PolarPolar M430 - Exclusive to Amazon - GPS sports watch for running - wrist heart rate tracker, 24/7 activity and sleep tracking, vibration alerts, size M, Bluetooth

Having gotten more and more in to running I decided it was time to purchase a GPS running watch. I was weighing up whether to go with a Polar or a Garmin but my partner who already owned an M430 steered me towards Polar.So yeah, as has been said already aesthetically the M430 is not the most stylish and probably something you are not going to wear throughout the day like say a fitbit. Despite that, the watch is really light and not nearly as bulky as some of the pics would suggest.On to the serious stuff. Substance over style is what the M430 is all about. I didn’t want to spend a fortune but wanted something reliable that would give me some decent metrics to work with. Having used it regularly for over two weeks this has ticked all the boxes and more. Admittedly I do not have previous experience in using either wrist based or chest based heart monitors; however, having analysed numerous runs at various distances / paces it’s pretty clear to see that it is consistent and accurate. GPS tracking is spot on and my runs sync to my Strava seamlessly. I really like the display features which can show time, distance, pace and heart rate together without things looking too cluttered. If you wish you can also adjust the display features at the press of a button to show less.The Polar Flow app should not be overlooked either. Before I purchased the watch I didn’t think I would delve too far in to analysing my runs but Polar Flow presents these metrics so comprehensively that you cannot help but get in to it. This truly is data you can use and even after just two weeks I feel I have learned allot about my running performance and it has changed my approach to training. Workouts sync effortlessly to Polar Flow and as I said, the data is presented brilliantly. Then there is the great battery life! I got just under 3.5 hours of running time last week before I needed to charge. Charging time is also very quick and yes where the charge port is located is a bit awkward but I’m not going to dock any points for that!All in all, top stuff here from Polar. I’m loving it so far and really don’t see that changing. Great product at a more than reasonable price.

Ok, so aesthetically I'd much prefer the strap to be as wide as the face rather than it tapering down. Half of the watch face is taken up by the bordering - but that still leaves plenty of display screen, and the bulkyness of the watch allowes for the fitting inside of cost efficient and running / working accurate and efficient gadgets. So, that was the downside! The upside is that it is easy to set up and pair with your phone, it works great, is accurate, you can see and move between things as you run, you can pause and then save your run, it's easy to sync back to your phone, and the Polar app is great. The free and fast delivery was great, too. At £91 it's very good. I'm just very aesthetically demanding of items - perhaps too aesthetically demanding of then. So, I've given it 5 stars all the way because I'm aware that I'm too demanding of its looks.

Over the past year I have gotten more and more into running. First it started off with 1 or 2 runs a week, then I had what might be called an epiphany when I heard that you need to build your base by running sloooowly. This helped to improve my endurance and stamina and suddenly running became so much more enjoyable. I figured I'd put myself through a running program to improve. I love some stats and graphs, so I embarked on a major research project into finding the right GPS running watch for me. I already have a Polar HR monitor (H10) which I got over a year ago because it was cheaper than a watch and I wasn't that serious about training, just curious. It's very accurate, which seems to be what Polar's reputation is built on. So it seemed logical to stick with one brand.What the watch does over the HR monitor is allow you to load a specific running program from the Polar Flow website, which then tells you what kind of run or exercise to do each day and what targets (heart rate and distance) to hit. The program is pretty comprehensive and includes easy, medium, interval and long runs, mobility sessions, and core and strength work outs. There are supporting Polar videos on YouTube for the recommended exercise routines for anything that's not running. If you follow the program, you will get better. I couldn't stick rigidly to the program due to work commitments but I still shaved 5 minutes off my 5k time in 3 months. Pretty chuffed. So you set up everything in the Polar Flow website, and then sync your watch. It's pretty simple and operates smoothly for me. Syncing with the Polar Flow app on my Android phone is a bit more hit and miss though. The watch also allows you to record your sessions doing a multitude of other sports - it will record your heart rate, time, and calculate calories burned based on your other metrics. It's waterproof so you can go swimming with it. It will record most things, but it doesn't automatically register laps. There is a manual option for this if you so wish. It will also monitor your sleep and churn out a report on it. I really only use it to log exercise sessions. Finally, it will do a "fitness test", which involves monitoring your heart rate while you sit or lie still.As far as accuracy goes, wrist-based heart rate monitors are accepted as less accurate as chest-based ones, especially when you're doing interval work, but the Polar M430 is pretty good - accurate enough for me that I don't really use the HR10 much now.GPS takes a few seconds to lock, and it's also very accurate, much more so than my phone, which was temperamental, and another reason why I went into the market for a GPS running watch.Battery life lasts around 4-5 days for me, although this is mostly on standby as I only really wear it when I'm working out. Still, it's pretty impressive. I wore it fairly continuously when I first got it and had to charge it after 3 days. There is an option to have constant heart rate monitoring, which obviously uses more battery.Finally, with regards to aesthetics, I wasn't sold on the look of it. It's quite chunky on my smallish wrist (I'm a 5'4" woman), and it's square design is definitely less common than the current trend of round faces. However it was the least important factor for me.For what it's worth, initially I tried the Suunto Spartan, but this fell short on accuracy and was returned. I've met people who rave about Garmin, but I'd also read reviews about them having a cheap-ish build quality for the price, and the ecosystem seems to divide opinion like Marmite. Some guys who ran a running shop told me that TomTom was going to stop producing watches and so support would fade over time.Overall, this ticks all the boxes that I wanted out of a running watch, with features and a build quality at a price that I think beats other alternatives.

I use this watch predominately for swimming and gym sessions and it's ridiculously good. The constant heart rate monitoring during training sessions lets me know if I'm in the right zone and the fact that it's fully waterproof has been invaluable. The interface is easy to use and the app is as well. The GPS on walks/runs/cycling works really well but naturally does run the battery down faster. Without using the GPS, I'm charging every 5 or 6 days and with it about every 4. It's really made my training sessions a lot more effective!