Garmin
Forerunner 165
$199.99
Polar
Based on 104 Reddit mentions
$319.93
Summary of sentiment across key features mentioned by users.
Discover what users really think based on Reddit discussions.
Hopefully it heralds an update and more comprehensive presentation in the Polar app. Otherwise likely DOA. And I hope that’s not the case as I like my Polar Ignite 3 but hate the dated look of how information is presented.
newsman787 in r/Polarfitness
June 17, 2025 1:27 PM
12
No idea if I'm representative but this is my story... in 2020 COVID lockdowns led to me taking up cycling I live in a hilly place, there is lots of data to track I wanted a watch that was not massive, reasonably priced, and would track rides without needing a bike computer it came down to Polar and
...yodaniel77 in r/Polarfitness
February 26, 2026 9:18 PM
5
Polar should definitely consider whether their method of transferring data to Polar Flow should be completely changed. The problem occurs from time to time and it seems that only FlowSync can fix it, but Polar intends to discontinue FlowSync. What then? Every now and then I have to resort to FlowSyn
...mfcx99 in r/Polarfitness
March 3, 2026 2:46 PM
5
It's hard to say what Polar spends their software engineering time on, but firmware is definitely not a priority. Especially note that the features released months ago in January won't show until Q3 for the M3 an Ignite 3. And that's just Polar artifically gating sofware by sku.
seanvk in r/Polarfitness
May 18, 2025 5:11 AM
9
Polar is considered among the better of mediocre bunch when it comes to sleep tracking and the recovery tools (orthostatic test, leg recovery test, nightly recharge) are state-of-the-art. Definitely better than Suunto and I'd wager better than Garmin as well (though there are more recovery-related f
...AnarcoCorporatist in r/Polarfitness
June 22, 2025 1:04 PM
8
I own a Polar Ignite 3 Titanium too, and yes, it’s designed exactly for what you described. I wear it day and night - it’s lightweight so it’s barely noticeable while sleeping. The M3 and the X2 are newer models with maps and navigation, so it may be worth the price.
tajbo_spezial in r/Polarfitness
June 22, 2025 11:47 AM
7
As the Polar Loop uses the Flow app, it is way behind Whoop in presentation, analysis, etc. That’s why all these people use Whoop as the standard. Sadly the Loop is barely in the game. Hopefully Polar itself remains in the game but already it’s well behind in its goals of updating Flow. Additionally
...newsman787 in r/Polarfitness
January 31, 2026 10:02 PM
4
I wouldn't consider that bragging about Garmin support or products. I'd consider that bragging about a user who consistently pushed support for several days and finally got them to agree to replace it. Good on the user, not so good on the vendor support. This is easy to pick and choose faults to bas
...Zed-O-Six in r/Polarfitness
February 25, 2026 7:46 PM
4
i went with the ignite 3. I had a vantage M (1) and didn't use a lot of the "advanced" features (altimeter, advanced tests, extra ram). I do miss the battery life. There are a lot of nice features with the newer polar watches (weather, sunrise/set info), but they sap energy and the bigger batteries
...urrrrrrrrr in r/Polarfitness
May 26, 2025 8:35 PM
5
I own the ignite 3 because it is barely noticeable when being worn. That is a pro for me especially at night. I did try garmin before and polar gives me more usable values while garmin just throws numbers at the user. (In connect+ and the watch). On the other hand other people think the polar UI (we
...Putrid_Dragonfly4870 in r/Polarfitness
June 22, 2025 11:24 AM
5