Vantage M running watch is more than a pretty face
Liz Connor puts the hotly-anticipated smartwatch through its paces
It’s safe to say the running watch market is booming, and there are new versions each year that offer better insights, superior coaching and sleeker designs. The latest heavyweight contender is Polar’s Vantage M, a successor to the brand’s popular M430 model, which boasts a whole slew of upgraded Bond-like features.
So how does it fare? I took it on a 10K run to find out everything you should know ahead of purchasing.
Polar have really upped their game when it comes to striking that allimportant balance between a watch that looks good both on the track and in the office.
They’ve phased out the blocky rectangular screens and opted for a traditional round watch face instead. Much like its main contender, the Garmin Forerunner 235, the Gorilla Glass screen is pretty hefty in diameter, with a crisp colour display set in a slick stainless steel bezel.
It’s easily Polar’s most fashionable watch to-date, and while it isn’t obvious you’re wearing something fitness-led on your wrist, it manages to stay super lightweight at just 45g. It’s also completely waterproof.
It’s not a case of all style and no substance; the Vantage M is also a serious running tool crammed full of features to help you run better.
Its big USP is providing Pb-chasers with elite-level metrics, which is all thanks to its next-level heart rate monitor. Underneath the watch there are nine LEDS that use different wavelengths of light to penetrate deeper into your skin for a more accurate heart rate reading. This is paired with four raised electric sensors that measure the quality of the skin contact to provide further insights to improve your data, such as if the watch is slipping up and down your wrist during a high-tempo workout. For swimmers, it will track your heart rate in the water too.
Another impressive feature is the measure of your “training load”, which looks at how your cardiovascular system performed and how stressed your muscles are.
Rather than just monitoring your run-by-run performance, a “strain” measurement analyses the average load from the past week to give an indication of muscle fatigue, while “tolerance” looks at how intense your training has been over a whole month. Using these insights, the watch will give feedback on when you’re overtraining and at risk of injury, recommending you take a rest day or try a lighter workout instead.
The watch syncs with an easy-touse app, where you can get detailed graphs of your stats post-run – like cadence, your pace, heart rate and the altitude of your course. You can also use the app to set up a bespoke coaching plan for distances from 5K up to a marathon, and an in-app calendar makes it really easy to see when your next run is approaching.
As someone who doesn’t stick to any one kind of fitness, I was impressed by the fact you can load the watch with different sport profiles (there are 130 altogether) like circuit training, pilates and boxing. Each setting has a slightly different algorithm to help deliver more accurate data, which is a step up from other wearables I’ve tried.
When you’re not training, it’ll also do all the usual basics – track steps, monitor your sleep length and quality – and can be paired with your smartphone for notifications on incoming calls and app updates.
Verdict
At £249, the Vantage M doesn’t come cheap, but if you’re on the road to a marathon next year, this could very well be the pocket coach to get you into the fast lane – while avoiding injury.
I was impressed with both the postrun analytics and the battery power – allowing for 30 hours of continuous training with GPS and optical heart rate measurement. My only small bugbear? The brightness and clarity of the screen isn’t quite on a par with other high-end smartwatches I’ve tried.
If you’re relentlessly chasing a faster finishing time and you’ve got the budget, this is a pretty nifty Christmas present to put on the self-gifting list. n