Polar Ignite - Fitness Watch with Advanced Wrist-Based Optical Heart Rate Monitor, Training Guide, GPS, Waterproof

I'm already a fan of Polar products, I have been for years, I purchased the Vantage V when it was first released and did the same with the Ignite.I've spent this week getting used to the Ignite, it's a touch screen like the Vantage V, but with fewer buttons, one to be precise. The watch was easy to set up and synced with my Flow account seamlessly. There were a few updates to do, but that didn't take very long.The touch screen performs really well and I love the screen colours and brightness with the watch coming to life when I turn my wrist to look at the screen or touch the watch face or button.The Ignite Optical heart rate sensors look the same as on my Vantage V and it picks up my heart rate just as quickly. The sleep stages are a lot more detailed on the Ignite compared to what I'm used to on the Vantage V though, but having read some on-line reviews, it looks like these sleep stages will also be added to my Vantage V in a future software update. After a few days I started to get more scores associated with how well I'd been sleeping and how recharged my body was, I love this feedback - well done Polar!! Of course I also know my body well and if I'm feeling refreshed from sleep or not, but it has been really good to see the Ignite offering the details relating to how much time I've spent in each of the sleep stages and how 're-charged' I am the next morning. I'm looking forward to using the Fitspark functions at the weekend with a cardio workout and then seeing my sleep and re-charge scores the following day. Fitspark isn't available on my other Polar devices so I'm intrigued to see how this will work, it definitely looks like some of the available exercises in the planned routines are going to give me a real challenging workout, which I will love.There's also something called serene breathing, I've followed the onscreen instructions in bed at night before settling down to sleep and I have to say I do feel more relaxed and ready for sleep after doing the breathing exercises.Lastly I've reviewed some of the regular routes I've ran in my Polar flow account, the GPS on the Ignite so far has been good, with great connectivity even under the dense canopy of trees on one of my favourite routes.All in all, this is a fabulous device, with many new features that I'm really enjoying using and the price is great too.

This is just what I have been looking for, a sports watch both for training and also well being. Ignite fits really well on my small wrists and I like the touch screen and one button function. I have used Polar before and the Ignite heart rate and GPS accuracy is spot on. If you do lots of different training, there are over 100 sports to choose from, even yoga, I like this flexibility.But I think the coolest things are the new features. The sleep is broken down into REM, deep, light sleep and interruptions and scored in the Nightly Recharge feature, so you can see if you are getting enough good quality sleep and recovering from your day properly. It delves really deep so you can see beat to beat intervals which show how well recovered you are and it also shows your breathing rate. Then Ignite gives you a training programme the next morning based on how well you have recovered from the previous day and how you slept. This is called Fit Spark and it suggests either strength, cardio of supportive training. Each programme guides you, so if its cardio you have a heart rate based workout, with strength there are animated figures showing you what to do (i.e. squats) with info on how many. It takes the pain away from knowing if you are training too little or too much. There are also more than one training session to choose from, in case you don't want to do what is suggested. The last feature is a deep breathing exercise called Serene, which encourages you to breathe better to relax and unwind. I did this before bed and it helped me de-stress and get off to sleep quicker!The Smart Notifications are good to have and battery life so far has been fine. The Flow app is easy to find your way round and the detail on sleep is amazing. Nice one Polar.

I bought a ‘used - acceptable’ Polar Ignite and it was just that in terms of condition. Couple of very small dents in rim of watch which were perfectly fine and expected, but there was a lot more wear on the buckle of the watch strap so it had obviously been heavily used previously. So I was initially a bit disappointed.In many ways the watch is disappointing and many of the reviews are right - it’s extremely slow to light up when you move your wrist and then for a frustratingly short amount of time. And it’s totally hit and miss moving your wrist to light it up - just when you think you’ve got the knack it won’t light up. And I just can’t get it to light up with movement when lying down - yet it comes on randomly when in bed.The touch screen responsiveness is also slow and clunky. Compared with any modern mobile phone it feels ten years out of date.However... however. I’ve kind of fallen in love with it. It’s light and sits nicely on my wrist - I barely notice it, and love how it looks. The design of the display when it does light up is also lovely... it has personality and the features like nightly recharge and fitspark advising what exercise to do are addictive and I find myself looking forward to them and taking their advice.I bought the OH1 arm strap heart rate monitor to use for kettlebell training so I don’t destroy the watch and they pair effortlessly and everything tracks well in the polar flow app. I use for kettlebells, rowing and walks and has all the data I need and I’m finding it really interesting.So all in all - it’s clunky and feels slow and old fashioned, but I love it!