I couldn’t resist and wait till October, so when the first opportunity appeared I took advantage of it and now I have a black Vantage V and a Polar OH1 to use.
Since I’m still following the Training Peaks training plan 80/20 and the integration between TP and Garmin Connect is seamless, I’ll continue to use my FR 945 for the remaining runs till the end of the month, but in the same time I’ll use the Vantage V, just for comparison. I also use the Vantage V as my daily device, to allow Polar Flow to get to know me a bit better.
Today, I used the FR 945 (as leader for the run) and the Vantage V (just as a companion) – the HR strap was the Polar H10 so I had the same HR information to both devices – nothing to compare there – I’m just enjoying the H10 dual device capability.
The results (or conclusions) for now:
- Vantage V GPS was very good: 945 + Stryd measured 8.05km and VV measured 8.04km
- in low light, the display of Vantage V is a bit too dim; it looks great when there is enough light, but in the dusk it’s a bit of challenge
- the vibration of VV is definitely lower in intensity compared to 945 (actually 945 is too much, makes your arm shake), didn’t have an issue with waking up today
- I continue to enjoy how Polar creates actionable screens in Flow – you get much more than just raw data from the screens
Looking at the GPS track, both look reasonably fine, but I also had no challenges for the watches – clear sky, no tall buildings or trees. Maybe it’s just the representation, but Polar’s look more clear and smoother.
I’ll continue my journey with Polar, with day to day impressions – so far, it’s usable and easy to wear.
Liviu Nastasa 