One of the best mid-range sports watches I’ve ever tested is on sale for Black Friday

Key points of ZDNET

• The Polar Vantage M3 has all the software features of its more expensive siblings and comes in two color options.
• The watch has a lovely AMOLED display that works well and appeals to those with smaller wrists.
• Durability certainly isn’t the focus of the watch, and the smartwatch’s features are limited.

We’re nearing the end of the fall marathon season, but I just spent a few weeks running in Washington, Maine, Rhode Island, and Maryland and saw hundreds of runners on local roads and trails. Many athletes also participate in other activities to help build strength and prevent injuries, so having a watch that supports multiple activities is important for them.

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Polar excels at offering free training programs that combine a variety of activities with running to help you achieve your best results. I got a new one Extreme Vantage M3 has launched over the past few weeks and it’s clear that Polar has done a great job launching an affordable multi-sport watch that includes the great recovery and performance tools of its flagship models. , like Vantage V3 and Grit X2 Pro.

Since I have larger wrists and love big watches, the other two Polar watches are best for me. That said, the Vantage M3’s smaller size and lower price will appeal to more people.

We’ve seen Garmin, Coros and Suunto also recently release watches in the mid-range market, so this space is heating up. Polar is clearly focused on serving as your advanced training tool and not just functioning as a smartwatch. It has limited notification support, no third-party app support, no wrist payments, and no offline music support.

That said, it has advanced training tools, recovery guides, performance testing, advanced sleep tracking with a skin temperature sensor, and offline maps for navigation that looks great with Brilliant 1.28-inch AMOLED touchscreen. Weighing just 53 grams, including the strap, the watch is comfortable to wear 24/7, and in my experience, you can expect it to last about a week if you run 30 to 45 minutes every few days. once.

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Polar advertises 30 hours of best GPS tracking mode with seven days of use in smartwatch mode. Over the past month, I charged the battery every 5 to 7 days.

Dual-frequency GPS and five GNSS options are available, with test results demonstrating very accurate location tracking. The fourth-generation optical heart rate sensor closely matched the results of other watches and the bracelet sensors I compared with running, cycling, rowing and walking.

Once you’ve determined that the Polar Vantage M3 is right for your budget and wrist, explore the vast Polar Flow ecosystem. There is a Polar Flow smartphone app for iOS and Android, along with a website. I highly recommend that you don’t limit your experience to just the app — the app provides at-a-glance information and some details about your activity, but the website is where you can go to find understand all the details about the vast amount of data the Vantage M3 collects.

While there are custom running programs for regular running events, you can also use the seasonal planner to create custom programs for off-season running. The different strength, stretching, and cross-training elements you can incorporate into these programs are amazing. I’ve learned many new exercises and stretches thanks to Polar Flow and love that the programs aren’t just limited to different running sessions.

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Smartwatches, like the Apple Watch, have a fairly limited data display of your activity, so you can only see the key metrics Apple wants you to see. Open each of your favorite activities, labeled sports profiles, in the smartphone app or website and then fully customize each data screen.

You can have up to eight screens, with up to four indicators per screen. These include quite unique metrics like incline/slope, body temperature, power metrics, and cadence metrics. There are several other views and settings to fully customize and optimize your activity view. Vantage M3 has over 150 activities that you can participate in and track.

Once you’ve set up your fitness profile, Polar’s Training Load Pro will begin evaluating your recorded data and daily life metrics for recovery. After three nights of wearing Vantage M3 go to bed, you’ll start to see sleep tracking results. In addition to detailed information about your sleep and nightly skin temperature (used to indicate possible illness), Polar also provides Sleep Boost metrics to show how sleep affects your health. your energy levels throughout the day.

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In the past, I rarely used the mapping and navigation features on my watch, but the Strava heat map has proven to be a great function when I travel, and it also inspired me to add more. new routes into your regular running routine. After selecting my preferred distance and finding the route I was interested in on Strava, I simply saved the route, which was synced to my Polar Flow account and then to the Vantage M3. After that, it’s easy to start running and have a colorful map guide me on unique routes in various cities.

ZDNET Buying Tips

Polar has taken the software features of its best watches and brought them to the masses with Extreme Vantage M3. Now you can choose a smaller, lighter, more affordable Polar watch and enjoy the same advanced functions and options as the company’s flagship watches. It’s great to be able to choose a watch based on the size, style, material and design that works best for you, while having confidence that the software experience will be the same as a watch that costs almost twice as much. pair.