The Polar Grit X2 Pro is a smartwatch that feels adrift

Jul 05, 2024 05:00 PM - 4 months ago 54386

Polar makes bully multisport watches. They’re conscionable not peculiarly smart. That wasn’t ever a problem because location utilized to beryllium a clear line. Athletes went for Garmins and Polars. Casual users went for an Apple Watch, Fitbit, aliases Samsung smartwatch. Things are little clear now. There are much casual, stylish Garmins, while Apple and Samsung person their ain smart multisport watches — and that leaves nan $749.95 Polar Grit X2 Pro stuck betwixt a stone and a difficult place.

The Grit X2 Pro is meant to beryllium a premium outdoors watch. It improves connected nan erstwhile Grit X Pro pinch upgraded sensors (e.g., bosom rate, tegument temperature, etc), a bigger display, dual-frequency GPS, EKGs (no atrial fibrillation detection, conscionable more meticulous bosom complaint data), offline maps, and USB-C. These kinds of updates are mostly good. The problem is everyone other has made overmuch bigger strides successful nan past 2 to 3 years. The Grit X2 Pro feels a spot stiff successful time.

My achromatic Grit X2 Pro looks nice, but it doesn’t peculiarly guidelines retired compared to nan competition.

As acold arsenic fittingness tracking, this is simply a tin watch pinch oodles of artillery life. (I sewage astir 8 to 10 days connected a azygous charge.) But for $750, there’s a batch you can’t do connected this watch. For instance, you get notifications and alarms, but that’s astir it. If I want to time off my telephone and play my euphony via nan watch, I can’t. Offline playlists aren’t a thing; nan astir you tin do is usage your Grit X2 Pro arsenic a media controller. Say I want to salary for a Gatorade aft a agelong tally astatine my section 7-Eleven. Nope, nary contactless payments. If I want to make a telephone call, usage a sound assistant, aliases consciousness assured that personification will beryllium notified if I return a difficult fall, that’s not happening.

Five years ago, this wouldn’t person been an issue. But successful 2024, I tin salary $800 for a Garmin Fenix 7S Pro Solar — a fancier-than-standard exemplary — to get beautiful overmuch everything nan Grit X2 Pro has positive star charging, offline playlists from Spotify and YouTube Music, Garmin Pay, information features (though these require your phone), and EKG search that does person AFib detection.

Polar Grit X2 Pro specs

  • Material: stainless steel, sapphire glass
  • OS: Polar
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth
  • Dimensions: 48.6mm by 48.6mm, 13.4 mm thick
  • Weight: 79g
  • Battery life: up to 10 days
  • Sensors: optical bosom complaint monitor, accelerometer, compass, barometer, EKG, humor oxygen, tegument temperature
  • GPS: dual-frequency
  • Water resistance: WR100
  • NFC: No
  • Compatibility: iOS and Android

An $800 Apple Watch Ultra 2 gets maine a overmuch amended third-party app ecosystem, LTE connectivity, car clang and autumn detection, euphony streaming, EKGs, and overmuch amended integration pinch my smartphone. When it arrives this fall, watchOS 11 will bring a training load feature, which, while not arsenic robust arsenic what Polar aliases Garmin offer, gets nan occupation done successful a digestible way. Samsung is rumored to beryllium launching a Galaxy Watch Ultra this period — and I’d stake bully money it’ll connection a akin acquisition for Android users. The constituent is, if you’re going to walk connected a premium fittingness smartwatch, you person galore alternatives that present much bang for your buck.

You could reason that Polar isn’t trying to hole what ain’t broke. It made its sanction pinch in-depth fittingness metrics, awesome GPS, and agelong artillery life — overmuch for illustration Garmin. So agelong arsenic it does those things well, who cares? It’s a adjacent point. If those are nan only criteria that matter to you, I person fewer complaints astir nan Grit X2 Pro different than it’s costly and a spot chonky for my liking. In testing, GPS and bosom complaint accuracy were connected par pinch my Apple Watch Ultra 2, a fewer Garmins, and a bunch of different Android smartwatches. Sleep search and betterment metrics were astir connected par pinch my Oura Ring. The astir caller metric was Sleep Boost, which predicts nan times of time you’ll beryllium astir alert. (In practice, I find it difficult to spot arsenic it’s very deed aliases miss.)

There’s much sensors now.

There’s preloaded maps offline maps and nan accustomed Polar mapping devices for illustration backtrack and turn-by-turn navigation.

Whatever connection Polar’s trying to make pinch nan Grit X2 Pro, it’s model dressing. You tin slap connected a much premium creation and upgrade a fewer sensors, but Grit X2 Pro doesn’t meaningfully amended nan things that’ve ever been annoying astir Polar watches. The Polar Flow app still feels horribly cluttered and stuck successful 2016. Easily digestible it is not. On nan wrist, Polar’s interface is still clunky pinch finicky swipes and one-too-many fastener presses to get what you want. This is simply a matter of taste, but nan Grit X2 Pro’s watchfaces are mid astatine best, don’t make nan champion usage of nan OLED display, and don’t convey nan elegance warranted from this value tag.

$750

The Polar Grit X2 Pro adds EKG, upgraded sensors, preloaded offline maps, and a much luxe creation than its predecessor.

Given what other is retired there, I consciousness only Polar diehards would earnestly see a Grit X2 Pro. And moreover then, I’d opt for nan $599.95 Vantage V3. It gets you astir 95 percent of what nan Grit X2 Pro offers, but trades nan heavier-duty materials and luxe look for a lighter, much wearable design. Frankly, I deliberation that’s thing astir athletes — Polar’s target assemblage present — would prefer.

Unfortunately, nan Grit X2 Pro’s disparate parts don’t adhd up to nan premium watch that I deliberation Polar was hoping for. For that, it had to beryllium smarter aliases adhd thing Polar was antecedently lacking. As it is, this is simply a competent watch. But for $750, competent conscionable isn’t bully enough.

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