Review on POLAR IGNITE Waterproof Precision Integrated by Eric Mueller

I've been using Fitbit for a few years now and it suddenly broke so I've been looking for a new fitness watch. I like to do fitness in the gym, teach yoga and also do martial arts. After looking at 7 different watches, I settled on Polar Ignite and Garmin Vivoactive 4s. I bought both and this is my own review. Polar is priced at $190, 4-5 day battery life, GPS, VERY accurate heart rate monitoring (that's what they're known for), in my experience the sleep monitoring was more accurate than Garmin but not as convenient as Fitbit. The Polar has a very bright and crisp screen, but like the Fitbit, you have to turn your wrist for it to light up. In contrast, the screen is actually harder to see in the sun (e.g. when running) than the Garmin. Polar gives you recovery recommendations based on what you did in training, which I thought was great. It also has a nightly charge rate (like Garmin's "Body Battery"). Cons: They wake up slowly, just like Fitbit, get disconnected from my phone from time to time, they don't have music to download to the watch so you have to have your phone nearby and the incoming texts are too big, so only you see part. It also doesn't have menstrual tracking, which I found handy on Fitbit. I ended up returning the Polar and keeping the Garmin vivoactive 4 and here's why. The Garmin may have a higher price ($230) and a dimmer screen. See image. But many good qualities that made me choose it after several weeks of testing. Written battery life is 7 days but I got 4-5 days. There is GPS (on a par with Polar). There's music you can download to your watch so you don't have to take your phone with you! I didn't have any music while using Fitbit so I didn't know it was what I would have liked, but it's amazing. The dial size is 40mm compared to Polar's 43mm. I like small watches. The heart rate was almost the same as that of a polar explorer, or within 5 beats per minute. If you look at a photo of a run I did you can see that Fitbit did NOT identify exactly when I went from walking to running but did the other 2 hours. Another plus is that the screen is always on. Not what I had with Fitbit either, so I didn't know what I was missing. If you play sports and want to quickly know what your heart rate is, Garmin is the best option. The screen lights up more when you touch it, but you can always see the time and anything you want on your display (I have the time, heart rate, date, weather, news, battery, and steps on my watch face). Garmin will track your sleep, but it's not as detailed or accurate as Fitbit or Polar, but it does have something cool called Pulse Ox that measures blood oxygen levels (like those red light clips they put on your finger at the doctor's office). This is good for spotting problems that may arise during sleep or even during the day. Garmin has menstrual cycle tracking as well as Garmin Pay. The downside is Garmin doesn't add daytime naps to bedtime. It only tracks one sleep per day, not multiple. Well, if you were a Fitbit user like me and switched to one of these watches, the apps are very confusing. Fitbit has the most user-friendly app by far. But over time, each application will become familiar to you. I'm not a runner and never have been, but thanks to Garmin watches I've become a runner. It has a trainer setting where you can set a goal and it will teach you how to achieve that goal. I'm very competitive so I'm confident that I'll reach my goal (5K). It's great to see your runs reflected in the app and rate them based on how you felt that day. In conclusion, depending on what you are looking for, you can choose other watches than me, but for now I like my Garmin Vivoactive 4s. .