Polar Ignite 3 In-Depth Review: Multiband + AMOLED!

[@thani7963]

Polar is one of the earliest producers/innovators of sports watches. Unfortunately, Apple/Garmin leap forward significantly beyond them; I love Polar, but without competing against these competitors, they will lose their market share. Thank you Ray for great review as always.

[@seanvk]

Surprising changes in this device. Well done review especially with the slate of new products that have come out so late in the fall! I used to think early October was the typical timeline for seeing new launches for the holidays, but now they are pushing well into November!

[@voicesbeckley3633]

I like my Ignite 3. No problem with the strap. I like that the indentation in my wrist caused by my Garmin Venu 2s might recover. I like the software. I like that I can read whole texts without going to my phone. I don’t need in depth analysis of my activity, just a bit of encouragement and the body battery thing in my Garmin was making me a bit neurotic. It’s very pretty and comfortable.

[@KingGeneral21]

No lag? How do the phone call notifications work on this?

[@drzhaf]

Before the existence of smartwatch ,my first heart rate watch was a polar watch . The polar was one of the pioneer of heart rate monitor watch . It gave decent health information. The ignite looks a pretty good smartwatch. In the past the company was slow to produce new products. Hopefully they can compete again.

[@pekkaveijola3521]

After 1.2.1 firmware update all the lagginess is gone. Had to boot one time after the update.

[@Crazygirlziou5]

Yaaay!

[@michaelfinch1965]

Hi DC, love your channel! Just as a scientist in training I had one thought about your comment on the antenna not being good. I agree with your logic in the antenna design, it may be misleading to say infer that the design is the issue without testing using a greater sample and or finding a way to isolate/change the design condition. I think its a white/black swan thing. Even though theres a high chance your right, its hard to make an unequivocal statment without extensive proof. Having said that, you are my number 1 for practical real world testing of new sports tech, keep up the awesome work👍

[@Dcrainmaker]

Thanks! Though, in this instance, it’s actually them saying it on their media briefing. 🤣 I just paraphrased a much longer explanation.

[@michaelfinch1965]

@@Dcrainmaker Fair call, thanks for clarifying Ray. However, wow…. I would have thought that Polar has enough checks and balances to make sure these sort of design issues dont make it to production. Its the sort of thing that turns away buyers, unless they are aiming it at a segment of the market they feel wont care about gps accuracy (thats not me).

[@JuliexSteadman]

POLAR - PLEASE PUT THE BUTTON BACK ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THE WATCH and not in the middle - when i press it, it pinches my skin and it is more difficult to reach... ..lower down, the watch naturally sits higher on the curvature of the wrist... Just bought the Polar Ignite 3 (10/5/23 - based in the UK) The watch with the new band does sit more snuggly on my wrist (176 mm) than the ignite 1 and it is thinnner (although people say it isnt) and so i find that it is comfortable to can wear it at night. I couldnt tolerate the Ignite 1 on my wrist... Im loving the new lay out on the watch face. I have mine set to date, activity completed, heart rate and temperature. I love the fact that i can see all these at a glance and in depth as well.. In my excitement I rushed down the gymn without my chest strap which meant i was just wearing the watch. I didnt find the heart rate to be very accurate without wearing the chest strap. At one point I should have defiitely been in the red zone (i was about to keel over !!) and the watch wasnt. I think this has something to do with the sweat on your wrist (ironically). It seems to be quite good at monitoring during ordinary activity during the day though... Im no keen athlete, i have just bought this for general motivation so I can eat more cake !! and not die so soon of a heart attack !! I prefer polar over fit bit because i do more gymn type excecise (cross trainer, rowing, bike) than i do walking as my hips are playing up. My experience of fitbit is that its goal setting is all around steps, there is nothing for heart rate unless you pay extra for their software..... So fitbit is great if you are a walker or even a casual runner but no good if you tend to do other excercise including swimming...

[@nickw6068]

Always enjoy your videos. Hope you don't mind bit of constructive feedback though, the sound quality recently is suffering, sounds a bit crunchy in terms of distortion and audibly clipping in places. Clicked on your friend, Desfit's review and difference is huge. Don't know if its mic, preamps or recording levels. Anyway, still best source of reviews on this kind of gear!

[@mlegrand]

Glad you mentioned the strap. My wife and I both agree. This strap is an odd misstep from Polar. Did they not try it on before deciding on this strap design?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Good to hear Team LeGrand and Team Maker are fully onboard Team Not Good Strap. But yeah, I've never had a strap that literally painfully hurts to put on (tried both sizes). And continues to hurt every time I put it on.

[@mlegrand]

@@Dcrainmaker - I haven't found it painful. Just stiff, uncomfortable and unlike their normally decent watch bands. 😬 #teamNotGoodStrap

[@Dcrainmaker]

@@mlegrand I think the pain for me is that it's taking the little arm hairs there, and dragging/pulling them along as I try and stick the excess strap under the whole. Somewhat like the recent Pixel/Sense 2 bands, except made from sandpaper material and thus not entirely understanding why the Apple band works so well in that design.

[@mlegrand]

@@Dcrainmaker - Oh yeah, I have notice it pulling arm hair when taking it on or off.

[@Criticalmaze]

@@mlegrandIm buying this watch and changing the strap. How has everything else been like accuracy and watch features?

[@toadlguy]

I have never really used polar watches (well my first heart rate monitor monochrome watch with strap) but one of the things they do well at least on this watch and their phone app is the UI design.

[@aslam7952]

Doing the same path twice with the same watch seems to be the holy grail of GPS accuracy testing.

[@RallihSarl]

😅

[@johnsalazar5596]

I have a polar V800 that I love is time to change. I’ve been waiting years for polar to come out à watch that I can listen to my music without my phone. I guess that will never be the case so I have to change and go buy Garmin 😢 As always good review thank you Rainmaker

[@groundsheet]

Same, I use Polar V800 and been waiting to replace it. Good gps tracking is something I need, as it can effect the recorded distance, but Polar just aren't getting it right.

[@johnsalazar5596]

@@groundsheet yes I guess we have to say goodbye to POLAR.

[@tonybowen455]

Yaaaass, amoled is here! This one looks like where I'd imagine garmin's forerunner protype amoleds are at. Really hoping for an amoled 955 in spring.

[@RotWeiler-r6n]

good review, thank you, but one thing - you are very hard on the straps (as you were for Polar Unite). I like the straps on both watches (had a Unite, just upgraded to an Ignite) and find them perfectly comfortable (although I admit I don't like sleeping with them on but I think I just don't like sleeping with a watch on, that has nothing to do with the straps). One big win for the Polar Ignite strap is last night my youthful cats got hold of my watch while I was sleeping and bit it, played with it and dragged it around - straps are completely undamaged, which I consider to be pretty amazing! Note I am a female with naturally moderate and fine arm hair so this may factor in to how I experience the straps.

[@Joe_Bertling]

Great Review. Have got the Ignite 3 an automatic Sport recognition?

[@dizi17]

Hi Ray! Thanks for the content! Can you say if we'll get this year's state of sports tech video and the yearly review with you and Des?

[@wimsluijter5947]

Hey DC, I have a question if I may? What, in your opinion, is the best GPS watch to navigate when I am on a hike? I was looking for the Epix or the Enduro 2? I hope to hear from you. Keep up the good work!! Kind regards, Wim Sluijter

[@jonathan_guerrero]

The one question I need answered please is which is better for workout. Ignite 3 of pacer pro. Most workouts will include running, biking and hiking.

[@philipjames3526]

After a watch to replace my Apple Watch - fancied something a bit more fitness focused - I’ve been looking at the Garmin Venu Plus 2. The Polar sounded promising. The review suggests not so much. So garmin is it

[@Lasombra08]

Keep in mind that the Venu 2 doesn't have most of Garmin's advanced training features like Training Status, Training Load, HRV Status etc.

[@philipjames3526]

@@Lasombra08 it doesn’t? Say one thing about garmin - the don’t make it easy to compare models. Saying that. My workouts are body weight based. Which model would be more suitable. Especially giving an indication on potential fatigue . Instinct Crossover?

[@philipjames3526]

@FLG ended up buying a Fenix 7 🤦‍♂️

[@Lasombra08]

@FLG I know. That doesn't change the fact that Garmin decided to strip down the Venu in that regard.

[@Lasombra08]

@@philipjames3526 It's probably your best bet. Forerunner 255 is still a buggy mess.

[@dougmoore7424]

Thank you for the review. I was an early Coros Vertex buyer and finally decided after 3 years to replace it. I bought a lesser known Amazfit Trex2. I call it a mashup of the Coros and Applewatch. I love it. Just curious if you plan to do a review of it OF the Amazfit Falcon in the near future. For $200, with a long battery life, beautiful screen and good GPS, I don’t seen anything that even comes close under $500. Thoughts?

[@Criticalmaze]

Every amazefit watch reviewed legitimately has been highly inaccurate. Until they fix that sht i don’t think anyone should bother reviewing their budget garbage

[@toddkearney6464]

Des didn't have many GPS issues in his review. What do you think is going on?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Could be geographic location based - for example me in Amsterdam and him in Denver. Hard to know, but as he noted he did have a few quirks, but certainly his performed better than mine did.

[@toddkearney6464]

@@Dcrainmaker That makes sense. Thanks for the super fast reply!

[@philth7587]

Sounds a bit disappointing. I really liked my Polar M430, which at the time was about the best wrist based heart rate monitor, and had a decent GPS. I've been hoping for Polar to make a great watch some day soon, but it doesn't sound like this is that day.

[@seanlinehan1136]

Polar, much like Fitbit, is suffering from time and competition. Ppl are nostalgic and stick to these or Suunto bc they’re reminiscent of the time when they were really the only watches with decent HR and GPS. Then companies like Apple decide to seriously invest and caught up and passed most of these companies. Only Garmin managed to keep up, but even now their HR accuracy is falling behind. Polar isn’t bad, but they just don’t have the money or tech to compete and held on as long as they could. Fitbit is done. Polar will be done. Suunto too. Garmin and Apple are really the only ones worth having now

[@smothyism]

The polar vantage V2 is a great watch it is a bit lagey like the one in this demo but if you can get over that it's great

[@RallihSarl]

Polar have many good watches. I mean, what are you comparing with? Not until fenix 7 garmin passed polar I would say, when it comes to pure sportwatches. Fenix 6 was " horrible" in gps and wrist HR. 935 was good doh. But not better than Polars watches at the time. Fairly even. And Garmins body battery function is eating peoples brain (check reddit). 😅 Watch out. 😅

[@seanlinehan1136]

@@RallihSarl that sounds like the delusional reply of a fanboy. There are few objective resources, I agree, but your anecdotal perspective and confirmation bias Reddit searches are bs compared to Desfit, DC Rainmaker, and Quantified Scientist who all compare EVERY watch accounting for confound variables in a multitude of environments and circumstances. And let’s be clear, they use a polar chest strap bc that’s the undisputed king of HR and no argument there. But their watches are on par with Garmin with GPS and lag behind several brands with HR, apple being the current king. Polar isn’t a bad watch, but for the cost and fact that it’s middle of the pack at best, they need to update bc the quality of watch I get from a Garmin is overall better for the same price.

[@janosfut]

Thanks for the early test. I hope the GRIT X and the Vantage family also get such a beautiful display?? Although if the battery only lasts for 1-2 days, then we got it and we didn't...... I'm very curious, where is Polar going?

[@Lasombra08]

We don't know. I hope Polar does.

[@Crazygirlziou5]

Thank you kind sir!

[@lookinforanick]

Unrelated, but I just noticed you have a handful of dial torque wrenches. Not a fan of the preload (click) type?

[@pmcmpc]

Dealer was told byPolar rep that GPS accuracy is definitely a firmware teething issue. Like you I'm sceptical though ... not many devices with flawed GPS performance get fundamentally fixed after launch.

[@RallihSarl]

Like Vertix 2. Wholy moly that's bad 😅

[@clitaiulian4497]

@@RallihSarl Bad in what way?

[@akumarus]

Awesome Honest Review!

[@ntweeko]

Great review. If I wear the Ignite 3 and also the Polar H10 heart rate sensor, does the system automatically choose to use one or the other, or both?

[@Doniyorbek_Turgunov]

If you connect h10 , the hr sensor on the watch will automatically shut down during an exercise...

[@stennan]

Is it already scratched at 1:30? If so, yikes! Better get screen protector and a case for this sportwatch.

[@nugetta]

Yes, a typical example of design winning over functionality. The protective film will be difficult to stick to this type of convex glass. Such a product is suitable for couch potatoes, or for someone who doesn't mind looking at a scratched watch.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Sadly yes, not sure where/how I scratched it. :(

[@Sofian350z]

Hello, thanks for this great review, they did an update of latest firmware sony of GPS. For me it's very good now. can you did a test a try in difficult condition ? Thanks.

[@testaccsolutions6784]

we need this being compared to any one of the venu series...

[@KatarinaDiamond]

Venu 3 or Polar Ignite 3?) For strength, cardio, waling n swimpool?)

[@thomastcrapper4100]

After a minute and a half I had to lower the speed to 0.75 to be able to understand everything since there's a constant flood of information. I've done that many a times with DC Rainmaker videos.

[@F0xAlpha]

I found, Polar Ignite 2 had issues with touch sensitivity. Did they fix this?

[@vzimm2813]

Would love if garmin had the rounded amoled…

[@yeuros6280]

That looks sweet. EDIT: I wonder about the battery life though

[@yilmanbabilonia]

I have the polar ignite 1. I like it. But i keep it in airplane mode because the battery dies too fast. I don't need all crazy notifications. I just need a sports watch. The lag does bother me a bit. But i CNA live with it. I'd buy the ignite 3 if my Ignite 1 would die.

[@mussabgasmelseed5079]

It look so beautiful i love it

[@plamenvasilev]

For the same price I got a second hand iWatch 5 and it's totally worth it. :)

[@ili4707]

Can you upload your presentation from the royal society conferance?

[@Hulmmo]

what is the difference between polar ignite 3 titanium and polar ignite 3?

[@Inpreesme]

Thank you

[@RallihSarl]

Battery in gps mode of sick for this type. Can you or have you tested if this can be charged during activity?

[@Dcrainmaker]

I haven't tried testing it charging during an activity, though the magnetic charging cable isn't super secure, so I can't imagine it'd hang well.

[@RallihSarl]

@@Dcrainmaker I can agree with that. But if it would work a small rubberband could work. I tried on Pacer and it didn't work so I assume it will not work. :/

[@li37444]

Think this is better than m2?xx

[@groundsheet]

Poor gps tracking from Polar again, so sad. I've used the Polar V800 for years, it still has very good gps tracking, better than all their current models. Every new model launch I think, yes this will be it, but no... always disappointing. If the next release is the same (as much as I love Polar flow) i'm afraid I'll be jumping ship to Garmin.

[@KatarinaDiamond]

Polar Ignite 3 or Venu 3?)

[@simianas3884]

Nice

[@hornsteinhof7592]

For me its pretty uncool that the glass is the highest point of the display. This makes the watch presumably not very durable when working outside. :(

[@BenJamin-rt7ui]

NFC?

[@djyosnow]

Um about that, the band. Historically with in a few days. I'll get a rash on my wrist from the band.

[@coxyhd2416]

Polar ingnite 3 or Garmin venue 2

[@SteveGaler]

Polar

[@jayc.4848]

​@@SteveGalerwhy polar?

[@SteveGaler]

@@jayc.4848 it's what I got based on my personal preferences. I think it's a better watch w better software (e.g., training load - you don't get that on this Garmin watch)

[@pkeiths1594]

am i getting older or are you speaking faster?..... :-0

[@Catcrumbs]

Strange device. I'm not sure why anyone would chose to take the battery life hit for an AMOLED display on a watch that doesn't do apps or maps.

[@_J.F_]

I am not sure where this watch fits into the market but I personally find it looks cheap and nasty, doesn't offer much in terms of accuracy or improved data, and the design of the lens (admittedly used by other brands too) is just begging for scratches which is underlined by the noticeable scratches on the watch in this video.

[@jurisgalibeckis446]

I like the channel, but this review was not really objective. Especially gps was not compared to any device at the particular circumstances. Sorry my grammar.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Did you not watch the review? I compared it to nearly half a dozen devices.

[@jurisgalibeckis446]

I was refering to the test at 12:25. Do not remeber such test for other devices. I might be wrong. Simply did not like attitude towards this watch. I think its really on trend with google watch. Therefore did not understand your remark about lack of buttons. This is not Ignite Ultra and not Vantage m. Sorry man. Stll like what you do

[@Dcrainmaker]

@@jurisgalibeckis446 I showed three more GPS tests after that point, with half a dozen different devices. It wasn’t good. For that first test, I simply wanted to easily show how bad it was. I have plenty of comparative data from that run showing perfect tracks

[@taa874]

Polar? No thanks!

[@gregpalframan8260]

First