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Polar Ignite: the multisport watch that replaces your coach

Polar Ignite: the multisport watch that replaces your coach

April 03, 2020

Polar surprises with a watch with original and relevant functions
Features of the Polar Ignite
Quick presentation of the Polar Ignite, a multisport fitness-oriented watch
Detailed review of the Polar Ignite
Our opinion on the Polar Ignite: should we buy it?

Polar surprises with a watch with original and relevant functions

After the Vantage M and the Vantage V (read our detailed review), performance-oriented multisport and triathlon watches, Polar is releasing the Polar Ignite, an astonishing watch offering new and unprecedented features which should appeal to many athletes and less athletic. It is not a lighter version of the Vantage but a versatile fitness-oriented model aimed at a different audience. Even if Polar's experience in cardio watches is no longer to be demonstrated, the release of new watches is relatively rare and the functionality rather limited compared to the competition. Polar therefore surprises us here with this watch that stands out from the crowd and whose price is very attractive for the functions offered. This is a watch that seriously competes with equivalent models like the Suunto 3, the Suunto 5 or the Garmin Forerunner 45.

You will find below a detailed review of the watch and our opinion at the end of the article.

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Features of the Polar Ignite

Weight35 g (21 g without strap)

Payment system–

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Quick presentation of the Polar Ignite, a multisport fitness-oriented watch

The Polar Ignite in brief: a sports coach on the wrist and new tools

Released in June 2019, the Polar Ignite is a mid-range fitness-oriented multisport watch offering functions similar to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and the Suunto 3 or even the Garmin Forerunner 45 but distinguished from them by new functions aimed at help everyone stay in shape or progress without needing any particular sports knowledge. It is compatible with more than 100 sport profiles.

Thin, light and elegant, it can be worn daily and during sports activities, for training, the gym or leisure sport. It records your journey to display it on a map, tracks your daily activity and caloric expenditure, analyzes your sleep in detail (in our view it offers the best analysis that currently exists on a cardio watch), offers breathing exercises deep to relax and relieve stress (Serene function) with a biofeedback system (real-time display of the effects of breathing) to learn how to do the exercise well.

For athletes, the watch offers interesting tools for performance analysis (impact of training on performance, effect of training on muscles and the cardiovascular system, evaluation of VO2max and physical condition, etc. ).

But the Polar Ignite doesn't just record and display data that is difficult to interpret. She wants to be very pragmatic by offering tailor-made programs based on physical condition, past training and especially the analysis of recovery from training and stress during the night. So, even if you are in great physical shape, the watch will not offer an intense outing if the night's sleep has not been repairing the efforts made the day before. Polar draws on current scientific knowledge of sleep and recovery to offer analyzes comparable to that of devices used in hospitals. The watch analyzes sleep in depth and takes into account, during the first hours of sleep, the time taken by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to regain a state of calm. This function, similar to the "Body Resource" from Suunto and the "Body Battery" from Garmin, makes it possible to offer tailor-made programs (training types, duration, intensity) as a real sports coach would do.

Among the functions supported by the watch are:

GPS & GLONASS: the watch records and restores your route on PC or Smartphone with altitude profile. It does not offer advanced GPS navigation (track display, return to departure, etc.)
Wrist heart rate monitoring for continuous heart rate analysis, tracking calorie expenditure, fitness assessment and more.
FitSpark : a daily training guide that offers athletes personalized advice. This function takes into account past training, physical condition and the level of recovery measured at night to offer tailor-made training sessions. The proposed exercises aim to improve aerobic capacities, gain power, improve mobility.
Nightly Recharge assesses recovery during the night based on an analysis of sleep and the time taken by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to regain calm. The watch takes into account the heart rate, its variability and the respiratory rate thanks to its optical monitoring on the wrist.
Sleep Stages Plus assesses sleep quality, provides a sleep score and detailed report with graphs to understand how lifestyle influences sleep and how to adjust it for better sleep.
24/7 activity monitoring with evaluation of the calories expended among others
Serene: guided breathing exercises to relax, sleep better and reduce stress. The watch indicates in real time the quality of the exercise (level of serenity) and provides a report at the end of the exercise.
Training Load Pro quantifies the load of a training session on the cardiovascular system and muscles
Activity guide and training benefits: the watch offers a personalized daily activity goal to motivate you to move. It provides a detailed account of the benefits of an outing.
Running Index: the watch evaluates the VO2max, a performance indicator
Fitness Review: the watch assesses your physical condition by a 5-minute rest Review
Race program: the GPS watch offers a personalized training program to follow according to your objectives (type of race, date of the competition, etc.), for example to run a 5 km or to run a marathon. Land, reinforcement and sharpening are worked.
Swim Metrics: to follow swimming sessions in the pool or at sea. The Polar measures in particular the heart rate underwater and assesses the effectiveness of swimming.

Who is the Polar Ignite for?

The Polar Ignite is a multisport watch more geared towards fitness than sport performance. It is aimed at both athletes and non-athletes.

It is perfect if you practice a sport on an occasional or regular basis and if you are looking for the essential functions to train and progress without allocating an excessive budget. Its FitSpark function (tailor-made coach and training) makes it suitable for novice athletes who want to progress without knowing anything about the numbers and metrics displayed. The many sports profiles available and downloadable from the Polar interface make it a versatile watch suitable for all sports. In comparison, the Polar Vantage (M or V), the Forerunner 45 and the Suunto 5 are more designed to measure and optimize performance, particularly in preparation for competitions.

It is also suitable for non-athletes who want to monitoring their daily activity, monitoring the quality of their sleep and adapt their lifestyle to sleep better, relax with breathing exercises and find out if these are effective.

Do you hesitate to buy this watch? Read our review of the Polar Ignite at the end of the article.

Detailed review of the Polar Ignite

Design and weight: elegant, fine and ultra-light

Polar offers here a refined watch with a refined design, very fine (8.6 mm thick only) and ultra light (35 g!). In comparison, the Suunto 5 weighs 66 g. The Forerunner 45 weighs 32 to 36 g, about the same weight, but its thickness is 11.4 mm.

Elegant, with its metallic crown and interchangeable silicone bracelets offered in black, white or yellow, it is very well worn in everyday life (city, work) like a classic watch.

The Polar Ignite is equipped with a 240 x 204 px color touch screen and a single control button. Note that the screen turns off automatically to save the battery and turns back on when you move your wrist. However, you can program it so that it stays on permanently during training (but not in watch mode) or on the contrary so that it does not turn on during the night!

Autonomy: 17 h in GPS mode and 5 days in watch mode

The Polar Ignite offers a correct autonomy of 17 h in GPS mode but only 5 days in watch mode, despite a Sony GPS chip of low consumption and a screen that turns off automatically to save battery. This is a bit low compared to the average of watches in this range. We are far from the 20 to 40 hours of the Suunto 5 and its intelligent battery management mode or the 30 days in watch mode of the Polar Vantage V or the Coros Pace. It should therefore be recharged at least once a week even without playing sports.

The sensors: an optical cardio that works underwater and for the interval training

The Polar Ignite benefits from the latest optical sensor developed by Polar and which already equips the Vantage M and Vantage V. This sensor works underwater and for the fractional, which is a notable advantage for those who do not want not burden yourself with a chest belt to go swimming or for interval sessions.

This feat has been achieved thanks to the new sensor fusion technology Polar Precision Prime which consists of the use of 9 LEDs of different wavelengths (red and green colors) and 4 light sensors. This combination provides greater sensitivity for the monitoring. Polar has also added 4 additional electrodes which are used to Review the correct contact of the sensors with the skin. Outdoor light is the biggest parasitic source of optical heart rate monitors. Measurement errors are often linked to a loose bracelet.

In addition to these improvements, Polar fixes the recordings to eliminate inconsistencies. For example, if a measurement indicates 160 bpm while the 2 measurements surrounding it indicate a frequency of 140 bpm, the measurement at 160 bpm will be considered as spurious and eliminated.

The watch is also equipped with a Sony GPS chip compatible with American (GPS) and Russian (GLONASS) satellites. It does not have a barometric altimeter but displays the altitude and the cumulative elevation (positive and negative) thanks to the GPS. It is also compatible with certain Polar cardio belts (OH1, H10, H7 and H6) but not with other external sensors (cadence, speed, etc.). Please note, the use of a chest belt is not possible for swimming, the Bluetooth transmission does not work underwater.

Sports profiles: 20 profiles in the watch, more than 100 available on the Polar website

The Polar Ignite contains 14 sport profiles by default but can contain up to 20 at most. To add profiles, just download them for free from the Polar interface, which offers more than 100. The main difference between each sport is in the calculation of calories expended and display screens. The user can choose the fields to display for each sport among the measurements made by the watch. The advantage of the profiles is also to be able to separate the recordings according to the sport practiced (running, walking, skiing, rowing, etc.) and thus obtain separate activity reports in the Polar interface.

A personalized coach and tailor-made training programs with FitSpark

FitSpark is a daily training guide that takes into account your current physical condition, your 28-day training history and your recovery level ("Nightly Recharge" function described below) to offer you a varied and measure whatever your level (the watch adapts!). The objective of Polar is to allow you to find joy in your training.

Each day, FitSpark offers two to four workouts, one of which is optimized according to your profile and the other two or three to choose according to your desires. These workouts, which vary every day, are designed to improve endurance (aerobic cardiovascular training), gain power (muscle training) and improve mobility. The watch offers exercises with a given intensity and duration and advice on how to perform the movements correctly and without risk. The Polar site offers videos to learn how to make them correctly.

The training programs offered by the watch are designed from WHO recommendations which include endurance physical activity and regular muscle building exercises.

When training is finished, Polar Ignite displays a summary of the watch and a more complete analysis in the Polar Flow interface. You can follow your progress and stay motivated!

Evolutionary training programs and race time prediction

Designed for runners, this function offers tailor-made progressive training to prepare for a race (5 km, 10 km, half-marathon or marathon) according to a given competition date. The watch adapts training according to progress. The evolving program offers training sessions for heart rate zones to be respected and weight training and mobility exercises. The Ignite also calculates the forecast race time from the VO2max estimate (performance indicator). This function thus makes it possible to effectively prepare an event and even to know your race time over the sessions, so to see its progress.

Nightly Recharge : the best current tool to estimate recovery

This function, taken into account by FitSpark, makes all the interest of the watch in addition to being useful for better knowing yourself and improving the quality of sleep. It assesses, during the night, to what extent the body has recovered from its efforts and the stress of the past day. In other words, it allows you to know if the organism is ready for a new training or, on the contrary, if it is better to rest.

In fact, being in excellent physical condition is not enough to resume physical activity. If the quality of sleep is poor, the body does not recover enough and a new training session can lead to overtraining, fatigue or even injuries. A good night's sleep is necessary to recover well, optimize sports performance but also feel good about yourself.

Suunto and Garmin already integrate a similar function (Body Resource and Body Battery) from the algorithms of the company Firstbeat but these functions are less elaborate. They only take into account the heart rate and its variability. Polar, which has developed its own algorithm, goes further by exploiting the respiration rate. This is obtained from the variability of the heart rate: when we breathe, the heart accelerates very slightly. It decelerates when we expire.

Garmin's analysis is very thorough and is based entirely on current scientific knowledge on stress and recovery. The watch takes into account two components: the quality of sleep (Sleep Stages Plus function) and the extent to which the autonomic nervous system (ANS) was able to regain its calm during the first hours of sleep (most favorable time of the night to assess recovery (these are the most important hours for recovery and when sleep is the deepest). The watch compares these values to normal levels for the past 28 days. The estimated value can then be interpreted using a recovery scale (very low, weak, average, fairly good, good, very good).

Sleep Plus Stages

Most smart health connected watches and bracelets assess the duration and quality of sleep, sometimes including the time spent in the light, deep and REM sleep phase. The measurements are made by detecting hand movements or even analyzing the heart rate and its variability. Polar goes further here by offering a more detailed analysis and a score that allows it to be compared to other nights.

The watch determines a score from 1 to 100 based on 3 evaluation criteria:

Sleep duration: it's the total time asleep
Sleep reliability: the watch analyzes and categorizes the interruptions and their duration
Regeneration during sleep: it is the duration of REM sleep or REM (Rapid Eye Movement), the moment when the brain recovers and when memory and learning capacities develop. The watch measures the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep.

Besides its use by FitSpark for tailor-made workouts, Sleep Plus Stages is really interesting for carrying out a complete monitoring of your sleep and identifying everything that can affect its quality: physical activity, diet, stress, work on screen before sleep, meals taken too late, alcohol, etc. You can adjust your lifestyle and see if it helps you sleep better and feel better.

Performance analysis tools

Polar has integrated several features of the Vantage series on the Ignite, including:

Training Load Pro: this function assesses the degree of fatigue imposed by a workout on the body (heart and muscles). The tool also takes into account the athlete's feelings (to be entered manually in the interface). The watch provides a digital score, a written record and a visual scale for each training load. These indicators allow you to visualize your progress (the load decreases for the same training) and to adjust your efforts if the load is too high.
The Fitness Review assess physical condition with a 5 minute rest Review. It is nothing more or less than an effortless VO2max measurement, a practical and simple way to assess your progress. Polar is based on resting heart rate, variability and personal information (age, gender, height, weight and training history).
The Running Index (estimate of VO2max in racing) estimate your VO2max on the field, during training and give the result at the end of the session. This helps to determine the effectiveness of the outing and to assess progress over training.
The Benefits of Training is a detailed account of the benefits of fitness training. Polar analyzes past performance in a heart rate zone and displays comments. This requires spending at least 10 minutes in an area to obtain information.
Swimming data: the watch automatically detects the type of swim (breaststroke, back, butterfly, freestyle), reads the heart rate measured on the wrist, assesses the calories expended, measures the distance traveled and pace, counts arm movements and rest times , calculates your SWOLF score (swimming efficiency).

24/7 activity monitoring

The Polar Ignite is designed to be worn everyday and overnight. It tracks your activity 7 days a week and 24 hours a day: calories expended during the day (shopping, gardening, trips to work, physical activity, etc.), intensity of effort, distance traveled, number of steps. She encourages you to move by launching challenges and posting your weekly and monthly scores.

Relaxation, release of stress and improvement of the quality of sleep with Serene and its biofeedback system

Serene is the new polar function introduced with Polar Ignite and which will be available later on Polar Vantage M and Polar Vantage V via a software update. It offers cardiac coherence exercises to relax, relieve stress, improve concentration and provide a feeling of well-being. Performed on a regular basis, these exercises would improve the quality of sleep and help better manage stress on a daily basis.

According to studies, cardiac coherence is beneficial for health and represents an attractive alternative to drugs. The state of cardiac coherence is obtained by means of deep breathing exercises at the rate of 6 breaths per minute.

Polar Ignite offers such exercises. Just breathe for a few minutes at the rate of small bubbles moving on the screen or the vibrations of the watch. If the exercise is done correctly, the heart rate synchronizes with breathing. Polar measures the times when this consistency is average, good and excellent and displays the result in the form of 3 zones of serenity: Amethyst, Sapphire and Diamond.

But the interest of the function, compared to that proposed by other cardio watches, is the biofeedback system: the watch measures in real time the effects of exercise and displays the result by a color indicating the zone of serenity reached. (Amethyst, Sapphire or Diamond). The user can thus control the exercise and learn to do it as best as possible with experience for more marked long-term benefits.

Our opinion on the Polar Ignite: should we buy it?

With Garmin and Suunto, Polar is one of the 3 biggest designers and manufacturers of cardio-GPS watches and has built a worldwide reputation by developing the first cardio watches in the 70s.

Unlike most of its competitors, which outsource the analysis of heart rate data to an external company, Firstbeat, the Finnish company is developing its own algorithms. This is both a risk and a benefit. With the Polar Ignite, the algorithms proposed for the analysis of sleep and the evaluation of recovery during the night are simply better than those of the competition and Polar uses them in a very practical and useful way with an advantage on its competitors. What attract a good number of sportsmen who do not want to take the lead with statistics without knowing what to do with it but who need an effective assistance adapted to their situation (level of training, etc.). Taking into account overnight recovery and the quality of the measurements are strong and convincing arguments. We were frankly seduced by this new model

Why buy the Polar Ignite rather than another watch?

The Polar Ignite is a sports watch oriented fitness very interesting for people who want to maintain or improve their physical condition or even train without knowing anything.

If you are an athlete looking for pleasure in his sport or a non-athlete looking for a practical and simple assistant to motivate him to move, the Polar Ignite is perfect. If your objective is performance and competition, it is better to orient yourself towards the Polar Vantage series or the more expensive Suunto 5 or, for the same price, the Garmin Forerunner 45. Read also our comparison of cardio-GPS watches.

The personalized FitSpark training guide (personal trainer) associated with the Nightly Recharge function offers ready-to-use programs based on physical condition, training history and the quality of recovery from efforts and solicitations. from the past day. We find a similar function on the Suunto 3 and the Suunto 5 with the personalized evolutionary trainings but not on the Coros Pace or the Forerunner 45, watches of similar price. Polar Ignite allows you to progress or prepare for a race without special knowledge. Just follow the advice of the watch. This is a real advantage over other mid-range sports watches and a reason why we recommend this watch.

This model offers a real advantage for people who do not know how to train (duration, frequency, exercises). She gives clear and precise instructions and simple weight training exercises with small icons and videos on the internet to learn how to do the movements.

The ultra detailed sleep analysis, taking into account the respiratory rate (which other competing watches do not do), demonstrates Polar's mastery in this area and convinced us of the interest of this watch to learn how to better know, improve the quality of your sleep and, indirectly, optimize your training and performance. Thanks to the reports provided by the watch, it is easy to see how the lifestyle affects sleep and thus to Review new habits to improve its quality of life.

Note that the Nightly Recharge function only takes into account the ability to recover from an effort during the night's sleep. If you take a nap during the day, it will not be considered. At Garmin and Suunto, the algorithms of Firstbeat assess recovery throughout the day. That said, Garmin's analysis is more complete (it takes breathing into account) and is meant to be global. It assesses the recovery of an entire day, therefore indirectly taking into account the rest accumulated during the day.

Relaxation exercises (cardiac coherence) also seem interesting to us because of real-time biofeedback to optimize the results. Too bad the watch does not analyze the stress level to suggest moments of relaxation when necessary, with daily monitoring to follow the evolution.

Last point, most of the key functions of the watch (FitSpark, Nightly Recharge and Sleep Plus Stages) require that you wear it at night if you want to benefit from sleep analysis and recovery (main interest of this watch) . Si vous n'aimez pas dormir avec une montre, ce modèle perd tout son intérêt.

Les points décevants : l'autonomie un peu faible et l'écran qui ne reste pas allumé en permanence

Cette montre serait parfaite, pour le prix et les fonctions proposées, si l'autonomie était un peu meilleure. Les 17 h annoncées en mode entraînement GPS et les 5 jours d'autonomie en mode montre sont en-dessous de la moyenne des montres de ce prix. Pour peu que l'on pratique 1 à 2 heures de sport dans la semaine, il faudra recharger la montre tous les 3-4 jours, ce qui est un peu excessif. On est loin des 30 jours d'autonomie en mode montre de la Coros Pace (montre triathlon d'entrée de gamme) ou même des 7 jours de la Suunto 5 et de la Garmin Forerunner 45.

L'autre point décevant est l'écran qui s'éteint lorsque la montre n'est pas utilisée. On aurait aimé avoir le choix de pouvoir activer ou non l'écran en permanence. Il est possible de forcer temporairement son activation mais seulement en mode entraînement. Dès la sortie sportive terminée, le mode par défaut reprend la main.

Enfin, nous n'avons pas compris pourquoi Polar propose son modèle noir avec un bracelet en plastique alors que les 2 autres montres sont proposées avec un bracelet souple en silicone et un prix plus élevé (30 € de plus, soit 5 € de plus que le prix du bracelet en silicone acheté seul). Certes, cela permet d'obtenir une montre moins chère avec un bracelet de moindre qualité et moins confortable mais pourquoi ne le proposer que sur un modèle ? Pour les personnes qui préfèrent le modèle jaune ou blanc ou un bracelet noir en silicone, nous vous conseillons d'acheter le modèle noir et, en même temps, ou plus tard, un bracelet de la couleur de votre choix. Cela permet d'acquérir une montre et 2 bracelets pour un prix inférieur au modèle jaune ou blanc ! Attention cependant, la couleur du boîtier diffère (la version noire dispose d'un boîtier entièrement noir, la version blanche, d'un boîtier blanc, la version jaune comporte un boîtier noir et une couronne de couleur grise).

Verdict

Polar nous a agréablement surpris avec cette nouvelle montre et des fonctions innovantes et inédites dont la plupart seront intégrées dans la série Vantage. Le coach intelligent proposant des programmes sur mesure en fonction de l'état de forme et de la récupération nocturne, l'analyse détaillée du sommeil (la meilleure du marché des montres cardio à ce jour) et les exercices de relaxation avec biofeedback nous semblent les points forts de cette montre. Nous recommandons ce modèle aux personnes qui font du sport pour le plaisir, qui sont prêtes à porter la montre au quotidien (au moins pour dormir et faire du sport) et qui veulent être suivies sans avoir à s'encombrer de statistiques difficiles à exploiter et sans avoir besoin de connaissances particulières.

We liked

Finesse, élégance et légèreté de la montre
L'écran tactile couleur
Le guide d'entraînement personnalisé FitSpark (coach) avec des programmes sur mesure
L'analyse de la récupération pendant la nuit et sa prise en compte dans le programme d'entraînement
L'analyse détaillée du sommeil
Serene et le biofeedback
Les bracelets interchangeables

We'd have liked

Une autonomie plus grande en mode montre
Un écran que l'on peut maintenir allumé en permanence en mode montre
Un bracelet en silicone pour la version avec bracelet noir

Price and availability

La Polar Ignite est disponible à la vente au prix conseillé de 199 €. Discover it with our partners and take advantage of our coupons.

Acheter la Polar ignite

Trader

Price (from)

Pope

See the offer

199 € 189.05 € (* 1)

i-Run

See the offer

199 € 189.05 € (*2)

Alltricks

See the offer

199 € 189.05 € (*3)

Rakuten

See the offer

199 €

(* 1) Discount of -5% on this product with the promo code 5A15 !(*2) Réduction de -5% sur ce produit avec le code promo FORME !(*3) Réduction de -5% sur ce produit avec le code promo ELC5 !

Commercial links. Non contractual prices. Please consult the merchant website.

Philippe Baudoin