http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/06/polar-v800-depth-review.html
A HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I look forward to your “garmin fan boy” and “ANT+ is dead” responses.
but fvck me thats the worst product review I’ve ever read on DCRainmakers site. And by worst I mean one of the best he has written (loving the honesty) but the worst “big product” he has ever reviewed.
Epic fail Polar. Epic fail
Epic fail Polar. Epic fail
That’s hyperbole, I think. But it is a letdown because it seems to excel at nothing. Except maybe battery life.
And it’s terribly incomplete. I think they should have delayed it 6 months until it was finished product. Firmware updates should be for tweaks and bugfixes, not for core functionality.
Epic fail Polar. Epic fail
That’s hyperbole, I think. But it is a letdown because it seems to excel at nothing. Except maybe battery life.
And it’s terribly incomplete. I think they should have delayed it 6 months until it was finished product. Firmware updates should be for tweaks and bugfixes, not for core functionality.
In my testing I’ve found the GPS acquisition time acceptable but not great. It doesn’t appear to pre-cache satellites like all other fitness devices on the market for the last 1-2 years do.
So it doesn’t do GPS acquistiion as well as everyone else.
You cannot however re-configure those pages (only online via computer).
So I cannot edit the screens on the watch.
The Polar variant of the footpod is unfortunately the size of a Twinkie, and the largest in the industry.
First is that like past Polar units, the footpod will override any GPS pace/distance data. There is no option to change tha
For me however, it never seems to automatically calibrate anything (with both the Polar BLE footpod and other footpods). Rather, it just sticks to some unknown value. As a result, my distances are off.
Foot pods suck
Note that the V800 does NOT gather cadence from the wrist like most newer running watches, nor does it do pace indoors on a treadmill like most newer running watches.
Again Polar being behind the competition
First is that the only ‘target’ you can set is heart rate (+ distance or time). No pace/cadence/speed/etc… goals that are fairly common.
HAHAHAHA
Also I cannot do detailed workouts on the water
the V800 doesn’t yet support Bluetooth Smart power meters.
So an ANT+ power meter is as support as a BTLE one
The Polar V800 at this time does not support swimming metrics such as distance or strokes (either in a pool or in openwater). It does however support heart rate in the water, as well as time recording.
To compare, the distances are:
Polar V800: .68 miles
Reference distance: .50 miles
The reason for this is that the Polar V800 does not yet have an openwater swim mode.
Finally, I do want to note that for reasons unclear to either me or Polar, my watch seems to lose the HR connection as soon as the strap goes underwater. I’ve tried a multitude of H7 straps without success (including brand new out of box) on a number of firmware versions.
So the only selling point of the V800 is that it does HR in water. But that doesn’t work, and it doesn’t do OW distance
It won’t show you steps walked nor distance.
24/7 sucks
However, I’ve found the situation rather fragmented when it comes to non-Polar branded Bluetooth Smart accessories.
Polar has a long history (read: their entire history) of not playing well with others or industry standards. Up until now, not a single device has followed an industry standard for sensors. It’s always been only their own. With the V800 (and the V650), they’ve been proclaiming that the industry standards of Bluetooth Smart is the “way of the future”. Thus allowing you to use accessories of any brand.
Except, they’re not really doing that. There’s no excuse for not correctly working with Wahoo’s products, or the Adidas footpod. After all, these products have been available for a very long time and are well known as industry standard compliant. Nor is there an excuse for not properly re-broadcasting the heart rate signal. Period, end of story, no excuse.
So the BTLE watch isn’t reallyu BTLE compliant…
Does the V800 do live tracking with your phone?
No
Wow would be a given I would have thought
Will it pair with XYZ Bluetooth Smart sensor?
Well, it depends. In theory it should, but in practice I see things just aren’t as guaranteed as they are in the ANT+ world.
BTLE ROCKS!!!
POLAR ROCKS!!!
Above are the salient points of the review. How do they not add up to “epic fail”
Yeah, Polar’s strategy puzzles me here. I’m having a hard time understanding why they released it with so much functionality missing. And while it has some cool features (activity tracking), other things don’t make sense, like having to hunt for your next sport in a list for multistory. They could really have a killer watch, but seems like they missed the mark with some of the details.
And it’s terribly incomplete. I think they should have delayed it 6 months until it was finished product. Firmware updates should be for tweaks and bugfixes, not for core functionality.
That was my impression from reading DC’s review as well. Honestly, I’m a bit let down as I had high hopes for the V800.
Whoa, easy tiger. That’s too difficult for me to sort through this morning.
The actual multisport feature works well, no need to sort through. But all the other stuff is so disappointing.
They should call it the V400 as it’s half the watch it promises to be 
It’s always interesting to me how different people interpret my reviews different ways.
Your reviews are very good.
I think a lot of people (not you) are having a “boxed in” on product features which is normal. Often, they would go down a checklist to see what a product has. The feature sets on the watch are missing but it’s pretty clear what they’re trying to accomplish here. A strain meter (http://physfarm.com/new/?page_id=995) that uses heart rate.
Training stress and performance data (swim metrics, and etc) are incomplete so hopefully they will 100% be implemented. This and exporting data is important. What the other devices don’t (or maybe they do and I’m naïve about it) is trying to measure that strain. A person can do a 9 mile run at 7 min pace (training stress) but that body response (strain) would be different. For someone, say a registered nurse without a coach, this might actually be very difficult than for someone who is a college student with loads of free time.
I think it’s clever. Other devices measure the stimulus (training stress, performance) but not necessarily the recovery time. Though Garmin 620 has a version of it.
It’s always interesting to me how different people interpret my reviews different ways.
I’ve been waiting for this watch so long and I feel really disappointed by what has and is being delivered. A serious dose of mixed emotions over a darn watch!
Working with software development, I’m a big fan of iterative development - start with the most important stuff (“minimum viable product”), get the product to market and update with more functionality later.
But being on the receiving end of this process sucks. I want everything yesterday. 
According to this it’s a pretty sweet device…
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Electronics/Polar_V800_4377.html
.
“Hey, can we get someone to write a quick review to counter the negative buzz from the DCR one?”
.
“Hey, can we get someone to write a quick review to counter the negative buzz from the DCR one?”
I didn’t want to say that but…
I guess your take is different than mine. By the way my Garmin 910xt is back for repairs again.
So with you reasoning my choices are a watch with incomplete firmware or a poorly made device that has to get sent back for repairs approximately once every six months. Hmmmmmm
I guess your take is different than mine. By the way my Garmin 910xt is back for repairs again.
So with you reasoning my choices are a watch with incomplete firmware or a poorly made device that has to get sent back for repairs approximately once every six months. Hmmmmmm
Suunto Ambit2 getting good reviews
Agreed.
Agreed.
And it links with ANT+ devices…
Been rocking a Suunto Ambit 2S for a couple weeks now. Pretty awesome watch.
Spot
“Hey, can we get someone to write a quick review to counter the negative buzz from the DCR one?”
fyi, that review was finished and to me early last week. asshole.
I guess you missed his Edge 1000 review… http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/06/garmin-1000-depth-review.html
“Now some might say I’m being hard on Garmin. And when it comes to releasing an unfinished product and charging $600 for it – absolutely I am. It’s been out now nearly a month, and it sounds like almost another month till things are fixed (or, the first attempt at it). And quite frankly, I’m a bit irked by how annoying the unit can be to use with these issues.” Ouch!