Polar has unveiled the Polar Ignite 3, the latest in its entry-level workout-tracking sports watch range.
The Ignite 3 is aimed more at the general fitness user than the Pacer/Grit X Pro models, which are skewed towards endurance and performance athletes. Think yoga classes, HIIT, as well as runs and cycles.
And as such, from a fitness point of view, the Ignite 3 offers few surprises. It’s a well-rounded sport watch, featuring heart rate tracking, GPS, FitSpark suggested workouts, with a £289 price tag.
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But like many of its competitors, Polar is looking beyond fitness and heart rate data – and a key component of the Ignite 3 is improved sleep tracking.
The new SleepWise feature expands sleep tracking and looks to link it to circadian rhythms. It will use sleep data to try and identify your rhythm and offer insights on your cognitive readiness and alertness and suggest when will be the best time in the day for taking on focused tasks.
In our review of the Polar Pacer Pro we loved the sleep tracking – and have found that the recovery insights (Nightly Recharge) and sleep stage data (Sleep Plus Stages) is up there with the best in the business. All of those make it over to the Ignite 3.
Like Garmin and Fitbit, the Ignite 3 also takes stress into account as well – with Serene guided breathing also on board.
It’s also a looker – and the Polar Ignite 3 weighs only 35g – and boasts a full 1.2-inch AMOLED display for the first time. It also features rounded bezels that, from the press materials at least, look alluringly slim.
We’ll be keen to see how circadian rhythm tracking relates to real life. The idea of physical daily readiness has been a core feature of Whoop 4.0 and Fitbit – and Polar already tackles this via its Nightly Recharge. The idea of cognitive readiness is totally new – and we’d love to see this have a practical and beneficial effect.
The Polar Ignite 3 is available from today and costs $329/£289. It comes in Night Black, Purple Dusk, Greige Sand, and Brown Copper.
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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.