Review on Enhanced Performance with Polar Vantage M2: Integrated GPS, Wrist-Based Heart Monitor, Daily Workouts, Sleep and Recovery Tracking, Music Controls, Weather, Phone Notifications by Bim Cook

I have been using Polar products for many years and have been happy since upgrading from my old M430. I enjoyed using the Polar 10K training program with my old watch and found the M2's display shows progress during training and saves me from having to view so much training information through the excellent Polar Flow app. Most people would be impressed. with the Polar Stream app and many must find it useful. I find them better or at least equal to the watches of other sports watch manufacturers. It's easy to understand and also has the advantage that Polar offers explanatory articles on the research behind the learning. are available to those who seek them. While the watch's display shows you how to do the exercises, Polar also offers an online video that shows you how to do them. t is worth the value. I think if I were to buy one of them I would have buyer's remorse. While some of these watches are more reliable, the M2 is unlikely to see much wear and tear over a two to three year period before the battery dies or an irresistible replacement arrives. The only feature I wish for is an audible alarm. That's because while the M2's vibration feature works well to signal the start and end times of a workout, an audible alert would be slightly better as your movement can interfere with the feel of the vibration and a slight vibrating noise won't be heard when you're nauseous hear or if background noise masks this. I've started using the Watch Fit Spark feature instead of the Polar Run program and so far I'm finding it pretty good. It is more adaptive than a running program and bases recommendations on your sleep or autonomic nervous system status and recent exercise history rather than recommendations for running programs. I think he recommends a little more stretching, mobility or core work and has a wider range of strength options. The cardio portion still seems to have fewer running days than the Polar 10K program. However, the running days always included longer intervals in the highest heart rate zones and a longer total duration than the running program. It gives you multiple exercise options to choose from every day and doesn't worry if your autonomic nervous system activity indicates a need during sleep. an autonomic nervous system score that reflects your stress or recovery level, which is used to plan the next day's exercise. The accuracy of the heart rate measurement seems good enough to me for strength training, walking and everyday activities, but for running and interval training I've always relied on shoulder-mounted sensors or chest straps in conjunction with my watch. Pairing this watch with sensors from different brands went smoothly. The GPS accuracy seems flawless to me. The weather, music and notifications work well and save time to view or set up on my phone. Sleep data is impressive if it works for me. However, I don't always see that because this watch (and my old M430) often didn't recognize when I fell asleep, often at least a few hours late. That may be because I move more than most sleepers. However, based on other reviews, I have read that the sensor works well for most people. It works for me between a third and half the time.