The Polar Grit X is the first GPS running watch we’ve seen from Polar aimed at trail and ultra runners. But is it a match for the ultra-going Garmin Fenix, Suunto 9 and Coros Vertix or is it better suited to the road? Hit play above to get an initial reaction from three very different runners, ahead of our full Polar Grit X review
With a competitive price tag of $429/£379, it’s being pitched as a potential rival to the Garmin Fenix with up to 40 hours GPS battery life – extendable to 100 hours with low power modes – a smart fuelling assistant to help you know when and how much to eat during longer runs, real-time route guidance and more detailed stats on your uphill and downhill pursuits.
It’s also got all of the good software stuff that Polar introduced with its Vantage series watches, including Nightly Recharge sleep and recovery, FitSpark workout recommendations tailored to how well you’ve bounced back from your last run, cardio load, running power and a whole lot more.
Along with my fellow Run Testers Mike and Nick, we’ve been testing the Polar Grit X for a week now – putting in some varied miles from treadmill runs to my own 45-mile ultra. We’ve looked at battery life, FuelWise fuelling recommendations, Hill Splitter segmented hill stats readouts, the watch design including the touchscreen and controls, that Komoot mapping and route planning tie up and some very strange step counts.
We’ve done our best to battle the lockdown logistics to share our early first impressions over Zoom. We hope you’ll forgive the video quality but enjoy the content.
And remember, we’ll be back with a full Polar Grit X review once we’ve done our full tests. So if there’s anything you want to know, hit me up.
Now watch this: Best running headphones to buy in 2020
