Not just a running watch, more than a sports watch – it’s the premium triathlon and multisport watch for ambitious athletes: Polar Vantage V.
Building on the heritage of the Polar V800, which still today is the workhorse for many elite athletes around the world, Polar Vantage V offers a pro-level, personalized multisport experience with the most accurate optical heart rate technology, running power from the wrist, and new training load and recovery features. (And that’s not all: see the updates we have lined up for the Vantage series.)
If you’re thinking about updating your Polar V800 and wondering how Polar Vantage V compares to its predecessor, see our quick comparison list of the key features at the end of this article.
But, first, let’s explore what exactly makes the new Polar Vantage V multisport watch the perfect training partner for athletes who are serious about achieving their goals.
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If we had to name one key benefit…
When you fall in love with someone, it’s hard to pinpoint just one specific reason why – it’s the whole package that makes you fall and stay in love.
There isn’t only one feature or design detail that would fully explain why the Polar Vantage V is unique.
In the same way, there isn’t only one feature or design detail that would fully explain why Polar Vantage V is unique. It’s all the smart stuff inside the beautiful package (and, yes, also the actual package with robust design and premium materials).
If we had to name one benefit that all new features and improvements have in common is they make it easier for pro-level athletes to track their performance and use more holistic data to balance training and recovery.
That’s the big picture but the package is filled with goodies for pro-level athletes so let’s crack it open and take a closer look.
Wrist-based, chest-based… heart rate in every situation
Now, let’s start with heart rate measurement, which has been at the core of Polar’s solutions since the 1970s. For the athletes who have been struggling with tracking their heart rate data with a chest strap when racing, we have great news!
The most accurate alternative for chest straps: Polar Precision Prime™, a cutting-edge wrist-based heart rate measurement.
With the new Polar Vantage series, we’ve taken our extensive knowledge and experience from heart rate technology and used it to create the most accurate alternative for chest straps: Polar Precision Prime™, a cutting-edge wrist-based heart rate measurement.
This is the only heart rate technology that uses three methods to provide accurate heart rate: nine optical channels using several colors and wavelengths of light, 3D acceleration, and an electrical sensor that measures the quality of sensor-skin contact.
Athletes can now monitor their heart rate reliably without a chest strap and track their heart rate straight from the wrist.
This means that athletes can now monitor their heart rate reliably straight from the wrist with a faster response time, more sensitivity for readings, and much higher accuracy and reliability for wrist-based heart rate.
But, the Polar Precision Prime technology doesn’t make chest-based heart rate measurement redundant because the Polar H10 heart rate sensor still provides the best heart rate accuracy, for example, for sprints, strength training, and measuring recovery with the new Recovery Pro™ feature on Vantage V.
Train and recover like a pro
The key to balancing training and rest is learning to listen to your body and to combine your subjective feeling with data. With the Polar Vantage V multisport watch, you can optimize your training and recovery on a whole new pro level.
The new Training Load Pro™ and Recovery Pro™ features will help you to recognize your personal limits by giving you personalized feedback and telling you whether you’ve been training too much, too little, or just right.
Training Load Pro™ doesn’t measure just one system of your body but three!
Training Load Pro™ doesn’t measure just one system of your body but three: Cardio, Muscle, and Perceived Load. Combining all three loads will give you the best understanding of your total training load and how demanding each training session is for different systems of your body.
Recovery Pro™ measures your daily recovery level with the Orthostatic Test, tracks your long-term recovery, and gives you feedback on how recovered you are and recommendations on when you can train again.
The recovery measurement takes into account all stress factors in your life, not only stress from training.
The recovery measurement is based on your heart rate and your heart rate variability and takes into account all stress factors in your life, including stress from training and stress caused by other aspects of your life, such as poor sleep or work pressure.
This is what you’ll get:
- A personalized training recommendation for each day
- Warning when you’re at risk of overtraining, injury, or illness
- Feedback when you have too much stress from something else than training
- Motivation to keep training if you start to lose your momentum
A package full of power
Polar Vantage V has over 130 different sports profiles to choose from and a multisport mode to track several sports in one training session (ahoy triathletes!).
As the first sports watch to measure running power from the wrist, the Polar Vantage V paves the way into the future of running.
Obviously, it’s a lot more than just a running watch, but paves the way into the future of running, being the first sports watch to measure Running Power from the wrist, calculated with Polar’s proprietary algorithm and based on your GPS and barometer data.
Running Power is relatively new but it is a great tool to measure the external load of your running. It reacts faster than heart rate so it’s ideal for measuring your load for uphill running and interval sessions. You can also use it to maintain a steady effort level during your run even in varying terrain.
Running Power complements heart rate measurement: when you measure both you can detect changes in your running performance. If after weeks of training you can produce the same power with a lower heart rate, your running performance has improved.
Polar Vantage V multisport watch uses Running Power to calculate your Muscle Load, the load that your training session puts on your joints, and your muscular and skeletal systems.
What about the package?
Polar Vantage V multisport watch is lightweight (66g), compact in size (46 x 46 x 13 mm) and fits perfectly on your wrist – it’s ergonomically optimized for sports and allows your wrist to move naturally.
To make the product work ideally in training as well as in daily use, the user interface has both a color touch display and buttons. The touch screen is handy but with the buttons, you can use your multisport watch without watching (pun intended) and focus on your training.
It’s as tough as they come.
With a stainless steel front case and Gorilla Glass lens, Polar Vantage V is as tough as they come. To make sure, we put it through the toughest tests and tried every possible way to break it so that you wouldn’t be able to – it’s designed to last.
Polar Vantage V vs. Polar V800
Polar Vantage V builds on the success of the Polar V800 but takes giant leaps longer. Here’s how the two Polar products compare. (You can also use our comparison tool to compare Polar Vantage V with other Polar products.)
| Polar Vantage V | Polar V800 | |
| Polar Precision Prime™, wrist-based heart rate measurement | X | |
| Speed and distance from the wrist | X | X |
| Training Load Pro™ | X | |
| Recovery Pro™ | X | |
| Running power | From the wrist | Via third-party sensor |
| Running Program | X | X |
| Running Index | X | X |
| Sleep Plus™ | X | Detects sleep duration and quality |
| Multisport mode | X | X |
| Swimming metrics | X | X |
| Water resistance | Waterproof | WR30 |
| GPS | X | X |
| GLONASS | X | X |
| Barometer | X | X |
| Battery life with GPS | 40 hours in training mode | 13h of training with GPS and sensors/50h in low-power GPS mode |
| Display | Always-on color touch display, 240 x 240 px | Black-and-white display, 128×128 px |
| Weight | 66g | 79g |
IS THAT IT?
No, of course that’s not it! We’re rolling out a number of enhancements to both Polar Vantage V and M. Check our Vantage updates page to see what we have lined up.
HOW CAN I GET MY HANDS ON Polar Vantage V?
Find out more and buy Polar Vantage V on the Polar webstore or get it in a store closest to you.
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Please note that the information provided in the Polar Blog articles cannot replace individual advice from health professionals. Please consult your physician before starting a new fitness program.
