Polar Pacer Pro: Review roundup

Polar is bringing back the Pacer, the wildly popular runners’ watch from the early 1990s. With virtually nothing in common with that watch but the name, the newly released Polar Pacer Pro has nearly every available feature from Polar. Here is a roundup of the reviews so far.

Categorized by Polar as a runner’s watch, the specs show it’s pretty much an up-for-anything sports watch. Pacer Pro is priced at $299.95, with the more economically priced version due to be released in a few months at only $199.95 (available for pre-order).

Polar Pacer Pro specs

Dimensions	45mm Diameter 11.5mm Thickness
Weight	41g (23g w/o band)
Display	Type MIP  Size 1.2 Inch  Resolution 240 × 240  Always on display
Performance	CPU Speed 200 MHz Memory 5MB Storage 32MB
Battery	Battery rechargeable Yes  Battery life training mode, up to 35 hours Battery life watch mode, up to 1032 hours Battery life with power save training mode, up to 100 hours
Outdoors & Navigation	Global Navigation Satellite Systems Turn-by-Turn Guidance powered by komoot Hill Splitter™ Route Guidance Back to Start
Sleep & Wellness	Nightly Recharge™ Sleep Plus Stages™ Breathing Serene™
Training & Recovery	Precision Prime™ Training Load Pro™ FitSpark® FuelWise™ Weekly Summary

In addition to the reliable heart rate readings you expect from Polar products, the company promises a lot with the Pacer Pro, including extraordinary battery life (35 hours using GPS and heart rate monitoring?!), a barometric altimeter, and features to optimize recovery in addition to training.

Polar Pacer Pro review roundup

This release is an exciting one for the running and tech communities. So what are people saying about the Polar Pacer Pro?

DC Rainmaker

The Polar Pacer Pro is by far the most capable sports watch Polar has ever made at this price point (or, anywhere near it). It’s only missing a handful of less critical features from their higher-end $400-$500 GPS watch lineup…

The more I think about it, I think Polar’s mistake was actually trying to revive the Polar Pacer branding for this watch and billing it as a “Runner’s Watch”. Yes, it works good for runners, but from a runner’s standpoint, it’s just not competitive to the other options. Instead, where it is incredibly competitive is as a triathlete/multisport watch.

… no matter how good the tech is, it’s framed for the wrong audience. But if you’re a triathlete, it’s a hidden gem.

Read the full review here Polar Pacer Pro GPS Running Watch In-Depth Review

Review Geek

Both of the new Polar Pacer GPS watches have better screens, up to 7-day battery life, and are loaded with features so you can throw on some shoes and start running.

It’s important to remember that Polar doesn’t classify these as a “smartwatch.” Still, they have tons of smart features perfect for running, tracking, controlling music, and everything else people expect from a smart(ish) watch these days…

If running is life, these watches are worth considering.

Read the full review here Polar’s New Pacer Running Watches Won’t Lag Behind

DesFit

…this actually is not bad for a wristband optical heart rate sensor and again, the average heart rate over the course of the ride was totally usable. So the Pacer Pro is rather interesting, because it really does offer quite a bit for $299, and it sort of puts Polar’s higher end watches in sort of an awkward position. Because again, it offers so much for runner or even triathlete. I think this is a really good option and I think it’s priced competitively.

Read the full review here Polar Pacer Pro In-Depth Review

The Run Testers

I think it’s odd they’ve marketed it so specifically at runners when it is a multi sport watch. And that will help it kind of stand out against the forerunners, in that kind of price point in particular. But basically, you are kind of getting, I think, the best of Polar in a cheaper watch and that’s a good thing. Even if there isn’t anything new and exciting here to shout about.

Read the full review here Polar Pacer Pro First Run Review