.
I’m looking at places online to purchase it, and XYZ store says they’ll have it in March!?!
They’re lying to get your order. Yes, really.
When will your in-depth review be posted?
It’ll be posted once Polar delivers final hardware and/or software to me. This is primarily to protect you against making purchasing decisions based on a beta product that could have bugs introduced later after my review (though, that’s always a possibility). Thus, about 1-2 weeks after the final hardware/software is released to me. At this point, my understanding is the hardware is final, however of course, the software is far from final.
Can it be used for swim/bike/run and does it have multisport mode?
Yes, it can be used for all three sports and yes it has a multi-sport mode. However, at this point in beta, the swimming is not yet active nor is sensor support beyond the HR sensor (i.e. cycling or running stride), thus I haven’t been able to test those features.
How well does it work swimming, what metrics does it show?
At this point in the beta unit, swimming is not yet enabled. Polar has not yet clarified exactly which metrics they’ll show in swimming (either for indoor or outdoor swimming).
[Update – July 8, 2015: Today Polar added Open Water Swimming features (distance & stroke) to the V800; and these metrics are now also available in the Swimming profile for indoor swimming]
What file format does it export in?
The unit will provide standard Polar .HRM+.GPX files for running and cycling (last past Polar products). Swimming file formatting is TBA.
Does it connect to Bluetooth Smart devices?
Yes. Upon release in April 2014 it’ll connect to the following Bluetooth Smart device types:
– Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Strap
– Bluetooth Smart Cycling Speed & Cadence Combo Sensor
– Bluetooth Smart Cycling Speed-Only Sensor
– Bluetooth Smart Cycling Cadence-Only Sensor
– Bluetooth Smart Running Footpod (Stride) Sensor
In June 2014, Polar will add support for:
– Bluetooth Smart Cycling Power Meter Sensor
Does it work with non-Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth devices (i.e. Bluetooth legacy devices)?
No, it does not, only Bluetooth Smart.
Does it work with ANT+ devices?
No, it does not. It connects to Bluetooth Smart devices. It will NOT connect to any ANT+ power meters.
Does it support existing Polar W.I.N.D. sensors?
No, it does not. It does support the existing H7 however, with the 5kHz transmission for underwater reception of HR data. However, that strap is not using W.I.N.D..
Does it support power meters?
Polar has stated they will enable Bluetooth Smart power meter support starting in June 2014. This will be in conjunction with an update to the transmission technology for their Polar/Look Keo power system (today, that system uses POLAR W.I.N.D.). They have confirmed that they will support the standard Bluetooth Smart power meter spec, which is currently used by Stages Power for their dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart product, and in the last few weeks, by PowerTap for Bluetooth Smart-only PowerTap hub caps.
Can you please tell me some random sexy technical things that didn’t fit?
Sure. The unit is aluminum with a stainless steel shell with aluminum buttons. The glass fiber edge is a reinforced thermoplastic case. The black and white display uses Gorilla glass, and the display is 128×128 and can display 4 metrics in a single view. The unit contains up to 99 hours of storage with concurrent GPS and HR data. The GPS chipset is made by SiRFstar. The V800 weighs 79g, and is 12.7mm thick. It contains a 350 mAh Li-pol battery. The barometric altimeter is capable of measuring altitude, descent/ascent, and incline. It contains 13 languages, including Japanese and Simplified Chinese. The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow cannot be measured however.
C’mon, you must have something else geeky cool that didn’t fit?
It’s true, I do. For the real geeks in the crowd, the V800 will include Bluetooth Smart sensor relay/broadcasting. This means that if you attach a HR strap to the V800, it will actually rebroadcast that transmission as another BLE HR strap. This is useful for group-based sessions, and for folks who may have secondary apps/devices that want to connect to the same HR strap.
Can I use it as a day to day watch?
Yup, it’ll last at least 28 days in that mode while doing continuous activity monitoring (GPS off). You can change the watch face a bunch of different ways, as well as specify a single alarm and configure the ‘starting’ day of the week.
Does it do ‘smart watch’ style notifications (calls/text messages/etc…)?
In talking with Polar, they definitely see the potential for this (hardware is designed with it in mind), but at this point they haven’t decided if (or when) this would be added to the V800. But, they noted that should it be added, it’d be a simple firmware update. Whether that’s for free or paid would be TBD.
What is the battery life with GPS on?
The unit has two options. First is battery life of 13 hours with 1-second recording, regardless of the sport. The second mode, is a reduced recording rate with up to 50 hours of GPS-on time. This is similar to what we’ve seen with the Garmin Fenix and Suunto Ambit. I don’t generally recommend the 50-hour recording timeframe unless you’re doing activities that are slower-paced, like hiking.
Does it have Live Tracking capability like the Garmin FR220/620 and Garmin Edge 510/810?
Polar has stated “that’s a possibility” but have not confirmed if and/or when it might be included in the product.
Do you think Garmin, Suunto or Timex will deliver new triathlon watches this season?
Historically speaking, Garmin is on target for a new triathlon watch this season (a successor to the FR910XT). However, when exactly, and what features remain undisclosed. Suunto has been doing spring releases (April) for their Ambit products the last two years, but again, whether they continue that tradition remains unknown. Finally, Timex has been pretty quiet. So while we certainly could see a new unit from them, I wouldn’t bank on it. There or course be other players in the market as well, either new to the scene entirely (i.e. Bia), or from other companies with past products in the space (i.e. Magellan). Time will tell…
Do you recommend waiting till April?
There’s a lot of factors there, notably the fact that what will or won’t be included for other watches hasn’t been released. I tend however to be of the camp to buy what’s available now, and start training, rather than waiting. Which doesn’t mean to go out and buy a FR910XT instead of the V800, but rather, to make decisions based on your events and training schedule. What if Polar slips to June? Or if Garmin announces in April, but isn’t available to June (like usual)? How do those impact your season and races? Finally, note that like any other high-demand product, initial capacity orders will fill up quickly. Thus, if you wait till April to order (4 months from now), I highly doubt you’ll get your unit anywhere near April.
Will Polar release a new cycling computer this year?
I don’t know. But, they’ve long stated they plan to release a Bluetooth Smart enabled cycling computer. It would seem logical that would happen. Traditionally speaking, most cycling companies don’t make announcements in early January. There’s no reason to. Nobody is buying cycling gear then, and it allows them to hold back details for competitive reasons until Feb/March when people start pondering going outside again.
Update: Yes, they announced the Polar V650 – read about it here.
Why haven’t you answered my question below yet?
In general, it’s likely because either I, or Polar, don’t know the answer (or they wish to not yet disclose it). Or, because I hadn’t yet slept in days and decided to sleep for an hour or two.
Wait, when did you say your in-depth review will be released? Why haven’t you released your review yet?
My review will be released once they have final software/hardware (currently targeted for April 2014). I will update this very line item once I have final hardware/software.
—
With that, thanks for reading!
Found this post useful? Or just want a good deal? Here’s how:
Hopefully you found this post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The posts generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
I’ve partnered with Clever Training to offer all DC Rainmaker readers exclusive benefits on all products purchased. You can read more about the benefits of this partnership here. You can pickup the Polar V800 or accessories through Clever Training using the link below. By doing so, you not only support the site (and all the work I do here) – but you also get to enjoy the significant partnership benefits that are just for DC Rainmaker readers. And, since this item is more than $75, you get free US shipping as well.
Polar V800 Black Edition with or without HR strap (select drop-down to change)
Polar V800 Blue/Red Edition with or without HR strap (note June for blue/red)
Additionally, you can also use Amazon to purchase the V800 or accessories (though, no discount). Or, anything else you pickup on Amazon helps support the site as well (socks, laundry detergent, cowbells). If you’re outside the US, I’ve got links to all of the major individual country Amazon stores on the sidebar towards the top.
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible.
Is anyone looking at adding support for indoor endless pool swimming? Would be nice to get interval time and stroke count. Either in a tri watch such as this or something like the Garmin Swim.
Really like the integration of activity monitor w/ workouts and BMR. Nice.
On Polar hompage it is stated:
Adjustable recording rate – 1s, 2s, 5s, 15s, or 60s
Guess this is very important to mention.
That page is incorrect. Or at least, that’s what I was told this morning when I asked. They explained that the unit has plenty of internal storage space and thus there was no reason to have reduced recording rates. It has no impact on battery to remain at 1s.
I currently own the Garmin FR 620. I love the light weight (42 g). Love the running mode, but really hate that Garmin watered it down by not including a real bike mode like they did in the FR 610. They could have also increased the screen real estate by decreasing the dark band around the face of the watch. Maybe just leave the menu icons for navigation. I like what Polar did with the V800, but there are a few things that will hold me back from buying it if they don’t correct in the final version.. it must be Garmin Connect compatible, have lap pace, and weight under 60g. / .
I think you should email that to both Garmin and Polar… who knows, maybe a collaboration?
And next… iPhone apps on my Windows 8 surface.
One can dream… =D
Most the pity – as I was in search for “The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow cannot be measured however.” – Tis a silly place Kind Sir, Thank you for the details – journey on Smeller of Elderberry
Just ordered the Polar V800 Sunday and received it Wednesday. I normally use Polar Loop everyday, and therefore I could easily connect it to polar flow and get info synchronized. V800 is a user friendly and gives you the overview you want – what a positive surprise . Super happy with the watch and the possibility that you can shift between usage of loop and v800 and get all 24 hours tracked.
Another watch that does manual and auto lapping. Garmin, are you listening? GARMIN..?!!
Just out of curiosity, what’s the exact use case you use dual-lapping for?
Hello Ray, of course I can’t reply on behalf of MT, but this is also same issue for me with Garmin.
I’m using dual lapping e.g. when I’m running tempo runs. I get auto laps for each km’s and then manual laps to record parts of training (warm up, training, cool down).
Hello Ray, of course I can’t reply on behalf of MT, but this is also same issue for me with Garmin.
I’m using dual lapping e.g. when I’m running tempo runs. I use auto laps for each km’s and then manual laps to record parts of training (warm up, training, cool down).
I use dual-lapping in my runs allmost all the time because i like the auto-lap (every km), but sometimes i want to “re-start” a lap. For example after waiting for a trafic-light, or to do record some shorter strides in that run.
The first Polar watch which is really really fitting my needs. I will keep an eye on the final review in April/May 🙂
I’ve compared it to the Garmin Swim (because it’s what I currently have.) But as a tri watch, i’m loving the look of the Polar!
Ha just found out about the V800 and 10 minutes later I get a DCRainmaker RSS alert with the “review”…awesome!
Do you know if RC3 users will be able to use Polar Flow as well or are we stuck with polarpersonaltrainer.com?
I don’t think the RC3 has any kind of bluetooth technology in it so I’d imagine not.
I should have some further clarification on how the whole PPT.com to Flow migration will work (for legacy devices, and previously uploaded activities). They’re just working through a bunch of clarification questions I sent over. I’ll post an update to the comments as well as the FAQ section as soon as they send over the details.
Thanks for the initial thoughts on this interesting new product and for the others appearing at CES. I have tried for ages (since the Loop was announced) to get Polar to answer one simple but important question: only sessions recorded with the Beat app have transferred from Polar Personal Trainer to the Flow website so far, will the remainder of my PPT history ever appear on Flow (and will Flow ever allow manual entry) or will it forever be stuck in PPT? For someone with thousands of km of history it is a big issue and I’d love to have an answer.
FR620 Killer. I hope the Garmin guys get their act together and add back features to the FR620
Will the V800 be able to update firmware in the field? (my major gripe with my beloved RCX5)
My other gripe was lack of vibration but it seems fixed. You don’t mention in the review but in the tables
Can the V800 measure running cadence w/o a footpod (should be as it does have accelerameter)?
Will there be android support?
The jury is still out if the FR620 running dynamics have any value but this watch is a killer
It’s certainly a compelling set of features but no Ant+ and 80% heavier put it in a different category. I’d love to have the BP altitude and the navigation features but not for the added weight. Really depends on exactly what you use it for. They don’t seem to be in direct competition.
@ekutter
If polar was sticking to it’s proprietary W.I.N.D I could agree but BTLE is open (I guess if you have many ANT+ gear then of course an issue)
Dont think weight is major issue (FR610 weighed like this)
Do you know it the old accessory (W.I.N.D – speed sensor, cadency, ..) will be compatible?
In re: to your FAQ about waiting until April to purchase a device, why do manufacturers wait until the Spring Season to release and some into the early Summer before availability knowing that the fitness season, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere, starts late Winter/early Spring. I would think they run the risk of missing sales for the new products because people don’t want to switch training/data collection systems in mid-season. Just seems like if one of them wants to grab the market for the ‘whole first year’, they would release the product in December/January. I suppose they are banking on repeat customers who don’t want to switch systems??
JY
I use my rs800cx on my 24 hour ultra marathons. Is there a setting I could use for that?
In fact is it worth changing over from the rs800cx? I did (temporarily) with the RX5 and was very disappointed.
Yes, but at a reduced recording rate.
Ray – excellent review as always.
One question – the undisputed king of this space is the Garmin 910XT, as you know, but it has one shortcoming which drives me crazy. When you are racing, and have the watch in multisport mode, the data uploads to Garmin Connect as not one event but five: swim, T1, bike, T2, run.
Do you know if the Polar does better in this regard?
Alternately, do you know if Garmin have plans to fix this longstanding issue?
Thanks!
Within the screenshot above in the multisport you can see the five sports all in one ‘activity’
Dear Garmin people looking at this post and the comments,
On behalf of everyone who uses Garmin Connect, please plagiarize Polar Flow. It is better looking and more functional than GC. Please please please please please.
Thanks
This looks very very sweet and may get me to skip the planned buy of the Garmin 620 as long and only if they have an API able to export or at least a export as tcx/fit option on their UI.
Hey, 2 questions:
Will Polar Flow be compatible with RC3 GPS?
Will the V800 be compatible with non Bluetooth sensors? I’ve just got a new s3+ footpod and I’ve got an H2 HR.
Cool First Look Review
Further, you can also leverage Polar’s Heart Rate feature, which will enable you to customize the unit to perform a given event when you touch the watch to the HR strap (your chest).
If I’m not mistaken it’s called Heart Touch
Doh, nice catch. Fixed.
Someone knows what kind of heartbeat recording can do?
Excellent preview! Thanks! What about their horrible file system? Have they finally opened up? I have always loved Polar (especially their reliability & durability) but have not liked their .HRM & .GPX export approach. It just really makes things difficult with third party sites such as Trainingpeaks & Strava.
Same export file formats.
As a trail/mountain runner it’s good to see that it includes both routing capability and barometric altitude. Really looking forward to the final review now…
Any information regarding export to 3rd party software and sites? This needs to be quick and easy, not requiring extra manual operations like manual export from the Polar site or similar. In the past, this has been Garmins strength and a weak point for Polar. Any news from Polar?
It’ll export for running/cycling identical to existing Polar units (thus, HRM+GPX). Swimming is TBA on export formatting. Of course, having two files is still a weak point compared to all other units on the market, simply because many developers won’t bother to implement it.
Wow- this watch has real potential. As a recent purchaser of an Ambit2S I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the training features (EPOC, PTE and especially Recovery Time). I didn’t think I would use those much, even though I religiously loaded my Powertap data into Golden Cheetah and tracked all my TSS, ATL, etc metrics. To have a watch that puts all my activity together into a total training stress/fatigue calculation AND have it share all this with a smartphone app- seems like the holy grail of the endurance athlete. Granted- I’d need to buy a new HR monitor and power meter- so this might get expensive, but it could all be worth it. The fact that it comes in a 12.7mm thick (thin!) package and has the battery life for an IM or a 50mi ultra- and, can be worn as a watch (take that 910xt!)… and solves the swimming HR issue- Polar, you’ve got potential!
I’m not an early adopter- so I’ll wait to see if the product firmware is stable and the online and smartphone tools are well integrated- but Polar is heading in the right direction.
“The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow cannot be measured however.” hahahah
Thankfully others have been able to do it –> link to style.org
Nice preview as always.
Finally a watch that seems to have a bit more premium feel to it and not all plastic. The BIG question though is how Polar will win me (and others) over as far as my old data goes. I take it the V800 will not export fit/tcx, so in order to make the switch from Garmin they really have to come up with a way for me tor easily transfer my data over to the Polar Flow site.
Over all, way to go Polar! I absolutely love the tougher competition in this segment.
It’ll export HRM/GPX, at least for the legacy activities (run/bike), however, swimming is TBA.
If you’re looking for a tri-sport fully featured watch that has a premium look and feel to it- the Suunto Ambit2 (especially the Sapphire version) check’s that box. It’s reason #1 that I chose it over the very capable 910xt. Reason #2 is that it’s also a ‘watch’. i.e. one you can just wear every day.
Do you know if Polar will release soon RCX5 succesor or new firmware for RC3GPS with possibility to configure data fields?
Hello,
Could you compare the V800 to the RS800CX?
In my eyes the RS800CX is still a lot better then RC5X and RC3GPS and would like to see how the two compare. I really love the new possibilities with polar Flow.. and im starting to dislike protrainer 5 and personaltrainer.com more and more, it feels like a 10 years into the past everytime i sync my data..
Thank you!.
Definitely agreed! in addiction, RS800 have the R-R recording mode.
What specifically are you looking for from the RS800CX that isn’t in the V800?
As for RR recording, the V800 has that.
Thanks for the response!
Well for instance with the RC5X and the RS800CX you had the lack of altitude recording, the limited phases (4 vs 12), Cadance based workouts and the RC5X didn’t support pre-defined exercises outside of the Plan.
I know there’s still a lot not known about the V800, but i really wish this is going to be my replacement for the RS800CX. And am curious if there any features that i’m going to miss on the V800 or that this is truly an upgrade of it, since the RC5X wasn’t the upgrade a lot of people were looking for.
Thanks again!
The V800 does record/display barometric altimeter data, so that covers that piece. The V800 also allows you to create pre-defined workouts however and whenever you’d like, so very flexible there. I’ll check and see if you can create cadence based (for run or bike?) workouts. Though, I suspect they probably haven’t even coded that piece yet…
well both really, but my use at this time would be for the bike.
Thanks for the response!
@Rainmaker, are you sure about R-R interval? on polar website model compare, isn’t indicated
Yes, I’m sure. I’ve had some pretty extensive threads on that very topic. Further, the documentation I have states it and highlights the capability. In fact, there’s actually two ways it does HRV/RR. First is within given activities like in the past. And the second, is a separate mode that is 100% focused on doing a short ‘look’ at your HRV/RR detail, sorta like a ‘rest test’ of sorts.
So is PolarPersonaltrainer.com going away? What are the plans for all the data stored there? Migration, deleting, or a cut off date to switch?
One question in general.
Do you think someone will come up with Bluetooth Smart to Ant+ like the 4iiii’s Viiiiva but the other way around?
Probably not to be honest. But, I’d expect to see someone ‘refine’ a ANT+ to BLE mini-bridge (like Viiiiva) for the purposes of bridging ANT+ PM’s straight to the V800 in a fully BLE PM compliant manner. After all, CES hasn’t even officially started yet…
will it be able to update firmware in the field (major point allowing polar to improve over time)
Does it measure cadence sans footpod
will there be android support/
Firmware can be updated.
Niclas
Thank you for this great first look!
According to the specifications of the V800, it weighs almost twice as much as the Forerunner 620.
So I was wondering – how was the feeling when wearing the V800 while running compared to the 620?
The dimensions as shown in the pictures don’t seem bulky, the stated weight however does.
It feels a bit heavy, but not too bad. I didn’t notice it after about 10 seconds. It’s sorta like the Suunto Ambit2, similar. I notice it more however wearing it just around, like sitting at my desk typing on my laptop.
Android support?
Yes, it will support Android 4.3 devices.
Nice 🙂 thanks for this quick first look.
Great first look at this watch – thanks Ray! I’ve still got the old Global Trainer (down to only 6 hours of battery life now) and it’s time to upgrade. Noticed my TGT only puts out bred crumbs every 2sec and it lasts “15 hours” while the Polar drops crumbs every 1sec. Would probably be so easy to have them modify it for up to 3sec and then get 20 hours…wouldn’t it?
Any idea whether current Keo power pedal systems would receive a firmware update or will there be any way to update them to be used with the V800?
No firmware update, but a pedal pod swap-out. The details (read: cost) of that are still being determined.
doest it record r-r heart rate? (hrv).. firstbeat etc?
Yes, it records RR/HRV.
Great info!
This completely 100% puts polar back on the map with endurance products..
This is it!!
First – thank you for posting this preview! I’m just getting into tris (coming from swimming) so I’m excited to see what CES is going to bring. A couple things:
I think there’s a couple errors/omission in the swim section:
Opps, corrected. Secondary one should be H6, not H7.
Hi Ray, thanks for the interesting first review on this. I really like the new v800 especially the solid look with metal and gorilla glass.
I noticed that one of the screenshots that v800 shows the cadance. do you need foot pod that?
Hi
what are advantages and disadvantages having a bluetooth smart or ant+? Do you personally prefer Polar v800 or Garmin 910xt?
It’s too early to say if I prefer the FR910XT or the V800. That will have to wait until Polar implements all the features.
Excellent review as always. This is the first watch that would ever make me consider switching all my gear over to BTLE. As is stands, my next watch will be the Ambit2, but that’s not to slight this Polar addition. Even though I feel Ant+ is superior in many ways, Polar is, IMO, smarter for going the BTLE route. Why? Because it makes the bridge to the smartphone crowd, and draws in more users.
Great job Polar. I think you’re hitting all the sweet spots.
Wow me like the initial preview!! I really like the hardware specs. especially not being all plastic. From your roller pin image the V800 seems way more readable than the 620!! I don’t really need a full-on Tri watch, but I’ll use the cycle & having activity is a definite bonus. Web site looks promising, now if I can get my history converted over Polar might have a new loyal customer.
Will there be ability to switch off GPS for indoor training, or to save batery power outdoors?
Yes, when indoors GPS is turned off.
From the feature list:
“Polar Flow mobile app compatibility with iPhone 4S or later and Samsung Galaxy S4”
Should be also for Win8!!
Ray, thanks for the preview. I thought Polar would be coming out soon with a watch like this. It looks like a watch many athletes have been waiting for and I bet Garmin could make an announcement in the first half of the year with their new tri watch which seems logical as the new 620/220 models out and available.
Anyway, I wanted to know if the V800 supports alarms with vibration for use in sleeping and or 24/7 mode? Thanks!!
Agree, thanks Ray for preview!!
At Polar web site, one can compare watches, including V800. E.g. with link below, you can compare V800, RCX5, RS800CX.
link to polar.com
Answer to your questions seems to be yes.
Great news. I am using my Polar RS800cx with great joy. It works always, awesome battery life of 1 year, fine training reports: R-R hartbeat, temperature, height, speed, running cadense, stride-length, training intensity, recocery test, fittnes test.
I am glad that there wil be a watch that can match with the RS800cx.
With de V800 Polar you can’t yuse the WIND footpod or bike speed and bike cadense pods.
Thanks for this first look.
I doubt WIND will work, that was there own protocol, seems like they re-made the old accessories with new BTLE guts.
I’ve confirmed with Polar that previous WIND accessories will not be compatible.
Great review. One question: You mention that V800 can be used for 24×7 activity tracking for more accurate recovery recommendations. Does that mean you have to wear a heart rate strap 24×7? Did you try that and is that practical?
No, it does 24×7 activity tracking without the HR component, doing tracking of steps/sleep/distance. Just like a FitBit.
I am 57 and play soccer weekly. I am looking for a device which at least do the following: 1. Monitor my heart rate in real time and alert me with some sound when my heart is over stressed during a game. 2. Measure the distance covered in my game. 3. Everything else not necessary but is a bonus: calories burnt, sleep tracking, smart coaching, etc. (Point 1 is the most important to me because sometimes I am not aware in the heat of a game I may be pushing myself too much.
The V800 will do both of those, however, you are up against some limitations when it comes to the precision available for GPS. Typically speaking, I wouldn’t put too much stock in any GPS unit when it comes to measuring the short and quick moves on a soccer field, from a distance standpoint.
Well, I’ve tried my 910XT a couple of times during a similar game (fieldhockey, it’s the Netherlands) and it seems to work pretty well. While I can’t verify the distance it seems plausible and it makes for credible bunch of spaghetti on the map. For an example, see link to connect.garmin.com. By the way, after Google took its picture they changed the field from soccer to fieldhockey, then Bing came along to take a picture of the new one.
Thank you for your replies. I have used Jawbone’s Up and the Nike+ Sportswatch (using GPS and Nike+sensor) but my Up stopped working after 3 months and I find the Sportswatch (as with the V800) a bit bulky (and both have no heart sensor capability). Some referees deemed it hazardous as I might hit some with it during a game. Are there any other alternatives which is “band” based and can still monitor my heart and alert me in real time (essential feature). How about the Polar Loop, Nike Fuelband SE, FitBit Force, etc.?
Polar loop will connect to HR strap plus Ray said this:
The real benefit here is for activities like cycling. In this case, most traditional activity trackers (FitBit, Nike Fuelband, etc…) all would basically be blissfully unaware of the effort you’re putting out. That means in the case of the ride below, I was able to get actual calorie information because it was using the HR data instead of just no-step data.
Don’t know if it can alert you though.
You could use it with adidas mifit speedsensor or polar’s own sensor for more accuracy during soccer.
Awesome preview and (apparently) awesome device. I’ve been using a Polar S720i from a prehistoric age, but the dang thing works great. I use it for indoor training and fooling around with an equally ancient Polar power measurement system based on chain tension and chain speed (I kid you not). I also have a Garmin 305 (still ancient!) that is fine for outdoor run/bike stuff. But, I’m getting my swim stroke respectable so am planning to include triathlons (just duathlons now). Given the need for H2O performance and the ragged edge of age related troubles likely ahead (devices, not me – I hope!), I’m probably in the market this year for a new device. This one might be it! Looking forward to the in-depth review.
Please don’t fortget to report all news about Keo Power – in particular availabiliy and price of update 1st generation of pedals to BTLE
Fear not, that’ll be covered tomorrow.
Hi Ray – thanks for the great review as always! For kayakers and canoeists the holy grail of measurement is GPS, Heart-Rate and paddling stroke rate based on boat movement. Do you think there is a possibility this watch will permit the simultaneous measurement of all 3 using the internal accelerometers to measure stroke rate in a similar fashion to swimming stroke rate? There is no unit on the market which currently does this. Thanks.
Technically, it’s very much possible. I wouldn’t expect to see it initially, but perhaps down the road in a firmware update (since the unit can be updated wirelessly).
Can you try H7 strap plus Polar Beat app in a smartphone (waterproof case)? I see the rowing activity in the app and it uses smartphone GPS for distance.
When using the route mode can you zoom in and out to change the scale to more easily see turns or the overall route?
Thanks
Robert
Something that would be really interesting to me as well. I like to get rid of Garmin.
Further – is there already a bike mount? Pictures?
It’s not quite on the unit I have yet, so I’ll have to wait to see.
As for a bike mount, Polar has a standard watch bike mount today. They aren’t planning any sort of quick-release mount.
mac compatible – to much to read thru if noted,
Thank you for the great preview!
Will the V800 or Polar Flow keep track of personal records like Garmin does?
I’m still a pretty slow runner (10k at about 57:00), but I enjoy seeing the progress like that. I’ve just switched from my RCX5 to the FR620 and I really enjoy all the “extras”: PRs, estimated race times and so on.
I also like the Idea of an activity tracker in my sportswatch.
Whats your personal opinion on this: Stay with the FR620 or get the Polar in April?
I don’t swim, but I ride my bike during the nicer seasons 🙂
Cheers from Germany
Jd
Thanks for that “beta review”! A pity, that the V800 is that ugly …
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I saw a little mistake in the product comparison chart: The RCX5 doesn’t connect via IRDA, it’s any non standard wireless protocol. Correct?
Thanks again Ray!
Thanks Ray, your reports are amazing. How do you find time for all this, I couldn’t do even a fraction.
If you can, it would be great if you could give me some information about some details.
Have you tested the barometer jet? It’s my no 1 feature, which I miss on the RCX5.
I really would love to hear how accurate is meashuring ascent/descent?
Is there a graph for pace (ascent/descent would be nice to) like the RS800 has?
Is Polar with BT smart finally so open to accept 3. party HR Stripes like the mio.
Did Polar tell you something about changing the Trainingplatform again. PT pro5, PPT and now PFlow. I liked the concept of PPT at first. But had to learn that they wouldn’t improve it for pros much. Instead they kept PT pro5, without improvements. Now something new, again. It’s a bit confusing and frustrating from a users point of view.
As always, thank you
Stefan
How is the readability of the display?
It looks a little bit small compared to the other watches.
Using Bluetooth I would think they could also do phone notifications like Garmin just did with the fenix?
If the v800 had that feature I would be sold and use it as my go to daily watch (especially since it records daily fitness data).
Excellent report, Ray! Just one question: How does switching from sport to sport work in a triathlon? Do I have to only push one button (like on Garmin watches) to get from swimming to cycling or do I have to do it like I do it now on my RCX5: profile “swimming”–>”Stop-button”–>select profile “transition”–>”Start-button”–>… ?
Thank you for the great preview!
“For the real geeks in the crowd, the V800 will include Bluetooth Smart sensor relay/broadcasting. This means that if you attach a HR strap to the V800, it will actually rebroadcast that transmission as another BLE HR strap.”
With this feature, it will be nice if we could control music (forward, repeat, etc) in Polar Beat app, using the watch, like Magellan Echo.
Tank you again.
How sturdy is the watch band? How will it hold up in the Swim? Also, any word on if there will be a quick release/bike mount for the watch similar to the FR910xt?
No quick release system.
Band seems rather sturdy, perhaps overly so…
Another great review, thanks for all those details on a beta version.
New owner of the 910XT, i knew that that the necessity to have a computer to upload the data to garmin connect would annoying and i was looking forward the new 9XX with the same capabilities of their last 620.
But polar really raised the bar and as an owner of a Withings pulse for activity and sleep tracking, they’re just spot on on my need as a casual triathlete. Really looking forward to see the finalized product and read the in depth review.
I am also looking forward Gamin’s answer as they will be the one that need to catch up, and this all good for us 🙂
how would the polarv800 stack up against the adidas smart run. I purchased the adidas smart run 1 weeek ago and i primarily use it indoors to lift weights, trx and skipping. Which product would suit me more? the adidas smart run or thr polar v800. Lastly why didnt polar just do what adidas smart run did and integrate the heart rate sensor? isnt it annoying for people to strap on the chest strap?? Finally, a BIG THANK YOU for actually taking the time to review all these fascinating products. Great effort and keep it going mate! cheers
Optical heart rate is not as good as based on ECG, if you care about accuracy.
Fantastic review giving a real insight into the upcoming technology – thanks.
I’ve just invested in a Garmin FR620 as (despite being a Triathlete) the FR910XT didn’t suit my needs due to the lack of BT and WiFi functionality. I had always planned to use the FR620 for this triathlon season and I’m looking forward to having the choice between this new Polar unit or an updated FR920 for 2015.
For me, however, the future is BT and NOT ANT+, could this development from Polar (and primarily the integration with smartphones/apps) finally lead to Garmin moving to Bluetooth (thus ditching ANT+)??
Let’s hope so!
Tim
One other observation, I’m not sure about the fix strap. Seems like it would be more comfortable if it had pivot lugs vs. fix/solid. Wondering how well it will fit the ladies & small wrists?
And an integrated heart rate would def. been nice, but I’m guessing that wouldn’t work too well in the water. But not having to wear a strap when running, cycling, etc. would have been sweet.
It’s going to be real interesting to see what all pans out w/ sports/fitness/smart wearable. I’ll have to see how long I can hold out.
Hi,
Will it be visible as a USB stick as the Garmin 620 when you connect it to a computer?
I.e. Can I use it on my Linux computer? And then how can I in that case send trainings to the watch…
Then another thing will you visit ces this week?
Thanks for all great reviews !
Lars
Hello,
Can you pair V800 / Polar Beat with BTLE sensors from other manufactures? I mainly asks about posibility to use Adidas Speed Cell BTLE with Polar Beat for now, and after April with V800, coz i can’t buy Polar Stride Sensor in EU.
Thx for all reviews.
Kuba
Hi Kuba J,
I had the same question because I saw that I’m not able to buy the Polar BTLE stride sensor in germany today.
I bought a Adidas Speed Cell BTLE. It arrived yesterday and it works well with the Beat App, so my hope is that Polar is using the BTLE specs with their future watches, too.
It will pair to any BTLE sensor that conforms to the sensors outlined above, which, does include the Adidas sensor. I’ve got both sensors, and is definitely something I’ll be testing as part of the review.
I’ve been using the Adidas sensor with the Polar Beat on the last few runs without any issues doing some testing, so I’d be really surprised if there was an issue with it with the V800.
Nice first review… I really waited for this one since I first heard about the V800.
How about the online tool to upload data, will I be able to keep my PPT or will I have to change to the new Flow web interface? And if so, will I be able to migrate al my old data into the new platform?
I still have some data from the old ProTrainer5 that I cannot migrate into the PPT online tool. Now I do not want to have another place where I will have to keep in order to view my old marathons. Would be nice to have it all in one place, and also easy to migrate the old data in one go, not file by file…
Thanks for a great job with all the reviews, realt appreciated.
Same here.
I love the concept of phone upload, but separate files as backup is a must.
So for migration, there will be migration from PPT online, as well as ProTrainer offline – to Flow. Polar is still working out the exact details (I talked to them about it yesterday at length) on timing, but it’ll be there before the watch is (even if only by a few days).
Most of the questions revolve around how and whether existing watches (like the RC3) that are currently uploading to PPT online will eventually start uploading to Flow directly.
At last, a watch for the tri crowd the running crowd the ultra crowd, the fitness crowd and everything inbetween.
I have been waiting for a long time for this watch!!!
The only thing missing is “virtual racer” feature.
Panos,
there is a function of ideal time in the RCX5 which gives the possibility to race against a decided time.
To rise it to a a fully “virtual racer” feature is more a question of priority in the update list. imho.
Thank you for the great preview! With polar being the only company that uses the special HR transmission for readings underwater, I’m a little surprised to see that it’s only a 30m resistance. I do lots of surfing and occasionally dive below the water 3-6 feet. Do you think this 30m rating would hold up to those conditions? I sure hope so because Polar finally got it right! I can’t see any negative about this watch other than this for my use.
6 feet are 1.8meter.. don´t know if you get big impacts surfing but seems it could handle it
Hi David,
this wiki page give a very good overview on your question : link to en.wikipedia.org
I can only see that the difference to 50m water resistance is “White water rafting” …
From a technical point of few I think there is an explenation. Those watches are (so far) charged by a cable as this is the fastes way, yet. Feethroughs are more and more expensive when it comes to tightness demands. I would say a very smart decision to save costs (lower end price) without compromise on quality.
According to wikipedia you need 100 m Water resistance rating for surfing and swimming. It also says that at 30 m rating a watch will NOT be suitable for showering, swimming, surfing. Can someone confirm that this is accurate information? link to en.wikipedia.org
No, that’s not accurate. Waterproofing is actually pretty straightforward. There’s really only two ways. Either you follow a specific standard (ie IP/IPX), or you list a depth rating.
The problem comes from scuba divers (keep in mins I dive), which over time have tried to enforce the wonky ideas in the link about waterproofing. But it’s simply not true, and I’ve gone diving with any of these devices and demonstrated it. And companies like Polar and Garmin all so standardized tests for it.
Perhaps if one were looking at cheap knockoff devices you could imply those assumptions, but not for major brands.
Thanks for a great pre-review!
I have not found any info about vibration signaling, which in my opinion could be extremely helpful when racing with hundreds/thousands of other athletes whose devices also produce the same/similar starting/stopping signals.
How likely that polar may add such vibro function to the final version of V800?
Vibrate feature is built in, GENERAL: ALERTS: VIBRATE/SOUND/VISUAL
Dcrainmaker please say me.
Will V800 support bluetooth 4.1 or only 4.0?
May be will update later?
4.1. It takes 4.1 to be able to do the relay piece.
Great reading as always, Ray. You might want to correct a MINOR detail, the 910XT was introduced in 2011, not 2012. (ref. Product comparison table)
Thanks, fixed!
Was just reading on Engadget that Polar is also looking at adding smartwatch type notifications (ie SMS, CallerID) capabilities to the V800. This should be fairly straightforward since Bluetooth radio is there.
THIS would be awesome. I currently have a Motoactiv which does all of this as well. Tho the Motoactiv is a bit bulky and battery life was terrible.
I have to say, I’m incredibly excited to get one, as I’m in the market for a new sportswatch to replace my Motoactiv.
Also in the Engadget comments they hint at a Live Update functionality like the new Garmins can do:
“Having spent some time with the wearable, we’re still intrigued by its potential. In addition to the tracking and aforementioned features, the V800 will work out your ideal rest period from your exercise history and may even push your location to the cloud for others to track — for example, when you want people to follow your progress during a marathon. There’s a considerable heft to the hardware, standing as proud from your wrist as the Galaxy Gear, for instance. Fortunately, the stainless steel case feels tremendously solid, and we’d expect to say the same for the Gorilla Glass that covers the face.”
Correct, during my discussions Polar has stated it’s a possibility. When, or how it’ll be implemented, and if it’ll be free is a different question. Polar has noted that they see cases where they can allow folks to ‘unlock’ features on the V800 for a fee (or for free), like buying apps from the app store. They haven’t provided any concrete examples of potential ‘for fee’ type features.
Do you know if this watch is locked to polars own sportzones? This is one of the major problems with the rcx5. Polar defines zone x as x-x% of HRmax. (zone 2 is 60-70% of HRmax) Can we define our own zones (and different ones for each sport) with the v800?
Whether it is possible to replace the battery in V800?
No, it’s not end-user replaceable.
Another great review Ray, thanks!! Looking forward to the final look in April!!
It looks like something out of a new 007 film, the features are pretty spectacular too. The navi tools are pretty nice also, but I am still wondering why it would’nt have some simple things like an alarm clock,…otherwise, I like it!
Zara, it says there is a Time of day (12/24h) with alarm and snooze
somewhere I also read that there is a vibration alarm but cannot find the link.
Hi Zara-
Because you’ve posted twice now, with different names but the same IP, both linking to that site with a comment that’s semi-nebulous, I’m considering it SPAM and zapping the site. Enjoy!
Thanks for another great pre-review, Ray. Do you know whether the following two key features will be available on the V800:
– average lap speed,
– dynamic fall back to the foot pod (for speed) or accelerometers in case GPS is blocked (tunnels)?
Both features are critical for serious runners and cyclists (i.e. interval training and sporting in urban environments) but, amazingly, Polar has never implemented them (as opposed to Garmin for quite some time) in ther top watches.
Thanks, Luis.
On both, my unit isn’t yet enabled to be able to validate those.
On the second however, it’s something I’ve discussed with them in some e-mail chains, but no definitive decision yet on how it will work has been made. I’ve been arguing for the same way it works with Garmin (cause, as you pointed out…it’s logical).
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve used the RCX5 for 2+ years and lacking those features is frustrating at times, forcing taking my wife’s FR110 just I’d be stunned if Polar kept not addressing them with their promising V800!
The lap avg speed is critical e.g. in races when you want to pace yourself differently throughout the race (i.e. increasing intervals); the dynamic-GPS-speed-with-foopod-fallback thing is critical to get min variability in overall metrics (distance, speed, and, especially, Running Index).
BTW, I’m also amazed how neither Garmin nor Polar have implemented a sliding window concept to measure “instant” speed (with GPS) i.e. one being able to define integration period for speed measurements (say, last 1, 5, 10 s) – totally decoupled from the recording interval. Maybe vendors can hear you more?! Polar seems to totally ignore customers’ suggestions….
No average lap pace/speed is a deal breaker!
Hopefully Polar adds this to the software.
Will it possibly have functionalities such as the Polar FT 80 for strength training? Have had my FT80 for a while now and would like one watch that covers gym to cycling.
It can calculate calories indoors just fine from the HR strap, but it doesn’t have a strength training workout program type mode (such as the Adidas unit has).
thanks for the feedback – i suppose its a trade off i need to consider.
Hey Ray,
great review, thanks!
One clarification: according to Polar, both V800 and RCX5 follow an identical 30m water resistance standard.
Then why does your above product comaprison table say in section “Swimming: Designed for swimming” that RCX5 is not suitable for swimming? After all, the RCX5 is a multisport watch with explicit swimming features (hard- and software).
The RCX5 doesn’t track swimming metrics. That’s what that’s referring to. So while the RCX5 is waterproof, it doesn’t actually have any swimming functionality, beyond not dying in the water.
Okay, metrics…
Thanks for the feedback!
I don’t suppose you could leave a small post-it note around the Polar offices somewhere that an applicable app for windows phone users would be much appreciated, for when the V800 is finally available for retail.
Is it me, or does the white on black screens, appear to be more vibrate & more readable vs. black on white? Also seems like that would work better on bright sunny days.
It depends. I’ve used watches with both display types (Magellan Switch is like that for example, so is Garmin Tactix), and generally find them pretty equal.
Hello Ray,
first a big thank you for this review. Maybe one of the most “hoped for” since a long time.
I have two questions:
– on the comparision sheet at Polar there is nothing mentioned about altimeter. Does it measure true altitude or not?
– I understand R-R is measured … but it seems it is not extra presented on display.
Can you comment on that.
Thanks for your energy and time.
Yes, barometric altimeter is included. Not sure why they don’t list it there, as it’s in all the literature.
As for RR, I don’t believe it’s in the display as a configurable field – likely because that might enumerate itself as a bit messy. What metric would you envision would be displayed?
Thanks Ray,
I now got double confirmed that barometric altimeter is there … must be an update problem.
RR in real-time display was a feature in the RS800 and gives a extra component in finetuning training independent from HR-level which can vary from day to day.
Trimaster, i have the RX800CX and i have seen that RR real time data.
My question is how do you use these data during training, what conclusion do you get by watching this metric ?
I mean, ok i understand HR and i adjust my efford according to what type of run i am doing, but with RR real time data, what do you get from them ?
Your preview is as always very helpful -great !
I’ve just a short question: I bought shortly the tom tom multisports watch and want to know your real opinion
which watch more suitable for the triathlon sports and which are more handier. Thanks in advance!
It’s too soon to tell, since the V800 doesn’t have all the features enabled yet. Ultimately, they are slightly different markets. The V800 goes after the FR910XT market (everything/all features), whereas the TomTom goes after a more budget friendly and simplistic feature market (less features).
Hey Ray,
thanks for great review. Perhaps you have time for another question:
Does it shows the actual lap pace like the FR610?
Thanks for the great and timely info Ray. Your “First Looks” are better than almost everyone else’s full reviews. It seems that Polar has built a product with a lot of promise here which, for the first time in a long while, looks to be ahead of the competition in terms of tech. Hopefully Polar will take advantage of that with a good final implementation. On a personal note, I sure wish that my Polar RI was 60.
Hi Rainmaker..
As always, i read your reviews with much plesure.
Can you tell how many steps i can programm to make a running trainer or cycling training.
Now i use a rs800 for training and a polar rcx5 for ironmans (70.3 so)
I use to protrainer5 to programm and the diary to keep up things, here i can make 12 steps, online with the rcx5 only five steps, way to many for my use..!
Is it possible to make 12 steps of training with the v800?
Thanx Frank from the Netherlands.
Too soon to know, Polar hasn’t made the workout builder available yet.
Thanks for the preview. Well I better start saving for this as it ticks most boxes for me for ultra/trail running unless something better comes along.
I have a few questions.
As far as i can tell the navigation looks good. My 410 has a useful feature in course mode. You can setup waypoints along a route that trigger an alarm and/or short message. This can be useful when running as you don’t want to be always checking your watch. Can the Polar V800 do this?
Also do you have any ideas of storage? is there a limit to the amount of track points you can save in a course? This has put me off the Ambit2 as is surprisingly limited to 500 points.
Does it support GLONASS as well as GPS? GPS accuracy in some countries tends to be a great deal less accurate than advertised so i’m interested to see if this has improved.
Obviously will have to wait for the review in terms of the H7 but what are your thoughts about Polars HRM straps with other POLAR units?
Great preview! Is the watch band replaceable or is it a single molded piece? Also can you get cadence from the foot pod without it overriding distance from gps? Thanks again.
Will the Mio Link connect and work underwater with this?
Technically yes, it will connect. Typically speaking you’ll only get about 1″ of transmission underwater though on either ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart. So, they’d have to be right next to each other.
which would be possible, wouldn’t it?
I understand that the V800 doesn’t have a dedicated strength training mode, but is it still possible to tell it to measure HR and take it into account in its effort and recovery calculations without calssifying it as running/cycling/swimming?
If there isn’t, I’m afraid the recovery advice the watch gives will be completely skewed for those of us who do some strength training in addition to aerobic training. I understand that the watch measures activity 24/7, but since that’s based on movement and not on HR, strength training will barely register.
Can you please share your thoughts on this?
I’m really hoping there is a velcro soft strap option for this watch. In winter chances are people on longer runs will wear the watch over a jacket or long sleeve layer & being able to remove the watch to remove a layer when running is important.
With the Bluetooth Relay am I correct in assuming that it will be able to relay my BLE HR and BLE Spd/Cad to my phone and then like normal from my phone to my rflkt? I’m guessing if it really is just relaying then that is definitely possible and I’ll be super happy since I love my rflkt.
It’s for HR, not sure if it covers other sensor types. But yes, basically it’ll re-broadcast out the HR signal as just another BLE signal so that another device (i.e. phone) can pick it up.
Ray,you’re amazing,i enjoyed reading ALL your reviews…Can i use the Polar V800 with a iPad ? ( i don’t have a smartphone).Can i use any USB charger to charge it ?
Yes, you can use any USB charger to charge it.
As for Polar Flow, assuming you have an iPad with Bluetooth Smart – such as an iPad Mini, or iPad 3rd generation or higher, you’ll be good.
Thanks for your great preview. Can you tell me how the watch is using the data of GPS and an additional stride sensor? It would be great if the instant pace will be displayed from the stride sensor and the distance from the GPS, just like Garmin watches do. Or is it the same as with the Polar RC3 GPS, where pace and distance are displayed from the stride sensor. Thx for your reply.
The Garmin watches actually display from GPS, unless you specify from footpod (and that option isn’t actually available on all models).
In any case, as noted above, since the stride sensor support isn’t enabled yet, it’s too soon to tell. But it is something I’ve been talking with them about, in hopes that it’s like the Garmin units which failover to footpod upon loss of GPS, as well as allowing you to choose which source to use.
Thanks. The ability to choose the source would be nice, but is no must have for me as long as the watch offers enough profiles for my shoes.
I love your reviews, they are fundamental in my final choice. I do mountain ultramarathons (80, 100km). I currently use a Garmin 910XT, but on longer races, with 20-24 hours, it simply dies. I’m looking for another model. I’ve tested the Garmin Fenix and did not like them. I’m considering the Suunto Ambit2, or this new Polar V800. What do you recommend? Thanks.
True, the FR910XT is only designed for 20 hours of usage.
Looking at Fenix/Ambit2/V800, it’s too soon to tell on the V800 side, it’ll largely depend on how they implement the longer range/ultra option. I think in order for it to be received well, they’re going to need to have a few options – one for ultra 50ish hour range that does that others do. That’s good for hiking, but not really great for running, nor great for that middle range 20-30hr arena.
I think if they follow in the track of Suunto with the middle-option they added, they could aim for a 20-30hr mode that gets you frequent enough (5-10s recording rates).
Thus…hang tight for now.
One question: does it jump into POD mode to measure distances when entering a tunnel and gets back to GPS? Or does it stay in POD like the Suunto ones after you exit the tunnel?
It hasn’t been implemented yet. I’m optimistic they’ll choose the model (like a Garmin), which fails back to GPS after GPS signal is found. It’s something we’re talking about.
Hi Ray, any news from Polar on this issue?
To recap, their current top-of-range RCX5 forces the foot POD as the sensor for speed & distance metrics even if the GPS sensor is there (GPS only used for tracking). This is annoying as GPS is much accurate for average speed/distance accuracy than the foot pod (even if is calibrated). No way with Polar to use the GPS as master (with the foot pod for cadence data only) and auto fall-back to foot pod for speed/distance while in tunnels and, indeed, resorting back to GPS once you exit them (a la Garmin).
If Polar does not finally sort this out, they’ll lose customers – no doubt.
Many greetings!
It works the same way as the RCX5.
The only difference is that the foot pod is calibrated via GPS, in theory automatically – but I’m working through some stuff there with them on that.
But that won’t change the core item – which is that it otherwise acts like the RCX5.
Hello Ray, thank you for the great report! Do you know why Polar has waived an optical sensor for heart rate measurement, as it is with the adidas miCoach run smart watch? Thank you very much for your reply and many greetings!
I suspect that you’ll see the likes of Garmin/Polar/Suunto probably a bit later in the optical sensors game for a few reasons. One is that companies of their size that develop almost everything in-house, will want to develop optical in-house. Obviously, some or all of those three are looking at optical (Garmin has stated they’ve been looking at it for a while). Thus, unlike Adidas who essentially outsourced it to Mio, the big three will look to keep that IP internal, and thus not have to pay royalties.
For everyone else in the industry, they tend to work with partners far more often and thus aren’t afraid of going with licensing deals in order to get to market faster.
Finally, for optical, there are some challenges there for Polar in particular, because the optical technology today can’t do HRV/RR, and thus that’s one of Polar’s big tickets in their lineup. Without that, they’ll have to shift their marketing message (which, I don’t think is a bad thing, btw…).
“Finally, for optical, there are some challenges there for Polar in particular, because the optical technology today can’t do HRV/RR, and thus that’s one of Polar’s big tickets in their lineup. Without that, they’ll have to shift their marketing message (which, I don’t think is a bad thing, btw…).”
I think the best solution would be to have both optical and HR strap possibilities, as optical would be my choice at a gym work out (Weights) where it’s overkill to use an HR strap and it would even improve the daily activity monitoring by having the possibility to check in on your heart rate now and then (particularly sleeping, as accelerometer really isn’t that reliable). HR strap would off course be my choice at all endurance sports.
Just thinking out loud..
Hi Ray,
thanks for all your great work.
I am currently getting by with a Polar RC3 GPS which is great in terms of accuracy and reliability (never lost the satellites once in 300 trainings) but somewhat primitive in terms of features, V800 would be a huge step forwards.
To get my data into Strava or TrainingPeaks I currently upload the .GPX and .HRM files to PC (after already uploading them to polarpersonaltrainer.com) and then convert them to a .TCX file (using a third party application), which I then manually load into Strava. This sucks. I really can’t believe that Polar does not intend to improve things for the next generation. I understand their reluctance to adopt .FIT format, but what would it cost to adopt .TCX, or at least produce it as an option?
Please bounce this off their team, if you get the chance. Thanks!
No doubt, I agree it’s annoying and it’s relevant to this day and age. While I’ve hammered on it many times, I think it’s more of a ‘keeping the same old’ thing rather than looking at an appropriate file format for their devices (and going to what everyone else has).
Not having a fairly easy way port over my history from Garmin or SportTracks would pretty much be a deal break for me on the V800. Seems like with Polar taking a closed approach may do a lot more harm than good, I just don’t get it.
To be clear, Sport Tracks does support Polar devices just fine.
Ahh great, I was not aware of that (hadn’t really looked either). That def allows for options!! I use ST based on your reviews etc.
Strava support GPX does it not?
The problem is Polar separates out the sensor data into the HRM file, and the location data into the GPX file. Years ago it sorta made sense for backwards compatibility. But honestly, these days they need to just move on to any of the other (two) formats out there that everyone else is using. Given their entire platform is shifting, any backwards compatibility is out the window anyway. So it’s really about forward compatibility with 3rd party platforms, which is what they want.
Again, just my two cents. But I’m not really an expert in this area. 😉
Having just purchased a Wahoo RFLKT+ for the BTLE and the ANT+ bridging I’m wondering if there would be any way that we could use the RFLKT to show data on the bike rather than having to look at my wrist?
No, not at this point. That would require Wahoo to implement a BLE bridge into the RFLKT+, which, it doesn’t do at present. Right now, it bridges into the phone, and without the phone the device is effectively useless. So it’s a bit of a paradigm shift for them, and therefor I don’t see it likely.
Thanks for the preview – I definitely like the look of this watch. Just a couple of extra questions:
1) How long does it take to recharge the battery via USB? Similarly, have you tried using it with a hub dynamo, so that you can preserve the battery a bit longer?
2) I currently have an RS800cx, and my single biggest problem is the internal storage. If I just go out for a day of cycling, then transfer the data to my PC when I get home, that’s fine. However, if I go off on a cycle touring holiday for a week, I found that the watch had filled up by day 3, so I either have to carry a laptop around with me (bulky/heavy) or accept that I’ll have to wipe the earlier data before I get home. Being able to upload data to the web (via a phone/tablet) may avoid this problem, but that presumably still relies on you having internet access. So, do you know how much data the watch can store internally? As a related question, does Polar Flow still have a maximum number of events per day, like the PPT desktop software?
Hello Ray
I wondered if you think Quark or other ANT power cranks would be possible to use with V800 someway. ?Maybe change inside powercrank or a bridge/connection too V800 someway. ? I have the Quark Red crank and would like to use it in especial triathlon competitions…..
Not today, as in, this very second. However, I think by time the V800 launches, some 3rd parties will slide themselves in nicely at a cheap price point to basically repeat the power signal to the V800. There’s some quirks that prevent that today for 4iiii’s, namely, that the v800 has to understand multi-channeling, and there’s no guarantee it does. But honestly, that’s a trivially silly thing for 4iiii’s to change in a product offering. If you look at their pods, and that price point starting at $60, they can actually tweak the software in just the base/cheapest pod to do power-only repeating, have it last 1-2 years on a single coin cell battery, and simply tape it inside your bike bag and forget about it. For them, it’s actually a case of removing features (and thus further lowering the price point), more than adding features.
We chatted about that potential use case at CES at length.
On Polar’s official V800 training features page, it says the watch supports up to 20 sport profiles. Any idea what are the things that can be defined in a profile?
Hi Ray,
I have two questions about the HR-straps. First, is the old coded strap still ok, since it uses 5k? And second, what about H6, it’s BTLE and most important a little smaller.
Thanks and say hello to ice and snow. It’s strange here in Berlin, we have Winter without Winter 😉
Stefan
Yup, the old coded strap is still…old. 😉
And yes, the H6 works totally fine here, just not underwater since it doesn’t do the 5K.
As I don’t do triathlons, the V800 provides way too many features for me. I’m hesitating to get the Forerunner 220, but I really like the navigation and altimeter features of the V800.
Ray, do you know if Polar is planning to release based on the V800 any other GPS-HRM watch with a more narrow focus on running? That would mean something like a successor to the RC3?
Thanks!
I’m sure they’re planning a successor eventually, but I don’t know if/when that will be. I wouldn’t really expect anything this spring anyway, since I’d expect they’d focus on getting the V800 out the door and then take any lessons learned into making a paired down product – perhaps timed for the fall (typical running focused releases).
Great overview DC. The V800 looks very close to the holy grail.
So excited – looks like the V800 fixes all the issues I have with my RCX5. I’ll be very interested to see how seamless the data upload / sync – Polar WebSync is just so damn clunky compared to new (albeit different) players like Fitbit.
Thanks so much for the early review! 🙂
PS – As Meik pointed out, the comparison table says IRDA Wireless for the RCX5… the RCX5 uses Polar’s proprietary W.I.N.D, which is RF, not IrDA (unless IRDA means something else?).
hello thanks for this great overview just a question
in the run mode is it possible to have the speed (in km/h) and not the rate without the pod sensor
thank for your answer
Yes, you can switch to metric (KM/H) either as pace (minutes/kilometer, i.e. 4:39), or speed (KPH) such as 25KPH. No sensor is required, that comes from GPS.
I currently have a 910 and this looks like a great replacement for me, however data access seems to be a killer. At the moment I sync my data in Garmin Connect across to Training Peaks, Strava and Runkeeper (I like making sure I have plenty of copies floating about – and each of the sites have benefits over the other).
No API = No Polar. Simple as that for me. I’ll just buy the next Garmin instead
Polar has stated they plan some form of API, so I wouldn’t could those chickens dead yet. Let them hatch first.
What online retailers will have the product at release? Suggested sources (fine if they provide referral %… you deserve something!)….
At this point Polar has asked all retailers/distributors to hold off any pre-sales.
Does that mean Polar may not be hitting their April release date?
Many times companies hold back listing until they’re uncertain on product features. They do this to prevent a situation where someone pre-orders a product expecting Features A/B/C, and then come release 3 months later, it instead has A/B/D.
Speaking of which, I received a note of some changes to the V800 planned feature sets vs timelines that I’ll be posting a bit later today to this post. I’ll include a summary of the changes in a comment here. But, that’s pretty much exactly why they don’t have it listed for sale yet.
Hi Ray,
could you please check if it still syncs trainingsplans after altering hr-zones. My rcx5 allows custom zones, but refuses than uploading planed trainings and ownzone calculation.
Thanks
Stefan
It’s a great pre-review , Ray! Thank you.
So the watch itself doesn’t have WiFi, right? Therefore only way to transfer the trainings to the cloud is over the mobile app (which requires BT4)? And the watch really doesn’t need a PC for anything?
It sounds like my dreams are coming true: this is the first watch tha has all the functions I need.
Hi DC rainmaker,
I am new to the sports world, and I have read few of your reviews about GPS watched; unless I am mistaken, I did not find any mention about “Reserve HR”. According to this review
link to lesnumeriques.com
(sorry it is actually in french, but I can provide you with a translation if you wish) it is the most important feature to plan an effective HR based training. Moreover (I would say, the most strange thing) is that only Polar watch that used to provide such a fonctionnality was the (RS800) whereas almost all other manufacturers proposed that. What do you think?? Am I misunderstanding something?
Reagrds
Yacine
Regarding HR-reserve:
HR reserve is ONE of many ways to calculate your trainingzones. % of MAX HR is another. % of thresholds is another. % of threshold, sportspecific is in my opinion the most valuable. The actual calculations can be done in many ways. you just need the formula and the correct parameters. The parameters can be measured with any HR-watch. The formulas vary greatly and can be found online and in literature.
An advanced training watch should let you set your own zones as you choose. Even more advanced would be to let you set different zones for each sport.
Some watches sets your zones for you. Polar does this with their own formula based on MAX HR. (except the RS800). Even the advanced RCX5 wont let you set your own zones. Other watches may set your zones based on Reserve HR (Max HR – resting HR) and use some formula to find zones (for eksample the Karvonen formula).
What the V800 needs is a way to set your own zones, preferably by sport. In addition it should incorporate some kind of automatic zones based on some easily measured parameter for beginners. (I think HR reserve might be the best option for automatic zones)
POLAR SUPPORT TEAM-
If you’re browsing here… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE incorporate 3rd party API support as you’ve indicated. You’ve earned my business if such support is in place. I love the watch, or the “proposed” watch as it hasn’t been released yet, but I don’t want to give up the way my data is tracked, managed, and shared. Open it up… add runkeeper, strava, or even Dropbox support and you’ve got me. Doesn’t mean I won’t use your site and app, but I interact with different groups in various places (i.e. the Tri Club on Runkeeper, the Cycling Team on Strava, etc.).
Hey DC Rainmaker,
Awesome, loving the look of this, and Thanks for all of the countless hours you put into product reviews and your blog. Aspiring Ironman such as myself love it!
Do you feel that the Daily activity recording functions of this watch will render owning a Polar Loop pointless if you were own this as well? I understand that they are different target markets, so I wasn’t referring to sales of the product, and of course you still have the Beta version so it could certainly change with final features. I just was considering getting a Polar Loop to wear when I am not running or Biking, but if this watch does all of that as well would you say the Loop would than become neglected? Just wanting your opinion.
Thanks!
It has the potential to, but, that will depend on execution. Right now, not as much. But again, it’s early and months away from release. If they take the few suggestions I have around mirroring some of the Loop UI elements – then definitely.
Hey All-
I just wanted to note a few changes I made this evening based on clarifications/changes from Polar. They are as follows:
1) Price corrected to 399€/449€, $449/$499 (without/with HR strap). The initial press release materials had a price $50 lower for both packages.
2) Openwater swimming: They will not at launch have an openwater swimming mode, and GPS will be disabled. It’s TBA if they implement a full openwater swimming mode (like the FR310XT/910XT/Ambit 2/2s/Bryton Cardio 60/etc…).
3) Routes: At launch, the unit will not enable you to draw your own routes for transfer to the unit. Instead, you can transfer previous routes (yours or shared) from Flow.
4) Sport Profiles: While the unit supports multiple sport profiles from an official online cataloge of them, they will not enable you to create new profiles or rename them. This is a bit of a contradiction to previous materials I was provided.
5) Online comparison against historical activities of same route: This won’t be there for launch, but is now scheduled for later.
6) For download of routes from phone to unit: Just to clarify, the routes have to be from the Polar Flow web service first, before the phone can transfer them. In other wors, you can’t just create them on the phone.
7) Tap: In addition to using the tap functionality to take a lap, you can also used to check recovery status. Previously it stated you could check lap status.
Thanks all!
3) Routes: At launch, the unit will not enable you to draw your own routes for transfer to the unit. Instead, you can transfer previous routes (yours or shared) from Flow.
So i guess you will not be able to just load a gpx or similar route then from another website like gpsies. this has put me off waiting, shame as i fancied the look of it otherwise. Suunto may be a better option at least its available now & cheaper. With races coming up i can’t really wait around to see if polar implement the routes feature well or not & it could be another 12 months.
Very disappointing about the lack of open water swimming capabilities. The screen shot of multi-sport result give perception that the unit tracked the swim distance in open water. Purchase price probably not worth it to me, since I prefer to swim open water whenever possible, unless they change and include open water swim functionality.
Hi, I know that The Polar V800 is still new but from your opinion which do you prefer; FR620 or V800? Which watch that provide sort of a complete features?
At this point, since all of the features on the V800 are slightly muddy, I’m really holding off any opinions. Ultimately though – the FR620 is a running watch, and the V800 is a triathlon watch. The V800 (in theory) has more features, but whether those features align to what you want is a different question. The table helps a bit there.
From a price difference, we’re only talking a mere 50 bucks from the FR620. So if the V800 running function comes close to the FR620, almost seems like a no-brainier.
These days I mostly run (some cycle), but the V800 has my attention. Just depends on how well the final product is delivered, and whether or not I need/want all the whistles & bells. Currently I’m leaning towards the FR220, mainly for its simplicity & cost savings.
I was wondering if the V800 will work with second party bluetooth cadence sensors like the Adidas speed cell?
Yes, it will.
For those that are curious, a reader had asked for a status on the API piece on the Polar Flow post. Given it pertains to the V800 as well, I figured I’d post the full official statement/response from them on it:
—
“Polar does indeed plan to allow users of our V800 and other future products to be able to export their training data to other services.
As a first step, they will be able to export individual training files from the Polar Flow service to other training services. Although we do not have an exact timeline for this, we expect to be able to offer this within a few months of the launch of V800, at the latest.
We are also in discussions with some third party services to have an automatic connection, so that training done with a Polar product and stored in the Polar Flow service would automatically appear in another training service. This requires a software layer between the two services – called an API – and we want to be sure we can create and support this properly to ensure it works perfectly. We expect to make more announcements on specific partners and services during this year.
The final step will be to offer inbound data, so that people using other services will be able to combine this with any training data in the Polar Flow service. Again, this will require some software development work and we will offer this with selected partners at a later stage.
We believe that offering our customers a choice of where and how to use their data will greatly enhance the experience they have with our products and services and we are working hard to ensure this happens as soon as possible. Polar Flow is an important part of the Polar ecosystem for our newest devices and all future products. It will also be opened up to selected existing products in due course. We will continue to develop and improve our Flow service to ensure we can deliver on our most important promise – that our customers can meet their training goals with us. “
Thanks for the posting. Good to know this.
However, I assume that you might extract data files from V800 without need to go via Polar Flow service. Quoting their V800 site, “Data transfer via custom USB cable or Bluetooth Smart via Polar Flow mobile app”. I interpret this as user can use USB cable to extract data files, i.e. .hrm and .gpx files, without using phone app or web service. Would you/someone be able to confirm this?
The V800 does not enumerate as a mass storage device, so no, you have to have the Flow Web Sync, which automatically spits the file up to Flow. There’s no way to directly access said files today (pre the stuff up above).
About access to training data, files and API.
I have been in contact with Polar Sweden and, on question about this, they answer (my translation):
”
When it comes to analysis and transfer of files, it is correct that you have to go via Polar Flow App or web service. The purpose is not to lock users to our service but to offer a platform för follow-up, analysis and coaching as an add-on to the information you get from the pulse watch. Also to give possibility to export data to another service. It is possible that it, in a longer perspective, will be be offered that possibility you ask for, but not at this point in time.
”
(I asked for ability to get .hrm and .gpx files without need to go through Polar Flow web site,)
(I answered that Polar might offer an attractive service but that it should be up to the user to choose.)
My reasoning was, and is, that I as user should be the owner of and be in control of my files rather than Polar and its web service. Is it me that is the owner of data or does Polar claim ownership?
Besides, a number of times, I’ve also been on training camps without or with poor Internet / cell phone access. I want to be able to look at / analyse data without being locked to Polar, e.g. with SportTracks, FunBeat (.se).
If, or when you have contact with Polar, you are most welcome to mention this. Perhaps API to data, but more importantly, ownership of and access to training files.
Maybe just to boil it down (their official statement) for folks. They’ve committed to two things:
1) Providing a way to export the files directly so you can put them in whatever services you’d like. This will be GPX + HRM, with the exact format for swimming TBA.
2) Providing some API for other apps/services to connect to Flow (or Flow to connect to them). Whether this is an inbound or outbound connection is still a bit TBA. An example of a potential service would be Strava.
Keep in mind that in a big company you’ll get many local employees who are taking a guess on things. Corporate communications are always slow.
That said, the statement above was provided to be directly by the head over the division producing the product, in conjunction with their global PR lead. I’m reasonably confident it’s right. And if they change their mind, don’t worry, I’ll hold them accountable for it. I’m batting about 100% on holding companies accountable for poor API decisions and making them backtrack (see: Strava & Adidas as big players, but many smaller ones).
Cheers.
Is it mac compatible?
Yup.
You legend!!!! great review thanks. 99% sure this is what I’ll be getting come April.
Just discovered your site, love the reviews! Polar states they “have confirmed that they will support the standard Bluetooth Smart power meter spec”; Does the Kinetic InRide BLE support that standard? If so how likely will you be able to see InRide data on the V800?
Technically inRide does, but to what extent that’ll work with the V800 remains to be seen. It’s something I’ll test. But keep in mind the V800 isn’t scheduled to get BLE PM support till June.
Ray, can you give us a little more info on
1)how switching from one sport to another in a triathlon works? Just by pressing one single button or as complicated as with the RCX5?
2)how the communication with the power sensors will work. (I know, it’s probably to early to say, but maybe someone from Polar told you?). Will there again be this 3″ delay before you can read anything on the display? Will the data finanlly be “smoothed” over a certain period of time or will it be like on the CS600X where you have Watt-readings of 193-115-137-145-… within 5″.
Thank you in advance!
Honestly, it’s simply too soon on both, since both aren’t yet in the product. Especially on the power wattage one, as I don’t think they’re even going to begin coding that until they get past April. Do keep in mind that the wattage for instant-power you noted is ‘the norm’ for all products on the market. What’s different is that most other products offer the ability to add a smoothed power (such as 3″, 10″, 30″).
Living in northern Sweden I’m curious about the tempratures it can withstand and still work propperly. I need to it work propperly down to atleast -20/-25 celsius. It can get quite a bit colder then that up here, but I’m unlikely to go and workout outside when it’s colder then that. When running in the winter I would wear it ontop of my clothes in order to easily read the display, so I doubt my body heat would help alot vs. those kind of temperatures.
Keep in mind that Polar is based in mid-northern Finland. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone complain that one of their watches hasn’t performed in Finland/Sweden/Norway weather.
I feel this might be the one I’m looking for: simplicity and all sports w/ BlueTooth enabled. thanks!
Hello!
Is it possible to have an example of exporting file .FIT or .GPX from Polar Flow about a running session as you did for the FR620?
For those developers in the house, here’s a zip file with a handful of FR620 .FIT files for your development pleasure. All of these files were done on the final firmware.
Thank you!
No, Polar hasn’t enabled any export capabilities yet from within Flow.
Hi Ray, did you really say 339€!! without HRM ??That is indeed a very good price!. However, if it is just a typo please let us know because I’m between buying right now a 910xt (for a very good price, 293€) or wait. If the price is wrong, I may decide for the 910xt, a mature product with open swimming capabilities.
Interesting. I copied over what they sent to me correction-wise. But I think you’re right, and that their correction introduced another error and that it should probably say 399 euros. I’ve just sent a quick confirmation message over.
Ok, I’ve confirmed the 339€ in their updated release was also incorrect – it is indeed 399€.
What does a FR910XT run in EUR? It seems a bit expensive vs. the competition – maybe this is a US/Europe pricing issue?
The 910XT shows as 339€ on Amazon, though official pricing is 399€. In general, most companies simply price the units the same numerical value in Euros. Thus $399 becomes 399€.
Obviously, this makes the European unit more expensive if you do current conversion (roughly 1.3x). But that’s simply the reality of Europe being more expensive. Everything from import costs to worker costs and taxes are all substantially higher here. The various social related programs that many European countries enjoy are ultimately paid for from somewhere, and that somewhere would be higher taxes across the board than Americans pay. But, I look at the positive side…I get a crapload more vacation days in France than in the US. 🙂
I’m going to watch this very closely. I’ve had 2 previous Polars (RS300X & RC5) and loved them both. I only switched off the RC5 when I started doing triathlon. I have the TomTom which works well enough for me now but I already see that when I do half & full distance races, that won’t be enough battery life wise. And I do love Polar 8)
What’s the chance of openwater swimming mode, stroke, distance, speed etc.?
I’d suspect that long term it’ll probably get added. But it’s definitely not currently scheduled for launch.
Long term, they’ll have to add it – otherwise as a tri watch, it’ll flounder in the marketplace with other units that do have it.
Hello
actually is it possible to have the distance with gps when you are swinning in openwater?
thank you for your reponse
As this time Polar hasn’t committed if or when that’ll be included.
Other triathlon focused units on the market today do include such functionality, including: Garmin FR310XT, FR910XT, Suunto Ambit 2, Ambit 2S, and the Bryton Cardio 60.
Hi
will it be possible to transfer the trainig data from Sunnto Movescount to Polar Flow? Have the Suunto Ambit and might switch to Polar v800.
Thanks,
David
Polar hasn’t clarified to what extent their API will allow such actions. I’m sure if they do allow uploads to it, we’ll see a few 3rd party apps allow sync to it. I wouldn’t expect such details to become clear though until the spring.
This looks to be a great watch. Bluetooth Smart looks to be very promising.
Hey Rainmaker – keep up the great work – love your reviews!
Thanks for the review. I have 12 years of data on Protrainer 5. I still could not figure out from all the reviews and comments whether 1) data can be migrated 2) how easy it will be to do so- to the new Flow. I’ve held back on upgrading all these years because it was not possible before.
They’ve confirmed will be offering a migration path from both PPT (desktop) and PPT (web). That path has yet to be defined however. But they note it’ll be available at or prior to launch in April.
Nice Preview!
I understand that there are plans to offer a migration of the data from Protrainer and PPT to Polar Flow. However, I would certainly also hope for an export function from Flow to Protrainer. I prefer the direct access to my data on my Computer to be able to analyze the data. Do you know about plans for this?
Not directly. You may see export that might work to get files out that ProTrainer ‘happens’ to consume. But ultimately, ProTrainer doesn’t really have a future.
I don’t know if I am old fashioned, but not being able to have access to a locally stored safety copy of my own data gives me a bad feeling. And the need to have internet access to read out the data files from the watch is an unnecessary limitation.
An what I have seen from Polar Flow so far does not really convince me. It looks more like a social media contact platform than a serious tool to evaluate your data.
Just my 5 cents. Am I the only old fashioned guy thiniking in these directions?
I assume the V800 would work with the 4iiii BTLE/ANT+ HR Strap, so couldnt one use this to “channel” an ANT+ Powermeter like Power2Max to display on the v800?
Also I added this above but not sure how often you go back to check replies but Strava supports GPX so why wouldnt ypu be able to upload the file from the v800 from PC direct to Strava without a 3rd party app?
Thanks DC!
Well, that’s the tricky part. It works on the HR channel fine, but whether or not the V800 will accept multi-channel devices remains to be seen. Right now my test unit doesn’t pair to anything beyond a HR strap, so I can’t test that piece unfortunately.
Fear not, it’s something i’ll definitely be testing.
I really like that Polar is incorporating a fitness tracker into this watch. Three of the features that Polar Loop is missing viz Fitbit Force are sleep monitoring, silent vibrating alarms (fantastic for waking up without waking up my wife and dog), and stairways climbed. Has Polar described in more detail what the fitness tracking features will be?
No, not yet.
I also would like to know if this watch could be used in an Endless Pool. It appears many features would work; however, laps would need to be simulated using the “wrist flip” technique described under the review of the Garmin FR910 using a Dryland Swim Trainer.
No, it would not. For two reasons. First and foremost is that Polar hasn’t defined exactly what swimming functionality will be there.
But second, is that all of these units require the ‘push’ off the wall to determine lengths indoors. No push, no distance.
Your review of the Polar RCX5 indicates that it does provide underwater HRM. I assume the RCX5 would work at least for hear rate monitoring. Any chance the “wrist flip” trick would work with this watch? I’m referring to the Oct. 2011 of the FRX910.
Yes, both will definitely work underwater monitoring HR.
The wrist flip trick might work, but again, Polar has been very cagey and back-pedaling a bit on what functionality will be there at launch. It could be pool distance tracking and openwater distance tracking. It could be just pool. It could be neither.
Does the watch have auto-pause function and continues back light on function for night runs? Thanks, R
Yes.
“Polar would like me to point out that the box isn’t final. Nor are it’s contents”
-do you think that Polar develops a new chest strap to V800 or will the HRM-bundle contain the Polar H7-strap?
The H7.
Thanks for your precious reviews on the wearable devices. Ilive in seoul, korea. I have been doing workout such as weight training,, indoor & outdoor running & jogging, marathon. In the future, l also plan to utilize the unit in the area of skiing, mountain trekings home and abroad. I have been browsing for one unit, and i plan to buy v800. Please advise me how to pick up one very good android polar app.
Hi Ray, Do you know if Polar have published prices for Australia yet?
Thanks
Stephen
They haven’t done any listings, either price or specifications (for official sale listings) – in any country. The only prices that have been listed were within the press release for US/EUR. But that’s technically slightly different than official listing prices (aka copy).
I think V800 is unfinished stew when it ready to serve.
Many feature is said it’s nice to have and they will try.
Do you have any news for new Garmin’s triathlon unit.
Maybe I should bet on Garmin instead of Polar.
Thanks for the review !!!
Do you have any more details on the platform for coaches you mention in the review?
This would be a very strong argument for buying a V800. I currently use Polar Pro trainer 5 which allows me to easily email my training files to my coach (who is using Pro trainer 5 to analyse the data of athletes he is coaching). All those community type websites like GC, polarpersonaltrainer.com or Flow make it very hard and cumbersome to share training data with your coach (or make it cumbersome for the coach to look at them as he often needs to log on to all different accounts).
So any details would be very much appreciated and helpful.
Any chance I would be able to continue using Polar Pro trainer 5 with the V800 ?
Thanks
Nothing new on the coaching side. For today though, sites like Training Peaks are really your best bet for coaches (it’s pretty much designed around that). And what the vast majority of coach/athlete situations I see use.
As for PPT5 with the V800, it should allow import of the GPX/HRM files from bike/run – at least, I would expect it to.
I’m curious what is hard? All the websites should have an option to share a link like this:
link to sporttracks.mobi
Even Garmin Connect has per-workout privacy options [ private | friends | public ], and you can just copy the URL. Suunto Movescount is the only one I know that fails on the privacy setting.
Thanks Rainmaker, import in PPT5 would be perfect.
Aaron, that’s exactly the level of detail most sites share (route and speed/pace etc). Interesting for your friends or Facebook but most coaches are interested in your hart rate files and some more detailed data, not so much in where you went running.
Most sites are built for sharing (at best) not analysis. Even if I can foreward individual URL’s to my coach it will be very cumbersome for him, he won’t see things like week overviews, total distance, total time trained per hart rate zone …
They are just not made with that in minds.
I will have a look at training peaks and see if my coach knows it.
Ronimo
Hello,
Is the Polar V800 use and record the HRV during the activity as the Polar V650?
Or is that the Polar V800 uses the HRV only during Orthostatic test?
Why this question? Because if the HRV is used only during Orthostatic test, I think using the watch like this:
-Running: Polar V800, left wrist + Mio Link, right wrist, (without using HRM chest strap)
-Swimming Polar V800, left wrist + Mio Link, left wrist, just near of the watch for transmission underwater (without using HRM chest strap going down on your stomach during flip turn)
-Orthostatic test: Using HRM chest strap.
Sorry for my englisch, i’m a French guy fan DC blog.
Hmm. I don’t know…quite yet. The test isn’t enabled on my current unit unfortunately.
Question:
It was mentioned that the watch would not support open water swimming metrics…however, I would assume that it would still supply basic GPS tracking functionality in the water for time/distance metrics…similar to running (only much slower pace!!!), correct?
Is the functionality in question just stroke count/metrics, or does the GPS tracking not work at all?
Thanks in advance. Your insights and efforts are greatly appreciated.
The official quote regarding that – and leaving a fair bit of ambiguity on exact functionality: “Open water swimming mode: we don’t have a specific open water mode since we have the same problem that also others have. GPS is not very accurate in water. GPS is default OFF in swimming mode but user can turn it ON if wants.”
Thank you for the clarification. I find it odd that you have a general level of success with swimming + GPS in the 910xt, but Polar suggests that this functionality is not accurate. At any rate, if the GPS can be activated during the swim, I could allow for error of a reasonable delta. Some data is better than no data, in my opinion.
I know the watch is still in beta, but I am interested to see what other changes (if any) are brought forth before the launch date.
Hi,
thanks for a great review.
What about the length of the V800 wrist watch band?
When xc skiing I find the band length of the 800cx too short when wearing clothes necessary in -10’C. 1-2 cm longer as in the polar 610 was much better!
The inside dimensions on the very last pin is 22cm.
Michael, to my knowledge there is a accessory from Polar which is exactly ment for the use on top of clothes. I have one but cannot find it on Polars homepage. Sure you will find it buy websearch.
Will the V800 have any programmability like the Ambit?
No, none.
Can´t wait to see the full review.
Hi
Many thanks for your reviw abd help.
Do you know if there will be pace vibration alerts ?
Cheers
I saw Iivo Niskanen wear the blue V800 in the XC team sprint today. It looked really good, and obviously made him very fast!
It would be interesting to know what functionality is available through computer without use of phone with app. It seems some kind of extracting data is thought of. That correct? Anything else?
I went to my local bike store, which has Polar, and asked about preorder. They said that Polar wants to launch it world-wide at the same time (and is trying to hold letting particular country having it before others).
You can upload/download data through the PC app, but the data goes to Flow, isn’t available locally.
Only Ray can say “This is just a first look, not an in depth review” and then proceed to give the most thorough and in depth review you can find on the internet. GOtta love it 🙂
Ray, thank you for the great review. Question, do you see Garmin and Suunto adding daily activity tracking to their top to end devises? Taking a line from the V800. They should al have that capability, no?
I’d expect them to for any new devices.
Wahoo’s bike computer should be able to pick up on the new Polar V800 Bluetooth Smart sensors, no?
If the V800 is paired to a Bluetooth Smart HR strap, and rebroadcasting is enabled, then yup, the Wahoo unit will pick it up successfully.
Now I’m really in doubt: the V800 is a very nice and complete watch with coachingsfunctions I really appreciate but it has a regular heart rate H7 item. Is the Mio Link compatible with the V800 for HR measurement with a sensor? The Adidas Smart Watch has it all in once but the review of that watch and on the forum of Adidas aren’t very positive. What” s your opinion: V800 with Mio or waiting till the problems of the Adidas unit are solved and buy that watch?
The Link is compatible with the V800. But that would mean wearing two watches on the same wrist. It’s also not clear if in the final implementation the V800 will actually enable the BT side of things while in swimming mode, or just trigger the legacy analog transmission mode that it would normally connect to that side of the H7 strap with.
I don’t really have an opinion on the V800 until they release it. Too many variables/unknowns right now.
Ok, it’s clear that some variables are unknown at this moment.
Subsequent: is it by other devices (Garmin 610 i.e.) possible to wear the Link at the other wrist than the watch itself? Or is it by all the watches a must to wear the Link at the same wrist as the watch because of the distance between the devices?
It’s the distance. ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart only travel about 1-2″ underwater.
Thanks for the quick response. Ok, normally (not underwater) it’s no problem for ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart to travel the distance between the wrists, I suppose?
Correct, up to usually about 20-40m, in clear line of sight for ANT+, a little bit less for BT. BT4.0 devices are certified to 10m.
It seems that the site http://www.polarv800.com has been updated recently. And here I have found some extra info from Polar guys (look for post from Chris @ Polar) : link to forum.slowtwitch.com
Thanks for many great reviews. I don’t understand how Polar can launch a Triathlon watch without open water swim. That makes it a duathlon watch at best in my opinion. How would that work in a race where the course isn’t just from A to B? The Polar map of the 70.2 in your review showed the swim for the guy that raced. How does the unit know that unless the swim is straight across the lake?
Marketing mock-ups…that’s how.
Well a minor comment there. You can, with a little fantasy and tweaking already get a pretty good open water distance measurement with the RCX5, I would be very astonished if this would be worse with the V800.
Except, the RCX5 doesn’t have GPS in it, so you’re just putting the GPS pod in your cap (or upper arm), which is kinda really different than having a GPS watch.
Hello, how about this new watch “Polar V800” against the new Garmin Fenix 2, or its better to wait until an upgrade of the garmin 910xt. I’m looking a Triathlon watch but I’m not in a hurry, so I can wait,
Regards
Check out the end of my Fenix2 post in the FAQ section for some thoughts there.
Any word on Polar releasing earlier than April? I want the V800 BADLY, but I am running the Flying Pig in May. If they aren’t going to push it up, I am looking to push my purchase to Fenix 2 just to have a tool for my training earlier. But that underwater sensor is killing me softly. For argument sake, could I later get he polar HR sensor and use it on the Fenix 2?
I do not expect it before April. While I haven’t confirmed what Lars says (I’m going to check in early next week again with them), last I heard, there wasn’t nothing planned pre-April, since there are some April launch events planned.
I too am doing the Pig in May. I was hoping to see the V800 by then, but also backed the Bia. So I am hoping I have one of the two by then. For now I picked up an Adidas Speed Cell BLE foot pod and have been training with the Wahoo Fitness app, feeding Strava and RunKeeper. I hate running with the phone, but sold my Garmin 610 after the Indy Monument Marathon (ohhh yeah and broke my leg at the 22 mile mark, but finished with a PR 🙂 So I am GPS/Running watch-less until something starts shipping. I bet there are a bunch of folks in the same boat with us.
Just talked to Polar at Vasaloppet skickat race, apparently V800 is pushed back one month. Said to release in April and sale start early May.
Tried V800 and it felt good. Somewhat thicker than the other watches.
Anyway, he skied in one of the races , 90km, and he had the watches on. So good for skiing too 🙂
One thing Polar guy also mentioned was that his watch had time, heart rate, gps (and thus speed) enabled. Functionality much like this preview’s.
(meant Vasaloppet ski race, in Sweden, in previous post, wrote on phone)
Hey Ray, thanks for the review. It seems i cannot find the dimensions of the unit (length and wideness) anywhere, could you disclose that?
Hello, Do you think that a bluetooth smart weight scale will work with the V800?
No, it won’t.
Hi Ray
I’m just curious, if you have got any further info regarding running cadence? I assume that there is no internal accelerometer to show your cadence and foot pod is needed. If one is using foot pod, will there be option the get speed and distance data from the GPS or the foot pod will override it?
There’s an internal accelerometer. It hasn’t been disclosed if it will initially, but the unit is technically capable of it.
Really great review – especially knowing that the watch isn’t on the market yet. I am very interested in this watch – I have the Polar RS800CX and now want a watch with integrated GPS and multisport function. What are your thoughts about the Polar V800 vs. the SUUNTO Ambit2 S, which really looks nice also and also support multisport. The only thing is that I believe that the Bluetooth smart will be the communication standard of the future for fitness devices. So I believe that more 3rd part companies will provide BT smart sensors that will be compatible with the Polar V800. What are your thoughts?
And again – thanks you very much for a great and detailed review.
Best Søren
As it stands today, there are companies that provide BT Smart sensors for every category of sensor that you could connect to the V800. The major players there being Wahoo Fitness (HR, SPD/CAD), Polar (HR, FOOTPOD), Adidas (FOOTPOD), and Stages (POWER). There are smaller ones that simply OEM the devices as well and just re-brand.
That said, I see that by the end of the year folks will simply be buying dual sensors (dual ANT+/BLE) instead, so it won’t really matter. There are dual HR straps (4iiii’s, Wahoo), as well as dual power meters (Stages). The chipsets are arriving now to make that silly easy for companies. By Interbike we’ll see dual SPD/CAD and a few others.
Will the V800 work with the H2 heart rate strap that comes with the RCX5?
Should do? H2 has 5khz, WIND won’t work though.
I’ve browsed through the comments but haven’t found an answer…
Is it possible in anyway to get the files off the watch? As I understand, the watch unfortunately does not enumerate as a mass storage device and the only other way to upload files is though the smart phone app?
I think it feels good to store the files locally and that is something I’d like to continue with if possible. But is it possible?
Hello folks,
Thanks Ray again for the deep preview. In Finland they sell it (pre order 349€ with h7 belt and without 299€). Pretty good prices?
I don’t believe that Polar is allowing any retail companies to list it yet, so it’s kinda a risky bet on timelines/features until then. What site is currently listing?
Hi Ray,
You can preorder it in both countries: Finland and USA.
Here are the links
Finland
link to verkkokauppa.com
USA
link to m.heartratemonitorsusa.com
Interesting. Let me do some poking…
I was able to place what looks like a “full” order at the US Site, but before hitting confirm,I chatted with them and they eventually admitted it is a pre-order with a loose expected delivery of April. The order is final and they charge your CC upon them getting the product shipped to you. I await what you find out.
also available for pre-order here: link to heartratewatchcompany.com
Hi Robin/Mixuli-
So I chatted with Clever Training a bit tonight about, curious about their thoughts on opening pre-orders on the Polar V800.
At this point, they are going to hold off doing so – for a few specific reasons:
1) Even as of this afternoon, Polar is unable to provide them the final retail pricing. Polar is giving them ‘estimated’ pricing, but they don’t want to be in a situation where they have to come back to you a month from now and ask for additional sum of money. The other companies are gambling that it’ll work out. There is also even aspects where certain bundles that were initially planned, aren’t, and vice versa.
2) The feature set. Polar hasn’t yet confirmed to them what exactly will be there upon launch, or what might be coming down the road. Clever is thus hesitant to get in a situation where folks order one thing under the assumption it might have a feature (i.e. swimming), only to find out that it doesn’t have such a feature. And then have a bunch of upset customers.
So as much as it pains them to not offer the unit for sale, ultimately, I agree with their decision that until Polar actually says what will be in the unit, along with the release dates, and the official/final pricing (for all currencies) – it just doesn’t make sense to pre-sale it.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’ve very excited about what Polar is doing as a product with the V800. But, I’m also growing extremely hesitant on what those timelines look like, or what that immediate feature set will look like.
Thanks for the quick digging Ray. Makes sense. I for one will wait to support this site and buy through CleverTraining. Can I assume you will post a comment once CleverTraining are taking orders?
Yup, absolutely. I’ll definitely post here in the comments so comment subscribers will get notified. Appreciate the support!
Thanks Ray for update. In Netherlands shops are opening-up registration as well…
Polar has started partnering with IM champ Frederik van Lierde, but question is if this is a sponsor (financial) deal or Frederik is really that excited on V800. For now I assume the later, and future wise the device will be great.
Furthermore, I am seeing more professionals using V800, e.g. dutch speed-skating team.
My confidence in this watch is high, and waiting bit longer is not an issue for most of us.
We are looking forward for your in-depth review, thanks in advance!
Do you know if you can use the Wearlink+ Nike+ transmitter with this watch?
No, it’s not Bluetooth Smart.
From the very beginning I own the “old” RS800SD and am looking forward to see the complete review of this watch.
Biggest concerns after a quick read: Offline data export and open water swimming.
Experience with polar is their hardware is good but if you need software they start enthusiastic but after short time they “drop” the support even if day one items/problems are not solved or included.
I won’t be a day one buyer anymore for the above reason but i will be happy if they will release a 99% ok product.
Two question:
a) Will there be a trade in swap program (replace RS800 by V800) (i ques not after 7 years)?
b) Will the watch be user firmware updateable?
A) No, not planned
B) Yes, absolutely.
Thanks for the very fast update.
Thinking about my current RS800, can you tell me where the “input” of the altimeter is located? on the RS800 it’s on the back against the skin. Result when running after a while sweat gets on/in the oppenings with the result a jittering height (average is ok) but second to second is bad (eq climbing 22m in one second running is possible)
Does Polar use a industy standard Li-pol battery, can it be replaced by an user? Beause (all) batterys lose capacity or die after a few years and i hope my watch last longer than a phone. (does polar mention a lifetime?)
Charging time for the internal battery? based on the capacity less than a hour? (inductive charging from Polar after 1st hardware revision?)
If not planned maybe add above question to the upcomming full review.
Keep up the perfect work!
1) Altimeter: It’s non-obvious on the unit (unlike some), but it appears to be on the upper edge of the inside of the watch.
2) Battery Swap: No end-user replacement
3) Battery Charge: Hmm, I’ll measure it next time.
Will it be possible to combine the V800 with the sonn-to-be released Mio Link in order to avoid the chest heart rate band? If yes, I think that would be a great combo.
Yes, they are both compatible with each other.
My understanding is that optical based heart rate monitors (in this case Mio) can’t evaluate r-r. If this is true, then a number of polar smart coaching functions would not work.
Can this be confirmed?
That’s correct. The features might work, but the data would be suspect.
What is r-r?
Hi ray
I too will be looking at the v800 mio combo but what exactly is RR and what would I be missing out on
RR is part of HRV – Heart Rate Variability, which allows one to analyze recovery aspects by looking at the time between the heart beats.
The challenge is that optical watches at this point are unable technologically to do so. However, in order to meet various transmission specifications at the protocol layer (i.e. ANT+ or BT Smart), they ‘estimate’ (read: fake) the HRV numbers. In some cases that faking is semi-close and based on some basis, and and in other cases it’s simply just filler data. In either case, it’s not really real.
Thus it would impact recovery-type metrics, and likely VO2Max type metrics.
Hi Ray, first of all thanks for your great work here.
I am a runner and now I have sold my Forerunner 620, because the watch has no back-to-start function. The navigation-function is very important for me.I am now thinking on what clock I should buy. Which clock would you recomand me? I am considering between the polar V800 and the Fenix 2… Thank you very much
Jorge, I was in your exact same shoes, but realized that Garmin has become more about “pretty marketing campaigns” than any substance providing real, actionable feedback to help athletes.
By most accounts, the pretty looking GCT and Vertical Oscillations graphs, as well as their Recovery feedback are completely useless as it can’t even detect that a day ago you may have run a marathon.
As Fenix 2 is based on the FR620, it’s also in the dark ages in terms of real actionable recovery feedback.
The Polar V800 does have the back-to-start function, plus has real, actionable Recovery feedback and looks to be several years ahead of Garmin.
Besides, Garmin has the bad habit of treating their premium customers as beta testers, so who knows how many months it’ll take them to fix both the bugs on the new watches and their website (looks like they have serious resource/staffing issues).
Based on Ray’s remarks alone (see below), I went ahead and per-ordered my V800, despite the fact that I don’t cycle nor run.
“Training Load and Recovery: This is designed to provide a holistic picture of training load and recovery. This is similar to other load/recovery systems that you see within other platforms such as Training Peaks and TSS (Training Stress Score)…
The workout data is then combined with historical data to determine your recovery times. The unit will use the previous 14 weeks of training history to help determine these recovery times. In addition, it’ll account for other activity from that day. For example, if you spent the first 4 hours of the day at the mall walking around like a madman doing last minute Christmas shopping, and then you ran 15 miles, it’ll compensate for the fatigue from both.”
I’m sure Ray would agree that for any runner that can afford to wait just a couple of more weeks and is trying to decide among FR620, Fenix 2 and V800, the V800 is the hands-down winner.
The problem is, that at the moment Polar is really no different in terms of marketing than Garmin here. As a runner, you have less risk than a triathlete, but I can’t keep emphasizing enough that I’m highly skeptical of what the product will look like upon release (be it in April or May or whenever).
Thus, I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near close to the winner at this point. If however, they come forth with a product that does everything they say is possible, then absolutely it’s huge. But I think the chances of that in the spring timeframe are minimal.
Nigel, thank you very much. You’ve helped me a lot.
Hoi Ray,
Why are you thinking that chances are minimal and which features aren’t ready at the releasedate of the watch you think? The watch you’ve tested has already many features of the watch expect the new Polar-app, isn’t it?
Thanks!
Nope. As noted in the review, the watch I tested had no phone connectivity enabled, nor any integration with the site. Nor does it have any swimming functionality (which Polar has since largely removed from any spec sheets).
In the summary I stated: “Now, as I alluded to – everything is great on paper. But, the unit I have today has pretty much just the core running functionality active/ready. Thus, all the ‘good stuff’ that you want out of the unit won’t come for some number of weeks or months, in later beta cycles (all before final release of course). Thus, I can’t know for certain how it’ll turn out.”
Now, it could turn out great. I hope it does. But I’m hearing so little information from Polar on where they stand – having only one e-mail update since January regarding the V800, and no firmware updates. Contrast that with Garmin and the Fenix2, and I get 2-3 e-mail updates…a day, even on the weekends. And roughly one firmware update every 1-3 days from them.
Ok, that’s not a very optimistic story you mentioned above, but realistic unfortunately. If they don’t react on e-mails or don’t give any update that is really an indication that they aren’t far as I wish they are. Reading your comment it’s more likely the running specs are ok, but that’s their experience part of the watch but the other features are hard to integrate for Polar.
Now I’m really curious what kind of beta-testing watch some Dutch iceskaters had received, because Polar is sponsering some teams and they’ve given some athletes this watch. Hence I expected the watch and the features of that watch are ready-to-act. but skaters aren’t swimmers, except when the ice is too thin.
@Jorge: thks should be directed at Ray; as I changed my mind from the FR620 to V800 after going through this, related previews (Fenix 2) and comment sections here, as well as confirming the many bugs listed throughout all of the Garmin Connect + Running forums, where no one from Garmin appears to even bother responding to user problems.
@Ray: thks for your insightful perspective. As always, you’re right on the money, I looked at the spec sheet where I pre-ordered, where it states “Available April 2014” link to heartratemonitorsusa.com and there’s nothing about swimming or cycling so it will definitely be a major let down for Triathletes.
However, for Runners, everything is there, and more:
“Recovery status based on 24/7 activity: Know your true recovery status by combining your workout training load with data on the small activities you do every day. Get a true picture of your required recovery time before getting out there again.
Running Index : Running Index is based on heart rate and speed data measured during the run. It gives daily information about your performance level, both aerobic fitness and running economy. Improvement in running efficiency indicates improved economy of running performance”
Plus, it even lists a whole bunch of added features under Polar Flow web services & Mobile app features that seem to meet/exceed your preview, at least with respect to runners.
Given this is all in the April 2014 spec sheet, it seems that runners will definitely have a way better/more helpful training watch to use than any of the latest Garmin FR620 /Fenix 2 offerings. Can’t wait to see it released.
Tried pre-ordering with Clever Training, but V800 wasn’t available, and I know these orders work on a FIFO-basis, and I really can’t wait to get it. If I was allowed to pre-order today, I’d be willing to cancel from the other site. If this is possible, pls reply.
@ Nigel P:
yes sure. Ray earned my full respect for his great work! I am still very unsure whether I should buy the V800 or the Fenix 2. But until now, the V800 is my favorite
Thanks Nigel-
No, Clever Training hasn’t listed the units for pre-order. I provided a bit of detail up a little further a day or two ago. But in short, Polar actually hasn’t provided any listing information to any companies yet (meaning, official SKU’s, etc…). So the ones that are listing it, are simply taking the initial press release and hoping for the best. Even pricing isn’t actually technically finalized. As of yesterday, Polar was unable to finalize this for Clever Training.
While Clever Training is excited to be able to eventually offer the V800, they don’t want to get themselves in a situation where CT sells you a product that doesn’t do what it said it was going to do.
Don’t get me wrong – they’ll definitely be selling it – but only once Polar provides all the proper documentation and listing information.
Thks Ray. It is curious, however that the place I pre-ordered from did cut out any mention of swimming or cycling that the original press release did include.
I’ll call them later to get a verbal confirmation, as it’s my first order from them.
I really hope that by August the product is solid (I am planning a purchase for this month).
The product I need is for both swiming and running (cycling is totally optional).
In order of priority for both sports I need:
– Heart rate (control while using and data upload)
– Metrics (pace, strokes and so on)
– GPS
So far the promisses around v800 made me look nowhere else for this. I hope polar dont disapoint me…
Any other product I should try? (or a combination of those)
Sounds like some people simply want to rationalize/justify going the V800 route.
There’s plenty of justification at least from a runner’s perspective, take a look at the latest comments from FR620 owners:
Mark: “Has anyone else found the recovery advisor to be worthless? … I go for a run, and despite running 25.4 miles the day before it said my recovery level was good. Come on, I was totally spent. ”
Reinhard L: “I have the same experiences with the ‘recovery advisor’ function and therefore turned it off. In my opinion it is one in a row of new features that are quite worthless (others in that row: Ground Contact Time / Oscillation Figures / Elevation Figures).”
Isn’t that enough to tell you that Garmin is more interested in marketing fluff than focusing on athlete’s real training needs?
I’ve lived many years w/o a device telling me how much time I need to recover (esp. after a long run), but hey that’s just me and my experience. Could be a newbie/novice might need more accurate help.
The last I looked, its still not a perfect world.
I’m with you. But charging over $400 for fluff is not cool. I’d rather pay $50 extra and get the real deal.
It just seems like Garmin has become more corporate than user-centric. They seem to be more concerned in adding up “Functionality bullet points” than actually fulfilling them.
I think the vo2 is fluff as well on the Garmin. But really what did people expect out of all these fancy features other than a few extra stats? And yet people are potentially falling for the same fluff with the v800. I would rather wait & see how accurate the watch is & if these features are of actual use. As J’Griffin mentions most people know when to rest i don’t really see why i need watch to tell me, especially when its potentially wrong.
For running I’m only interesting in accurate heart rate, distance, barometer & pace, long battery life & large memory, usable route & way-points, flexible interval & training modes. All the other features are potentially fluff.
So, only newbies and novices get overtrained! Interesting, you really do learn something new every day!
I think a proper working recovery meter is a really useful tool foor every serious endurance athlete. Finding that spot where you are overreached but not overtrainined, where you sometimes nerd to go, isn’t easy (at least not for everyone). For those who don’t train really hard there is obviously no need for this tool.
I own Garmins and only Garmins for several years and I’m satisfied my purchase. I didn’t know about Polar’s Smart Coaching until I looked at their website and found that it’s been a feature for a lot of their watches for 5+ years. I don’t know how well it performs but it seems to be highlighted today because only now it’s a feature-set for the current and future Garmin models. This is rather odd thus it has made me look rather deep into their offerings.
I think it’s somewhat ironic/interesting/funny that the VO2Max/Recovery/Estimates pieces are all done by three Finland companies: FirstBeat, Polar, Suunto. You see, Garmin actually just licenses the FirstBeat pieces and does what their algorithms say.
More so, is that employees migrate employment between those three Finnish companies. FirstBeat and Polar are only a 10-minute drive from one another. Suunto and a 4th HRV-related company – Omegawave, are also only a 10-minute drive from each other. A number of key employees have gone from Suunto to Omegawave.
In short, the HRV world is not quite as varied and diverse as one might think. For example, my run using a Garmin device and a Suunto device gave me two nearly identical recovery time points yesterday.
Hello Ray,
Very interesting stuff that that companies are very close together and that it maybe ‘all the same’ is with little differences between them.
For me it’s still an interesting point if these technologies are really usefull (VO2max, orthostatic test, fitness test etc.) and sciece-based. You’ve a coach who helps you with timetables etc. but if you haven’t a human coach are the outcomes of al these technologies in your opinion usefull for ‘selfcoaching’ (trainings effect) and can I trust them? On internet I found conflicting information about the scientific basis of these stuff.
Fwiw, just finished up a trainer ride. Recovery times: 22hrs for Suunto Ambit2, 23hrs for Garmin Fenix2. I didn’t have the V800 on this one, since I don’t really have a cycling mode with capabilities anything yet.
To answer Carlos’s question…
Ultimately, they are yardstick guidelines at best (from any company). They’re having to take a lot of recommendations and boil them down to be useful across a large number of very different people. For some (many?) the recommendations might work. For others, they might be out of line. The trick is determining whether or not you fall into either of those camps.
For me, I don’t use them. They tend to roughly correlate with what I see, but not always. Still, I think they may in general be better than nothing at all. Ultimately, I’d love to see more data from units like the Basis watch (tracking 24×7 of vitals) make it into sports/fitness watches, as I think that’s a bit better blend.
It will be interesting to see if Polar releases their V800 “recovery / orthostatic test” feature as an in-app purchase for Polar Beat (similar to their “Fitness Test” feature), or just add the recovery test to the existing Fitness Test upgrade.
Is there evidence/proof that there is no swim nor cycling mode on V800?
I am asking since it seems a negative sentiment is being propagated on v800, maybe not all features are available at projected release (April-ish), this is fine as long there is roadmap presented. Especially when people are referring to Garmin 620 (which I own) as competitor, the promised cycling mode is still not there.
People must realize that G620 and V800 are very different watches, targeting a different audience. We must respect each other preference, and reviewers must give an unbiased opinion. It is not a battle!
My opinion is also just one sampling point, but truth is I am already at my second 620, and even now the HW is working, there are quite some annoying things going on, software wise. That being said, and even my previous Polar was very reliable (again single sampling point), there is no guarantee V800 will do better overall or on a per-sample basis.
As ray pointed out, my season is in progress, so I need to use what is available on the market, but expectation is I will put my G620 on sale later this year, provided V800 is received well; and there is an (external) ANT+2BT converter for my powermeter.
Looking forward to Ray’s in-depth review, but also experiences from others.
RE: Swimming
From the PM of the product:
“Accelerometer based swimming metrics: As we commented already these will be coming later in 2014 with SW update. We support only HR measurement in swimming with sales start release.”
“Open water swimming mode: We don’t have a specific open water mode since we have the same problem that also others have. GPS is not very accurate in water. GPS is default OFF in swimming mode but user can turn it ON if wants.”
Note: I had updated the swimming section of the post when I received the note, in early February.
RE: Cycling
I never said that wasn’t going to be there. I have no doubts that’ll be there. Power meter won’t be there till “June” (the date they’ve previously announced).
RE: Misc
My primary concern is around connected features (i.e. mobile connectivity), website (flow), activity monitor details, and then swimming (as a triathlete).
Thanks for reply Ray. Some words on connectivity:
Polar is known that priority is given to Quality of Data, which for the target audience is most important. As you know connectivity (e.g. WiFi) is delicate topic, since it is error prone and could lead to many support questions. I think the last thing Polar want is that flagship watch will get bad reputation on non core capability/features.
I want to stress Polar must provide a high-quality platform to be able to analyze acquired data (Flow), since this is part of end-to-end solution.
Ray, if I understood, in swimming mode it will count the exercise calorie based on the H7 strap, but not distance. You confirm that?
Hy ray.
One simple question. will this watch also have a timer and a countdown like the ambit 2 has?
Aljaz
polarv800.com has been updated again
….and they have posted an MSRP consistent with the sites taking pre-orders.
Yeah, the problem hasn’t so much been the EUR pricing, but the pricing for everyone else.
Simply run have uk prices of £369.99 with heart strap with a release date of 17/4. I’m hoping there will not be a shortage of units like with the 620 although i’m sure allot of that is marketing so people panic buy.
I emailed simplyrun.co.uk regarding availability, interestingly they said they have had confirmation that they will be available on 17th April (and that 17th April isn’t just an estimate)… wondering if this is accurate though..
I thought it was going to be available in April?
link to cbs8.com
When I last asked Polar 10 days or so ago, it was still April, albeit just barely.
Beware that the CBS news report you linked to isn’t direct information from Polar. Rather, it’s just a press release copied from HRWC (a retailer), which issues random press releases all the time (almost daily) about things, much to the annoyance of various companies behind those products. Simply a marketing tactic for that store.
Dear Rainmaker
Fantastic site. However, I am in a dilemma. I am mainly a road and MTB rider with an interest in sprint triathlons and open water swimming. Have used and continue to use a Polar S720i – v happy with it. Only extra feature I wanted was power. Subseqent Polar HRMs went backwards ito functionality from the S series and so I have ignored them. S720i fine even for events like ABSA Cape Epic. Now another great South African MTB stage race, Joburg2C, from Johannesburg to east coast (9 days), is making GPS compulsory for 2014. (end April/beginning May) Have ignored GPS to date on basis that I will never likely get anywhere near the podium and will always be following others’ tracks. Was just about to start investigating Garmin when, last week, the Polar Expo site at the Argus cycle tour (largest individually timed 100km race in the world) advised me about the V800. Even if it were going to be able on time – what would you do?
Is there a minimal ‘length of the pool’ for V800 ? The new Garmin does have a minimal setting, but does the V800 have similar ? let’s say 24Meters ? What about 20 Meters ? What about 10 Meters?
you say “While indoors, the unit will track laps like all other indoor-swimming focused watches on the market, and use internal accelerometers to determine distance, pace (speed) and stroke related metrics. This is based on knowing the length of the pool (you enter that), and then it will detect turns (either flip or open turn) at the end of each segment. “
I don’t know at this point. Per the paragraph after the one you copied, it wasn’t (and still isn’t) enabled on my unit. Based on the most recent discussions from them, I’m reasonably certain we won’t see any swim distance tracking at launch. Just HR.
Availability in late May 2014 according to this site:
link to virtual-strategy.com
When I last asked Polar 10 days or so ago, it was still April, albeit just barely.
Beware that the news report you linked to isn’t direct information from Polar. Rather, it’s just a press release copied from HRWC (a retailer), which issues random press releases all the time (almost daily) about things, much to the annoyance of various companies behind those products. Simply a marketing tactic for that store.
Any news about the additional or variable recording rates?
In one of your replies, you say that the firmware on the V800 will be “absolutely” user-upgradeable. However, how confirmed is this? Is Polar the source of this information? I’m just asking because I’ve owned some previous Polar products, and none of them has had this feature. I won’t even consider buying it if I have to contact a Polar service center to upgrade firmware – like I had to with my RC3.
Otherwise thanks for a great site and your great work. Truly impressive. 🙂
Yes, Polar has stated this directly to me (lead of the V800), but, it’s also alluded to in that they talk about features being added down the road. It is unlike past products, except the recent Polar Loop, which does support upgrades.
We all know Apple is working on a watch, and one might infer from recent pictures of Tim Cook wearing a Nike Fuel that the new iWatch will take aim at the health and fitness market rather than purely the tech market. And now this: link to 9to5mac.com. Might well be way cooler than the Polar Flow app, which I find to be much less robust than Cyclemeter, at least until the V800 comes. But Polar better hurry.
Ive just visited local Garmin shop to check Garmin Fenix size (they dont have Fenix 2 yet and I assume size wise both units are same?). Anyway I would like to know if Polar V800 is less thick than Fenix 2 which seems to be quite big on my girl-like wrist lol.
Polar V800 is much tinner, 12,7 mm vs 17 mm, and considerably narow: 37 mm vs 49 mm. Found this info at http://www.versus.com:
link to versus.com
Info on this page is not correkt, ex the V800 has a Barometer.
Hi, and thanx for a great write up. Two things:
I am upgrading from my RCX5 partly because of the latter’s low contrast display (background too dark), that makes it hard to read with my 45 year old eyes in everything but direct sun light. Commercial photos hint that the V800 has better contrast, and more negative displays (“white” text on black background). Is the contrast better in your opinion, and do more of the standard displays feature such “negative” layouts?
Secondly, and of great importance to me: I see the V800 will upload training info to a new Polar web service, and not to polarpersonaltrainer, where I have collected my entire training history. I need my historic info, will the two Polar services share all data or will I need to start from scratch when my V800 is delivered? (If “yes”, chances are I will pass on the V800 and stay with my RCX5 anyway until one of us stops ticking)…
You’ll be able to get data from PPT (online or desktop) to Polar Flow. The plan is to offer that around the time the unit becomes available.
Could you post a photo of the V800 on a small woman’s wrist?
Hello
Thanks for the awesome preview. Biggest selling point for me in this time is dimensions. Could you give me exact measurements and vs. Fenix2/Ambit2/Forerunner 910xt. Those “big” millimetres are not in your comparison tool. Thanks.
I’ve got comparison photos of all those units in tomorrow’s Fenix2 review on the roller, so that should help.
Ohh full review on Fenix 2 tommorow ! Great looking forward
When I use the iOS Polar Beat app, neither in the app nor on the Polar Flow website I see altitude information. I read that the V800 does track it. But will it also appear then on the iOS app and the Flow website?
I’m mountainbiking quite a lot. So this would be fundamental for me.
Thanks for a short reply. Cheers.
Kann mir jemand sagen ob ich die Daten der v800 auch in den Polar Trainer 5 übertragen kann
danke
Lischent,
The common language here is English, but for the others I will translate your question because it’s a reverse version of the Robert’s question:
I see the V800 will upload training info to a new Polar web service, and not to polarpersonaltrainer, can I send the data nevertheless from the V800 also to PPT5?
I cover this a bit in the FAQ section. But in short, for some sports, yes, because the V800 is outputting standard files. But for others sports, no, as PPT won’t understand swim metrics once those are added.
Is there any rumours if it will get proper trackback?
Hi,
This release date is now May.
“The Polar V800 with integrated GPS will be available around the world in May for a suggested Canadian MSRP of $499.99.”
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1324781/train-and-recover-24-7-polar-announces-the-world-s-smartest-training-computer:
Sorry, broken link.
http://www.newswire.ca:
Hi,
Great text, thx ! Can you post side by side comparison pictures just these models – V800, 910XT, Fenix2. I read the Fenix2 review and look the pictures (of course). V800 is much smaller than other top models ? Is the difference so big ?
I did indeed include pics of it within the Fenix2 review, and it is pretty much a fair bit smaller.
Hi Rainmaker
Not clear if the V800 provides temperature? – please confirm
Thanks
No, it does/will not.
Both Polars website and V800 campaign website states that V800 displays the temperature, is it just marketing bs?
I can confirm again, but the last time I asked they said no (and confirmed the comparison chart). Perhaps something’s changed. Given they’d actually have temperature as part of the barometric altimeter, it’s a bit odd to not expose it.
Hi Rainmaker,
There is an option “other sports”, that allows you to configure different sports from running, swimming, cycling and triathlon? .. like soccer, tennis etc..
finally…Fenix 2 or V800 (assuming that the promises are fulfilled)?
Many thanks
Yes, there is an option.
Far too soon to say on Fenix2 vs V800.
Hi Rainmaker,
Great article thank you.
Not sure if this was asked but can you set different HR Sports Zones for Swim, Bike, Run. This is typically different between the sports, I have the RCX5 and you can only set Zones for one sport, I have set my zones for running but my bike zones are about 10 bpm lower than the run.
thanks,
Dion
Just as a brief update for curious folks…
Polar states that the unit is still on track to ship in April, however won’t likely arrive in stores till early May. Pricing is $450 w/o HR strap, $500 with HR strap.
Beyond that, nothing else to share at the moment. Cheers!
So where does that slate your In-Depth Review being released?
Add the stride sensor and that’s some serious money even with the discount from Clever Training.
Ray, might be a good idea in the full review to remind folks to check their sharing settings in PolarFlow. I was playing around with it the other day and was surprised how many runners around me display far more info about themselves than I’d feel comfortable sharing publicly.
J – It depends. They’re hoping to get me some updated firmware in the following weeks (since mine is late December). If so, and if they keep frequent updates, I’d guess I’d hit close to the end of April, or whenever they ship with final or almost-final firmware.
Lew – Agree. I think I made note of it in my Polar Loop review as well. The settings by default share more than I would have expected.
Rainmaker – you have had the benefit of actually seeing this amazin device in the flesh (as it were..) – whilst it looks fantastic – my main concern (like quite a few have posted already) is about size and weight. Question is therefore, is it ok to wear as a day to day watch?? I currently use a Polar FT80 – which is also really good – but also nice and compact – i.e. wear it 24 hours a day and hardly know it’s there…
Size is pretty good actually compared to most other units on the market. Weight, it’s a bit heavier than lighter watches (such as the RC3). But, that seems to be the general trend lately with more expensive units.
Were you able to connect the V800 to both BT HR sensor and to phone at the same time? I’ve heard the polar loop have some issues…
That firmware capability isn’t yet enabled on my beta device, hopefully I’ll be able to validate it soon in a new update.
Ray, two questions about the Polar Flow site since it is essentially integral to the V800 user experience.
(1) I see no elevation graph/data showing on any of the the pages you included here or in the Loop review. This seems very strange as speed/HR stats are a bit of a two legged stool unless you live in a very flat area. Why no elevation information? I also see no tracks from oversharers living near me that include elevation information when I play around on flow.polar.com myself. Your thoughts?
(2) Is there any indication that Polar will allow users to disable the ITEMS ON MAP sidebar? I *really* have no interest in what runs and rides a bunch of other people near me have done. It’s wasted space and a distraction from what I do want to see.
I apologize if there were already covered, I looked again but saw nothing relevant.
Thanks again!.
Hi Lew-
1) I suspect we’ll see it by launch.
2) Hmm, it’s something I can bring up. That said, that’s more the global landing page. Once you dive into your stats, you only see your stats.
Hello all,
Just few updates, firstly Clever training is now accepting preorders on V800 and secondly Polar USA says the availability will be late April, but generally shipping in May.
Hi All-
Indeed, as of a few hours ago, Clever Training has now made the Polar V800 available for pre-order. All the usual DCR partnership benefits with Clever Training apply, including 10% off your cart and free US shipping.
Polar is currently stating an early May arrival for the black edition, and a June arrival for the blue/red edition.
You can find all the discounts and DCR reader coupon code at the end of the post (direct link here: link to dcrainmaker.com).
Note that I remain fuzzy on exactly what features will be there at launch. It is clear however that swimming will not be there upon launch, and instead will be “later in 2014”. Whether that’s June or December I don’t know, nor will Polar share. I just want to be really clear upfront that…well…neither me or Polar is super-clear.
In any case, you can at least reserve your place in line and cancel later if need be. Thanks for the support, I appreciate it!
Any word on Clever Training pre-orders for the Bluetooth Smart bike sensors?
I definitely want to order the V800 through CT soon… would be great to be able get the bike sensors at the same time, assuming they’ll begin shipping around the same time (Polar’s site seems to suggest they will).
Thanks again!
I’m trying to figure out if I want to buy this unit or not. I already have an RCX5. The main advantage would seem to be activity tracking.
The problem I have with the RCX5 is that I do a lot of walking. I walk miles to the gym and some days miles with the dogs. To buy into the “Training Load” feature, and to get an accurate assessment of calories, I should be getting this data into Polar, but the RCX5 doesn’t handle walking well. I can walk a few hours before feeling tired since have done a lot of hillwalking in the past, but the RCX5 sees this non-sweaty, gentle activity as being worthy of sending my training load off the scale.
I hope the activity tracker in the V800 is more sensible about it.
Are they capable to measure R-R intervals as the previous model of Polar did – RS800?
Yes, it does.