20 March 2024
Polar has just announced the latest version of their flagship watch: the Polar Grit X2 Pro. While the Polar Grit X series contains the same features as the Polar Vantage V series, it’s designed in a more rugged case and premium materials. Except previously, that adventure-oriented Grit X series lacked one important backcountry feature: Offline maps.
Now that box is checked, along with a slate of other features coming to the Grit X2 Pro that were introduced on the Vantage V3 last fall.
The Grit X2 Pro adds those global offline maps, adds dual-frequency GPS, an improved heart rate sensor, and of course – an AMOLED display. Thus cementing Polar’s fast-paced transition from MIP to AMOLED displays, along with the rest of the industry. However, Polar is also adding in a bunch of new software features to both the Grit X2 Pro and Vantage V3, including Strava routes support, vertical speed, VAM, 3D speed, and historical track display. Plus, they’ve massively overhauled the algorithms behind the new gen4 optical HR sensor since last fall to try and address issues.
I’ve started putting the Grit X2 Pro through its paces, though, this isn’t an in-depth review yet. Polar says the firmware for this watch won’t be final for another few weeks. Thus, I’ll be taking that time to push this watch (and me) to the limits and see if it can hold up on some very legit (and probably very painful) adventures. After which, I’ll post my full in-depth review. Given the Grit X2 Pro won’t start shipping till April 3rd anyway, the timing should work out just fine.
With that, let’s get into it!
What’s New:
The definition of ‘new’ will depend on which previous watch you’re referring to. If comparing it (logically) to the Polar Grit X Pro (released in 2021), then there are a number of very substantial changes, outlined below. Whereas, if you’re compared to the Polar Vantage V3 released this past fall, there are precisely zero feature differences. Which, I also explain down below.
First up, here’s what’s new compared to the original Polar Grit X Pro:
– Changed to 1.39” AMOLED display (326ppi, 1,050 nits)
– Maintains sapphire crystal glass
– Increased display size by 15% (versus GRIT X1 Pro)
– First Polar watch to have 810H durability mil spec
– Increased processor speed by 129% vs GRIT X1 Pro (275Mhz processor)
– Added dual-frequency/multiband GNSS/GPS
– Redesigned GNSS/GPS antenna
– Increased storage to 32GB (mainly for maps)
– Includes North America & Europe maps downloaded (and free downloadable maps for everywhere else)
– Changed Polar charging cable to USB-C (still magnetic on watch side)
– Added Strava Routes syncing (finally! Also coming to all Polar route-capable products)
– Added historical track/route on navigation map (previously only showed planned route)
– Added Vertical Speed and VAM (Average Ascent Speed)
– Added 3D speed (how it calculates speed in steep situations)
– Upgraded to Polar’s 4th Gen optical heart rate sensor + ELIXIR (same as Vantage V3)
– Added heart rate ECG functionality (Note: Does not include Afib detection)
– Added nightly skin temperature
– Added skin temperature tracking feature and baseline/guidance
– Added new optical heart rate backdated error correction feature (fixes bad HR data in realtime)
– Added two new watch faces since Vantage V3 (one analog, one digital)
– Added virtual flashlight (display based)
– Battery life increases to 43hrs of GPS training mode, or up to 140hrs in eco training mode
– Maintains 100m water resistance spec
– Maintains temp range of -20*c to +50*c
– Maintains stainless-steel front case, and plastic back case
– Two base model colors (Night Black & Stone Gray), and one Titan Edition
– Price increases from $/€529 to $/€749 for base edition, and Titan edition from $/€649 to $/€869
Note: Titan edition includes a secondary leather strap, and has a total watch+band weight of 64g.
Now, you may be wondering how this watch differentiates itself from the less expensive ($599) Polar Vantage V3. And the answer is simple: Purely based on external case design. That’s it. The two watches run the same exact software, have the optical HR sensor, the same GPS chipset, and even the exact same battery inside. In fact, the Polar Vantage V3 will get a software release (v2.0) the same day the Polar Grit X2 Pro starts shipping (April 3rd), that’ll ensure both watches are lock-step identical when it comes to features. So to re-iterate: Yes, the Vantage V3 is getting all these same new features
When it comes to material differences, they are as follows:
– Grit X2 Pro has a different external case design/look
– Grit X2 Pro has 100m water resistance, versus 50m for Vantage V3
– Redesigned external GPS antenna design, specifically for the Grit X2 Pro
Note that antenna designs would be different anyway between the Vantage & Grit X series, since the case designs use different materials. These days, the GPS antenna is arguably the most important component when it comes to GPS accuracy. Over the last few years we’ve seen countless examples of two different watches using the exact same GPS chipset, but different antenna designs. So much so that *both* Polar and COROS have made a point of publicly stating their first attempts at dual-band GNSS antennas on previous products (COROS Vertix 2 & Polar Ignite 3) led to not-awesome GPS results.
Thus, Polar made a point in their media presentation of calling out continued refinement on their GPS antenna design. Obviously, that’s something I’ll be looking very closely at in my final in-depth review, across some very challenging mountain terrain, as well as challenging cities – and of course empty farm fields too. The Vantage V3 results were so-so, though, so far the Grit X2 Pro results seem a bit better, and roughly in the ballpark of other watches I’ve been testing against (Suunto Race, Garmin Epix, COROS Vertix 2) – but plenty more testing is still required.
A Closer Look at the Hardware:
Starting off with the hardware, Polar has now completed their transition at the top-end of their watch realm, by moving from MIP to AMOLED. This 1.39” touchscreen is exactly the same as the Polar Vantage V3. That’s a good thing, as I found that screen (and this s well) very easy to see in all lighting conditions, from bright sun, to running at night.
With that, they’ve brought in the virtual flashlight feature as well, which lets you toggle on/off using the screen as a flashlight. That too, is more than bright enough to light up a hotel room/bathroom at night. I suppose this feature belongs down in the software side of things, but since its tied to the AMOLED display, I’m leaving it here.
Meanwhile, on the back of the unit they’ve transitioned to Polar’s Gen4 optical HR sensor (same as Vantage V3). Things improves accuracy compared to the previous iteration, but also brings in nightly skin temperature tracking as well as ECG recording capability.
In the case of the nightly skin temperature tracking, you’ll see that displayed both on the watch, as well as within the Polar Flow app. As with the Vantage V3, it’s showing the difference to your baseline – it doesn’t show the exact temperature. This is how most wearables work as well.
And with the ECG feature, it’s merely showing an ECG trace, that you can manually take. It does not detect Afib or other conditions, nor is it FDA approved from a medical standpoint. Instead, it lets you record that short moment in time, and then export it out as a PDF to share with doctors later.
Now Polar made a note of pointing out that they’ve added 20,000 lines of code to the heart rate algorithms since the Polar Vantage V3, in order to improve accuracy (which, wasn’t great). Within that, they’ve added a new feature which will retroactively correct your historical HR data on the watch in realtime, when it detects something went wrong. So imagine you’re doing intervals, and after the first interval you clearly see the data is wrong. Polar says that it should automatically detect that failure, and then correct the historical data.
What’s interesting about this, is that it’s actually something I can show/demosntrate, because Polar also has a heart rate broadcasting feature. So on my workouts I’ve been dual-recording both to the watch itself (which would have the corrections), but also to a secondary device/app (which wouldn’t have the corrections). To date I haven’t been able to de-couple them yet.
Additionally, Polar says that their heart rate algorithms won’t be final until April 3rd, and thus I’ll wait for my final review to give the verdict there. At this point though, I’m seen some improvements over the Vantage V3, though, not industry leading performance yet.
Finally, as noted above, there are two variants of the Grit X2 Pro – a base model and the Titan edition. The features are identical, however, there are material differences in the case design (stainless steel versus titanium). Moreover, the Titan edition comes with an additional leather band. And that leather strap looks absolutely fantastic.
With that, let’s dive into some of the software features.
The New Software Features:
The first big feature compared to the previous Grit X Pro is the addition of offline maps. The unit is loaded with a basemap of both North America and Europe, and then you can download other maps for the rest of the world free from Polar’s site. In addition, you can download a more detailed set of maps (also from Polars site for free), which take up more space, but give added detail at lower zoom levels. Doing so takes just a few minutes.
When it comes to the detail level in the maps, Polar says that they’re looking at adding more POI/street/landmark/etc labels/names down the road, but don’t have a specific timeframe for when that might happen.
No matter which detail level variant you use today, you’ll now see the map during your GPS workouts, and notably, with the new software update (also coming for the Vantage V3 on April 3rd), you’ll see your historical track as well. This is a much appreciated update, as the Vantage V3 didn’t launch with that, which was kinda wonky if you had gone off-course, you couldn’t see where you came from to backtrack a bit.
Additionally, starting today (yes, today), you’ll now be able to get your Strava Routes synced to not just the Polar Grit X2 Pro, but every Polar route-capable watch. This sync work in much the same way as Komoot, to push favorited/saved routes to your Polar Flow account for syncing to your watch.
However, it won’t contain the turn-by-turn style implementation of Komoot, instead, it’ll be akin to importing a GPX file in, where it’s breadcrumb style routing only.
Once out doing your GPS activity, you’ll now see two new data fields: Vertical Speed & VAM (which is essentially ascent speed). Additionally, the unit will calculate 3D speed now, which gives you slightly more accurate speed/distance measurements in steeper ascents/descents. You won’t see a separate 3D speed field, but rather, it’s just doing that calculation automatically.
Finally, there are two new watch faces (compared to the Vantage V3), and those watch faces will also be available for the Vantage V3 too. There’s one digital one, and one analog one:
Again, Polar’s stated goal is that the Vantage V3 & Grit X2 Pro remain identical feature-wise.
Going Forward:
Obviously, it’s a bit too soon for an in-depth review, or for final thoughts. Starting from the tech side though, what Polar’s doing makes a lot of sense. To streamline the software for both the Vantage V3 and Grit X2 Pro into a single identical/cohesive software version is what a lot of people have asked for, both from Polar and other companies. So it’s good to see Polar delivering on that. Likewise, it’s nice to see additions like Strava Route support coming to not just these two watches but Polar’s entire lineup of route-capable watches.
Nonetheless, with the Vantage V3/Grit X2 Pro having identical software and identical internal hardware components, the only difference becomes that external case design/style (and the added leather band for the Titan version). While it makes sense to have a premium for that case design compared to the Vantage V3, I struggle (immensely) to see how a 50% price increase compared to the existing Grit X Pro is justified. But more importantly, I simply don’t understand how a $750 price is even fathomable when compared to any of their competitors. There’s really no other way to say it.
At $750/$869, I simply don’t see how Polar aims to attract new customers to their brand/platform. Obviously they’ll convert some of their more ardent fans, but the features Polar has in this product make that price point immensely challenging (even if it had perfect accuracy/performance). Nonetheless, I’m interesting in seeing how it preforms in harder conditions over the coming weeks – so stay tuned for that!
With that, thanks for reading!