Carter L. Cox
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2025
I wanted a fitness watch with an accurate and reliable HRM function that I could use for training, with a chest strap HRM.I wanted a watch with an intuitive interface and easy-to-use buttons that I could manage easily even when sweaty and gasping for breath, because, ya know, that's how it goes when you're training.I needed a watch face that I could glance at and read quickly without glasses, while running.And I needed a watch that would show the functions I wanted to know most while I was running... usually time elapsed, HRM, and distance covered.That's apparently a lot to ask from a "simple" training watch, because I've been looking for a long time for one that fits those particular requirements, and I've been SUPER cranky about it. I don't want a wrist-based HRM, because they're always inaccurate. I don't want a $3,000 Garmin supercomputer on my wrist that will show me a 3D rendered topo map of my route. I don't need to know the barometric pressure, or how far off true north the compass function is. I don't need a watch that will recite Hungarian poetry to me while I run, or anything like that. I just need some basic training metrics, delivered in a reliable form. The Polar Pacer Pro delivers. I am solidly wowed by it.The Pacer Pro watch face is easy to read even with my 55-yo eyes; the interface is dead easy to use, and the watch itself is pretty slim and not too bulky for my wee wrists. It measures the functions I want. Paired with the Polar H10 chest strap, it delivers a rock solid HRM readout, updated in real time. (The wrist-based HRM is pretty good, but when I tested it against a chest strap, it was off by as much as 7-8 bpm and lagged a few seconds in updating its reading. Better than a lot of wrist-based HRMs, but still not as good as a chest strap.) I want to be cranky about having to use an app to get full readouts on my workouts, but the app is really easy to use and I've been really happy with how it presents the info.One thing I didn't think I wanted or needed was the sleep tracking function, but having tried it, I'm finding it's really useful. It made me realize that I do not relax well before going to sleep most nights, and therefore get subpar sleep...so I've started doing some meditation and guided relaxation for a few minutes before bed, and wow, I've been sleeping a lot better, which is making me feel better overall every day.The battery life has been quite good; it goes about a week between charging, and the charging itself doesn't take much time. Rather than draining the battery fully between charges, I've been taking it off my wrist occasionally and putting it on the charger while I eat lunch or take a shower, and that's enough for several days' worth of charge. I would feel absolutely confident it would last through a full weekend of ultramarathoning, although I haven't tested it on that long a run yet.
WW
Reviewed in Canada on January 10, 2025
I prefer it overall to the Polar vantage M2. The buttons are easier to use . The bracelet attachment is better as is the bracelet. Very comfortable to wear. Much faster synchronization than with the M2.
Fernando Albino
Reviewed in Brazil on August 4, 2024
Muito satisfeito com minha compra, não somente o produto, mas todo o processo de compra e entrega!!
Sarah
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2024
I was planning to upgrade my old Amazfit GTS which has served me well for almost 4 years. I wanted something that was a bit more focused on running rather than an all rounder fitness tracker. I’m a recreational runner, running 5-6k 3 or 4 times a week so didn’t want to pay a fortune for something with lots of features I wouldn’t get the benefit from but at the same time wanted some accurate and meaningful stats from sessions. I did tons of research and the two which kept coming up in reviews was this and the Coros Pace 3. I know Polar have been making running wearables for years and Coros are relatively new to the market but I was leaning towards the Coros mainly because that was the cheaper option for similar features. However, the Polar was at an excellent Prime Day offer price (£70 cheaper than the Corps) so I decided to give it a try.I’ve been using it for about 6 weeks now and I’m absolutely delighted with it. It’s probably a little heavier than my previous watch but from other reviews much more lightweight than similar devices, it looks stylish, and feels solid. I chose it in the black/grey colour which has a kind of gunmetal look to the bezel and the buckle and a very dark grey, almost black, strap. I would have preferred a woven strap but Polar don’t seem to do one for this model and although they provide a connector to attach a different strap I had trouble doing this with an old woven one. That said, the silicon strap is comfortable to wear and I don’t feel the same level of slipping when I’m running as I did with my Amazfit.I found the set up on the app wasn’t as straightforward as it could have been but that’s the case for pretty much every wearable. It also took me a while to work out how to sync the watch and to get used to the lack of touch screen, which I actually prefer now because there’s no accidental turning off or on which used to happen with my old one.While some reviews have mentioned that the display looks basic, I’m happy with the look. In some lights I need to turn on the backlight to see the dial clearly but not really a big deal. The battery life is great. I get roughly a week out of a single charge with 3 or 4 runs.GPS connects very quickly, the watch is easy to navigate, and being able to clearly seen heart rate, speed, distance, etc on a run is great and something my previous watch didn’t have. GPS is also very accurate, and the detailed breakdown of stats and an option to record reflections of an activity through the app is great. Sleep tracking in far less accurate and sometimes doesn’t record at all so if this is a deal breaker for you this might not be the right watch. I have also noticed that the watch has occasionally turned itself off.I’ve tried some of the other sports settings, yoga, Pilates, and climbing but with all of these activities I’m not sure that there’s a meaningful way to record them aside from heart rate tracking so I think it comes into it’s own with cardio based movement activity - running, walking, hiking, bike riding, etc although I haven’t tried the others yet.Previous reviewers have talked about how great the Polar Flow app is. I haven’t had too many issues aside from initially trying to navigate it but I think there are some really basic things missing, mileage per month, for example. You can find this on the web version of Polar Flow but I don’t understand why little things like this aren’t on the app.All things considered, I’m giving in 4 stars, it’s really a 4.5 but I don’t have that option. It’s only the minor points that prevents it being a 5 and I’m prepared to overlook those for the benefits. It’s an excellent watch for the price I paid for it.
RV2016
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2024
I really like this watch. It has good battery life and the functions with Polar are great for reviewing my stats for my various activities. The HR sensing is much better than a standard HR smartwatch from my comparisons and I think I'm gonna keep this little guy for as long as it can last.
mm
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2023
I have had my Pacer Pro for 11 months and worn it almost constantly. The reliability and accuracy have been great. I have not had the issues reported by other reviewers of the watch restarting, losing its memory or losing connection with the phone.Sleep monitoring -- not as great my previous Fitbit (Charge 5). Occasionally a day's sleep is missed from the dairy but adding the sleep time just takes in a few seconds. More often, the start or end of sleep is off (almost always shorter than I think it should be), but again, it is simple to correct, and the added time is analyzed for sleep quality.Until 3 months ago, almost all of my running was done on a treadmill, and the only useful stat from the watch was my heart rate. (For comparison, I start running with an H10 strap also, but the watch and strap were close enough that I quickly dropped the strap.)For the past 3 months, I have been running outside and using a formal training plan (80/20 Endurance for half marathon on Training Peaks), and the watch has become very useful. Setting up my training plan for the next few days is pretty simple on the Polar Flow web site, and when I am running a planned workout, the Pacer will let me know when a phase or interval of the run should start and end and will signal when I am out of the target range of heart rate. Usually just ending the workout on the Pacer will automatically send my workout information to Training Peaks, but occasionally I need to manually trigger a synchronization with my watch to my phone, which will relay the information to TP. My running paths have good visibility to the sky, so my GPS tracks are very accurate. I have not noticed any information recorded by the Pacer that is not echoed to Training Peaks.Overall, I am very happy with my Polar Pacer Pro.
Yohan
Reviewed in France on July 31, 2023
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Purchaser from NH
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2023
I have used Garmin watches and they do a lot very well. Most recently the fenix 7 solar. That is a great watch but bulky and heavy. I thought I would try the Pacer Pro at 41 grams. It is very comfortable, you barely notice that you have it on even when sleeping. The GPS is accurate and connects quickly. It measures sleep extremely well. I run but also do many other cardio exercises and they have everything I do as a workout. Also has strength training. The Polar app is comparable to Garmin for what I look at.I gave up music (although I always had trouble with that with Garmin), maps, and the touchscreen. Also Polar does not give you the abundance of watch face options as Garmin and it seems like replacement watch bands are not as plentiful or really as seamless as with Garmin. All that said, for me, the Polar Pacer Pro brings what I need in a fitness watch at a very good price! And it is incredibly light and comfortable!
Tianfu
Reviewed in Singapore on April 16, 2023
I like this watch more and more as I use it. It's simple but reliable. Quick to connect to gps and has all the features one requires. The report and analysis features are great with Polar watches. Battery life is very good. It is so lightweight and comfortable. One complain I have is that there is a lag on the backlight when you lift up your wrist to read the time.
E. Fortune
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2022
I love this watch! It is light enough to wear all day without noticing it and the Pacer Pro has all the features I could want as a runner and cyclist.The build quality is superb and the form factor is sleek though durable. I like knowing I can swap bands if I want to switch up the look! The HR sensor has been accurate and I like that it tracks my HR all day and while sleeping. Also, being able to control my music and podcasts is really handy!The Flow app (works with the Pacer Pro) is a great tool in keeping tabs on my training, measuring my sleep, and guiding my recovery as well as performance. The running programs are also really useful and I have found them to be great for my 5k training.If you’re looking to upgrade your watch game, the Pacer Pro is a great choice that will last for years to come! Highly recommended.