Should you go Vantage M3 or Forerunner 965? Here’s our take.
The Garmin Forerunner 965 (alongside the 265) kicked off the surge of AMOLED multisports watches we enjoy today — and is comfortably one of the best to buy.
And now Polar has joined the AMOLED party. After giving its Ignite, Vantage V3 and Grit X2 Pro watches a splash of color, it’s now the turn of its mid-range Vantage M3 to get a display upgrade.
While the Vantage M3 is cheaper than the Forerunner 965, it offers similar features for less. So would the M3 be the smarter buy, or is it worth spending extra on one of Garmin’s best watches?
We’ve thoroughly tested both and this is our take on how the Polar Vantage M3 compares to the Garmin Forerunner 965.
Full testing: Garmin Forerunner 965 review
Price and versions
The Vantage M3 and 965 both come in single-size options and as mentioned, the Polar is the newer and the cheaper of the two watches. The Vantage M3 is considered the mid-range option in Polar’s collection line and costs £349/$399.95.
The Garmin 965 has been around a little while longer and sits at the top of the Forerunner range, which means you pay more for it. It sits at £599/$599.
That’s quite a considerable difference in price and as we’ll get into, paying less for the Vantage M3 doesn’t mean missing out on some big features you’ll find on the 965.
Winner: Polar Vantage M3
Specs comparison table
| Product name | Polar Vantage M3 | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
| Price | £349/$399.95 | £599/$599 |
| Display | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Case size | 44mm | 47mm |
| Waterproof rating | WR50 | 5 ATM |
| Screen size | 1.28- inch, 416 x 416 | 1.4-inch, 454 x 454 |
| Multiband/Dual-frequency | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate sensor | Optical and ECG | Gen 4 Elevate |
| Topographic maps | Yes | Yes |
Design, display and build
Before getting into those displays, let’s talk about what surrounds them first.
If you want the smaller of the two watches, the Vantage M3 features a 44mm plastic case compared to the larger 47mm polymer one on the FR965. The thinner watch is the Vantage M3, which measures 12.2mm compared to 13.2mm on the 965. Weight-wise, they both come in at the exact same 53g.
Both offer undeniably sporty looks and pretty streamlined designs in general. The M3 is a little more bezel-heavy than the FR965, with Garmin’s bezel built from titanium compared to stainless steel on the M3. The difference in metals doesn’t sway things in terms of overall heft and what they’re like to wear day-to-day.
It’s always good to see that the straps connected to the watch cases are removable and are the easy removable kind. Garmin and Polar both opt for noticeably flexible silicone straps out of the box with the option to pair up other official straps if you want to add some metal or nylon to your life.
When we get to the screens, Garmin gives you the larger and higher resolution option. It packs a 1.4-inch, 454 x 454-pixel resolution display, compared to the smaller, 1.28-inch, 416 x 416 AMOLED sat on the M3. There’s a bit more screen bezel at play on the Polar, which makes the screen in general feel smaller compared to the one on the 965.
In terms of overall quality, responsiveness, and viewing angles, these feel like good AMOLED screens overall. We appreciated the larger screen on the FR965, but we didn’t exactly have to squint to glance down at the M3 during use either. Both have always-on display options, too.
What protects those screens from scratches is the same across both watches. You’re getting a layer of Gorilla Glass, so it’s not the more desirable sapphire crystal glass you will find on more expensive Garmin and Polar watches. We’ve managed to scratch the screen on the 965 over longer-term testing.
When it’s time to take them in the water, they’re a match, with both offering a swim-proof 5ATM water resistance rating.
Winner: Garmin Forerunner 965
Smart features and OS
Both run on proprietary operating systems and are compatible with Android and iOS. Both offer desktop and web apps to check your stats, but you’re likely to be making the most use of the companion smartphone apps to initially set up, pair and sync watches.
This will undeniably feel quite archaic in places for newcomers. Garmin’s Connect app feels slightly more intuitive than Polar’s Flow app, but both still need refining to make them more approachable for new users.
When it’s time to deal with the watches, you’ve got the combination of physical buttons and touchscreens, with slightly different approaches in terms of where key menus and screens live. We find the Garmin setup a little easier to get to grips with, but Polar’s UI has improved compared to previous Vantage M series watches.
Garmin handles its smartwatch features better, particularly for core ones like viewing notifications. It also puts more smartwatch features at your disposal. It offers a music player, music controls, payments, and the ability to download apps via the Connect IQ Store.
The Vantage M3 gives you notifications, and music controls — and that’s really your lot.
For most, having just notifications and music controls will be absolutely fine and are the features we would typically make most use of. Ultimately though, if you want more smartwatch features and better execution of those smartwatch features, the FR965 will give you that.
Winner: Garmin Forerunner 965
Battery life
AMOLED screens drain the battery quicker than the types of display technologies Garmin and Polar employed on previous generations of these respective watches. You’re also going to have to accept that keeping those AMOLED displays on 24/7 will see a bigger battery drain compared to using the raise-to-wake mode to only turn the displays on when you need to look at the screen.
In pure numbers, the 965 is going to give you 23 days in smartwatch mode compared to 7 days on the M3. When using them in the best available GPS accuracy modes, the Polar maxes out at 30 hours compared to 19 hours on the 965. There are also low power or eco-saving tracking modes with the Vantage M3 able to last 70 hours while the 965 can go up to 34 hours in its UltraTrac mode.
Polar doesn’t state a battery number for when the screen is always kept on, but we’ve found it’s 4-5 days. Garmin says you’ll get 7 days in the same scenario. We’d say our real-world testing delivers a similar 4-5 days. If you’re willing to keep the screen on at all times, the 965 will definitively get you more battery in between charges, but there’s not a huge amount in it when you don’t.
The battery drop when using the most accurate GPS modes is smaller on the Vantage M3 than it is on the 965, so if you value staying power during long workouts, the M3 goes a little further. Day-to-day, the 965 just edges it.
Winner: Draw
Tracking performance
When you look at the top-line features on offer on the 965 and the M3, they tick a lot of key boxes.
There’s dual-band GPS, full topographical mapping and navigation features, optical heart rate sensor setups, and a host of training modes and additional insights to take advantage of. As far as performance, accuracy, reliability and just generally being useful watches to train with, we’d say there are some differences in our experience.
From a tracking performance, we’ve used them for runs and swims, general indoor workouts, and for other outdoor time and found GPS performance has been good on both with Garmin’s multi-band mode feeling a touch more reliable when looking into the GPS tracks. For metrics like distance tracking and pace, they’ve fared pretty well.
When you’re turning to them for mapping and navigation, Garmin offers more detailed maps and more comprehensive navigation features. Both support turn-by-turn navigation, but you’ll need to use the third-party app Komoot on the Vantage M3 to get it. That functionality is available on the Garmin natively. So Garmin wins in this particular department.
Both have rich optical sensor arrays, which can monitor heart rate, and SpO2 with Polar offering the additional ability to track skin temperature and also includes an ECG heart rate sensor.
General heart rate performance has been good across both watches with both slightly faltering at higher-intensity workouts, but you can quickly pair external heart rate sensors to remedy that accuracy issue.
When turning to them for training features and training insights, there’s plenty on offer here.
Polar has its superb FitSpark suggested workouts fuelled by your workout history, its FuelWise tracker to make sure that you’re correctly fuelling during longer sessions, and also offers training load and recovery pro insights.
It also offers more detailed sleep tracking that’s more entwined with your workout history and assessing your recovery needs.
Garmin has similar features on offer letting you download training plans, create interval workouts, and offer insights centered around your readiness to train, showing you how training is impacting on your overall fitness and offering race predictions for runners.
We’d say that Garmin’s training insights feel more glanceable and easier to absorb than Polar’s. However, Polar’s suggested workouts are better executed than Garmin’s.
Polar additionally offers a range of easy-to-follow tests to assess your running or cycling performance and even offers insights into leg recovery. Ultimately, these watches don’t shortchange you in training features or insights.
Winner: Draw
Verdict
Buy Polar Vantage M3 if… You want a great value multisport watch that offers good performance and a nice array of training features and insights found on the Forerunner 965 for less.
Buy Garmin Forerunner 965 if…You want a great multisports watch with a bigger display, the best mapping and navigation support available, and a bit more in day-to-day battery life.
Also consider: – Coros Pace Pro – Coros’ first AMOLED multisports watch offers similar features including mapping and dual-frequency GPS for the same money as the Vantage M3.
