Pioneers of the humble sports watch, Polar was one of the first to develop wearable heart rate technology over 40 years ago. Today, they have several lines of sports watches, both for the lifestyle-wearer and the athlete. We’ve been using the multi-sport Polar Vantage M range for years, but trails require a particular kind of beast. Enter the Polar Grit X Pro, the darling of Polar’s outdoors adventure Grit X series running watches.
Designed for navigation and endurance, the Grit X Pro is a premium multi-sports watch, meaning prices start from around £450. That’s getting to the top end for a sports watch, but with that comes all sorts of features that come in handy for off-road running exploits, if you make the most of them.
Polar says the Grit X Pro is military-level tested, with an extra-long battery life and specific outdoors features ideal for trail runners. Built for extreme conditions, the watch can handle temperatures down to -20c and up to 50c, while the face is made from indestructible sapphire glass. We’ve been testing the Polar Grit X Pro for over six months now to find out if it is really the ultimate trail running watch.
LFTOwww.polar.com
Pros
- Trail running mode
- Route navigation and profiles
- Long battery life
- Training feedback and advice
- Wellbeing biodata tracking
- Durable and long-lasting
Cons
- Expensive
Six things you need to know about the Polar Grit X Pro
1. Activity tracking
Like the Vantage M, the Grit X Pro offers copious sports profiles including a trail running specific mode, 130 to be exact, tracked with reliable GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS satellite systems. Using the Garmin Forerunner 55 as a baseline, the Grit X Pro has proven to run accurate both in mapping distance and speed, and is quick to find signal.
Each activity tracked also produces a whole load of data you can use to inform your training, some of which the watch analyses immediately for you. Along with the normal distance, heart rate, and pace, the watch also provides heart rate zones, power, power zones, energy used, running index (based on VO2 Max), speed zones, cadence, altitude, and elevation split into hills.
The Grit X Pro also provides fuelling suggestions for longer training sessions or races, sending carb (and the quantity) or drink reminders as you train. These can also be switched off though if you, like us, prefer less chatter. Each run also provides a breakdown in percentage of energy used between carbs, protein, and fat.
2. Turn-by-turn navigation
Polar have partnered with Komoot for navigation on the Grit X Pro, which means that routes have to be created in the Komoot app and then synched to the watch via Bluetooth. You can then follow the route on the colour 1.2inch touchscreen watch face, it’s a simple line with turn-by-turn directions.
Pre-loaded routes also provide an elevation profile graphic with stats on the height and percentage of each climb. Equally, the ‘track back’ function provides a route back to your starting point which can come in handy if you get lost when off-reading or stray from the trail. Additional navigation features that can come in handy especially when finding your way on the mountain or for orienteering is the compass watch face, which provides barometric altitude and current coordinates.
3. Training load
The Grit X Pro is good at providing insights into how your training is going, including if you’re doing too much and how you’re progressing. The watch monitors training load, based on how well you recover after each session and the load each places on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system. This data can then be used to suggest if you’re detraining, maintaining, productive, or overreaching in your training.
4. Training tests
The watch also offers training and recovery tests you can follow to keep track of your progress, as well as personalise training zones. These include a running performance that should be taken every three months, which calculates a more running index and VO2 Max based on maximal aerobic speed. There’s also a cycling and walking test for multi-sport athletes.
Recovery tests include a leg recovery test based on three guided jumps and other training data to understand how recovered the legs are after a session. There’s also an orthostatic test based on standing and sitting heart rate variability to monitor training readiness, but this requires an additional heart rate strap.
5. Sleep recharge and recovery
The Polar Grit X Pro focuses heavily on sleep data and insights to inform training progress and suggestions. Wear the watch overnight for a few days and you’ll stat to relieve sleep data such as the duration and quality of your sleep. This includes any interruptions, light versus deep sleep, REM sleep, and sleep systems.
Based on this and how well your autonomic nervous system calms down in the early stages of sleep, Polar then provides a sleep score measurement and you can find out how well your 'nightly recharge’ went. Sleep stats are also used elsewhere to inform your training and recovery metrics, and activity suggestions. The watch also has guided breathing exercises to help manage stress, heart rate, and focus.
6. Extras
The Grit X Pro have several ‘outdoor dashboards’, which you can swipe between easily on the tactile watch face. These include daylight times of your current location, which provides a dawn and dusk time so you can plan your run in the light or pre-charge your running head torch in preparation. Other dashboards include: a weather report; music controls; the week’s training summary; percentage completed of daily activity; whether you’re detraining, productive, or overtraining; current heart rate; last training session, nightly recharge; and a suggested activity based on recent training.
How we tested
The Polar Grit X Pro was tested over a period of several months by our trail running expert tester, Kate Milsom. The watch was used for off-road navigation on all sorts of terrain and urban runs. Over distances of 5km to 45km, the Polar Grit X Pro was tested to its limits and compared to the performance of its competitors when it comes to run tracking, sleep insights, training performance data, and battery power