Polar - Loop

I have to say I’m really disappointed/underwhelmed about the Polar Loop and Polar Flow announcements. Firstly, the Loop just seems like a copy+paste of the Business version of the band. Secondly, why announce it back in June/July (whenever it was) making us wait till September, if all the key features are not ready at launch. The Whoop’s app UI/UX is one of the main reason it is the market leader by a mile. And one of the core principles of being a consumer is do not buy something today, on the promise of an improvement tomorrow. … since I’ve been eagerly awaiting the band, I’ve pre-ordered it anyway In general it seems like they do not have their shxt in order. Thoughts? EDIT: - Cancelled my pre-order. Tried to have faith in the product but I just don’t, the more I learn about it. Will wait for full reviews to come before I make a decision now.

Random thought but Wow, Polar even recycled the name LOOP from a 10+ year old device.

Surely it’s not missing HRV? If anyone can confirm that please let me know lmao, I’m cancelling my order

Just got the Polar Loop and honestly not a fan at all. Has anyone here gone through their refund process? Was it smooth?

Huh, it does measure your HRV during the night? (which, from scientific point of view, is the only sensible time to continously measure it) All I cared from this release is info about new app and it is coming, so I guess my needs are met. The Loop itself is pretty much what I imagined it would be, so kinda meh. I was hoping Polar would come up with some new feature but it's just rehashing old stuff in new body, which it was Polar has been doing lately.

A clear win for Polar in the looks department.

Well, the Loop is out! A little disappointed that it doesn't offer some essential functions, such as : - No Elixir technology (with skin temp), but a Precision Prime technology, as in the Pacer or Ignite series - No vibration (alarm) - No wireless charger, like Whoop - No NFC (Bluetooth sharing), like H10 or any other device actually - No armband [currently, I think it’s just a matter of time] - Poor activity auto-detection, but I heard that Helio too, only Whoop’s better on this - App update in progress (3 phases), end of 2025 for Apple users - WR30 only - Double-activity if watch + Loop, and that is very what I was hoping for, the possibility to practice with my Vantage watch without taking off the Loop. Now I have to choose between my watch or the Loop+my smartphone. Could someone tell me if the Helio Strap is better for these different functions? Thank you.

My comparison: ||Polar|Amazfit| |:-|:-|:-| |Weight|29g|20g| |Fit/Style|I suppose similar|I suppose similar| |Price|180€|100€| |Sensors/Data|Good OHR|\+Temp+SPO2| |Ecosystem|Good|?| |Company|European, good support|?| Amazfit wins on specs, atleast on paper. Weight is clear winner, but the data is not necessarily. Temp is reported to never be very useful on wrist wearables, and I have no use for SPO2, and I don't really trust the stress, or any other "biocharge" indices. I ordered the Polar for now. I will try it. If it feels good, I will keep it. If I don't like the fit, I will buy Amazfit for trial. Slightly disappointed that it wasn't revolutionary, but it's probably just fine.

Was really looking forward to this one as well, the same internals didn't really bother me but the lack of sensors and data insight does. I do believe Polar is accurate from their data perspective but their app needs a revamp too. I'm giving Hume a shot (fingers crossed) otherwise Helio will be my go to.

Noted Thank you! The draw to me originally was more the stress, strain, recovery etc where it seems Hume may have a lead. Familiar with Helio of course but thanks for the heads up. It's why I was banking on the Polar Loop so much.

I feel the same way as you. Just got mine two days ago, was wearing the Helio for the last month so using that as a comparison. My wish list would be tighter integration with Apple Health. I have continuous hert-rate enabled and am using Health Sync to synch that to Apple Health - it's working fine for that. The app refresh - really any refresh to it - will be a positive. I do like having the flow web site to review data too. I find the app non-intuitive but as an older guy, it's tough to read - too small of text and too low contrast. :)

Good question. There’s a slider in the settings where you enable it. With no researching my guess is it’s enabled during sleep and “activities” only unless you enable it. Another guess is that this is even optioned as it affects battery life. Again, two guesses. However even when enabled, it appears only activity heart rate syncs to Apple health. The third party app I mentioned “Health Synch” - does synch the all day readings no differently than the Apple Watch records. *EDIT - here’s Polar’s explanation. https://support.polar.com/us-en/support/the_what_and_how_of_polars_continuous_heart_rate

Polar is an established brand (half a century old, actually), they don't really need to do it. It's actually lower end device, I wouldn't look for any deception here.

Hi Thks for mega thread 👍 By my side I have twi issues with my loop Can’t charge it to 100% When have autostart and start an activity I have a double résult. Just a thing I use polar bear and ches over 10 years and actually heve a vantage v3. I have report my bugs on polar support and waiting an answer. I saw the software’s roadmap and enjoy this. Polar is an efficient brand which give us what customers wants. Loop was a user demand and I have it. Thanks. continue to develop your Products

Hello loop update today https://preview.redd.it/k6mr7o3yc4sf1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fe7d963842ad5261dd9c1832c9513df6cc236d5 What have they correct?

Are you sure? I have battery issue didn’t charge complete. And double activites

Had my loop for 2 days now. Failed to record sleep both nights but records heart rate through the day. Although I saw my heart rate get to 117 bpm on the live view but it said my highest heart rate was 109 for the day. Not impressed so far. Might have to return.

can't comment on other options but just got the loop myself and it is pretty good looking and comfortable. Activity data, heart tracking and sleep seem accurate enough, although the automatic sports is a bit iffy. I don't run but the app says that if you start the activity on the phone the phone will track your run with gps. Honestly, the no subscription and the look of the device made my decision. Apparently the app is horrible to some but I have had no problems with it

Weird. Mine is working fine? Maybe the first sync needs to be done manually by “holding the device card” on the diary page?

Mine is working great so far. Calorie, step, and sleep tracking working well. Also tracked a run that looked really accurate. Maybe I got lucky with a good unit? I did do the soft reset after the firmware update and only do manual activity tracking which others noted helped.

I'm having the same issue. Continuous heart rate tracking was working just fine until the firmware update. Now it keeps dropping out exactly as yours is. Haven't worked out a fix yet, so would be good to know if someone has.

Anyone worked out what's causing this? I noticed the outside LEDs seem to be turning off on mine while it's on. Fit is fine and it doesn't move at all and was working brilliantly until a few days ago. Might be a good idea if everyone that's having the issue reports it to Polar support.

Hi everyone, here’s my (unfortunately critical) test video of the Polar Loop! The video is in German, but I’ve enabled English dubbing in case you’d like to check it out. Cheers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ciiG9Rso8o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ciiG9Rso8o)

You can see for the loop in the manual how it picks it up, and adjust the sensitivity

Can confirm that the 3.1.0 finally made the background sync fully work. I can now just open the app and see that it has always synced very recently, completely on the background. Didn't happen for me before 3.1.0, it only synced with the app open.

Most of the users likely have zero issues. Some people have weird issues that seem like bugs, and they just yesterday pushed a bugfix update. I'd recommend it based on my own use

3 weeks in or so for me: Sleep tracking is mostly on point. I've had long pauses and early morning phone browsing it doesn't recognize properly but besides that, on point. HR: on point for running. I dont use it for gym. Automatic detection works really well for endurance where your HR raises once and stays up.

Bug fixes according to logs

Definitely a bluetooth problem.

Both will simply give HR values to Flow, so yes, this situation will work without any issue. In fact you will introduce more problems if you wear both, because there will be double data.

Yes I know, I was joking. It's completely erroneous for some reason, many people have had it. Try to reset the device. You are burning more calories than a hundred bears.

Did you do any background research on this brand? lol. It was a mistake to get your hopes up that it was going to solve the problem with another brand. So many techies coming in here and projecting their hopes onto the Polar fitness band. If they had even a modicum of experience, they’d know Polar doesn’t give a shit about anyone’s expectations and does what they want. That’s how Polar has been treating their watch users for years. At least they used to be at the front for HRM and GPS accuracy. Go back to Whoop

They were at the front of HRM and GPS accuracy for a while because they are a tiny Finnish company that focused on this area for years, well before fitness trackers became something popular thanks to Fitbit and Garmin. They also don't behave like a typical Silicon Valley tech entity chasing trends and whatever is hot. They don't have the resources to build a shiny app to appeal to tech bros and every year the rumors of them running out of money get louder lol. Thats why the flow update alone is gonna take a year to complete lmao

I definitely want to pick one up. I'm not sure about all the hate. I saw people say "no blood pressure?" but so few devices measure BP anyway, ya know? I also always start my workouts manually, so the autodetection problems don't bother me. Plus, $200 is pretty cheap in the space as it currently stands. What keeps me from buying it right now is that I do not know if there are alternate straps. For various activities I do, I'd need a forearm or bicep strap. Do these exist yet? Are they easy to make if you have DIY skills?

Are you on IOS or Android? I updated my firmware and was hoping that got fixed but I'm on IOS and it didn't seem to fix it for me when I tried.

Hmm interesting I’ll have another go. I’m definitely on the latest firmware too. I was in the gym and after my manual workout it popped up with the automatic too.

Oh sweet, maybe I had a one-off glitch or something. I’ll test again but if that’s the case then that solves my biggest issue. I too only have the loop.

I just tested it again this morning and the good news it’s no longer an issue! So so good now that I can leave it on.

In the main daily journal screen you can hide the metrics/insights you wouldn't care for like if you're progressively training or not, and leave the rest. I would the say loop should fit your needs just fine as it does sleep tracking and 24/7 heart rate tracking too :)

I have been using my Loop for 2 weeks now and wanted to provide a little write-up. Automatic exercise tracking, exercises and cardio load (training load pro): I'm fairly active in my life and job, so there are some practical and philosophical issues with the exercise load tracking. For example, my job it's what it is, so it doesn't make sense to track every workday, that's part of the base load, non-negotiable. Same goes for normal daily activities. Meanwhile all the extra works or negotiable workloads are logical to include in the tracked metrics for training load. I have been using automatic exercise detection a bit, generally it worked well but it sometimes activated during my workday, which I don't find to be a good thing. Currently I'm not using automatic detection, mostly because I 1) want to log only purposeful and chosen exercises instead of "everything" and 2) exertion at work activated it sometimes. I think my approach makes sense for me, monitoring my training load. For this Loop works just fine. It's very minor inconvenience to start and end exercise session for cycling or gym or run. Also based on how Polar's Training Load or Cardio Load logging works, it compares your near historical load to current and future load. For this it doesn't actually make any sense for me to include the non-negotiable loads, while the chosen skippable exercises are a must-include for relative comparability and also for decision making of future exercises and cardio load. For this the Loop works pretty much excellently. It charges quickly and it's very comfortable to sleep with. HR tracking looks fine, I haven't noticed any outrageous outliers, and to be honest I don't find it extremely meaningful metric to follow whether the HR spikes or drops for a small moment. I have done interval run on a treadmill and HR was very responsive and I could easily manage my HR Zone targets based on Loops HR readings. No ANT+ so I have to use my phone during the run, this however is minor inconvenience and even before with H10 (which has ANT+) I would always use phone during treadmill runs to follow the graph and readings instead of the single number the machines typically show. So no issue there, I'm using my H10 less now because with Loop it's so easy for me to get the HR tracking during various activities. Also about OHR accuracy, to my understanding these are notorious with certain activities and with my Suunto watch it was sometimes giving very weird readings while cycling, apparently because the wrist use during cycling can complicate the HR readings, I don't know the specifics. The point however is, I don't even expect the OHR to be perfect 100% of the time, I think this is just unrealistic and not even very meaningful for the user in the end. Even H10 would sometimes lose signal or give weird readings, this is just the nature of these measurements. Personally I find it silly how people go "Oh it's not perfect 101% of the time, I'M CANCELLING MY ORDER AND NEVER USING POLAR AGAIN!!!11" Grow up, jeez. Even medical grade blood pressure or oxygen sensors don't always work perfectly. I'm more than satisfied with Loop's OHR performance so far, although haven't done comparison with my H10, mostly because Loop's HR readings have looked sensible and expected for me. EDIT: Addition about calories: I forgot this as it's not very meaningful for me and haven't been following it much at all. However it's recording me fairly high (like 3000-4000 kcal) expenditure for most days. Yesterday it logged 4200 kcal, which is a bit too high, but this is based on instinct. I haven't really done any calorie counting ever before so I really can't judge what the number should be, it just feels too high. EDIT: For steps the numbers are also little high, Google Fit recorded me \~15k steps yesterday while Flow recorded 19k steps yesterday. Of course Google Fit misses all the steps happening at home as I almost never carry my phone around at home. I don't know, these might about right. Hard for me to judge. In short, Loop is giving me good way to manage my training load and exercise intensity and sleep metrics work well too. Only major issue I have with Loop is that I can't do pre-planned or "phased" exercises through Flow or Beat, apparently for these I would need some Polar Watch. This part I don't get, if my phone is able receive my HR from Loop real time during exercise, why can't the phone software direct me the planned/phased exercise like the watch would? Polar Beat at least can give directions "too slow/too fast" through phone/headphones if the zone is set. Also apparently even in Flow I cannot set HR zone targets, these can only be done in Polar Beat. But Loop can't connect to Polar Beat, or I just don't know how to make it happen. These HR zone target and Polar Beat connection issue are the only annoyances, although I think these should be something Polar can easily deal with if they decide to do so.

Mixed bag so far. Cautiously optimistic honestly after bad purchasing experience that many of us encountered. Comparing to AWU2, Whoop, PolarH10. On wrist first few days HR was very accurate, sleep was passing but will give that more time to accumulate data (HR accurate, analysis not so much but needs more time), straight up failed to get it at all last night when worn on bicep (swapped with Whoop), got accurate HR data through the night just didn't record sleep at all, though perhaps the update and restart it did immediately on my waking up trashed the sleep analysis? Don't know. Default detection setting picked up a 10k here and a 5k there just fine, would prefer it to excel in this area if possible but we'll see. Used to starting things manually and Helio's tracker was terrible at launch with auto detect as well, Polar's already easier with slapping labels on stuff after the fact which I appreciate. Whoop's wasn't great but has become actually very good in my experience even with figuring out the activity or a close approximation. Not going into Whoop's many faults here cuz they exist, just strictly speaking about the screenless tracker activity detection stuff. If they can keep improving the thing I'll be glad to see it not be a botched failure. Still want it to succeed. I do like having Flow on the web too, care less about perceived age of the UI the more I use it, but I guess it'll be nice to have it polished up some time in coming months. Don't really care IF the data is good, older presentation doesn't bother me. Do wish they'd consolidate Beat and Flow somehow not sure why they have a streamlined sensor only sidepiece app. Certainly looks and feels premium, extremely comfortable and easy to wear but that's pretty far down on the list of considerations if it doesn't actually serve its intended purpose lol. Just adding an impression to the pile since I've been watching and waiting for this thing. ***UPDATE*** \- HR is accurate until it's not. I pick up a bag of dog food to empty it into a container, it thinks my HR spikes to 150 and my "activity" is off to the races. It in fact, is not. Still wearing AWU2, Helio, Whoop for comparison. AWU2 and Helio are very accurate, even when doing things traditionally confusing for optical/wrist sensors. The Loop suffers from the same occasional issues the Whoop does, which is to say it can freak out under wrist tension and give all sorts of inaccurate readings for lengths of time. Which is of course problematic. https://preview.redd.it/6galm6yatesf1.png?width=343&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d1714ee9a73f29f49238d237b54d39577ba4e8e For example see above. Had about an hour of emails and stuff this afternoon so it appropriately caught the inactivity, then you can see the gap where I charged it to full for the first time since unboxing it. Then, did normal stuff and it went bonkers. Will continue to compare to the others and give a fair shake to all, just sharing my experience in case it's of worth to anyone else in a similar position.

Whatever y'all are doing you need to fix it. Auto detect set at high and it still gives multiple instances of insanity. Mostly when cooking and running errands. AWU2 and Whoop provide more, shall we say, stable HR data to compare. But it clearly needs more attention. https://preview.redd.it/ejh3r1mfrzsf1.png?width=508&format=png&auto=webp&s=49d03c130285364a2fce84c82836f5d6fb0ac214

Whoop is way more comprehensive in what it offers but it's only worth the very expensive price if you *want* all the extra involvement that comes with it and will take the time to fully utilize it. Sounds like it's not necessary or desired for you right now so I think you're right to look at the Loop or Amazfit's Helio. Both are still very useful for what they offer, honestly for what you want right now either one is a far far better value. Amazfit has become very popular, I've had it since launch and can tell you they've updated it frequently (Amazfit's track record overall is spotty but they're improving, and the Helio has become a best seller for them so they've done better with supporting it than other products), it is a very accurate monitor for heart rate regardless of wearing it on wrist or biceps, and though I find its sleep tracking mediocre at best its HR data is usually excellent. It's bulkier and much cheaper in feel and appearance than the Loop, which may or may not matter to you. I only mention that because the *most* effective wearable is the one you will actually consistently wear right, seems obvious but you'd be surprised, especially when it comes to these screenless devices and rings. I've been very harsh with the Loop and I suggest you look at the "megathread" in here to get an idea of other peoples' experience with it as the newest product of the three. Harsh because I want to love it! The software gets a lot of complaints but I never had a real issue with it and don't think you will either for your usage. I found the sleep tracking to be on par with Amazfit Helio's which is to say mediocre (compared to Whoop and Apple) but given enough time it may have continued to improve. I *like* Polar's presentation of ANS/recharge, I *like* their no frills data with respect to training load, etc., they're old school and it shows and if I could trust the sensor and the data itself more, I'd absolutely love the product and might have happily switched from Whoop. Still will if the Polar Loop improves. Whoop has impressed me a lot in many areas (new labs feature has way exceeded my expectations but that's a much longer post) but it is exceedingly expensive. Of the three Polar's is by far the nicest to actually wear. Most comfortable looks the best, lasts about a week on a charge which is still plenty to not be an issue. Depending on how you feel about data and privacy you might be tempted to go Polar over Amazfit for that reason alone. Anyway TLDR Polar has proven the least accurate of the three for me so I don't currently wear it, I'd love to if they can improve it enough to not have gaps or huge misinterpreted heart rate dropped/auto-tracked segments, etc. Helio's auto detection also sucked at launch, but if you just leave those off both devices do better at just giving you a day's worth of HR data and general activity trends. Polar also tends to be generous with "steps" and treats it more as an activity measure so, as with all trackers, you'll probably see a fair amount of variation comparing one against the next. Sorry for meandering, hope this helps at all. I think you'd like the Loop honestly, just make sure you are aware of their return policy and whatnot. Good luck!

I was so excited about the polar loop at first but the outdated/not fully functional sensor was a deal breaker. I am now considering amazfit helio or Google charge 6 .

The loop is a basic tracker. For your passive calories it will suffice but for more complex data on workouts, e.g swimming it will not give you the same as an AW.

With great expectation, I bought a Polar Loop band on the release date. The offer is indeed tempting: pay once and have access to nearly all important, trackable data. However, after 2 weeks, my first conclusion is somewhat disappointing: the auto tracking of workouts works only semi-well. Sometimes workouts are not recognized (CrossFit workout over 42 minutes) or only partially tracked. Even when starting workouts directly in the app, the recordings can be sloppy or disappear. The sleep data is also relatively inaccurate – you may have been up for a while, and the device is still tracking sleep. I also have a Garmin Instinct 2, which, while it does not offer auto tracking, never caused me any problems during use. What are your experiences?

Im really diappointed so far because of: \- missing hrv (as far as i can tell) \- missing skin temperature sensor (as far as i can tell) \- no vibration motor and thus no alarms (as far as i can tell) \- 8 days is fine but more would be better \- app looks trash and even the new ui looks just ok and not groundbreaking

How well sleep tracking works ? Answer: https://preview.redd.it/q3qjku86z1rf1.jpeg?width=1643&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e48f26747e6bc6e6b8942e44833d2927d9fa8904 Unless you sleep like a mummy for 7h … try to wake up once to go to the bathroom and the device will never again consider you are asleep. On top of that, I constantly have to close and reopen the app just to get the device to show up for syncing. I love the design and wearability of the device, but when you are used to Garmin or Apple ….all this is simply unacceptable. “It just works” simply does not apply to this thing. Fun fact: in Switzerland they made sure you can’t return it (since it’s not EU) unless the seal is still intact… what a scam.

I appreciate the feedback, but I bought this device specifically to monitor my HR and sleep 24/7. For my workouts, I already use a Garmin 965, so it’s hard for me to overlook the fact that it performs poorly at the very things it’s supposed to do decently, especially after paying a premium price. I was willing to accept the app looking like a website from 1996, but when even the tracking results are this bad… it’s disappointing. I guess I'm at an age where I have less patience for hacking things and if I want a device that looks good, works reliably, and comes with a polished app, I’ll have to give in and buy a Whoop despite the horrible subscription model.

https://preview.redd.it/i80pny0nc3rf1.png?width=1160&format=png&auto=webp&s=3644922aaa47191b6d9c4f26bb6504984785f06e Here are the details of the tracking comparison between my Garmin and Polar Loop. I’ve read other posts on this subreddit from people experiencing the same issue, regardless of which Polar device they use. I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem is related to wake/sleep interruptions. On Polar watches, the display prompts you to confirm whether you are awake or not, letting you continue or stop the sleep tracking. On the Loop band, however, being awake for 20–25 minutes is automatically interpreted as being “up,” since there’s no option for user interaction. Lazy adoption of the same algorithm without thinking that on this device user cannot invert the awake interpretation of the sensor ?

What phone do you have? I have similar sync issues with my Samsung S23, since it received the June patch. Before that everything went smooth.

Hello, Loop syncs in 30 mins interval. What phone do you use? Is that perhaps an Android device?

I work in the software release field and I wouldn't go in a separate app only for Loop. Maintaining the two apps generate much more trouble than what is solves on the long run, especially when they add new features into one while the other struggles solvimg a bug. And Polar already has Beat and Flow. By the way, Polar is redesigning Flow, step by step.

Delete the direct pairing with the phone, you should _not_ connect to the device directly. After you removed, open the Flow app and choose Devices in tbe menu and tap on the Loop device to sync.

If you mean wearing a watch with H10 for activities and having the Loop during the day, that will work flawlessly.

For the bluetooth question: to sync with your phone. Not to distract you, but to send your recorded data to the Flow app (and with that, backend service).

I've pre-ordered the Loop. It does seem pretty lackluster feature wise, though I'm hoping it makes up for it in accuracy. I've been using the Verity Sense for a while so if it can match the sense whilst having multi-day battery life and 24/7 tracking, I'll take it as a win

I tested at least half a dozen wearables in the last few years and Oura and Whoop are my favorites. That said, Polar’s new screenless strap called Loop is very interesting, check it out. It’s like Whoop but no monthly fees, and Polar has a long history of excellent health / fitness tracking.

Really hoped for it to be better launch. Not being able to broadcast HR is also such a miss by polar. 

Had whoop for 2 years but just stopped using it. I bought a polar loop and very happy with that. No subscription and does the basics: sleep, hrv, strain very well

compared to whoop it is yea, but it's quite nice to use and it gives me the insights I want so I don't want to pay a lot of money for smooth designs

If I’m correct, the sensors in the Polar are better then in the Whoop. I dont know about the support but I’m not really enjoying whoop support anyway

I've had it for 3 nights now. I used whoop previously and liked the product apart from the monthly subscription. So far the Loop has completely failed to recognise 2 of my 3 sleeps and the one it did recognise it thinks I had more than 15hrs of sleep. How I wish that were true! I think I'll wait a few days to give Polar the opportunity to respond to all the complaints, but at this point am very likely to return it.

I received both trackers today and will compare the data over the next days. First impression: Polar Loop looks way better and has a smaller fit. Comfort is similar, but Helio is maybe a bit more comfortable (more elastic).

https://preview.redd.it/4crk93pilopf1.jpeg?width=2813&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90ec4237696a39719c48247f6e2fa49b0de3bd52 5th Night: I wore both devices on the **biceps** this night, but the Loop struggled to detect when I fell asleep (it didnt struggle the nights before, when I wore it on the wrist). In the left picture you can see, it detected sleep too early and accounted for a big "awake during sleep" phase. In the middle picture I corrected the "fall asleep time" manually and it recalculated the sleep stages. On the right you see a comparison between sleep stages from Helio strap on top as well as the corrected and original from loop. Again very similar between Helio and Loop (except for the wrong fall-asleep detection) However I dont feel, that both sleep scores are accurate... Feel more tired

I pre-ordered. This is fine for my needs, which includes being able to wear a nice watch from time to time without losing out on data, and using instead of my Vantage 1 when my V3 needs charging. I had Whoop for 8 years and am glad to be free of that. Like OP I don’t really understand the strategy of announcing months in advance. I don’t hate Flow as much as some do, but if they also improve that then great. All in all this is a decent addition if you have been in Polar ecosystem for a while, and might encourage some new users or people fed up of paying for Whoop’s incessant influencer marketing 🤣

If I can, I’ll wear it on my bicep. Before Whoop came out with their bicep band, I wore it there with the ordinary wrist band. Will see if I can do the same with the Loop before they launch the bicep band. If not, I’ll just wear it on the other wrist.

I wore Whoop for 8 years but always had to have a sports watch for training. I received my Polar Loop today and for me personally it is much more comfortable than Whoop and feels a bit more premium. I’ve had other Polar products so know the pros and cons of them. I was a Whoop Founding Member so never had to pay the subscription but really haven’t missed it since I stopped wearing it. I don’t like rewarding shady companies either. “I’m but one person” said 7 bn people. GLTU.

Mine has been working fine, but yesterday the hr tracking was off for big periods of the day and night. On and off. I have no idea why. It hasn’t happened today, yet.

I have been wearing my Loop for one and a half week and aside from a few glitches I think it’s perfect. Sleep tracking seems spot on, HR tracking looks good. I’m not using it for workouts (use a watch and H10 for that) so I have the auto tracking off.   I am surprised that all the reviews I have seen only focus on workouts, when I think that most people who buy this do it mainly to wear outside of workouts and for sleep tracking.   I also don’t know why people are hating on the app so much. It gives me the data I want. Sure it can be more modern, and I look forward to the updates, but the main thing I want is the information it provides. I have never had a whoop so maybe it’s because I don’t compare it to that. But I see so many people complain about HR accuracy on Whoop that I don’t understand why they love the app, since most of the information it provides has no value if the HR tracking is bad. It also seem like Whoop has a lot of gimmicky stuff in there, while Polar is more based on science.  I see a lot of people in here complaining, and it seems like there are some bugs that Polar needs to fix, but I also think that some if it comes from user error. Like how to wear it and how to find the right information.

Nightly HRV is available in Nightly Recharge, Polar Loop has HRV.

I hope the product gets better. After launch its not in its best shape

For some reason the sleep tracking data seems pretty inaccurate. Compared to my AW8 the sleep phases are in a different world. I dont know how its possible to be in a state of deep sleep at almost 5 in the morning. Any thoughts?

I'm in a similar boat, though I wish that they used their latest, 4th gen sensor instead of gen 3.5.

The loop does have a temp sensor in it. Here's hoping they enable it.

Some are happy with the Loop (and their feedback looks similar to the average Polar user's feedback), but some are reporting things that make me think Polar sent two different devices for different people.

I use Sleep2 for sleep experiments and if not, don't pay too much attention to Sleep scores by Polar. Their ANS scores in Nightly Recharge are spot on for me, but even then, I base my workouts on morning HRV check with H10 and Kubios HRV.

Loops is as in/accurate as all the other Polar devices are (different people have different opinion on this). But one thing I'm sure is that you feel you slept for more than 7 hours and Polar Loop shows only 4h31min that's not normal. Maybe something with the software that needs to be tuned, maybe something settings, how you wear it, but in general for basics like wake up/fell asleep, sleep length it will be quite accurate and most likely more accurate than your Garmin.

No, this is irrelevant. Also you should notice that some users are saying sleep tracking is OK and also that the loudest voices are of those who have some problems. This „Are you already awake?“ can stop tracking earlier if you select it, but otherwise Polar decides on it's own. If I forget to stop sleep tracking manually and only check the score lately – it's more/less spot on. Also try to open sleep tab on your phone and select crop symbol there. If you adjust it manually to the same point where Garmin sees you woke up, does it have some data?

Is this for one/single night only or it repeats day after day. I'm sure this will be solved out even though it's unimaginable how this problem leaked into Loop when 360 is the same device that's available for more than a year.

Loop said 5.21 or the phone to which it was connected? Loop doesn't have GPS.

Polar says my actual sleep time is 92%, and Sleep2 app (which is considered more accurate and uses Polar's Versity Sense or H10) says 87%. That's a difference between sleeping enough (85-90%) on Sleep2 and having to reduce my sleep time according to Polar (from 92%) - thanks, but no :)

Actual sleep time is not sleep score. Actually, fine tuning your sleep around actual sleep time (to be in 85-90% range) is a single biggest intervention you can do to improve your sleep. That's why I reacted, because if I would believe Polar's "spot on" values I would be reducing my sleep time.

80% of Max HR (zone 4) is where most of the optical heart rate sensors start to fail.

One more review (not very good :D) [That's why I returned my Polar Loop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBp7EFIJnBo)

After 10 days with the Loop, and having previously tried several other trackers (including the Whoop 4), here are my impressions: The good: \- best sleep tracking. It’s the first one that actually matches how I feel I slept \- HR and activity tracking are very accurate when cycling; a bit less so with weightlifting (though that’s an issue I’ve had with every tracker) \- Looks great and very comfy \- Good battery life: 10 days, even longer than advertised The bad: \- I really wish it had a vibration alarm \- When used together with an H10 chest strap, it duplicates workouts (though not the calories). One can either deleted one workout, or disable automatic tracking \- The app feels outdated, but it's actually not a bad app \- Twice it recorded a bit less sleep than I actually got All in all I’m very happy with it. It's not perfect, but it’s so far the best tracker I’ve tried!

Am using the loop since almost 3 weeks and had the opposite experience with sleep tracking: it sometimes stops way too early or starts way too late (2-3 hours), but it never tracked for too long. Apart from this, sleep tracking is actually excellent (is the first sleep tracker I tried that matches how I feel I slept!)  Workout data seems fine for me (except for weight lifting, but that's a tricky one anyway)

Since the last update, the app doesn’t show any ANS charge details anymore, unless I edit my sleep duration, even by just 1 minute. Anyone else having this issue?

After 10 very good first days, my Loop has suddenly started behaving erratically :( The last nights it randomly stopped tracking sleep far too early (last night it barely tracked anything at all). One night I was able to manually adjust the sleep times (though it didn’t seem like the sleep phases updated correctly). But when I tried to adjust last night, the entire night just disappeared… The weirdest thing is that the app kept telling me my sleep lately could have been better and that I have been overtraining. But now, since the one night of data has disappeared, it suddenly says that lately I’ve been sleeping really well and that my energy levels should be high. To make things even weirder, today I received a random notifications in the middle of the day saying it looks like I’m awake and asking whether sleep tracking should be stopped (the message you normally get in the morning), even though no sleep had been tracked at all.

Anyone else having this issue where on some nights 2–3 hours of sleep are missing, either at the start or the end? And if I try to manually adjust the time by more than ~30 minutes, the whole night disappears

Auto activity tracking depends on the tracking intensity set in the Polar Flow app. I left it on the default value which was between medium and high and all it tracked was a run. It would not even track a brisk walk. After changing it to medium, it also tracked a walk. So, it seems to be a matter of trying what works best for you. The Polar Loop has a bigger issue with how it labels automatically tracked activities. In my case, both my run and walk—done outdoors—were categorised as "Other indoor," which is clearly inaccurate. You can manually change the activity type in the Flow app to something like Run or Walk, which isn’t ideal but still better than the way the Amazfit Helio strap works, where all automatic activities are categorised as "Activity" and you can't change that.

I have been using Loop for two days. I tracked one jogging, one walking, one interval running exercise and one sleep. The sleep recording was very close to what I got from Amazfit Helio strap, apart that the Loop recorded one hour of sleep which was not sleep but just me semi lying on bed with my phone getting ready for sleep. The good thing is that the Flow app lets you edit the sleep and I was able to cut that hour out and the Flow app adjusted everything accordingly which basically, again, gave me a very comparable result to Amazfit Helio strap. Like both recorded the almost exact amount of deep sleep, Helio strap giving two minutes more than Loop. Also, the times of deep sleep matched quite closely. The jogging tracking, as far as average heart and max heart rate are concerned, matched with both Helio strap and Coros heart rate monitor perfectly. All three gave me exact same values with both Loop and Helio strap worn on wrists. Then the walk was a mess. Loop was recording way too high heart rate values for a walk and I think it was mostly about cadence lock because it was constantly in the values between 120 and 130 bpm which is my usual walking pace when my heart rate was around 100 bpm (I checked it manually). But then Helio was also having some issue with heart rate tracking including a short period of likely cadence lock and then a short spike that reached up to 175 bpm which is also highly unlikely. It could be due to the weather being really cold. I did not use the Coros heart rate monitor during the walk. Finally, the interval training was again spot on. Loop matched with Coros heart rate monitor perfectly when it comes to average heart rate but recorded a two beats lower max heart rate than Coros. I compared the two heart rate graphs and they were really close apart Loop slightly lagging. Which would also explain the difference in max heart rate. Helio also matched perfectly with the average heart rate value of both Loop and Coros and recorded a one beat lower max heart rate than Coros. Again, both Loop and Helio were worn on wrists. So, based on this limited data I feel confident enough that the Loop's heart rate monitoring accuracy during running and walking exercise should be at least acceptable. Comparing it to Helio strap, I could not really say one is better than the other, but it is more like a matter of personal preference especially when it comes to the Zepp and Flow apps. Also, the Helio having the bicep strap option gives it some advantage.

My point was simple, the difference between values you provided was 5%, only 2% if you consider the range (90% vs 92%). The flaw of your assumption was that the Sleep2 app was 100% accurate. Not only this is highly unlikely, but you have no way to know what the actual accuracy of either devices is. The point being that not only that the 5%/2% difference may be of not much significance when getting enough sleep is concerned but that you have no way of knowing what that difference actually means, since, again, you do not know the actual accuracy of any of the devices. And you keep arguing based on the same flaw assuming the Sleep2 app is giving you 100% accurate results. And I argued only based on the single example you provided not the comparison of multiple measurements during a prolong period of time. Secondly, an insignificant daily sleep debt would still accumulate into an insignificant weekly sleep debt etc. If you miss out 10 minutes of deep sleep, that may have some impact. But if what you miss is 10 minutes of light sleep or even semi awake state, then it would not affect the quality of your sleep at all. In other words, even if Sleep2 app was 100% accurate and the difference concerned 10 minutes of light sleep, it would be insignificant. And exactly, since the most accurate device when it comes to sleep tracking is at best 80% accurate, we have no way of knowing what the actual values are. One device being generally less accurate does not translate into one device being less accurate all the time when neither devices are 100% accurate. That's the point. Meaning that in certain cases the Polar device could be giving you more accurate results, even if generally would be less accurate. And again, if on top of that you are dealing with a 5% or less difference, then, again, it is unlikely particularly significant. But again, I only commented on the example you presented. From the strictly hardware perspective, the OHR sensors on the watch are better optimized for tracking sleep. Verity sense was never meant to be a sleep tracking device but an exercise one. But the accuracy mostly depends on software. And last but not least. My point was not to tell you what works best for you but to point to a reasoning/logical flaw in what you presented as the reason against Polar Loop. In other words, if your conclusion that Polar Loop is not a valid choice for you is based on the fact that on some night it told you that your actual sleep time was 92%, and Sleep2 app told you that it was 87%, then it is a flawed reason because you have no way of knowing what your actual sleep time was because technically speaking, either devices could be significantly off. And if under this circumstances you consider the difference between them was only 5%, your reason becomes even less valid. I was not discussing any other reasons you can possible have because the comment I responded to mentioned none of them.

I am having similar issues with heart rate monitoring during walks. The results are just random and all over the place with impossible spikes going over my max heart rate. But interestingly, during the runs, the heart rate monitoring is very accurate.

It's still a buggy product compared to for example Helio strap.

For those who are looking for a bicep strap for Loop, the Coros heart rate monitor band is an alternative. It is a bit larger than the original band, but it does the job. It costs £12 on Amazon UK and is, for example, much more comfortable to wear in my experience than the current Amazfit Helio original band. https://preview.redd.it/tiw34m4c5kuf1.jpeg?width=1373&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fa79fb1adbaf1dc64101b9561458987e5937e83

I am not just saying it. What you see on the picture is a band ([COROS Accessories | Heart Rate Monitor, Bike Sensors, POD 2 & Bands](https://uk.coros.com/accessories)) originally used for the Coros heart rate monitor ([COROS Heart Rate Monitor | Comfort and Accuracy in Every Workout](https://uk.coros.com/heart-rate-monitor)) and the Polar Loop attached to it. Here is another picture. As I said, this band is sligtly larger than the original Polar Loop band but I had no problem squeezing it through and it works fine. https://preview.redd.it/qiclu5yiptuf1.jpeg?width=3472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da440e7d46bb60770c88d214c22f3ccd7f0a8191

I'm returning my Polar Loop. The hardware is probably excellent, the readings completely match my Oura ring and can even be compared to a chest strap, but the software and detection algorithms are lacking. The automatic activity detection is all over the place. It reminds me of Whoop, which used to detect workouts when I was just doing dishes or cleaning the house. Two out of three nights, sleep is detected 1–2 hours late. When I tried to adjust the start of sleep, it showed "we don't have sleep data for this period" and completely removed the HR graph (which was there before I edited the sleep). I tried to manually start and activity and hasn't got even HR graph. I can't figure out why. I only get HR graph for automatically detected activities. I had Whoop six years ago when they was still working on their algos, but this is much worse. The app is incomprehensible, you can’t find anything useful easily, you can't recognize "active" parts of the UI (buttons, sliders), and the UI doesn’t communicate in any understandable way.

Polar Loop is now available in Canada. Ordered on Wednesday, received it on Thursday.

Are favourites going to be a thing for the Polar Loop down the road? I was poking around in Flow web, looking at my favourites, and I noticed that my new Polar Loop seems to have 16 favourite training targets listed. There seems to be space for 20. Then I checked my Verity Sense and OH1+ and saw that they have the exact same 16 favourites. Anyone else noticed the same? Any ideas on why sensors would allow for training targets?

Of course you can return it. I'll do the same. Polar has only itself to blame. Until now, no update.. nothing...

# Loop does not detect sleep for 3 nights in a row. Sleep was over 4 hours, but it is not recognized as sleep. It just shows “Rest.” Every morning it asks if I want to end my sleep, but then it is not saved as sleep. And in general, why does it always want a Bluetooth connection? Supposedly it should work without distraction?!

today again the same problem!!!

There isn’t a diary in Loop like in Whoop. So how can I track and improve my habits? How do you analyze results like HRV? I also can’t export all the raw data to chatgpt...

It's not missing HRV. It has Nightly Recharge that incoporates HRV in its calculation.

The metal bit on the loop band... How unbelievably stingy to not include the metal part with the swappable loop banda at £15 each. Swapping them is a bit of a faff, so I hope either Polar or the AliExpress masses offer these for sale soon. Unlike most, broadly happy with my loop. 😄

Bought it right away. Im on the market for a device that looks good and can replace my garmin while wearing a mechanical watch. I believe the flow app will be renewed soon and I can wait.

I’m planning on using the loop for everything except activities I need a gps for such as running or biking although I am mostly in a gym nowadays.

Why are you surprised? I don’t care about the test and don’t care too much about its performance either as long as it’s reasonable. I am looking for a screenless device to wear alongside a mechanical watch that can keep reasonable track of my sleep, heart, and overall condition. You assume too much lad. I'd also like to underline the lack of logic and consistency in your comment, as I bought the loop right off the bat for the reasons above and surely not as an outcome of some third party recommendation on youtube (which materialized almost 2 weeks later).

them who? I trust Polar to deliver a reasonable device that does the work I want it to do. What does this have to do with the bad reporting from a youtuber?

I cannot figure out how to make mine get good hr readings. It’s all good until it spikes to 180pulses per minute because i climbed a floor of stairs when it probably the actual rate was 100 tops. Which ofc results in a workout which it really wasn’t. The calories are also quite wild. Did manage to get a good sleep tracking though. Will keep testing. Never closed my rings quite as fast as since I have the loop. Basically getting up the bed in the morning does half the job.

also installed it, hoping it helps with some of the activity recognition. unfortunately polar is always very dry on release notes.

This place is inundated with people (me included) having bad experiences with the Loop, mainly in terms of reported consumed calories and HR readings (and consequent tracking of phantom activities that never happened). Still, I presume for SOME of you the Loop may be working just fine! Can you share your experience with the rest of us? Perhaps there is something to learn from that. For example usage patterns or wearing preferences or settings or use cases or..?

Just as a note, I returned Oura because I felt too conscious about dinging a 450e ring. Now got the loop. *Edit: total cost will also be heaps cheaper with Polar by avoiding the monthly subscription.

Loop categorizing all activities as "other indoor" is a KNOWN feature of the device. Also mentioned by reviewers.

Got my Loop today (it arrived earlier this week 3h after I left for a trip). App automatically detected the Loop and I immediately completed the software update + reset after that (as someone suggested here) before looking any further into it.  The automatic workout detection was defaulted between medium and max, brought that down to medium. Seems like medium is not as sensitive as walk detection on my Galaxy watch 4 (I walk my dog, so it's not nonstop walking). HR seems logical.  So that I wouldn't make the same mistake many complainers have made with manual workout tracking, went to update my HR sensor in manual workout tracking to the Loop. The app actually has a pop-up notification now in the start manual tracking -page that prompts one to change the Loop to be the HR sensor.

Detecting activity type is not a feature of the Loop. 

Noticed the same! ...which means I've also gotten inactivity alerts now.

If you have adjusted your activity detection level from the default, check it again after an/the latest update.  I was wondering why even my bike commuting rides are recording a bit short and now went to check to see that the detection sensitivity was back to the default from where I had saved it.

I'm mostly disappointed by the fact that I ordered mine earlier than others who have already received theirs.  IMO Polar also messed up in the sense that they had a gap between release and delivery to reviewers. Although first people have gotten theirs, some reviewers (Ray, Des, Matt, Dave) seem to be quite busy with all the other releases that ha e since taken place, that they have no reviews even if they would have devices (which I do not know, but would assume that).

Unfortunately yes. While I could live without the newest sensors, it’s the apparent lack of proper water resistance for swimming that surprised me a lot (negatively).

I've had the loop for a little while now. I bought it mainly as an accessory to my Oura ring 4 which is not great for workouts, especially weight training as you can't grip bars without causing damage to the ring. But I wear both at night and thought I'd do a short summary: So far so good, I'm finding the sleep tracking fairly consistent between the two in terms of time asleep but the mix of deep sleep, rem sleep and light sleep is a little different between the two on some days, but rem and deep sleep estimates in terms of time are within 10 mins of what the oura estimates where there is a good match. If I'm drinking alcohol the polar seems to overestimate deep sleep by quite a lot vs the Oura for example. The Average nightly HRV has been very close which is encouraging: Friday: 30 Oura, 30 Polar. Saturday 37 Oura, 39 Polar. Sunday 24 Oura, 28 Polar. Monday: 34 Oura, 38 Polar. Today: 73 Oura, 71 Polar Average nightly heart rate: Friday: 70 Oura, 73 Polar. Saturday 64 Oura, 63 Polar. Sunday 65 Oura, 67 Polar. Monday: 63 Oura, 64 Polar. Today: 51 Oura, 50 Polar Lower weekend scores due to alcohol. In fact you can really see how much it has impacted my nightly recovery. Where Oura outperforms is it will track any nap, even just 20 minutes on the sofa for example. This is so far, pretty encouraging. I didn't buy it for sleep tracking, more so for activity tracking, but since I am directly comparing the two here I thought I'd share.

I honestly can't complain. I don't like it too complex like whoop. I don't need all this functions. Just want relieable HR, HRV, Sleep tracking with a good Design and a high quality feeling. I am a bit underwhelmed about the flow app. I thought there would be a new app or an instant Update for the Flow app. But it's also okay so. And I miss Ant + as my Bicycle tracker uses ant + and so i could easy see my HR while riding, but I think that workes with BT too. So all in all very happy and I instantly pre ordered. The Price is good too.

Thank you really much for testing the devices! Happy to see the Polar in the first Place, as I have pre ordered the new Loop. 😄

Got the Polar Loop on Monday. Given up on it today. Device is nice, light, comfortable and battery seems as advertised and quickly charges. Compared to the Whoop 4.0 I've had for a year now (renews next week), it feels 'less', in that the Whoop does feel like an ever so slightly more premium product. App is awful. Significantly less data and no real insights. Missed an entire night of sleep and unlike Whoop, you can't seem to just add it. Went out on the bike today and the Loop auto detected my activity. I stopped briefly and when I restarted, Loop detected a whole new activity - if there is a way to join the two together, I don't know what it is. There doesn't seem to be a way to edit the start and stop times either. I've worn it at the same time as my Whoop. Total sleep time and Light sleep broadly aligns (few minutes out), but there are 1 hour plus discrepancies between Deep and REM sleep. Overall, I'm not happy with Whoops overall model, but I'm giving them another 12 months. I fully expect a proper 'Whoop killer' to enter the market in the next 12 months, but for me, the Polar Loop isn't it.

Oh, where do I even start. First, I was genuinely excited about getting it—a non-subscription version of Whoop. I wasn't particularly interested in the sensors anyway, given I'm nowhere near pro-athlete status. I just wanted some basic understanding of my sleep, a few figures on my workouts—overall something that Loop should be able to handle easily. Or so I thought. Two days in, and I hit the wall with syncing. It would just refuse to sync. At all. In the app I got a delightful message about the device being "too far away" blah blah... I thought, fine, I'll just connect it to the charger, and magically—as per all the instructions—it will connect, sync, deal done. Yet this is where my disappointment reached level two. I had to completely reset the device, sync it with the app again, lose all my data in the process, just so I could continue to "enjoy" it. Almost a week deep now, and I had to reset the device *again* because of the same sync problem, this time after a firmware upgrade—which, to be honest, I'm not even sure was successful, because we get absolutely zero information on the success or failure of firmware/software updates. So here we are, back to square one: device back to factory settings, workout data lost. On the bright side, the look and feel? Build quality? Great—lol.

It might be a workaround for some people. I found that if you turn off bluetooth and turn on again, open the app, it will actually connect and sync.

Hi! I hope this is the right place to ask this question - I recently received the polar loop as a gift. I find that it does not auto sync or update and in order to update I have to close and restart the polar flow app and manually sync. Is this normal / expected? Is there perhaps a setting I’m missing? Thanks in Advance,

It’s an iPhone 16. I’ve let it run now and it definitely isn’t syncing every 30 minutes - overnight when I opened the app it said last synced 8 hours ago

:( I’ve done that a few times now. That sucks… hopefully it will start auto syncing soon

Bug fixes i would guess

The website says that it’s just bug fixes

Lets hope they fixed the calories estimate, double activity tracking, …

Since the new update my polar loop gen 2 is missing heart rate for periods of time of different lengths. Have some of you noticed something similar? I have kept it constantly on my wrist. https://preview.redd.it/qm6jpfag7btf1.jpeg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4f75f9b27191029fa0f6ef10fc9ee468b5355b6

Same thing, I was folding some clothes today and it told me I did a workout with average HR of 125bpm. It’s strange as before the last 3 days my polar was working exceptionally well. Quite frustrating…

My loop finally came in today. Set up and on my wrist. Anyone got any tips, besides returning? I wanna give it a week to see how it performs. Also, anyone with any updates on the polar flow app update? I haven’t seen anything in a while about this.

What actually still intrigues me about the Loop is that I have greater trust in Polar’s capability of providing useful, accurate insights with their algorithms. For example regarding sleep, workouts, HRV etc. Especially compared to Amazfit, which I have a hard time feeling the same trust for. And for that I’d be willing to miss some other bells and whistles. I want research backed insights, not an extra few % better HR accuracy. If I am ignorant for thinking Polar provides that, I don’t know. Needless to say, their app needs a heavy redesign. And it’s too bad that they didn’t up their game on battery life, ANT+/extra BT connection, Elixir sensor etc. But those things might not be dealbreakers for me. And with the app update being in the pipeline I am a little less put off. The biggest downside to me, from what I’ve heard, is that the auto detection for activities seems quite bad and that you can’t retroactively assign activities. Especially if it’s the case that the HR data then isn’t contributing to your “activity/strain” data for the day… With the Loop being cheaper than one year of Whoop subscription, and arguably more trustable than Amazfits interpretation of the data, it’s still an option to me. I am currently on a Whoop trial though and I reallyyy like it so far, but I do think it’s a little too expensive, especially since I don’t like how they interpret HRV (acute, high changes are always better - not true). If they would’ve interpreted it like HRV4Training or Morpheus do, I could potentially go for it. And I might anyway since everything else is really quite good…

None of the others have GPS either. And do you think Helio’s algorithms are on par to Polar’s? On sleep, recovery etc. I doubt that they are, which puts me off Helio altogether since I don’t trust their interpretation of the data.

https://preview.redd.it/rctfzulbdovf1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46fe7efa7ea68fd9925c959fe9221a69fe17e29e Been at my desk all day so sad energy burn but all this information has come from the polar app. FYI with the loop (at least mine) all the software issues seem to have been fixed with firmware updates. Seems a lot more accurate now and little / no connection issues. Every once in a while I need to manually sync but nbd.

Ok - I am new to the polar Fitness world and the Loop is the first product I’ve purchased. I have a Whoop and thought I’d compare the two. I downloaded the Polar Flow app to my iPhone, charged and paired my Loop, and there is nothing at all in the app to show me my data. In all fairness - I have only been wearing it an hour, but I was expecting this to be more like other wearables with tables, graphs, and such, even if they’re empty right now. I am not seeing anywhere that shows the software in action, images, etc. I don’t really see an appropriate tab for it either. Does the app present the typical graphs, tables, and so on of other wearables? Like I said - I realize I have very little data, but the manual that comes with this offers essentially no information so I just want to make sure I’m not missing something. TIA….

Been a Whoop user for 3 years. Had the 4 and not the 5. - Really like the design - App is getting an overhaul. Looks great from what I’ve seen. - Polar is known for fantastic HR tracking. Something that was #1 reason I switched - No subscription - I trust that the brand doesn’t release something that doesn’t work as intended. - Really good sleep metrics. Yes Whoop had that as well, but it’s only one in many metrics. Some feedback and my thoughts: No alarm: No. But never use it on the Whoop anyway. No wireless charging: My current 5.0 is with corded charger. It’s only off for like an hour. No big deal. Auto defect workout puts everything in Indoor Other: Yes for now. But has 170 activities. I always start my workouts manually. Sure it’s coming with better precision. No journal: After so many years I don’t use journal anymore. Not a big deal for me. Looking forward to getting it. 🙂

I agree with you on most things. Yes the temp is a bummer. I would have loved that as well. Hopefully in next years model. Buy on promises. Agreed and probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t this cheap. Okay to take a leap of faith. I have a big trust in Polar as a company. But yes. Time will tell. Also when Whoop first came out we also bought on promises. And not just that. No brand trust or history.

Haha. Not in the slightest. But hoping for a device that can give me accurate readings for once. If I did work for Polar, I don’t think they’d be so happy about me strolling in with a Whoop for so long 🙂

Loop after a couple of days: Got the Loop after being a Whoop user for years. The fit and look is on point. Love it. Okay, the strap change could have been done a bit better. It’s not exactly quick change 😆 But the straps are great quality and cheap! Thanks Polar. When I had the Whoop they charged like 150$ for a strap. But the data for me is pretty spot on what I’d expect. Very much in line of my AW10. It’s sync everything I need to Apple Health without any other apps. What I’m looking forward to is an app that showcases the data in a better way. Hoping the new app is a step in that direction. What I’ve seen is very promising. There have been complaints about the old sensor. Yes, but Polar have made a statement of why they chose that sensor over the others. It was what fit the device best in terms of 24h tracking, battery etc. and even though the sensor have been around some time, it’s not obsolete. When I see data that matches my old AW data this close, I’m happy. Went on a run yesterday with a friend who had a Garmin. The route was exactly 5.2 km. His Garmin said 4.9. Loop said 5.21. Calorie burn was 491kcal. Perfect. They include active calories and basic burn in total and this is very much expected. For everyone looking if it’s worth it. For me and what I’ve seen. Absolutely. 💯

https://preview.redd.it/6pa4gbqieeqf1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c09111389ce074c2cf291e969cf1076ae75f278 Ran a 5km today. Calories are fine on my device and seems quite right. All good here.

https://preview.redd.it/ufb1vy272hqf1.jpeg?width=1087&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1c31a914a2121330b16b5749d1545bafcf1fa94 Wouldn’t say I’m a big guy, pretty lean. But remember that the Loop calories are both active and passive. It’s TDEE so I think it’s pretty accurate

I think it is its own characteristic no matter comes from the limitation of the censor or algorithm/firmware adjustment. I tried it in many condition. Left vs right wrist. Wear it snuggly and higher on my wrist. Manual tracking mode. Reset a few times after software update or some hick-ups. But the result is still a mixed bag. My workout is mainly walking and only one strength training so I have not tested it with faster pace workout, to be fair. But currently the result is not ok for me. Some time it was spot on with my AW Ultra, some time its HR result was skyrocketed even in the same condition or setting which is spot on before. I cannot determine the ideal setting or condition which it will work consistently ok at all. Currently, my naive guess is it may be better once my workout pace is faster like jogging or running interval. Or wearing on the bicep, even though someone try to warn that it is not what the Loop designed for but I have no choice because I need to make it worth its cost. I still cannot do that because I now in the place where bicep strap is not available and I am not in condition to do the jogging or running right now. If all fails to get it works properly, I have no choice but to use it to be just a complimentary tool to my normal watch or when I do not wear my smart watch to continuously track my health. It is my first intention anyway. But thinking of the Polar’s reputation and the trust I have in them, I hope that the failing situation like that will not happen. I

I see that after I have updated to the Loop’s latest firmware 3.1.0, its behavior is improved. I have done 5 walking sessions with it since the update. Two outdoor brisk and normal walk and three indoor slow walk sessions. Wearing on dominant wrist, using manual workout tracking. All HR result from these walks seems to be decent. It is very much in line with my Apple Watch Ultra 3. The step and calories counts are also in the acceptable margin, too. Hope this consistency continues.

I buy my Loop mainly to use it together with my normal watch. And yes I use my AW (sometime with H10) for my workout. Sometime I use Loop to records the workouts even around half is useless due to erratic data. It is because I believe that Polar based on science, then I have some hope that Loop can also be effective for the workout, too. If yes, it will be a great tool. Now it performs ok enough for me and my first expectation. Now I hope it will get better over time especially having more streamlined app. But based on my experience with Polar product, it will take time and patience.

I use it to track my after-meal walk. This time I use manual tracking. The result is still the same; unusually high heart rate. It shows the heart rate of 16 minutes walk at average 115 bpm with max 136 bpm! While on my Apple Watch (wearing in the right wrist) shows average 67 bpm with maximum 71 bpm which I think it is much more in line with my feeling. I wear the Loop in my non-dominant hand and it is snug in my wrist as suggested in the manual. https://preview.redd.it/36hkkmwuh0rf1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=873bbc19b6bf320043df9e888f13085134edeeb1 Can anyone explain why this happened and how to fix?

I’ve used Loop for about a week, and my experience has improved after some adjustments. At first, it was upsetting and quite erratic—detecting activities at the wrong times, inflating heart rate and step counts (especially in auto-detect mode). Even manual mode wasn’t much better. It even sometimes skipping sleep reports. Through trial and error, I found my right setup, actually it is as the user manual suggests. With these changes, my latest workout finally looked accurate: average HR matched my Apple Watch Ultra, with max HR at 100 bpm (Loop) vs. 93 bpm (AW). The energy count is also ok, Loop 148 cals vs AW 139 cals. The results and graphs now make sense—the first workout I didn’t delete from the Flow app. See the pictures My adjustments: • Reset the device • Wear on non-dominant hand. It gives better accuracy • Wear snugly, at least one finger above the wrist bone • Turn off auto-detect workouts, use manual mode For daily activity, steps and energy counts are close to the AW. For sleep tracking, I’ve learned to wear Loop at least an hour before bed; otherwise, it may miss the sleep report. So far, these settings give me consistent results. I’ll keep testing and later try bicep placement. I used Amazfit Helio before. Loop looks much better and is more comfortable to wear. It will be great if it perform decently, too. That said, the Flow app needed the revamp urgently. https://preview.redd.it/735dvq5yqurf1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9232398286a639fe76d4ef3d289b491bb6936a7c

Blindly installed already without any information from Polar. Their website still shows the old version in the software update section. This shows how efficient this company’s customer management is.

I also do a reset. After that everything seems to be ok and in line with my AW. Until I do the manual activity tracking and it had the same behavior of unusually high HR. It show my average HR 134 bpm while my Apple Watch shows only 83 bpm, Until I slowed down my brisk walk then it gradually came down to normal. I suspect there is something wrong about software or algorithm around this function. I will test again after lunch walk without manual training And in the evening walk with manual training but changing to the other wrist. https://preview.redd.it/qv3553n3wlrf1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89d625d5cfc8d5ee1a44c1e69a126ce2351afe41

This! Read the manual first, right after opening the box and charging your device.

I‘m fine with it and have already preordered one. I have a Grit X2 Pro which I will continue to use for workouts. I will use the Loop for everyday HR and sleep tracking and for that it doesn‘t need the latest and greatest tech. The price is also OK. I‘m stocked I can wear a proper watch again. 

Ok I know it’s not Polar (the app is so bad) but take a look at the Amazfit Active 2. I purchased a polar loop, gave up on it, and now have this - under $100 and I’m just so impressed with the accuracy and app

Water resistance is the biggest bummer fr. Unnoticable 24/7 tracker, that you apparently have to take off multiple times a day to not damage it, wtf.

It works great for me, even compared to helio strap. Additionally i have to admit that i like the flow web-portal. The flow app is not as fancy as other apps, but shows everything important (for me!). I would buy it again an will sell the helio strap.

Polar does not recommend wearing watch and loop together as it will double all activities. It is understandable, because the loop is no companion device for a watch. You would get the same effect wearing e.g. a garmin and polar or fit it watch together and sync their measurements to one app.

It simply works as designed. …imagine using two apple watches together and sync their data. The same will happen.

As a swimmer, was expecting Loop to be WR50 5 ATM like Amazfit. But it's only WR30.

I'm almost 2 weeks into the Loop now, so I thought I'd update my thoughts I posted earlier in this thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Polarfitness/comments/1nm9y6j/comment/ngptw18/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Polarfitness/comments/1nm9y6j/comment/ngptw18/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) **Sleep** For me, wearing on the wrist, sleep has been just fine. It missed one day when I think a lot of people lost sleep for the night when we got an update. It did highlight that the device memory is a bit fragile. But otherwise its mostly nailed it. There have been one or two nights that I've had to adjust the sleep but I haven't had a single problem doing that so far. I have found the sleep tracking to be on par with any other device I've had and I'm starting to learn how to decipher the app to understand how to act on it. **Activity Tracking** I realize now that it does not (currently) auto-detect activity type. That doesn't really matter to me since activity type is just a label in Flow. I would like to see this eventually but its low on my list. I have the auto-detect set to 4 out of 5 and it detects runs perfectly. Bike rides it doesn't pick up until I get past my really easy warmup and actually get my heart rate up. If I set the tracker down to 3, then it picks it up immediately. Swimming is the same. I did my first swim today and I didn't really expect it would detect my swim at a 4, so I started it manually. I was correct. Next time I'll try it at a 3 and see if it picks it up. Putting the HR next to my Forerunner 955 for the swim, they are very similar. I believe the Loop did a better job since there was a 5 minute stretch that my watch thought I was swimming with a big dip in my HR. The broad strokes (ha) are similar enough that I trust the Loop for what I need it for here, which is to track general activity. **App** I'm looking forward to the app updates. I'm discovering new data all the time and while its great that there's a lot of really good information in here...its just so poorly laid out. I don't even mean the looks...its just not intuitive. For an app called Flow...it definitely doesn't! Overall though, I still think this device is doing what I got it for and I'm mostly satisfied.

I've had the Loop since Friday and while I need to spend far more time with it to really see how it continues to perform, I've actually gotten a pretty good look already at several different (important) aspects of it. I made sure to update it, charge it, and reset it when I got it and while I always found the Whoop 4 when I had it far better on my bicep, all I have right now is my wristband so I'm wearing it on my dominant wrist. Here's what I've seen so far: **Sleep** Sleep tracking over 2 nights has so far been perfect. It's captured my sleep and wake times perfectly. Phases are...what they are. I don't trust the sleep phases any more than any other device to be honest. But the sleep quality has been pretty close to how I feel so I'm not unhappy with the tracker for sleep at all (actually quite happy with it) **Activity** I have the activity auto-detect set to a 4 out of 5 because I only want "hard" efforts detected and that has worked pretty well so far. Yesterday I did a 2 hour long, steady-state ride and the Loop picked up the ride about 15 minutes in. Today I ran and it picked it up about 3 minutes in. Comparing my HR to the graph that my Garmin w/the HRM-PRO gave me, it was nearly identical. Same peaks and dips. The auto-detection didn't properly detect my activity type either time but that was easy to fix and my memory of the Whoop was that it took it a bit to learn my activities for autodetection. **Comfort & Design** The band is way more comfortable than any tracker like this I've ever had. I was surprised at just how much smaller than the Whoop 4 it was when I compared them. (Can't speak to the new one). It just looks so nice on my wrist. Whenever they do offer a bicep band I'll likely switch but honestly, I kinda like the way it looks. And speaking of the band, it dries SO fast. I haven't seen this mentioned but one thing I hated about the whoop was how long the bands took to dry. The quickness of how this dries is pretty remarkable. **Things I don't like** It's not perfect. The biggest issue for me, so far, is that sleep metrics won't export to TrainingPeaks. I really want my coach to have access to them. I can sync them over to Samsung Health (which also doesn't sync to TP) so I know its not a limitation of the platform technically. I haven't figured out a way to do this yet and if anyone knows, I'd love to hear. The overall app UI. It's...not great. To be nice. I will say, the data is there and I can see where improvements are coming. It doesn't make make it unusable for me but I can see where this would seriously hamper other people. But unless the device starts giving me garbage the next few weeks...this is doing exactly what I hoped. I'm seeing FAR better HR accuracy than the Whoop had on the wrist. It so far matches, nearly identically, my chest strap. Its low profile and I can go back to wearing a normal watch again.

I'm with you on the OHR accuracy. I've never found wrist based OHR to match OHR on the bicep and neither of those have ever matched a chest strap. Of course, I've even had chest strap failures. If its cold and dry out, I've had chest straps just completely stop recording. But my experience so far, with it being only on the wrist, is that the OHR has been very close to my Garmin chest strap. I don't monitor the Loop during workouts at all so as long as its recording 95% accurately, then my training load is going to be close enough to be actionable (and so far it has been). What I've learned about Polar steps is that they are not actually steps. Basically Polar takes all activity and converts it into a step equivalent. I don't know the formula but if I go for a bike ride, it turns into steps. Considering how much of a 'premium' so many ecosystems put into steps, I really like this. Its very discouraging to do a 3 hour ride in Garmin and have low step counts. It wouldn't matter as much if steps didn't count for so much in general (I've been part of work competitions where only steps matter...I lose to people who walk an hour a day yet I'm doing 10 - 12 hours of training in a week!) That's probably why your steps seem higher. I think Polar needs a few things to make the Loop more competitive: 1. The ability to edit activities more easily. When I had a Whoop I could edit start & end times in addition to the activity type (not that the type matters all that much). Changing the start and end time was a really nice feature. 2. Activity duplication detection. I actually think this is a bit overblown. I use a Garmin for my training / racing but if I had a Polar device then I wouldn't also wear my Loop during a workout. That's actually not necessary. But if you are manually running an activity on the Loop, it shouldn't also start one automatically. That should be an easy fix...whenever an activity is already running, the Loop can turn off auto-detect during that. 3. Better integration with external training sites. I know that their Training Peaks integration is pretty new as of this year but I think with a device like this, they need to make sure to get ALL sleep metrics synced over to TP. The API can handle HRV so I want to see it over there so that my coach can see it every day. Otherwise, I'm with you - I've been very pleased (thus far) with the device performance and comfort which are the primary concerns. For all of the people complaining about connectivity with their phones...go check out how AWFUL the Whoop has been with that historically. I was constantly removing and re-adding mine when I had it. And when they came out with the Whoop 5 and went back on their promise to always keep member hardware up to date...well, that's not exactly a great customer experience. I also have no intention of sending my data to China via Amazfit so that's out (also that one is the ugliest, imo) The only hiccup I've had was yesterday when they pushed an update. I should have synced my sleep before I let it update and instead lost my sleep for Sunday night. I'm going to keep watching it for things like that but I have yet to have a device that is 100% bug free.

Very excited to finally have gotten mine in today. I just pulled it off the charger and have it all set up. I put it up next to my Whoop 4 (I cancelled back in April) and I was surprised at how much lower profile the Polar is in comparison. I never thought the Whoop was big until I put it next to the Loop. Overall, it has a very premium feel. The app isn't great but as long as the data is good, then I really don't care as much about that. One thing I'm debating is how to use activity tracking. I do all my training through Garmin devices so I'm not worried about duplication necessarily but I also don't know if its worth tracking the activities. For all of the health stats and training information, does it need the activities to exist or is it mainly going off of HR?

I had the exact opposite experience, switched to a polar one and didn’t have any issues anymore