Polar Vantage M3 Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

The Polar Vantage M3 is Polar’s best value sports watch and is a strong upgrade on the M2. It’ll just cost you a bit more money to get it.

Introduction

The Polar Vantage M3 is what you’d call Polar’s middle of the pack multisports watch. It’s going to give you more features than its Ignite and Pacer series watches, but won’t quite match what you’ll get on the top-end Vantage V3.

The Vantage M2 was launched three years ago and clearly saw Polar take its mid-range watch in a more stylish direction. For the M3, it feels like Polar is rolling back on fashion and making the M3 a more capable watch. It’s doing that by adding an AMOLED screen, upgrading to Polar’s latest Elixir sensor to track more metrics and even adding maps.

Adding those new features has meant an increase in price on the Vantage M2. So is the M3 worth the extra spend and now one of the best (if not the best) mid-range sports watches you can buy? I’ve been putting it to the test to find out.

Design and screen

• New AMOLED display
• Features a smaller case
• Reduced screen bezel

For the M2, Polar sought to straddle both a sporty and stylish look and to a degree did achieve that. There were a few things I didn’t like, which Polar looks to have mostly addressed.

The first big change is that there’s now a smaller 44.7mm case compared to the 46mm one on the M2 and that does mean the M3 sits a bit smaller on your wrist. It’s a touch slimmer too, but not by a noticeable amount. The case is still made of plastic with a stainless steel bezel surrounding the screen, giving it a look that’s more sporty than its predecessor.

Polar has ditched the 1.2-inch memory pixel display for a more vibrant and slightly larger, 1.28-inch, 416 x 416 resolution AMOLED display. Crucially, the black bezel around the screen has been reduced. I’d still prefer that bezel to be smaller, but at least it’s not eating into the screen in the same way that it did on the M2. The AMOLED panel is a good quality one overall, the colours are good if a touch saturated compared to other AMOLED displays. It gets pretty bright and you can keep it on at all times including during workouts.

Around that case lies five, gently textured buttons with a very typical Polar strap in place to keep it on your wrist. The strap has a slightly coarse feel to it and I do find it fits a bit more snug than the other sports watch straps. That being said, I haven’t found it uncomfortable to wear.

Another gain you’re getting on the M3 is an improvement in the level of waterproofing. It’s moved from a WR30 to a WR50 rating, which now gives it the same rating as the pricier Polar Vantage V3 and means it’s suitable to be submerged in water up to 50 metres deep. I’ve been swimming with the M3 and it was a good fit for the water with the AMOLED screen being easily visible during swims.

The Vantage M3 does feel like Polar has played things safe with the look, all while adding some desirable upgrades like that addition of an AMOLED screen and reducing the once gaudy bezel.

Software and smartwatch features

• Works with Android and iOS
• Includes same smartwatch features as M2
• Polar Flow still feels a bit chaotic

The Vantage M3 remains a multisports watch that’s Android and iOS-friendly and my time using it with an iPhone was pretty stress-free. Polar’s Flow companion smartphone app is, however, busier than the apps you’ll encounter with fellow smartwatch manufacturers like Garmin and Suunto. There’s a lot going on and the journey of moving between the different screens isn’t massively intuitive.

Things get better on the watch where you do need the mix of buttons and touchscreen controls to get around.  The user interface is largely well optimised to the M3’s display but I do think Polar in general lags behind the competition in offering the slickest software experience.

While Polar has added an AMOLED display it hasn’t increased the available smartwatch features. You can still change watch faces, set timers, view phone notifications and music controls like you could on the Vantage M2. Having the colour screen does make those more basic smarts nicer to use although Garmin still holds the crown for bringing smartwatch features to sports watches in a more comprehensive way.

Fitness tracking 

• More fitness tests added
• Free offline maps added
• New Elixir sensor adds ECG, SpO2 and temperature tracking 

Given we haven’t seen an update to the M2 for a few years, it’s not hugely surprising Polar has given it some upgrades in the fitness tracking department, perhaps more than I expected to see. 

It’s now a watch that’s moved to a dual-frequency GPS setup, offering the best in GPS positioning technology available right now to sports watches and smartwatches. Polar’s included its latest Elixir sensor that, along with the promise of improved heart rate tracking accuracy, now adds in SpO2, skin temperature and ECG monitoring. You’re now also getting the ability to view maps, with additional fitness tests and recovery metrics on offer as well. Basically, there’s a lot.

As a sports watch, you’re getting a very competent performer. I found the new dual-frequency GPS performed well when I put it up against other dual-frequency watches from Garmin and Coros, with metrics like average pace, cadence and elevation also nicely in line. I used it for swims, indoor rides and general indoor workouts, and data in general looked pretty good to me.

In terms of heart rate tracking, the accuracy was very much in keeping with the Vantage V3, which also includes that new Elixir sensor. For moderate and low intensity workouts the accuracy typically matched or was close to the maximum and average readings on a heart rate monitor chest strap. Like the V3, there’s also been the odd time where maximum heart rate readings were a little higher. You do have an ECG sensor now, but it’s not designed to be used in the same way as the ECG sensor on the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch. You can take on the spot measurements – which were nicely accurate – but it’s really about giving you another piece of data to show how your heart is responding to training. It can also be used with Polar’s orthostatic test to understand how your body is recovering from exercise.

Polar offers plenty on the training and analysis front. Delve into a workout and you can see numbers to tell you about the training session, your training zones and what fuelled your workout. Polar’s FitSpark suggests workouts that are in tune with your workout history, so if you’ve been doing plenty of cardio then it’ll recommend strength or supportive training to make sure you’re maintaining a good balance in your training. 

Polar also offers rich sleep tracking, in fact it’s among the most reliable that you’ll find on a sports watch. It also aims to put that sleep data to good use to give you a better sense of the relationship between your sleep and recovery. Its effectiveness really comes down to presentation, both on and off the watch. There’s an array of useful insights and modes to tap into, it just takes a bit of work to get to where the good stuff lives.

Another big addition is mapping, which you initially need to download files for by connecting the M3 to a computer. Mapping can be viewed during training or through the dedicated navigation watch widget. You can use the touchscreen to move around maps and use the physical button to zoom in and out. They’re not the most detailed maps available on a watch, but they do help to give you a better sense of your surroundings. There’s navigation features here as well, with useful ‘back to start’ and ‘track back’ modes available. If you want access to turn-by-turn navigation to help nudge you in the right direction, you’ll need to use the third party app Komoot to get it.

Battery life 

• Up to 7 days battery in smartwatch mode
• Up to 30 hours in best GPS mode
• Up to 32 hours in best GPS accuracy mode

The M3 packs a bigger 310mAH capacity battery, though it does in general see a drop in promised battery life compared to the M2 in some areas. It’s gone from eight days to seven days in smartwatch mode, and goes from 170 hours to 70 hours in Polar’s eco training mode. However, it goes from 28 hours to 30 hours when using the watch in its best accuracy GPS mode.

Polar doesn’t state the battery life you should expect with the screen set to always-on, but based on my testing, it’s around 4-5 days based on how regularly you’re using features like GPS. I found daily battery drop to be anywhere from 20-30%. If you want to get to seven days, you’ll need to sacrifice keeping the screen on, but I think it’s worth the sacrifice to get closer to a week.

In terms of GPS battery performance, it’s pretty much in keeping with those claims by Polar. An hour’s use saw the battery drop by 6% when using the best GPS accuracy mode. The numbers seem to add up here, which is all you can ask.

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