Polar - Vantage M

I ended up getting a Grit X2 pro but I hope it lasts longer. My Grit X Pro failed in barely over 2 years and the Vantage and M430s I had earlier also had stupid issues like buttons getting stuck. Not to mention the horrible charging port corrosion issues in the M400 days. Polar needs to get their shit together. I honestly don't mind that they have less features (which has cost them a lot of buyers in the market) but loved the tracking ecosystem and was willing to overlook the less "smart" features for the quality. If Polar doesn't get their act together, this will be my last Polar watch. Although I have my doubts the company will even exist if they continue to fall further behind and continue focusing on chasing stupid fads like their fitness band.

I had the original Vantage M and that + Vantage V were released early with all promised features trickling in with updates down the line. 

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.

Its about as good as you are going to get. Apple does lock certain features to apple watch only - so an apple watch ultra 2 is an alternative option you can look at - as does include recreational diving features - but not as much as the fenix 8, and you can cover the gaps the F8 misses via 3rd party apps - but does leave out the cohesive eco system garmin provides - and considering that you barely mention any smart features would then say you are looking at the right watch (definitely from fitness tracking and progress tracking point of view). Fishing - actually it does - you can log your catch and log the spots where you catch..... [https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-EECCAC99-90D6-4AB1-9A3A-EC433D3365E2/EN-US/GUID-A6881EE1-DB08-4922-925F-C7526EFAE8A2.html](https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-EECCAC99-90D6-4AB1-9A3A-EC433D3365E2/EN-US/GUID-A6881EE1-DB08-4922-925F-C7526EFAE8A2.html) and then you can used those saved location spots to navigate back to them at any point (can be very useful for fishing holes whether out on the water or fishing from bank/beach). All garmin have a built in coach for running - think C25K but does up to half marathon distance, then F8 incldues a Daily suggested workout option which you can then add a race event to it, to get the DSW to try and get you to peak for your event - so if you want a hassel free experience and a watch to build your training programme - hard to beat what garmin offers. Hiking- get offline maps and offline navigation (think satnav from car on watch) - so can create routes and get tbt directions on watch and via audio. Plus love the climbpro feature. Maps will work with all outdoor activity so can use for paddling as well as running / hiking etc (have a couple of paddle routes for when on canals / rivers especially canals in towns - great way of seeing parts of a town via water). So yes there isn't really anything else that comes close to matching it. Nearest alternative options would be apple watch ultra 2 (and losts of 3rd party apps); polar grit/vantage and coros pace pro /apex pro / vertix all include built in training systems and with training metrics and analytics like garmin to track progress; suunto at this stage is training metrics and analytics - though their suunto ocean is a full dive watch (garmin equivalent is the descent mk3 which is basically a fenix with full dive capability);