Vantage V2

_ polar is known for amazing HR tracking Funny.. I thought the same because of H10 which is good but that is the only product with goo HR tracking and polar has been siding that horse for so long. I have V2 and HR tracking is unusable for sports. Just like any other Polar optic HR sensor. So for daily activity tracking, and sleep, ok might be fine. Sports? No.

Yes, try just using the H10 with either the Polar Flow or Polar Beat app on your phone to begin with. The one issue you might run into is that your phone is pretty old and might not be able to run the iOS needed for Flow or Beat. Flow needs iOS 17.0 or later. Beat needs iOS 12.0 or later. As far as an actual watch is concerned, there isn’t a lot of difference in features between the Vantage V2 and the Pacer or Pacer Pro, so it really comes down to price. I had the V2 for about three years and it was quite good (I now use the V3). No experience with the Pacers. The Unite is pretty old and the single button interface and lack of built in GPS make it not great for running. Good luck

I think this was true when I got my GritX Pro \~ 2 years ago. It might even still be true with some watch series. Your Vantage V3 is $700 USD. For price, Garmin's Forerunner 970 is comprable at $750. The 970 has maps and has a sapphire lens for $750. If I'm spending $700 on a watch, personally I'd spend the extra $50 for the sapphire...but I'm rough on my watches. Which is why I like the GritX line. But the value here is pretty terrible now IMO. X2 Pro is $1000. Same price as the Fenix 8, which I think is probably a better watch. Basically every review I saw for the X2pro when it came out was "really nice watch...but the pricing strategy here is very aggressive making it a poor value". X2 is $800 in the US. Same price as the Fenix E (not sapphire though). And more expensive than any of the Forerunners (970 is $750). I think I'd take the 970 over the X2 if I was going to spend that much (and I don't want to spend that much). If the X2 was at price parity in the US vs. rest of the world, it would be a reasonable value IMO (and would make the X2 Pro kind of irrelevant IMO). It's not clear that the Polar watches are better than similarly priced Garmin watches IMO. Looking for price parity on similar (maybe worse?) watches vs. the brand with the highest name recognition / snob appeal in the market doesn't seem like a good strategy for the much less well known small brand to me. Brand wise, Polar is probably more on par with Suunto, but the value is so much less with Polar. Vertial 2 is $600, and probably comparable to the X2 (pro?). Race 2 is $500. I would strongly prefer to buy another Grit series watch when my current watch dies. And I would also prefer to stay in the Polar eco system (unlike many I like the app vs. hate it...and I also think that staying with Polar will mean fewer connectivity issues with my H10s). But I can't justify spending an extra $300 - $500 for a comparable watch when compared to Suunto. And if I was going to spend that much, I'd probably just get the Forerunner 970 and save the $50 over the X2.

FR965, bought in 2024 and ditched my Polar Vantage 2. Because i didn't owned a Garmin before i cannot say which features are more useful for you. From my point of view i totally enjoy features for running splits on to have a more structured training in pools.

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);