Polar's New Vantage V3 Smartwatch Adds Health Features for Athletes and Fitness Trackers

The newest Polar watch adds biosensing technologies to the multisport watch model.

Jessica Rendall Wellness Writer

Jessica is a writer on the Wellness team with a focus on health news. Before CNET, she worked in local journalism covering public health issues, business and music.

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Jessica Rendall

Oct. 11, 2023 5:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

An image of the new Polar watch against a dark background — Polar

Just when you thought the bookshelf of wearables and fitness trackers couldn't get any wider, Polar adds a new one to the mix. The company announced Wednesday its newest generation of smartwatch, the Polar Vantage V3, which has updated optical heart rate measurements and new health-tracking features, including blood oxygen saturation measurements, information on the heart's electrical signals (aka ECG) and nightly temperature readings.

These health features are made possible by advancements in the company's biosensing technology, which Polar calls the Polar Elixir. None of the Polar health features have clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration, and they're not meant to be diagnostic tools. Rather, the features are meant to offer better insight into your wellness or performance as an athlete.

In terms of design, the Vantage V3 has a new design that's "ideal for both sport performance and everyday use," the company said in a press release. The Vantage V3 has a 1.39-inch AMOLED touchscreen that's been expanded closer to the edges to give wearers a larger viewable area, Polar said, and has a density of 462 pixels per inch.

The Vantage V3 has a 129% faster CPU (central processing unit) speed than the V2, and it has 32GB of internal storage. The watch has up to 140 hours of training on a single charge in power saving mode and up to eight days of display time.

Polar has many different lines or series of fitness trackers and smartwatches, including the Ignite 3, which blends sleep metrics with fitness and activity, the Grit X Pro, a more adventurous sports watch and the Pacer Pro for runners. The Vantage V3 may be a representation of Polar's commitment to fitness sports watch features, like dual-frequency GPS, with deeper steps into wellness features that more and more fitness trackers are taking to give wearers a more holistic view of their health.

The new watch costs $600 and is available for preorder now. It'll start rolling out to stores Oct. 25.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.