It’s been three years but smartwatch brand Polar is back with a new Vantage wearable now sporting the company’s recent “biosensing technology” platform.
Called Polar Elixir, the platform consists of sensors giving the Vantage V3 the ability to measure key bodily functions like your cardiovascular system, autonomic nervous system, and body temperature. In return, athletic users receive vast amounts of data detailing their physical condition, providing insight on how to improve workouts. As an example, data from the Wrist-ECG sensor can be viewed on the Polar Flow app where you can “see how your heart responds to exercise”. That information can then be exported to a PDF file to be shared with others – namely your personal trainer or coach.
Additionally, the smartwatch can read your skin’s temperature at night offering other vital health insights. Rising skin temperatures could indicate that you're getting sick, for instance.
For the outdoorsmen, the Vantage V3 comes equipped with a dual-frequency GPS capable of measuring “distances with precision and with less interference” from surrounding buildings or bad weather. According to Polar, the device has track-back and turn-by-turn guidance ensuring you know “exactly where you are and where you’re going” at all times. You can even download “offline maps” if you ever plan on going off the grid.
Hardware specs
Everything you see here will be displayed on a 1.39-inch, AMOLED screen at a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels. Apparently, the Vantage V3’s display is so bright, it can double as a flashlight (the Google Pixel Watch 2 does this, as well). It’s unknown what kind of CPU is under the hood. Polar doesn’t provide any details, although it does claim the processor is 129 percent faster than the hardware on the Vantage V2 from 2020.
Speaking of the V2, the company states the battery on the V3 is 41 percent larger when compared to the older model. It’s capable, the company claims, of lasting eight straight days “in Standard Mode” or up to 53 hours with the GPS and OHR (this is the Optical Heart Rate sensor) turned on. Other notable features include 32GB of storage, 15 different widgets, 18 colorful dashboards, plus a Recovery Pro mode that lets you know when to ease up on the exercise.
Availability
The standard model of the Polar Vantage V3 is currently available for pre-order for $600/£520/$900 AUD in Sky Blue, Night Black, and Sunrise Apricot. Or you can purchase the two-device package that throws in the Polar H10 heart rate sensor for $650/£560/$1000 AUD. However, colors for the latter are reduced to just black. No word on when the wearable will officially launch although we did ask.
Admittedly, we’re pretty excited to get our hands on the Vantage V3. We were big fans of the older V2 model due to its extensive training features as well as its route guidance tech. Hopefully, the laggy touchscreen gets addressed.
If you’re interested in other options, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best fitness trackers for 2023.
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