Finland's Polar has announced that its latest premium smart sportswatch has gone up for pre-order. The Vantage V3 features a sharp, bright AMOLED display, comes with offline maps, and packs a new sensor suite called Elixir that's more capable than any Polar wearable before it.
The Polar Elixir suite is described as "an innovative fusion of sensors that detects those imperceptible biological phenomena that continuously happen in our bodies, from heartbeats to small temperature variations and the oxygen traveling through our bloodstream."
To be fair, the package doesn't feature any tech that can't be found in other flagship smartwatches, but the sensors do gather more data than any other Polar sportswatch while employing "state-of-the-art, science-backed algorithms that yield the most advanced and precise understanding of the body."
There's a 4th-generation optical heart-rate sensor for much improved readings, pulse oximetry tech to measure blood oxygen levels – with Polar saying that "the results show a level of accuracy similar to commercially available fingertip pulse oximeters" – the watch can also measure skin temperature, and when placing a finger on a button, the V3 can produce an electrocardiogram reading in 30 seconds.
"Even though, these measurements shouldn’t be used for medical purposes, they provide additional data points for planning your training and recovery, ensuring you always train at the right intensity," said the company in a press release.
Up top is a high-resolution 1.39-inch AMOLED touch display at 462 ppi that's topped by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens and rocks a 35% increase in the viewable area compared to its 2020 predecessor. Polar has also included a Flashlight feature that can illuminate after-dark trails. The aluminum bezel and case give a premium feel, the buttons are reported to be glove-friendly, and the V3 is first Vantage V to be compatible with standard 22-mm wristbands.
Polar has cooked in more than 150 sports modes, plus smart coaching features. It boasts water resistance to 50 m (164 ft) and can operate in temperatures as low as -20 °C (-4 °F). And there's a comprehensive suite of sleep tracking tools.
The stylish wearable comes pre-loaded with maps for Europe and North America – other countries can be uploaded from the Flow app onto the watch's 32-GB storage – which can be used offline together with onboard dual-frequency GPS, for precision location tracking without needing to haul a phone along. Turn-by-turn is navigation powered by komoot is available, along with route/elevation profiles, an altimeter and a compass.
Inside is a 275-MHz processor supported by 37 MB of memory, there's Bluetooth 5.1 for pairing with a smartphone, and the 488-mAh battery is reported good for up to 53 hours of training per charge, 140 hours in power-saving mode or eight days when used as a basic smartwatch.
The Vantage V3 is up for pre-order now in three color options for US$599.95. Shipping is expected to start from October 25.
Product page: Polar Vantage V3
