Some people use their smartwatches essentially as
wrist-worn extensions of their smartphones. Others buy super-affordable
wearable devices to count steps, monitor their sleep (with a relatively low
degree of accuracy), and keep general track of casual sporting activities. Finally,
you have your professional athletes and fitness enthusiasts that care almost
entirely about their health and bodies, seeking the ideal tools to help them
constantly evolve their workout routines.
Polar makes a wide range of products aimed at the latter
category, the latest of which is significantly cheaper than the company's
Vantage V Titan "premium multisport watch" and Vantage V "pro
multisport watch." Billed as a "GPS fitness watch", the Polar
Ignite is sleeker and pricier than the M430 and M200 "GPS running
watches", fetching US$ 229.95 right now with a circular display (surrounded
by thick bezels) in tow and three easily replaceable silicon wristband options
(black, white, and yellow).
Although the touchscreen is described as
"bright" and colorful, the battery life is rated at up to five days,
which exceeds the number advertised by the popular US$ 200 Fitbit Versa. That's
naturally without the built-in GPS chip activated, as well as most smartphone
interactions reduced to a minimum.
Nonetheless, if Polar can pull the five-day autonomy
off in real life with continuous heart rate measurement and 24/7 activity
tracking, the company might just have a mainstream winner on its hands.
Technically, the Ignite looks like a niche product, boasting a number of
super-advanced health and wellness features and technologies, but some of these
could definitely prove useful for the masses as well.
or instance, Sleep Plus Stages promises to deliver
the most accurate and complex insight into your sleep quality, collecting a
vast treasure trove of information and condensing all that into a simple Sleep
Score. Meanwhile, Nightly Recharge combines your Sleep Score with "daily
recovery information from the body" to help you better understand how
stressed or tired you might be at any given time and exactly what you can do to
swiftly recover.
Last but certainly not least, FitSpark is basically
your own personal trainer, providing personalized, adaptive guidance of your
workouts based on fitness level, training history, and Nightly Recharge
measurements. This way, you will always be pushed to your limits, but never
beyond them.