Overdue for a refresh — no successor announced yet. Prices should be at their lowest
Best for: Trail runners, hikers, and outdoor athletes who want Polar's analytics with significantly longer battery life than the Vantage V3. The titanium case and sapphire glass make it suitable for technical terrain where watch durability matters.
Full details →Overdue for a refresh — no successor announced yet. Prices should be at their lowest
Best for: Serious runners on a budget who want multi-band GPS accuracy, long battery life, and a training-focused analytics platform (EvoLab) without paying Garmin flagship prices. Also a strong choice for anyone who wants a lightweight race watch with full-featured training data.
Full details →| Polar Grit X | COROS Pace | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | Sports GPS | Sports GPS |
| Platform | iOS & Android | iOS & Android |
| Battery | 40 days | 38 days |
| Always-on display | ❌ | ❌ |
| GPS | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cellular | ❌ | ❌ |
| Health sensors | hr, spo2, hrv, running power | hr, spo2, hrv, training load |
| Released | Mar 14, 2023 | Sep 1, 2023 |
| Cycle length | 873 days | 700 days |
| Cycle advice | bad | bad |
| Deals advice | good | good |
| Next model | — | — |
Five times the battery of the Vantage V3 — enough for week-long mountain stages or ultramarathons without charging access.
Automatically segments your run by uphill and downhill sections, calculating pace and power for each — essential for mountain race training.
Running power without a chest strap or foot pod — Polar's key differentiator versus Garmin at this price tier.
At 30 grams, the Pace 3 is among the lightest GPS watches available — yet delivers 38 days typical use and 17 hours continuous GPS.
Dual-frequency L1+L5 GPS typically found on $400+ watches — available on the Pace 3 at $229.
Running power, training load, base fitness, threshold metrics, and race predictor — a serious analytics suite that rivals Garmin at a lower cost.