Lots of talk on the matter and my 910xt went caput so here are some thoughts I have based on my experiences. Any questions, let me know.
Watch General – appears to be built better than the 910xt…had strap issues with the Garmin, and we have all had issues with barometer on the stupid thing. Great looking watch and find the display easier to read, however, the 910xt screen may be a tad larger (wider) which can make it easier to read multiple displays. Miolink works for run and bike, but not for recovery testing. You can also touch the screen to give you recovery status and daily cals burned and it will return to watch view.
Saving Data - Once you end a workout, on the Polar you have the choice to save or delete right away. With the Garmin I had to go into settings, history, etc, etc. Also, easy to sync with app. Goes to Polar for those with mobile devices. With BT, don’t need my wahoo tool to sync them.
Swim Metrics – More curious than anything with the HR metrics with Polar. Miolink won’t provide HR data. You can turn on the GPS for the Polar right now, but nothing inside. Currently, this win goes to the Garmin…waiting to see the swim metrics for Polar.
Cycling – Currently Garmin all the way. Polar is really behind on this. Can’t sync with Kickr and I have a Quarq, so no luck there either. Update scheduled in June so we will see. It won’t help my Quarq, but if it picks up power from Kickr, I’d be happy.
Run – Very similar to the Garmin 910xt. Race pace is nice; it has some route options that you can program and send to the watch. At the end of lap on a run, like the Garmin it will auto lap and show you distance/pace, but it then gives you HR avg and max pace, nice touch. Miolink works on the run. The GPS is fast. I give the edge here to Polar, but not by much. I don’t have the foot pod but would be curious on trying it down the road. The pod size would be a draw back to Polar.
Uploading Software/Charging – Both work in similar fashion. I use my Ipad so not needing any extra pieces (wahoo key) with the Polar, win goes to Polar.
Customer Service – This goes to Polar. It’s great they have some reps on ST. Wayne gave me a call in a reply to an email and we had a good honest discussion on a couple of fronts. If I was at a 50-50 draw on deciding, the service would push me over. Tks Wayne.
App – like it much better than Garmin Connect even though it is still developing. Also, some nice features with Polar Flow Web. I’m really curious where they go with the App and Web. I haven’t found a way to compare workouts with Polar where you can in Garmin. This all being said, I give the edge to Garmin at this time because you can transfer data to TP, Strava, etc. Once this update comes to Polar, it will be Polar win.
Activity Tracker/Recovery – Well Garmin doesn’t have it, makes it easy. It is interesting data to see (sleep time/restless sleep/sit/stand/walk/active). Didn’t appeal to me, but now that I have it, kind of neat. Also, if you are a data geek, the orthostatic test can be quite interesting along with Polar recommendations for Training Load and time to recover.
BT/Ant – No point beating a dead horse. I don’t lay blame on Polar for this. It can just as easily be laid on Quarq and other devices for not being dual. If you didn’t have power meter, you wouldn’t be complaining that it was BT since pretty well everything is heading this way. I will need to do a work around (upload from Edge or use 4iiii product).
Cost – Garmin wins hear…huge difference.
Other – There are some nice/neat functions within the watch (tap screen), and programmable displays, map/race functions, customizable sport functions. Releasing a product not quite ready is a risk. Well, we can use Recon Jet as an example. They are now waiting till at least September and that is the end of our season (for most), not much good to anyone. It is clearly a solid enough product now with open swim metrics that I’d rather start the season with it, than end with it. Hopefully the firmware updates come quickly. At the end of the day, there is a bit of trust at play that Polar will follow through with firmware updates and they have come out and said as such, you either believe them or don’t, I do. This will be my first Polar product as well, so can’t compare to any others. Sorry. I’ve used it for a couple of training runs/swims/bike. Not quite DC Rainmaker (thanks for answering my questions DC) quality, but my first thoughts.
As I keep playing with it, I may add a few more comments as I learn.
Watch General – appears to be built better than the 910xt…had strap issues with the Garmin, and we have all had issues with barometer on the stupid thing. Great looking watch and find the display easier to read, however, the 910xt screen may be a tad larger (wider) which can make it easier to read multiple displays. Miolink works for run and bike, but not for recovery testing. You can also touch the screen to give you recovery status and daily cals burned and it will return to watch view.
Saving Data - Once you end a workout, on the Polar you have the choice to save or delete right away. With the Garmin I had to go into settings, history, etc, etc. Also, easy to sync with app. Goes to Polar for those with mobile devices. With BT, don’t need my wahoo tool to sync them.
Swim Metrics – More curious than anything with the HR metrics with Polar. Miolink won’t provide HR data. You can turn on the GPS for the Polar right now, but nothing inside. Currently, this win goes to the Garmin…waiting to see the swim metrics for Polar.
Cycling – Currently Garmin all the way. Polar is really behind on this. Can’t sync with Kickr and I have a Quarq, so no luck there either. Update scheduled in June so we will see. It won’t help my Quarq, but if it picks up power from Kickr, I’d be happy.
Run – Very similar to the Garmin 910xt. Race pace is nice; it has some route options that you can program and send to the watch. At the end of lap on a run, like the Garmin it will auto lap and show you distance/pace, but it then gives you HR avg and max pace, nice touch. Miolink works on the run. The GPS is fast. I give the edge here to Polar, but not by much. I don’t have the foot pod but would be curious on trying it down the road. The pod size would be a draw back to Polar.
Uploading Software/Charging – Both work in similar fashion. I use my Ipad so not needing any extra pieces (wahoo key) with the Polar, win goes to Polar.
Customer Service – This goes to Polar. It’s great they have some reps on ST. Wayne gave me a call in a reply to an email and we had a good honest discussion on a couple of fronts. If I was at a 50-50 draw on deciding, the service would push me over. Tks Wayne.
App – like it much better than Garmin Connect even though it is still developing. Also, some nice features with Polar Flow Web. I’m really curious where they go with the App and Web. I haven’t found a way to compare workouts with Polar where you can in Garmin. This all being said, I give the edge to Garmin at this time because you can transfer data to TP, Strava, etc. Once this update comes to Polar, it will be Polar win.
Activity Tracker/Recovery – Well Garmin doesn’t have it, makes it easy. It is interesting data to see (sleep time/restless sleep/sit/stand/walk/active). Didn’t appeal to me, but now that I have it, kind of neat. Also, if you are a data geek, the orthostatic test can be quite interesting along with Polar recommendations for Training Load and time to recover.
BT/Ant – No point beating a dead horse. I don’t lay blame on Polar for this. It can just as easily be laid on Quarq and other devices for not being dual. If you didn’t have power meter, you wouldn’t be complaining that it was BT since pretty well everything is heading this way. I will need to do a work around (upload from Edge or use 4iiii product).
Cost – Garmin wins hear…huge difference.
Other – There are some nice/neat functions within the watch (tap screen), and programmable displays, map/race functions, customizable sport functions. Releasing a product not quite ready is a risk. Well, we can use Recon Jet as an example. They are now waiting till at least September and that is the end of our season (for most), not much good to anyone. It is clearly a solid enough product now with open swim metrics that I’d rather start the season with it, than end with it. Hopefully the firmware updates come quickly. At the end of the day, there is a bit of trust at play that Polar will follow through with firmware updates and they have come out and said as such, you either believe them or don’t, I do. This will be my first Polar product as well, so can’t compare to any others. Sorry. I’ve used it for a couple of training runs/swims/bike. Not quite DC Rainmaker (thanks for answering my questions DC) quality, but my first thoughts.
As I keep playing with it, I may add a few more comments as I learn.