Do you need the new Polar Grit X2 Pro sports watch?
That depends. Do you need a watch that can guide you up a mountainside or 100 metres below the waves—and everywhere in between? Why not? It also looks cool and weighs just 79 g (including wristband) so it never feels clunky. You forget you’re wearing it—and you’ll be surprised how much power this streamlined wrist computer packs under its scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass and stainless-steel bezel.
Probably a small fraction of users would need to take full advantage of a sports watch this overbuilt for earth’s extremes. But you don’t have to scuba-dive in Antarctica or summit Aconcagua to benefit from Polar’s many innovations. It can help you monitor many aspects of your performance and health—on the trail and as you sleep.
In approaching this review my first question was, “What will normal people use this watch for?” The short answer I’ve come up with is, “For everything, everywhere, all the time.”
Running/Training
The Polar Grit X2 Pro parses your trail run, bike ride or training session by tracking and comparing your ascent/descent/vertical speeds, measuring your rates for more accurate “3D” data and insights into your kinetics across variable terrains. This is in addition to Polar’s suite of training, racing and recovery functions—all of which can be saved and downloaded for analysis.
For any given session you can choose from more than 150 sport modes, all offering energy usage breakdowns, performance and recovery tests, FuelWise recommendations—to name only a few of the features.
One of the watch’s many superpowers is Polar’s Elixir biosensing technology which allows you to monitor real-time ECG, blood oxygen, nightly skin temperature and more.
And the fourth-generation optical heart rate sensor is now more accurate, avoiding false readings during strength and interval training.
Above and beyond base heart rate, athletes will find a bevy of metrics in the Grit X2 Pro, including heart rate variability, and the intervals between heartbeats (known as RR intervals). In the Polar Flow app, you can view your ECG history to understand how your heart responds to different levels of exercise and analyze your overall physical condition and recovery rates.
And if you want a virtual coach in your ear, you can enable Voice Guidance in the app: audible alerts when you reach a certain distance, complete a lap, meet a training goal, change heart rate zone and more.
You can also share your real-time heart rate with training apps, gym equipment or cycling computers by syncing to a compatible device during a training session.
All blood oxygen measurements (and other metrics) can be saved to the app, along with altitude and all other route information. Then you can use this info to track and analyze your body’s response to exercise over extended periods.
Rugged Travel
Tested in both high heat and subzero conditions, all Grit X2 Pro components remain 100 per cent functional in temps ranging from -20℃ to +50℃. The watch is also fully water-resistant up to 100 metres, functioning flawlessly during and after immersion. It will also stand up to the corrosive effects of saltwater, guaranteeing durability and performance near the ocean or in marine environments.
The high-res 1.39” AMOLED touchscreen display (in scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass) is remarkably visible in sunlight or shade. And it doubles as a powerful flashlight (accessed from the drag-down options, or set up as a widget on the dashboard).
Route Finding
The Polar Grit X2 Pro boasts dual-frequency GPS (with the L1/L5 channels) plus an improved signal-boosting antenna that pulls in multiple global navigation satellite systems to give you accurate speed, distance and route data anywhere on earth. This assisted-GPS system delivers faster fixes and feeds your watch the predicted satellite positions so it receives signals faster and under difficult conditions including bad weather and rough topography.
Other features like Route Guidance allow you to access previous sessions, or routes that other Polar Flow web service users have recorded and shared. The guidance on the watch display keeps you on track and shows you the distance remaining. You can also import a route as a file to your watch or bike computer through the app.
The watch comes pre-loaded with Topo maps for North America and Europe (you can download other regions for free with up to 32GB storage). There’s also added breadcrumb navigation (to get you back to your starting point or previous location) and support for Komoot and Strava routes (available as bonus packs).
Plus the Grit X2 Pro’s speedier processing power makes moving around your maps—i.e., zooming in or out, scrolling forward or back—a cinch.
But I’m barely scratching the scratch-resistant surface, so to speak; there are so many other things this watch can help you do, including the Serene guided breathing exercise, Swimming Metrics, 24/7 Activity Tracking, Music Controls, Recovery Pro, Sleep Plus Stages, Nightly Recharge, SleepWise, Training Load Pro, Route & Elevation Profiles and more.
Here’s a list of some notable new features:
– Processor speed boosted by 129% vs. X1 Pro.
– Display size 15% larger vs. X1 Pro.
– First Polar watch to have 810H durability rating (U.S. military spec).
– Added dual-frequency/multiband GNSS/GPS; redesigned GNSS/GPS antenna.
– Increased storage to 32GB, mainly for maps (North America & Europe pre-loaded).
– Charging cable switched to faster USB-C (magnetic to watch base).
– Added historical track/route on maps (in addition to planned route).
– Added Vert Speed and VAM (Vertical Ascent/Metres).
– Added 3D Speed (to calculate your true overall speed in steep/variable terrain).
– Upgraded to Polar’s latest optical heart-rate sensor and Elixir biosensing tech.
– More heart-rate ECG functionality and skin temperature tracking.
– Two new watch faces (one digital, one analog).
– Battery life increased to 43 hours in GPS training mode; up to 140 hours in eco training mode.
Full features here.
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