Watching this since I am in the same boat than you and I am trying to decide between the Vantage M, Coros and 735xt. I haven't find any reviews of the Polar exclusively for triathlon use.

Ironically I’m exactly the same except replace 735xt with 935. I’m forgetful and would really love mega battery life.

I know the 935 is the “best” of them but I just don’t want to pay Garmin prices I think they’re just too high. But before I jump ship last thing I want is to spend $300+ on a watch just to come crawling back.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Surprising amount of crickets. Bump

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I have the vantage M (since black Friday) and I'll try to answer all your questions.

-battery life is tremendous. It's amazing. Even better than my wahoo bolt and lezyne super gps headunits. I think I could actually get 30 hours with gps on and the optical HRM. I don't usually use the OHRM during workouts though; normally the wahoo tickr.

-auto sync with my phone works great. I have a Moto E plus (android).
-smartphone notifications are scheduled for the update released "early February." The other updates were on schedule.

I don't miss the ANT+ connectivity. My vantage M calibrates assioma just fine and I have the wahoo tickr and a polar H7. Works great with both.

I wear the watch 24/7 and the only thing I really miss is not having navigation.

I love having instant and after the fact heart rate while swimming in the pool.

How is the GPS in use? I know it’s winter so I’m sure use is limited. But does it seem accurate and consistent? Does it connect quickly?

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I've had extensive use of the gps, other than no openwater swims. I don't zwift exclusively in winter, just primarily. I xc ski and run outside. I'd say it's as accurate as the 935 (which isn't great). Reception is quick, yeah. It's not as accurate as the v800 or my tomtom multisport, which were both great.

If you want accurate instant pace for running, get a stryd footpod.

Does it charge during workouts like the Coros and 935 can?

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I got the V and besides a few very annoying glitches that seem to be software-related, I really really like it. The battery life is outstanding. The swim tracking is pretty good. I don't care about smartphone notifications, so that is less important to me..... the screen is really good. And I love how it backlights up when you flip your wrist up to look at it (when running at night this is AMAZING).

So yes, so far, mixed reviews :) It will talk to my new power meter (Assioma).

-Eric

Sorry for the onslaught of seemingly dumb questions. But the swim tracking. Does it track drills too? This is one of the reasons I’m looking to replace my VAHR. Battery life, no tri mode or open water (I use a 910xt for racing and open water), and it doesn’t track my swim drills very well.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Hello Eric
I'm with a suunto spartan ultra and I'm wanting to go to the polar vantage v
Could you tell me a little more?
Do you know the spartan?
What do you think about the change ?
Thank you

No, you're all good. So yeah, there is open water (GPS) and pool (accelerometer) modes for swimming. You get data like this:

Is that what you mean?

The only time I've had the slightest problem is when doing kick sets (the watch has no idea you're kicking :) )

-Eric

I'm not familiar with the Suunto, sorry. What specific questions do you have?

-Eric

I jumped ship from Polar long ago. They are kind of like the Racermate of the HR/Sports Watch market. I had an Accurex II and a few others along the way. They were pretty much the only game in town at the time. The problem is they are too arrogant in their beliefs and they don't listen to their customers. Way back in the day most gym equipment supported Polar non encoded (and sometimes encoded) signals. Great, except their top of the line watches used W.I.N.D. only. I told them, they needed an HR sensor that transmits both. Nope, not needed according to them. I had to jury rig one together myself.

Fast forward to today. They just don't support ANT+. Sorry, but I've done development work with both ANT+ and BLE and ANT+ is easier to work with and just a flat out superior solution for fitness sensors. Pairing might be great when you want your headphones to only communicate with your phone, but it's bad when you want to use several applications/devices to pickup and display the same sensor readings. At the very least, you need to give your customer a choice. Don't arrogantly pick one and force it on your customers.

I dont know why you are working so hard to avoid garmin...

Eta: it seems like all your posts are like, "I want something that is just like a garmin... Has all the features, reliability, accuracy, etc. Just see than little garmin logo? I don't want THAT."

But the hr data from dcr review of the new garmin hrm-dual has vantage m data in it. Looks like shit. Seems more like a random heart rate number generator than a monitor. I wouldn't touch it.

Eta: I also want nothing to do with BLE only devices.

It has 100% to do with price. To get everything I want it puts my in the 935. And that has me spending $419 as the cheapest I’ve seen. At least from a reliable retailer. And I just have a hard time shelling out over $400 for a watch. To be honest I have a hard time shelling out $300 for a watch. So since Garmin doesn’t want to accommodate with a mid range watch that has an oHR, that has a long battery life. I’ll at the very least take a long hard look at all the other watches.

End of the day Triathlon is an expensive sport. I try to look and save money where I can without sacraficing what’s important to me functionality wise.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I get THAT. That's exactly why I have a 920xt. I bought it two years ago, refurb for $200 (which was and is a lot of money for a watch)...when it was a few months from aging out of the top spot of the product line. That's why I STILL have a 920xt. That's why I'm looking at buying a replacement battery for it, to get ANOTHER 2 years out of it.

Good luck in your search. Nothing I've seen says that oHR is a direct replacement for electrical, yet. I wouldn't die on a sword for it, that's for sure. Even the "best" oHR devices seem to come with a lot of caveats, and work arounds and funky nuances. I don't spend a lot of time looking at it, but when I have random chances to look at comparative traces such as the DCR HRM-DUAL review...nothing about the data says, "yeah, gimmie some of THAT!"

Again, no way I would every buy a watch (or other head unit) that didn't support ANT+. I like the idea of dual BLE/ANT support to give me sensor selection freedom...but, if I can only have one..ANT+ is mandatory on the head unit. The MANY-MANY pairing / monitoring feature of ANT+ is non-negotiable.

I agree oHR isn’t a replacement and I use a strap. But I supplement with oHR on my vivoactive. It’s just me personally what I do. But I’m forgetful and lose stuff, having big chunks with no HR at all pre-VAHR, or just bonkers readings every which way on cold dry days I was actually relieved and semi-pleased to get an oHR. Otherwise I’d already have a 920 easy peasy lemon squeezey. I also monitor my rHR especially when I wake up and over sleep to try and get a baseline when I’m over reaching. I’ve measured rHR against palpating and it seems to work fine.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I have to agree with you on price. I have a 935 and while it's good it is not a $499 watch. With that being said, i'd stay far away from Polar as you will end up spending a lot more when you replace it.

I bought a 42mm Coros Apex. The battery life is insanely good.
The firmware is really good with a few tweaks I'd like to see.
They seem to roll out frequent updates though.
Some of the user manual still has Chinese characters too!

Bang for the buck though... not sure it can be beat.

I tried the triathlon mode. It even tracks transitions and allows you to do custom race setups like duathlon or Bike, swim, run or whatever..

I’m actually really looking close at the Coros. Probably my #1 choice at this point. But I want to cover all my bases. When I do stop annoying people on slowtwitch about a watch I want it to be for a very long time.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

PM me. I actually owned the spartan trainer and the vantage M for a month, then returned the spartan trainer. I have a detailed comparison I messaged to another user. Given the choice between the Suunto 9 and the vantage V I think I would go with the Suunto. But I'm happy with the Vantage M instead of the spartan trainer.

I've been using a Vantage V for about a month after having an original fenix 5 since its release (the last version w/o wifi since I work in a facility that doesn't allow wifi devices). As a long-time fenix user, it seems like for every feature on the Vantage that I really like, there seems like there are at least 2 or 3 things missing. It's hard to describe, but from a software stand-point, it just doesn't seem to be a finished product. From what I can tell, Polar users seem to be anxiously waiting for the next firmware update to see where it's heading.

I looked at the Coros too but I really like Polar flow, the vantage M is cheaper, and good triathlon watches need 4 or 5 buttons. Not one button and a touchscreen. Not three buttons and a touchscreen. Not one and a dial. 5 buttons-up, down, select, back, and light/calibrate. I run and bike and ski with gloves. No way I'm turning a dial while skiing up a hill or when swimming.

If I had more money I would have bought the 935 or the Suunto 9.

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. For every + there's several -.

-Eric

DCRainmaker's take - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...ltisport-review.html

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iSMARTtrain - Mac training software for Garmin, SRM, PowerTap & Polar
http://www.ismarttrain.com

I really wanted to like this watch but after that review the 735xt is looking a lot better for just an extra $50.

The big downside for the 735 is you need to go under 10 hours to avoid the battery running out. Which worked fine on my first Ironman with it but hasn't worked that well for the 2 following :) I suppose you can also take that as a motivation :)

Or you can use it as an excuse to don't do anything over 70.3 ;). I don't plan on doing any full distance triathlons in the near future, doing sprints and olys at the moment, I'm still trying to conquer the half.

How's the lap pool swimming functionality? It looks like the Polar has auto lap/pause similar to Suunto. Can one also record laps/intervals manually via button push? How reliable is it at measuring laps/distance? Also, treadmill running - how accurate is it without a foot pod?

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tinman

Pool swimming functionality is really good. Tracks stroke type, distance, automatic rest periods and heart rate. You can also hit the lap button and do laps manually. The auto laps/distance measurement is the best of any watch I've had between fenix 3 suunto spartan trainer, tomtom multisport and 310xt. On strava/tp, it won't show rest periods as you resting-it'll just show entire time, and distance swam. Only if you hit lap manually will it show the lap on strava or training peaks, though each length shows on polar flow.

Not done any treadmill running. If I did I'd get a stryd footpod.

Thanks - that sounds promising. Should I use the combination of the lap button and then the pause button or if I use only the lap button will the Polar V still recognize/measure rest between intervals and auto start when I push off the wall for the next lap/interval?

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tinman

That’s why I ended up with 935. I’ll want to keep it for at least 3 years and can’t predict if I’ll be doing an IM. I’d hate to have to buy another watch

It recognizes when you are actually swimming vs standing at the end of the lane. Just don't turn around in the middle of a length or switch strokes during a length. Sometimes I just hit pause (bottom left) to do drills or kicksets, then start when I want to swim again.

I’ve got the Vantage V currently and have been using it for the past two months for all my training, which was for a 50K I ran 1.5 weeks ago.

Auto-sync has been on and off for me, but frankly when it doesn’t work just holding the back button to make it happen isn’t an issue for me. The lack of ANT+ hasn’t been a problem as so many device makers have both Bluetooth and ANT+, so no issue there. Notifications haven’t yet come to either unit, but the V is getting back to start and navigation (along with notifications) this month, which will be useful for me. I have a Fenix 5x to compare it to and though I like having maps for when I’m lost in the woods, I’m not yet convinced the size of the unit is worth having that “just in case”, feature.

When it comes down to it, it’s hard to compare the three big companies (Garmin, Polar, Suunto) fairly as Garmin is leaps and bounds beyond the other two, rather inexplicably so. You just have to decide which features matter most to you and which company’s basket you want your eggs in. If your jam is triathlon, Garmin or Polar, especially if you want recovery data, etc... as both platforms offer running and cycling GPS units and sync activity data across the board. Suunto doesn’t have a cycling unit, but if you do ultra/trail/hiking/travel, then Suunto or Garmin will be a better bet if you want more “durable” (e.g., sapphire glass)) units with more navigation features and watch faces that put elevation, sunset/sunrise times, time zone, etc... in reach easily.

All this to say, the new Polar line is great if you like Scandinavian design useful recovery/performance data and a lower price tag.

Very well said.

Swimming in Yards based pools - problem with the distance displayed.

I've been swimming a 40 yards (yep that's right, 40 yards) pool.
I set the pool distance to this in the watch (and defo in yards not metres).

It's showing the distance display in yards too.
But... at each lap its actually showing the yards-equivalent of it being a 40 Metre pool. So for example after 5 lengths, instead of showing 200 yards, its actually showing 218 yards (ie equiv to 200m).

Ive re-set and reried 2 or 3 more times and get the same fault, inc if I use the pre-set 25 yard pool option too.

If I set to say 25m then it gives the right distance.

Anyone else had this problem ?

S/w isup to date, and same incorrect data shows on Polar Flow if I Upload.

I would argue the opposite, Garmin hardware in my experience is much lower quality, software platform is abysmal and they tend to just stop supporting products on a whim.

I would run not walk away from Garmin every day all day.

Is have you found any issues using your Vantage with the Wahoo Tickr?

I am wearing my Polar M 24/24 since nearly a year. It just works and as mentioned above you charge once per week and can track your daily commute without problems.

If ever you are hesitating because of BT only: there is a nice HR monitor from 4iiii (called Viiiiva) that converts a Ant+ (from your cycle PM for example) into BT. I used this when I wanted to have PM data on the same time on the Polar Vantage M and the iPhone (for Rouvy or Zwift).

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/13873052