Polar - Unite

I understand the purpose of tracking one’s overall daily activity, but something like a Fitbit does that just fine at a lower cost than other fitness trackers. I also understand tracking real time intensity levels and recovery when doing interval-based workouts or workouts that rely upon varying levels of exertion (e.g. Peloton). For both these activities, I used a Polar Unite that tracked all the usual metrics without the extra smart watch doodads I did not need. Unfortunately, it also periodically required resetting and then not synching properly with my phone, so I eventually abandoned it in frustration and cannot recommend it. Leaving aside the desire to track one’s overall activity, how do you expect a fitness tracker to improve your fencing? Again, I see the benefit of using it for interval work - for example, bouncing at high intensity for x time followed by y rest or slow advances/retreats for recovery. Or perhaps how many hours do I need to fence to offset my post-fencing “recovery” beers? Finally, I replaced my Polar Unite with an Apple Watch, another purchase I regret. The Apple Watch does have “Fencing” as one of the activities you can track, and it does this well enough. My issue with the Apple Watch is that it does not seem to track activity very accurately if no specific training activity is selected - a problem I did not have with the Polar Unite. For example, if I fence for two hours without having selected the “fencing” training activity, my calories burned are barely different from when I am sitting at my desk job, no matter how intense my fencing bouts.

Had a Fitbit but got fed up with their refusal to show eg. the past month, rather than just the calendar month. It means that if its a Monday or 1st of the month, you get graphs with one point on, and cant view short-term trends/progress. So I moved to Garmin, and Polar. On non-subscription, comparing Fitbit HR, Venu2 and Polar Unite (all budget models) I found: Fitbit - best for its sleep analysis graph, and viewing long-term trends. Basic activity data, but not enough if you are training seriously. Poor charging and battery life. Garmin - best for activity analysis, excellent range of data and well presented but not v.detailed sleep breakdown. Lots of extra linked facilities. Good battery length and charging. Polar - phenomenal for sleep analysis EXCEPT it's not good at recognising time spent awake in middle of night. Rotary graphs are a bit weird. 2 day battery as I keep HR & HRV on. Website page as well as app, for extra data analysis. But most concerning is the fact that they don't agree, not even vaguely, leaving me to wonder whether the whole thing is a con! For example, last night's REM, in order as above: 1h 5min , 29min, 1h 37min. And today's energy usage so far: 955 Cal, 1,008 Cal, 1139 Cal. So which should I believe? Are they making money out of fictitious data?

I'm medically restricted for exercise, so I won't be running or doing HIIT. My main interest was in sleep analysis for budget watches, as Fitbit have been bought up by Google and they will be phased out in favour of a Google Pixel range. But for everyday fitness and activity (cycling, swimming, walking, weights) for me the Garmin is the best, and the Polar has the best sleep analysis and on the website goes even further, and maybe both have more features that I've not yet discovered in four weeks? So it's just two watches from now on!

Bluetooth transmission is 1mW as we talked about before. Your only option within Polar ecosystem would then be a watch which allow you to set in airplane mode. Like a Unite for 100€ on sale.

All recent polar watches can be out in flight mode. But Unite is the oldest/cheapest which would give you sleep data. Which was why I mentioned it. Buying a newer more feature filled would cost more and I’m not sure you would be in search of such functionality.

I'm a woman with small wrists, and I really like the Polar Ignite 3. It is small, thin front-to-back, and lightweight. I don't need something as dainty as the Garmin Lily 2 - I just need something that doesn't feel big and heavy and clunky. I didn't have a great fit with the Polar Pacer Pro because I like elastic bands and it was heavy enough it would flop around on the band, and thick enough front-to-back that it felt "big" on my wrist. But the Polar Ignite 3 (and also the Polar Unite) are thin and light enough that they don't feel too big even on my tiny little wrists.

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

G-Shock Edit: Used to wear a Fitbit. Broke too many of them hitting my punching bag. The heartbreak tracker would stop working. Fitbit was great about sending me replacements. I got sick of it and bought a Polar heart rate monitor. So much more accurate anyway. I pair that with my iPhone. Whenever I’m not hitting the bag or tracking heart rate, I wear my G-Shock.