- Polar has released a Vantage V2 smartwatch that adds performance tests for running and cycling.
- It also adds easy music controls and a leg recovery test.
- It’s available now for $500.
Polar is updating its Vantage fitness watch, and this time the focus is on tools to help you gauge your progress. The newly released Vantage V2 upgrades the familiar design with a series of tests that can optimize your workouts, along with a perk to make those sessions more enjoyable.
The updated fitness watch adds running and cycling performance tests that Polar says will help you personalize your heart rate, speed, and power zones. You should know just how fierce your exercise needs to be, to put it another way. There’s also a leg recovery test to gauge whether or not your body is ready for more training.
Accordingly, Polar Flow’s analysis tools now include a test results hub to help track your long-term fitness plans and progress.
Read more: The best fitness trackers and smartwatches
The Vantage V2 otherwise isn’t a radical reinvention of Polar’s fitness watch formula. You do get easy new music controls, however, making it that much simpler to add a soundtrack to your routines. It otherwise includes familiar tools that include on-wrist heart rate tracking, sleep insights, and outdoor route guidance. The V2 isn’t a full-fledged smartwatch, but you will get weather and phone notifications.
Polar’s fitness wristwear is available now for $500 by itself, or $550 if you pair the watch with an H10 heart rate sensor. Much like higher-end models from Garmin and other rivals, the Vantage V2 is aimed squarely at athletes and enthusiasts who want advanced fitness data and can easily justify the premium. You’re better off with Polar’s Unite or a general purpose smartwatch if you’re more interested in day-to-day activity tracking.
