Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE: After 2 months of extensive use, I'm incredibly disappointed with the Polar Vantage V. I can no longer recommend this device for two reasons. 1) Inaccurate heart rate tracking - the heart rate is incredibly inconsistent both while exercising and while stationary. I experimented extensively with strap tightness (tight vs. loose), contact surface (hairy vs. skin, wet vs. dry), activity levels (moving vs. standing), etc. and unfortunately the heart rate was often wildly inaccurate. Even my cheap-o optical sensors did a much better job of tracking. 2) Unhelpful customer support - After mentioning the heart rate tracking issues, Polar support gave me the same generic runaround that another reviewer here got. I got no sense that they're aware of the problem or intend to fix it. Unfortunately a company is only as good as its support, so don't expect much here. Perhaps these issues will be fixed in a future firmware update, but at this point I cannot recommend this product to anybody who's serious about fitness. ORIGINAL REVIEW: As an avid runner and an even bigger gadget/data geek, I was excited as soon as I saw the Polar Vantage V (what's better than 3 LEDs? 9 LEDs!). I've been using the same running watch for years and I have played around with countless other trackers with various levels of success. Overall the Vantage V left me reasonably impressed. From a training and accuracy side, I have been unable to find a good rival on the market. Pros: - Heart rate is surprisingly accurate while running/exercising. I compared against my chest strap side-by-side and the Vantage was typically within 5 bpm. This was the biggest and most pleasant surprise (especially given my reasonably hairy wrists). - Accurate GPS. I was concerned about the GPS from other reviews but I have not had any issues. For what it's worth, I run in the city next to tall buildings without issues. - Great design. Sleek minimal design ensures you can wear this day-to-day without broadcasting to the world that you run triathlons in your sleep. - Watch and strap feel oddly satisfying on my wrist. The watch feels snug and secure without strangling my wrist. - Touch screen has been very responsive without hiccups. Cons: - Embarrassingly bad sleep tracking. In the age where wrist wearables track up to 4 stages of sleep, the Vantage V only tracks 2 (asleep/awake). Hopefully this is something Polar improves with future software updates. - Lack of customization. No custom watch faces, no custom goals, no third party integrations, no fun settings for people who love gadgets. - Battery life is a bit shorter than expected. I'm getting about 4 days out of the watch with continuous HR monitoring while exercising every 1-2 days. - Heart rate sometimes spikes while I'm resting. My other devices may say 60 bpm but Polar will spike up to 90 bpm for a few minutes. The spikes don't show up in my daily summary so it might be a software glitch. Overall, I'm very impressed with the design, quality, and performance of the Vantage V. The software could use a few improvements, but luckily this is something Polar seems to be aware of.