Polar has a new fitness-orientated smartwatch, and it’s not for the faint of heart. The Polar Vantage V2 is designed for hardcore fitness fanatics and athletes, with a massive range of in-depth features that will appeal to people whose lives revolve around exercise, but will baffle someone who reluctantly goes to the gym a couple of times a week.
The follow-up to the Polar Vantage V, the Vantage V2’s aluminum case is 21% lighter than the Vantage V at 52 grams, water-resistant to 100 meters, and comes in three colors: Black, green, or a cool grey-lime. The screen measures 1.2 inches and has a 240 x 240-pixel resolution, while the battery will last for 40 hours normally, or 100 hours with an extended battery mode active.
Athletes will benefit from personalized, ready-made workouts with real-time guidance, all based around personal fitness levels and with custom recovery plans too. These plans are improved with a set of all-new advanced performance tests, all performed using the Vantage V2.
There’s a running performance test that will show heart rate, VO2 Max, aerobic speed, and power results, and a cycling test that adds all this plus a functional threshold power (FTP) test over a 20-, 30-, 40-, or 60-minute cycle. Finally, there’s a leg recovery test that’s used to establish how muscle recovery has progressed, and it only takes three jumps when wearing the watch to complete.
The test data is stored in a hub inside the Polar Flow dashboard to monitor long-term progress, and it’s here other fitness apps including Strava and Nike Run Club can be integrated, helping to plan individual sessions or workout plans for the near future. The Vantage V2 also tracks sleep, and will collect data that it uses to show overnight recovery too. Beyond this, it even analyses energy intake to help plan extended training periods.
See what we mean about in-depth? Outside of all this, The Vantage V2 connects with your phone to show notifications, and can control music on both Android and iOS devices, plus there are new customizable watch faces that can be configured to show the data that’s right for you. A software update will arrive before the end of the year with power-based training targets, and a feature called ZonePointer for tracking power and speed zones when running.
The Polar Vantage V2 can be pre-ordered from Polar from October 7. The $499 price reflects the seriousness of the spec and research that has gone into the watch and its software. Polar also offers the Vantage V2 with the Polar H10 chest heart rate sensor, which is needed for the cycling tests, for $549.
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