Polar A300 Fitness Tracker and Activity Monitor

I purchased no less than five other activity trackers before I found this one: the Garmin Vivofit 2, the Garmin Vivosmart HR, Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit Blaze, and the Mio Fuse. The Polar A300 was perfect for my lifestyle; I workout 6 days per week for at least an hour per day. My workouts include at least 3-5 days of heavy weight training, Hiit, bootcamp or circuit style workouts, yoga, and spin class. The Polar A300 provides an comprehensive tracking system. I'm no longer tracking my workouts with one app, then going to another to see my steps, sleep and daily activity. The Polar does it all! The Polar A300 is a very functional fitness tracker. It has all of the features of the Garmin and the Fitbit, but it simply works better. If your sole activity for exercise is running, then any of these will probably work for you. If you do any other type of exercise, the Polar is the way to go.
During setup of the Polar, you can choose between three activity levels for your profile. Based on the level you choose, a daily goal is set for you. Unlike the Fitbit and Garmin, the activity goal can be reached in three ways (intense or moderate exercise, or steps). For example, on days I do a cardio based workout, I typically reach my activity goal by the end of the workout. On my rest day, I may have 12,000+ steps yet I still have not reached my activity goal. On a strength training day, I accomplish a large percentage of my activity goal, but I might need to take a walk around the block to meet the goal. With the Garmin and Fitbit, I would often begin my day with an intense 500+ calorie burn workout and still end the day without reaching my goal because I didn't get the purposed number of steps.
The Polar A300 has a number of advantages over other fitness trackers. Here are some that stood out to me:
* It's waterproof;although Garmin devices are also waterproof, Fitbit is not.
* Battery life: I am going 2-3 WEEKS between charges even though I use the Polar connected to a heart rate monitor for at least an hour per day. The other activity trackers that I tried required charging every 3-5 days.
* Heart Rate Monitoring: Wrist based heart rate monitoring is simply not as accurate or dependable as a chest strap. With both the Fitbit Charge HR and the Fitbit Blaze, a good sweat would prevent the device from detecting my heart rate. The heart rate on the Garmin Vivosmart HR was always lagging or just plain wrong (way off). Neither of these will pair with a chest strap. At first I thought it would be useful to know my resting heart rate; a head-up when I'm over training or getting sick, but with the way the Garmin averages the resting heart-rate, it doesn't work for this purpose. I also found that I am very aware of an increase in my resting heart rate and I don't need a device to show this. There was no real benefit to 24 hour heart rate monitoring.
The Polar A300 does not do 24 hour heart rate monitoring or even wrist-based heart rate monitoring. It connects to the Polar H7 chest strap. Even better, I've been able to pair the Polar with my Scoshe Rythym + arm band Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate Monitor with Armband, Black since I'm not crazy about wearing a chest strap. I can choose the type of activity that I am doing and set the watch to record. I can also pause the workout on the watch, view the current heart rate, heart rate zone, time, and calories burned. (Note that you do not get smart notifications if the watch is in workout mode, a feature I love).
The Polar A300 does not calculate a resting heart rate, but it does do something better: the Polar OwnIndex Fitness Test (similar to a V02 max test) to measure cardiovascular fitness. To take this test, you simply put on the chest strap and lay still for a minute or two. The first time I took this test, my score was a 42 (which was great for a 36 year old female!). The app instructed my to take the test again in 6 weeks to see if I've improved. I'm looking forward to the next test; I like having a goal to work towards (beating my previous score).
* Smart Notifications: the Polar A300 does vibrate when your phone is getting a notification, text, or call. You have the option to answer or decline a call, but you cannot respond to a text (none of the trackers I tried offered that option). You only get a line or two, so you can't always see the full message. The Fitbit Blaze was slightly better for receiving text messages because you could read the whole message.
* Time to Move! One of the great features of the A300 is the "Time to Move!" notifications. Even after I reach my activity goal for the day, the watch will vibrate if I've been sitting for more than an hour. I found it so ironic that the Fitbits did not have this capability.
* Display: The time and date are always displayed on the Polar A300; it does not require some elaborate wrist movement to may the display turn on (and yet the battery life is still so much better than the other activity trackers!).
* Durability: This is a functional watch; it does not have a touch screen. I purposely chose the A300 over the A360 because I'm pretty rough on watches. I don't want to worry about scratching a delicate screen. I wanted something that worked well, not that just looked pretty and that's what I got. The Polar A300 has a comfortable band and seems to hold up to most anything. I read some reviews that the band was too long for some women, as it is unisex, but I have not found that to be the case. I have very small wrists and the strap does come all the way around my wrist, but it's held in place with the ring around the band.
I chose the A300 over the M400 because I am not a runner and I don't need GPS. More than that, I read that the M400 does not have a vibration feature. I haven't tried the M400, so I can't say for sure, but this was important to me.
Overall, this is a great device; it's perfect for my lifestyle. I highly recommend to anyone who wants a fitness tracker that can monitor workouts, daily activity, and sleep.

I've used 2 other Polar models including the FT4 and the FT7 before getting this one and I have to say that I absolutely love this model. Some reviewers claim that the watch is too big but I barely notice it. I've included some of my favorite and not-so favorite features:

Pros:
Comfortable bands that come in different colors
Nice larger face to read things by
Fitness test!
Tracks lots of sports and activities that you can also customize
Tracks your sleep quality
Beeps at you if you've sat for too long to get moving again
Pretty accurate with whatever moving activities you're doing
Syncs via Bluetooth with the phone app
Can plug it right into your computer to charge/update your info

Cons:
To get the best activity monitoring, you need to use the HR monitor (like for non-walking activities like yoga, dancing, etc)
Larger than a Fitbit

Overall, I love this and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get fit or monitor their health in general.

Update 08-31-2015 - I doubt people are still reading my watch review but if you are I have now lost 50 pounds using this watch. It is not a magic watch it just makes you more aware. And second, people keep asking me when the phone notifications are coming. Polar recently sent this internal message to all watch owners. So here is the news and Good Luck!

' Coming soon
Android Smart Notifications

Heads up Android users! We’ve continued to work really hard during the summer to get the Smart Notifications to your use and we’re excited to let you know the wait is almost over. Now we’re at the point where we need to do a few final test rounds and try to nip those nasty bugs out before we can launch the notifications for you guys as well. If all goes as planned, we expect to be able to bring the Android Smart notifications to the first Smart notification supported device during September. Then, we’ll continue to gradually update the other supported devices in the upcoming three to four months following the first release.

–Team Polar

Tags: Polar A300, Polar FlowApp Android, Polar Loop 2, Polar M400, Polar V800 '

Update 07-30-2015 - I am down 40 pounds now, what a relief! This watch and MyFitnessPal continue to amaze me. Technology is awesome how both programs sync between each other. I now have 6 watch bands and change them daily. Since I go to the gym and do several things I just start the recording on 'Circuit Training'. I turn it on when I start working out and stop it when I get home. That's about when my heart rate has dropped to normal hahaha. If you are serious about loosing weight and want to move more get this watch. Also use MyFitnessPal to help you count calories. It is a free app for your computer and phone. However I got the paid version. In my opinion it is faster and a better experience. Good luck !

Update 05-15-2015 - I am down 27 pounds now, WOW! I love this watch and the app MyFitnessPal. The watch battery lasts 28 days on one charge. I have been more active since I got the watch and I pay more attention to my sleep. I know it is not an Apple Watch but in my opinion it is much better and functional.

Update 4-23-2015 - I have lost about 15 pounds already using this watch and MyFitnessPal. I called Polar today to clarify some things. I hated turning on and off the exercise recordings for each exercise. Then it dawned on me, you don't have to. The guy at Polar told me that I was correct. The different types of exercises named in the watch are for those that like a breakdown of each exercise. I don't. He said they are simply 'labels' but each exercise is calculated the same way, by heart rate from the chest strap. So I took all the labels off my watch and just added one and called it 'workout'. So now I can do the bike, treadmill, weights and walking around the gym with just one recording.

I also discovered that once your IOS device has your Bluetooth information you don't need to add it again even if it doesn't look connected in your settings. So if you use the Polar Flow app and the MyFitnessPal app this is what you do to update the apps. Simply open your Polar Flow app and push the bottom left button on your watch and let it sync all the watch data to the app which will also update MyFitnessPal app automatically. Now this is the catch, if you don't walk enough or workout enough, the calories that MyFitnessPal said you had for the day will change up or down when you sync the watch to the programs.

Update 4-9-2015 - Well I still love this watch. I seem to be getting 28 days of charge. But it is hard to tell because every few days I take it off to update it on my computer, but only for a few minutes, and it is still fully charged. Yes I could do all that by Bluetooth but I am old school. It also seems to work well with MyFitnessPal. It syncs to that program which is awesome for trying to loose weight. If you use MyFitnessPal I suggest you enter all your foods nutrition values manually the first time so you have an extremely accurate calorie count. I have already lost 10 pounds. Yeah!

I have noticed in the reviews that some people are wearing the chest strap all day. During the day the watch is a fitness tracker (pedometer, sleep monitor, vibrate to get up and walk). You only wear the chest strap during exercise whilst you record it. Polar does not make that clear in the instructions. I am sure you can wear your strap 24/7 if you want to but I don't. Polar changed the way the watch works since my last one. They now call it 'recording'. It may be more accurate this way. You record your exercise at the start and shut off the recording at the end of your workout. If I go to a special place like Disneyland for the day I have worn the strap and recorded it as an exercise under 'walking'. But there is no way I am wearing the strap all day. So, for just as a fitness tracker, you just put the watch on and go about your day and you don't push any buttons or record anything. This model does not come with a constant heart monitor (flashing lights under the watch) unless you wear the strap. I downloaded the PDF instruction manual and printed it out on my laser printer. I still have a lot to learn but that helps. Yes they totally need to work on their APPlication it could be far better then it is. I.E: Better explanation of what things are and more consolidation of data. Employees should never write the manual or instructions because they assume the end user knows what is obvious to them.

Original Review - This is an amazing fitness tracker / workout watch. Amazon did not have it at the time I bought mine so I bought it at REI. I have been a Polar fan for over 20 years. I kept wondering why they had not developed a fitness watch like so many manufacturers. Polar has always been considered the Rolls Royce of workout watches. You put a strap around your chest and it keeps track of your vitals (including heart rate) during your workout at the gym or at home. The chest strap is far more accurate then the blinking lights under the bottom of the watch on the new trackers which Polar did not add. Polar introduced this A300 just ahead of the Apple watch. I am sure the Apple watch will be amazing but it starts at $349 and has an 18 hour battery life. The Polar A300 has a 4 week battery life and it is $140 without the heart chest strap. On the Polar USA site I bought 2 more awesome bands at about $28 each. This watch is the update to the Polar M400 which has GPS, the A300 does not. But I have no need for GPS since my memory works well and I know where I have been! Plus later this year there will be a firmware update to only this watch (not the M400), to give you phone notifications. Wow that will be AWESOME!

So when you bring this watch home you download, on your computer (phone), the program / app that tracks all your vitals in one spot. There are both Android and IOS apps. You pull the watch out of the watch band and it has a USB plug on it. Plug it into your computer and the program / application will open. You should go thru the program / app and make any necessary changes. By default several things are public. I made everything private since I don't want to share my fitness details around the world hahaha. After you make your changes click on the sync and it downloads all your workouts to the program / app so you can watch your progress, recharges the watch (very fast) and checks the time etc.

So basically once the watch is synced and charged up unplug it from the computer and put it back into your watch band. I wear mine 24/7 because I found it to be very comfortable. If you just want to use it as a fitness tracker, put it on your wrist and that's it (the instructions do not explain that). It will do everything automatically. If you don't move your butt every 50 minutes or so it will vibrate on your wrist and tell you to move. If you don't you will get a bad boy badge lol! Do not push the center button either. That means you are 'flipping off' the watch about moving and it will also give you a bad boy badge. On the face of the watch is a rectangular box that fills up solid as you move about. The empty area will have 'pixxy dust' sprinkling around but only when you are moving. It is very cool! In the evening it automatically stops bothering you about moving. It also somehow knows you are sleeping, also amazing. Inside the program it doesn't give you a bunch of mumbo jumbo junk about your sleep, it just gives you a percentage of how you slept. It tells you how many hours of sleep you got and how many hours of restless sleep you got.

When you want to work out you put a Bluetooth chest band on. In the program you can set up your workouts. I deleted the presets and added just the ones that I need. It has indoor cycling, elliptical, weight lifting and etc modes. I also learned this the hard way and I think it's correct. You only push the center watch button when you want to work out (unless you want to see your step progress during the day). The center button starts to 'RECORD' your workout. So push the center button then use the right up or down buttons to pick your workout and start your exercise. In my case, I ride the indoor cycle, start to record and when I am done I stop recording. So when I go next to the elliptical I repeat that process. I do not know how to combine them yet. But it is super simple to record each type of exercise individually. FYI if you need to know, what time it is, as you workout, just hold your watch up to your chest strap and the screen will light up and tell you the time for a few seconds.

Like I said the battery lasts 4 weeks but I am excited to see my progress so every few days I plug the watch in to see how I am doing. So it is always charged. But you can also recharge the watch in any USB charger. The last thing I would suggest, do the 'FITNESS TEST' on the very first day. Get the watch set up, sit in your favorite recliner with the chest strap on and do the test. This will give you a base line of your fitness and help you see your progress. Seriously buy this watch it is great. Good luck !