When I first started reviewing GPS running watches, there were two brands that immediately stood out to me – Garmin and Polar. While I had the chance to test several Garmin models early on, until recently I hadn’t spent extended time with Polar’s mid-range lineup, which is surprising given how established and respected the brand is. After many months of consideration, I finally got my hands on both the Polar Ignite 3 and Polar Vantage M2 about a month ago, and I’ve been testing them since. I received two watches: the Ignite 3 and…
I sent this review to Polar to see if they had any comments, and I received a detailed reply addressing some of the downsides I mentioned. I thought I would share it here, both for transparency and in case I update this review in the future.
GPS Behavior: We have found that updating to the latest firmware often improves satellite acquisition and route consistency. If you experienced drift or slow lock times, please ensure your device is fully updated.
This doesn’t entirely change my experience regarding occasional inconsistencies, but it’s good to see firmware improvements being actively rolled out.
Data Syncing: You don’t have to rely solely on Polar Flow; you can export FIT files directly and analyse them independently.
This was something I initially overlooked. I’m glad to have been corrected, and it’s helpful to know there are multiple export pathways.
Data Discrepancies: We noticed you mentioned slight HR variation between devices. Were these compared using identical sampling intervals? This could partially explain the differences.
I will revisit this once I’ve had time to run additional side-by-side comparisons. It’s possible the discrepancy was related to configuration rather than sensor accuracy.
Downloading Data: If you had trouble exporting runs, you may find this resource helpful: