The new Polar Grit X is a rugged multisport smartwatch with a claimed 40-hour battery life, direct integration with Komoot and a competitive £379 / €429.90 / $429.95 price tag.
The new smartwatch fills a gap in the Polar line-up and goes head-to-head with the likes of the Garmin Fenix, Sigma iD.FREE and Coros Vertix.
Polar Grit X smartwatch key specs
- 64g claimed weight
- Claimed battery life of 40 hours with all features activated
- Claimed battery life in excess of 100 hours with power save options activated
- Polar Precision Prime combined optical and skin contact heart rate monitoring
- Komoot integration
- £379 / €429.90 / $429.95
The Polar Grit X smartwatch is tested to “US military standards” and is said to be able to cope with a wide range of temperatures, as well as being shockproof and waterproof. Exact figures for these specifications have not been supplied.
The watch measures heart rate using Polar’s Precision Prime technology, which uses a skin contact monitor in conjunction with an optical heart rate monitor, as well as an accelerometer, to get what the brand claims are more accurate overall readings than a standard optical heart rate monitor.
Polar makes a real point of the Grit X’s claimed weight of 64g, going on to say this low weight gives it an “incredible weight-to-battery life ratio”. It is not specified whether or not this weight includes the strap.
For comparison, a Garmin Fenix 6 that we have in for test weighs 83g.
Though 19g is hardly a huge figure, it does present a 25 per cent saving over the Fenix. If you prefer to live your life with your wrist unencumbered, this could be the smartwatch for you.
There are no further hardware spec details for the watch in the press release, though we have asked Polar for more information and will update this article as soon as we have a hold of it.
However, the release does go into detail about the extensive range of training tools included within the watch.
- FuelWise: for those of us who forget to drink water on a ride, this training assistant provides refuelling and hydration reminders throughout an activity
- FitSpark: an in-built training guide that calculates workouts based on your recovery level and training history
- NightCharge: An overnight recovery measurement tool that shows you how well you have recovered from your day
- Sleep Plus Stages: this tracks your sleep stages to give further insight into sleep quality
- Training Load Pro: this tool monitors cardio load, muscle load and perceived load to try and prevent overtraining
- Running Power: for riders that dabble in non-cycling exercise (why?!), this tool monitors your muscular work rate
All activities are uploaded to Polar Flow. This is much like Garmin Connect and allows you to view your training status, analyse your training results and plan future workouts. Activities can then be shared onto other popular platforms such as Strava.
Notably, the new watch is directly integrated with Komoot, allowing you to source routes and get turn-by-turn guidance on the fly. It can also provide two-day weather forecasts with live updates.
Polar Grit X smartwatch pricing and availability
The Polar Grit X is available now for £379 / €429.90 / $429.95. It comes in sizes small/medium and medium/large. It is not made clear whether the size of the watch face changes with each size or whether it is just the strap size that changes.
Replacement silicone straps are also available in black, white or green, allowing you to customise your watch to match your fabulous fashion tastes, and are priced at £26.50 / €29.90 / $29.95 a pop.
Green, red or blue paracord straps are also available at £36 / €39.90 / $39.95 each, and a leather band for £44.50 / €49.90 / $49.95.
