Polar V800
I ordered the Polar V800 today from Polar. We shall see how soon it arrives and how much I like it. It's going to replace my Garmin 310XT. I liked the Polar Loop for what it is, and I have enjoyed bluetooth pairing with their latest HRMs. It's nice since most of the machines in the gym I use have Polar HRM links automatically. I also have a new Stages powermeter which uses both Bluetooth and ANT plus.
I'm going to give both a good workout once the torn meniscus in my left knee is all taken care of (soon I hope).
I will update this topic with photos and thoughts as I get them for others to see. Don't expect any super fast or impressive data from me though. I'm not there, yet.
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There is no Power Field on the bike screens! I guess Stages is the only Bluetooth compatible power meter currently. Polar is currently developing their own pedal based bluetooth meter due to release in July......
How hard is it really to give me an additional display line? If anyone has any contacts at Polar USA, I'd be happy to discuss with them. I'm going to see if the Polar can pick up the cadence from the Stages meter. If it does, power should be easy to grab too. I had an e-mail with Polar in Finland and they didn't seem to understand a power meter that communicates in bluetooth already exists.
I will admit it is easy to use and set up compared to other devices I've owned. Not having a power display / recording until July is going to really be a bummer though.
The V800 offers a lot of features the Flow does like recording sleep, steps walked in a day, overall activity levels, and it does a great job of tracking workouts. It also locks onto satellites much quicker than my old 310 did. I really like it compared to the 310. The main issue with the V800 is that as a new product all of the software isn't written yet.
Compatibility with power meters and the ability to download data to other software (aka training peaks) won't be available until September. This is what Garmin tells me directly and they have been very polite and responisive to inquires on this issue.
I've taken to wearing my V800 daily in place of my regular watches and it functions flawlessly as a watch too. All I have to do is put on my HRM, pick my sport and hit enter to start recording. I wait typically 30 seconds or so for a satellite lock and I'm off and running or biking. It's also easy to sync the data to my iphone and see it on Polar's Flow app and the website. I get all the metrics I'd want except Power right now. I know the Polar can see my Stages Power meter, but it doesn't know how to communicate with it yet. So far I'm using my old 310 just for power and cadence that come from the Power Meter.
If you are a HR only athlete, this device is ready to use. If you also use Power, you may want to wait until later this summer.
I'm going to have to admit the V800 wears very nicely and functions as a watch extremely well. It's sad because I have a nice collection of watches I used to wear. I will be getting to know the V800 very well this offseason and using it next year for all of my races. I will post photos, and anything I learn and or like a lot as well as dislikes. My major dislike is apparently corrected, the lack of power meter input.
Now I no longer have to take two watches on bike rides, and I can sell or trade my Garmin 310XT which has been good to me but is dated and rather large.
Sadly after a few bad seasons and knee surgery the power meter told me my FTP is LOL and that my w/kg is ROFLOL. I'm going to use my new tool and get faster plan to start rectifying this issue.
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the review on the V800. I'm thinking about upgrading my RS800 Polar to the V800. I recently purchased a MIO wrist band to use instead of the HR strap which never seemed to stay in place. The MIO won't sync with my RS800. The downside of the MIO is that the charge only lasts 7 hours so for IM day I may convert to my HR strap for the run. I'm excited about getting the V800 and appreciate seeing your input here.