Sport watch only Polar Vantage M/V is great and the Flow app is very good. I wanted to love my Vantage V but it just wasn't good in the pool for swimming and I want the optimal combination of every day smart/activity/sport watch (with great battery life). I have a Garmin Fenix6 which is ok but I'm still looking for the all 3 killer device. It doesn't exist yet.

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tinman

Whats wrong with the Vantage V in the Pool?

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IG - @ryanppax
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Both the Polar Vantage V and Suunto 9 just could not reliably count laps correctly for me. My Garmin Fenix 6 is super reliable and maybe misses a length once a month. I swim free only with open turns on the wall - not sure if that has something to do with it. I know the swimming purists will tisk tisk on using a watch to count laps but a key requirement for me nonetheless.

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tinman

Mine as well. The garmins never miss a lap. And I ALWAYS lose count after 300 or so yards

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IG - @ryanppax
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Use code ST5 for $5 off your order

only happens to me that measures badly, with paddles
Then it measures me, let's say perfect.
The technical part does not measure me, but neither did the suunto nor the garmin.
After testing several watches of different brands, I think there is no perfect one.
I like the vantage V, I use the power to train, I also have the stryd, but it is much better that of the polar, since it varies with the effort, ascents descents, effort to the wind.
If I had to buy again, I think I would expect something new.
sorry my english

Hello

(francais ?)

I was using Garmin (Edge 510, when cycling only), then used Polar (V800, when began running and swimming more seriously), and finally came back to Garmin (FR935).

I loved the V800, and I love the 935. I'm sure the Vantages are great also.

But, IMO, Garmin Connect is much better than Polar Flow. More features, easier to use. Working great on my iPhone 5S (old, yes) and on my McBook Air. This is personal of course. But this was the reason for me to came back and stick with Garmin.

C'est pas très encourageant tout ça ;-)

With connect, I often times have situation that says "945 not connected to iPhone, do you want to pair it" when it actually is connected. I get notifications etc.
The stuff I don't care about really. What I want is that training sessions get uploaded easily, without having to turn the watch on and off a bunch of times until it decides to send the data to the phone. That's annoying. And I know...first world problems :-)

When my 935 don't sync with the iPhone (happen sometimes) I just switch off iPhone bluetooth, wait a few seconds, then switch it on again, and it work.

C'est pas très high tech, mais c'est le plus rapide que j'ai trouvé :-)

I wasn't going to chime in because it's not really relevant to the OP. But, since the discussion seems to have pivoted....

I have both an iPhone (work) and an android (personal). I ONLY have this sync problem with iPhone. Android works 100% fo the time without fail. I don't know for sure, but my suspicion is that its got something to do with the way ios handles background apps.

I also solve the iPhone issues the same way. Open connect, and toggle BT OFF/ON.

Francois,

I've been using the Polar Vantage M since it first came out a few years ago. My needs are basic - Heart Rate and GPS when riding outdoors - that's essentially it.

I use the Polar H10 chest strap unit - Polar scored a lot of marks when the Vantage series came out about the accuracy of their wrist HR reading - as best in class, it is OK, but nothing beats the accuracy of the H10 Chest Strap. I know to newbies the wrist reading HR is a big seller, but I've been wearing a chest strap for so long for riding, it's like a natural thing, + it's way more accurate.

I can't speak for Power usage, other apps or integration as I don't use power and my needs as noted are basic. I track a few odd things in the Polar Flow App, and I leave it at that. GPS unit for outdoors riding, seems reasonably accurate, with no complaints from me.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

This is most likely Apple's fault and not Garmin. Apple massively broke their proprietary Bluetooth stack with iOS 13. Many BT devices became unstable with that release. If I could roll my iPhone back to iOS 12, I would in a snap. It is terrible. So, if BT connectivity is a pain, do not it expect to be any better with another product. (My Fitbit is far worse than Garmin, BT headsets will not stay connected, and my car occasionally drops.)

I have had this issue for well over a year. So, I'd venture it's on the garmin side. I agree with your iOS 13 comment though.

Aaah. Prior to iOS 13, my Garmin Connect was perfect. By chance, do you have an iPhone 7? Those had a broken BT stack that was never right, even with subsequent iOS releases.

I agree that it predates ios 13, and 12,and 11, and 10. It's been true since day1 that we started using ios for work. Again never on Android, so I still think it's an ios issue.

I have an iPhone XS. As the previous poster just wrote, I didn't have issues (of that nature) with the android I had before.

Very true... Apple Bluetooth ranges between a little broken and a lot broken, and it has been so since forever. I had a BMW when BMW had teamed with Apple to announce Apple in-car BT with BMW. The funny thing was that Apple broke the BT stack ahead of that marketing launch, and BMW had to scramble to create a custom Bluetooth module specifically for Apple products. Apple subsequently fixed their error so their phones could work with BMW's prior BT modules about a year after the launch. History repeated itself with iOS 13, except this time Apple did the fixing.

Well that sucks. I was going to suggest that the XS on iOS 12 was Apple's most perfect product ever from a BT standpoint. I never had a single BT glitch on my old XS with any devices (multiple headsets, cars, Garmin, and Fitbit devices). Since i jumped to the 11 on iOS 13, my BT world went to hell.

Made the switch about 2.5 months ago. Had a FR245 which didn't handle multisport. I was ok with it for running (also got a stryd that made it muuuuch better on the treadmill) didn't use it for the bike and really liked it for swimming in the pool (loved that I could basically build a workout, hit go and have it walk me through and record everything as I did it, no more index card in a ziploc). I moved to a Vantage V, and have been happy with it. I now use it to record everything. I wanted to try and see if it could basically be my one stop shop and use Polar Flow instead of training peaks to save $120/yr. I have had to learn a new ecosystem, and sometimes hit the wrong button and there have been a few things here and there that I had to figure out, but overall it's really nice. I'm not sold on being able to ditch TP yet. I really like the sleep/recovery metrics quite a bit. The Nightly recharge has been excellent and i've learned a few things from it that I think make my recovery and subsequent training more effective. For example, two beers and my sleep suffers, but because of the way that Polar breaks it down, I've learned that I can overcome that deficiency with a little more sleep. So it's kept me from drinking on weeknights when I can't get an extra hour or two.

Honestly , the swimming is the only thing I felt Garmin did better (I don't get missed laps, but the garmin interface and data I'd upload was just much better. I'm learning to deal, and realize that an index card in a ziploc isn't a big deal. The polar has an auto pause so it senses when you are resting on the wall, so now it's more like swimming when I was a kid, using the written workout and a pace clock.

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I don't use a watch for swimming so, not an issue for me. That and the fact that my shoulder isn't fixed anyway so I haven't swum since July. But wouldn't bother me anyway.

I really like my Polar Vantage M a lot. The Vantage has the best optical setup at the wrist with significantly more sensors than Garmin 935. The Vantage is good for swimming hr at wrist and HRV while sleeping.

I just got my 3rd Polar device and am extremely happy with it. Never had an issue with the previous 2. The quality of the Vantage M is fantastic. The display is easy to read and provides all the important data. Very user friendly. Polar flow is very data rich, and helpful in setting and achieving goals. Their service is also superior, with many long-term, happy employees, which is the sign of a well run company. Polar is definitely the way to go.

In which case... If it's an ios bt issue, not garmin connect, then changing watch brand isn't going to make things better for François.

Ibe pisted elsewhere that I went from Garmin 910 / 920 to a Polar Vantage M about a year ago.

No regrets.

Flow App infinitely better than Connect.

The watch itself ? No problems.

There are a few odd things I did prefer on the 910 that are not available on the Vantage (last-lap data is what I miss the most as a selectable screen / data on the watch - so you only get the 5 or 6 seconds of it as the lap 'clicks over' 'live' . But it's available on the app afterwards for analysis.)

I prefer some other features tho on polar, so swings vs roundabouts.

Lap swimming counting just as good as the 910/920.
I just cann't wear the watch on the inside of the wrist - has to be on the outside to get the lap counter to work (i preferred to put a watch on the inside to more easily see the screen and to protect it a bit more agsinst knocks and in the biff of OW starts - but most dont anyway)

If using a heart rate strap the watch is BLUETOOTH (Bluetooth low energy) ONLY.
Not ANT+ receiving.
No prob for me as I had a Tickr HR monitor anyway which emits both ant+ and BLE. And the built in optical HR is as good (and as limited ) as all optical HRs.

Open water. I find the OW Gps tracking way better on the Polar than the 910/920.
But you must get the gps to 'fix' before setting off. If your hand is underwater too long and the gps fix is lost it struggles to re-fix whilst swimming, as of course the hand is only out the water for 1/3 the time and in short busts. (Whereas my 910/920 seemed better at gps locking on whilst swimming after it was lost). It really just means I keep my hand at the surface / out of the water before a swim start,to keep gps fix, then it's fine once actually swimming and more accurate (i had some plots of my Polar vs the 920 from some swims at a local OW venue with a 600m circuit. Polar pretty correct and consistant distance per lap. The 920 fairly random by comparison (eg same 600m would vary from 550 to 700m+ on the Garmin whereas the polar consistant from lap to lap within 20m or so.

I gave up the barometer altimeter by going for the cheaper M - no huge loss to me and when you read of so many people having problems on Garmins with them it begs the question of why bother (I also had the baro go wrong / fixed twice on me on the 910).

The reason I went to the Polar? A combo of
- fed up of the Garmins keeping going wrong on me
- the Vantage M had a good battery life vs say a 735 (735 not good enough for me on an IM or when I did an Xtri - I'm just too slow to get around in 10hrs)
- the garmin alternative with adequate battery (935 at time) was 60% more to buy (paid £190-195 for the Vantage, best I could get a 935 was about £350.
945 was in the £450 region from memory).

1 year in, I'm happy with what I bought.

Fenix (can't remember the version) to V800 and haven't looked back. Now on a Vantage V.

Garmin's firmware bugginess drove me over the edge, but I've found the Polar user interface (on the watch) to be much more intuitive, and the Flow web site is miles better than Connect.

Biggest regret is not having a decent bike computer. (I use a Bolt.) Sure wish Polar and Wahoo would work out some kind of partnership that would allow Elemnts to upload to Flow. (And yes, I realize that you can do that manually or with apps, but not all information is transferred; e.g. time in zones.)