The Polar Vantage V2 Multisport Watch is designed for serious athletes and is packed with advanced features to help you train and recover more efficiently. Luxurious Magazine writer and international-level athlete Leanne Kelsall took the opportunity to put one through its paces.
The Vantage V2 is Polar’s top-end multisport watch. If you are unsure what multisports means, it is generally defined as the ability to record multiple sports in one activity. These types of watches are popular with triathletes, cyclists and runners. The watch offers everything you’d expect from a high-end fitness watch and is said to be able to help you to train more efficiently and avoid overdoing it. Would this be the case? Let’s dig into the details.
Incredibly light and looks great
With a sleek and lightweight aluminium body, the Polar Vantage V2 looks great worn as a day-to-day watch and a training watch. We found it incredibly comfortable to wear. The aluminium bezel gives a premium feel to the Vantage V2. It’s seriously light, too, at only 52 grams, give or take, with the strap. You can buy the watch in four colours, including all black, red, silver and lime, and black and green.
All the data you need
The Polar Vantage V2 gives you all the data you need to optimise your training. The watch will tell you if you’re training too much, not enough or just the right amount. It’ll even suggest exercises it thinks you should do and guide you through specific sessions.
After every training session you record, you’ll see the load placed on your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system so that you can see the strain on your body straight away.
The Vantage V2 helps you to be smarter about your recovery, too, with its Nightly Recharge function. It shows you how well you’ve recovered from the day so you can make better choices about your activity. These are just a few of the watch’s highlights – it’s packed full of features to fine-tune your training using data.
Unique fitness tests
You can take one of several tests the Vantage V2 offers to get an idea of how you’re progressing in sports like running and cycling. Our favourite to try was the leg recovery test. It’s relatively easy to perform, and it tells you how fatigued your legs are and whether they’re ready for your next training session. The tests are the most unique feature offered by the watch, giving you valuable insight into your training regime and whether it’s time to increase your intensity.
Tracking for 130 indoor and outdoor sports
The Polar Vantage V2 claims to track an impressive 130 sports, including open water swimming and a selection of indoor sports, like badminton. You can swap these in and out pretty easily on the Polar Flow app. The watch shows you all the tracking data you’d expect as well as extras such as running power.
There are even some built-in exercise programmes for activities like yoga, strength training and meditative breathing. The watch does a great job of tracking heart rate, thanks to the optical heart rate technology that claims to track beats with more precision. We found the heart rate data reliable with no glitches or outages.
Watch controls
There are five buttons on the watch and the ability to use the touchscreen. Given the plethora of options, we didn’t find the Polar Vantage V2 as intuitive to navigate as other running watches we’ve tried. However, we can overlook this, given the level of data you get.
The watch can also connect to music apps on your phone, so you can navigate your favourite playlists and change the volume from your wrist. You’ll also get call, message and notification alerts. It’s worth pointing out that you can’t store music on the watch.
Overall we’d recommend the Polar Vantage V2 to serious athletes who want to take their training to the next level and perform at their best.
The Polar Vantage V2 – Where and How?
The Polar Vantage V2 costs £429 – or £474 for the watch with the Polar H10 heart rate monitor. There is also the option of adding the heart rate monitor, which will unlock more of the watch’s functions. The price for the silver or black SHIFT edition of the Vantage V2 is £489.
In a nutshell, the SHIFT edition means you can quickly change the strap with any 22mm alternative whenever you like to suit your tastes. You’ll get two straps with this bundle. One is stylish perforated leather, and the other is an entirely weatherproof sports strap.
Read more watch features and reviews here.
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