Polar - Pacer

Just purchased a basic Polar Pacer. It works without smartphone. It is simple and straight forward to operate, and amazingly light. The thing that has impressed me about it is that it tracks distance on the 1/8 mile indoor track that I train on. I was surprised that it was able to connect with GPS satellites through the metal roof of the fitness facility. I purchased a chest strap heart rate monitor with it but have not found reason to use it. The sensors in the watch are accurate enough for my purposes. Another good feature is the diary on Polar Flo. Connect your Pacer to a computer after your workout, access the Polar Flo app, and your workout data is recorded on the Polar Flo diary

Sunnto is chinese owned but has a better app and better integration with third party apps. Plus the social aspect is really cool if you have a lot of friedns with suunto hardware.  Polar on the other hand is finnsh, but their app really sucks. Is cluttered, unintuitive. I really like my polar pacer tho. But i sort of regret switching from suunto. Not a helpful post, i know 😀

I have a Polar Pacer and my wife has the Pacer Pro. We've had them for 3 years plus and have been very happy with the performance and reliability. We are regular but not hard-core runners

Polar is great for stats especially if paired with heart rate monitor. I have Polar Pacer for watch and H9 for strap. The only downside is im unable to play music - but you said not relevant so might be good option for you.

Polar pacer is not heavy and is great for tracking sleep too. GPS, never had a problem.

Polar Pacer. I use it for walking, Crossfit and Strengt training. Shows all the basic info you need without any software needed to mess things up.

Polar Pacer, because it has buttons and is quite reliable for swimming

Yes, the Pacer is the newest of the three watches you mentioned and sounds like it would be a decent choice. Both the Ignite and the Vantage M series are now on version 3. You could use your H10 with any of these watches to get more accurate heart rate data. There is no official way of importing workouts done with a non-Polar device into Polar Flow. There are third party apps that can kind of do this, but the training load may not be calculated. The easiest way would be to record your bike rides on both your Garmin and your Polar device.

Bought the Pacer when it was introduced. I use it for working out, walking and biking. GPS starts immediately. Tracks very well. LOADS of useful info on the watch and apps. I consider it the perfect watch for my needs. Nuff said.

I have the Polar Pacer - I mostly just walk, cardio at the gym, and weight lift 4 times a week. It's been great for what I need. And the GPS tracking does well when I walk my neighborhood or in the hills. It also connects to my H10 as well.

I haven't noticed a "GPS locking in". Once I select my workout, for example walking via the watch, it looks like the GPS tracks or starts right away.

The Ignite 2 and Vantage M have metal bumps on the back as part of the sensor. The Pacer sensor is flat and non-metallic. If you are at all prone to watch rashes, your skin will likely be happier with the Pacer. If you like touch screens it could be worth trying to get a used Ignite 3. I have one now and it is my favorite watch I've ever owned. It's flat and plastic on the back, has most of the major features, decent battery life, and feels very thin and lightweight compared to the Pacer.

I would recommend a cheap Polar watch. I have a Pacer and it is not connected to my phone at all. It is wonderfully simple and a joy to use compared to my previous bloated/ overcomplicated Garmin.

Polar Pacer. Don't connect it to my mobile at all. It's wonderful, especially in comparison the awful Garmin user interface.

Polar Pacer (I used to have a Garmin, I cannot put into words how much I hated that thing, the user interface and software bloat is abysmal IMO).

Well, I am not competing, far from it, started climbing 3 years ago, I just have a plain polar pacer from my skating activities. While climbing, I often check my HR to see if I have rested enough in between climbs. Just a visual check, nothing major happening. I am not even sure what I should look for, but after a climb, I am maybe at 130-140+ (I am mid 40s), and I wait for my heart to drop down closer to 100-110 to start a new climb if the projected climb requires come muscles.. I can be doing this totally wrong.. so, that's my very non scientific and non medical input. Though.. from my also non very scientific feedback, I inadvertently tested holds against my watch, the rim... did not like it at all..