A while ago, I was seriously struggling with my weight. I knew I was putting myself at risk of health issues, but finding and sticking to a fitness plan seemed impossible.
Back then, fitness watches weren’t nearly as popular as they are today. Now, however, fitness watches like the Polar Unite make it super easy to track your fitness journey.
Things to Consider Before Buying a Fitness Watch
Whether you’re brand new to exercise or a full-on gym rat, fitness watches could help you train more efficiently.
These devices vary in their features, but they all can track the number of steps you take in a day, and estimate the number of calories you’ve burned.
Fitness watches are perfect for those struggling to find the motivation to get off the couch and get moving.
Many watches have features that alert you when it’s detected you’ve been inactive for too long.
Others allow you to set activity or exercise goals in terms of steps taken, time active, or calories burned.
Keep in mind, however, that modern smartphones have a lot of the basic features of a fitness watch.
Although they’re not as accurate as watches, if you’re just looking for a step or distance tracker, the built-in pedometer in your smartphone might be enough.
There are also a few specific factors you should keep in mind before you choose a fitness watch.
Design
If you intend on wearing your watch 24/7, you might appreciate a design with a larger face that’s intended to resemble a normal watch.
On the other hand, smaller watches that display less information at a time are much less expensive.
Features
Features like GPS, sleep tracking, or built-in music storage can be convenient, but not everyone needs them.
Match your fitness experience and goals to your fitness watch. If you don’t need a wide variety of features, don’t pay a premium price.
Water Resistance
Don’t forget to check how water resistant your watch is before you buy it. Many cheaper ones are only splashproof, which can be fine if you don’t intend on wearing it 24/7.
On the other hand, if you want to wear your watch in the shower or track your swimming, many more expensive watches are rated waterproof up to 20 meters or more.
What is the Polar Unite Watch?
The Polar Unite watch is a brand new fitness watch from Polar, a company that sells a large variety of fitness watches and heart rate trackers.
Some of their watches are specifically geared toward certain fitness activities, such as running or cycling, but the Unite watch is designed to be highly versatile.
The Polar Unite Fitness Watch is the newer version of the Polar Ignite. While the Ignite model comes with integrated GPS, the Unite requires a connection to a smartphone to enable GPS.
While the integrated GPS of the Polar Ignite is more accurate, the battery life of the Unite in training mode is much better.
Pros
- Highly accurate wrist heart rate tracker
- Long battery life for 24/7 wear
- Comes with Fitspark training guide
- Tracks sleep stages and exercise recovery
Cons
- No integrated GPS
- Slightly worse battery life in watch mode than Polar Ignite
- Must connect to app to use all features
Features & Benefits
There’s a lot to like about this watch. In this section we’ve highlighted a few features and benefits you’ll want to know more about that help it stand above the rest.
Activity Tracking
The main benefit of a fitness watch is its highly accurate activity tracking. Fitness watches like the Polar Unite give you the ability to understand how and when you’re active like nothing else.
The Polar Unite has continuous heart rate tracking, which gives you a much better understanding of your activity levels throughout the day.
This continuous tracking also means that activities that don’t involve much arm movement will still be counted in your exercise for the day.
As with all fitness watches, your activity measurements will become more accurate over time.
Once the watch knows what your personal resting and maximum heart rates are, it’ll become much easier for it to detect when you’re exercising.
FitSpark Daily Training Guide
The Polar Unite will monitor your heart rate throughout your workout and tell you the benefits as soon as you’re done. W
ith the FitSpark training guide feature, it’ll also suggest new workouts every day, depending on your previous activity and recorded sleep levels.
These suggested workouts are surprisingly detailed, with a full list of exercises in a specific order, complete with animations.
You’ll receive recommendations for cardio, strength training, or stretching depending on a variety of recorded factors.
FitSpark is designed to help you avoid burnout while guiding you through the most effective workout possible.
This is great for people who struggle with planning workouts that have enough variety, or for beginners who aren’t sure where to start.
Polar Flow
All the information your watch records is available on the Polar Flow app or website.
You’ll be able to see your heart rate throughout the day, track your movement while you work out, and plan future workouts.
You can also customize your watch according to your preferred sport, with over 100 options available.
Many cheaper fitness watches estimate the number of calories you burn based on just a few factors.
The Polar Unite takes into account your height and weight, age, gender, training intensity, and maximum heart rate.
You’ll be able to get a much better understanding of your caloric needs as a result.
Sleep Tracking
Getting enough sleep is vital for your health. It’s even more important when your body needs to recover from strenuous exercise during the day.
To help you track and manage your rest, the Polar Unite Exercise Watch works while you sleep as well as while you work.
It’ll track what sleep stages you’re in, and for how long, giving a much more accurate picture of your nighttime recovery.
The Nightly Recharge feature automatically measures how well you recover from your exercise and other stresses every night.
The rating it produces is based on how well you slept as well as the activity of your autonomic nervous system (ANS).
The ANS helps your body decide whether it’s time to get up and move or lay down and rest.
When the Polar Unite measures your heart and breathing rate during the night, it’s also measuring how well your ANS is calming down and allowing you to fully recover.
Note that because these measurements are compared to the past 28 days worth of data, it might take up to a full month to start receiving completely personalized and accurate results.
Serene Breathing Exercise
If you’re having trouble calming down, the Polar Unite Fitness Watch also comes with a breathing exercise feature called Serene.
Mindful breathing can have excellent effects on your stress levels, mood, and sleep quality.
With animations and vibrations that help you breathe at an optimal rate, the watch will guide you through a few minutes of peace.
If you do breathing exercises regularly, you can expect to see long-term benefits to your overall sense of well being.
Customizability & Accessories
In addition to its sport profiles and activity tracking customizability, the Polar Unite has a variety of accessories and wristbands you can use to change the look of the watch however you’d like.
You can change your wristband as often as you’d like with spring bars that make it easy to remove and attach bands.
There are silicone, textile, and leather wristbands available in multiple colors, from bright orange and blue to muted gray and black.
If an extremely accurate heart rate measurement is important to your fitness goals, the Polar Unite Workout Watch is also compatible with Polar’s separately-sold heart monitors.
These monitors sit on a belt that wraps around your chest at the bottom of your sternum and sync seamlessly with up to 2 devices at a time.
Compatibility
Data exportation is easy with the Polar Unite by plugging your watch into a computer.
The watch is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems, and all your data is backed up in the Polar Flow app and web service.
Your data is even 3rd party compatible, so if you’d like to switch to another watch brand at some point, it’s completely possible to bring all of your data over.
User Reviews
The Polar Unite is generally seen by reviewers as a high-value, low-cost fitness watch that has all the necessary features at an affordable price.
While researching the Polar Unite, I found many positive user reviews.
Review #1
One customer notes that they”haven’t taken it off since I got it.”
Review #2
Another customer appreciates the”accurate heart rate” measurement.
Lastly, the impressive value and large number of features were also appreciated by other reviewers.
Polar Unite Alternatives
The Polar Unite isn’t the only high-quality fitness watch on the market. If you decide the Unite isn’t for you, here are three excellent alternatives you may want to take a look at:
Withings Steel HR
The Withings Steel HR Fitness Watch is a high-quality hybrid smartwatch that boasts a seriously impressive 25-day battery life.
The Steel HR is designed to look like a stylish watch, but it’s packed with features, including heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking.
Similarly to the Unite, the Steel HR uses connected GPS to track your movement while working out. You can choose from 30 sports on your wrist before exercising.
This watch is excellent for those looking for a particularly elegant fitness watch that comes with all the important features.
Withings Steel HR vs. Polar Unite
- Much better battery life (25 days vs 4 days)
- Both have connected rather than integrated GPS
- Steel HR does not come with fitness planning feature
- Better water resistance (50m vs 30m)
Fitbit Versa 2
The Fitbit made the fitness watch famous, and they’ve still got some of the best watches around, including the Fitbit Versa 2.
This watch is compatible with both Spotify and Amazon Alexa, making it even easier to listen to music or get things done on the go.
You can download hundreds of apps right to your watch, such as timers, weather, and more.
The Fitbit also makes it easy to track all aspects of your health, including fitness and workouts, but also sleep, menstrual cycles, and guided breathing.
The Fitbit Versa 2 is perfect for those who want a fitness watch that can also perform many of the tasks of a smartwatch.
Fitbit Versa 2 vs. Polar Unite
- Slightly better battery life (6 days vs 4 days)
- Compatible with Spotify and Amazon Alexa
- App marketplace, which can increase customizability but might annoy some customers
- Somewhat more expensive
Coros APEX
This premium fitness watch is the ultimate fitness companion, with a huge variety of built-in exercises, integrated GPS, and a very good battery life.
Unlike the other watches mentioned in this review, the Coros APEX comes with GPS built-in, which can reduce the battery life, but allows for a wealth of other features.
For example, this watch can display your exercise route, with real-time weather, altitude, and alerts.
It also keeps a tight focus on how much stamina you expend, with alerts for when it’s time to rest or refuel.
It’s especially easy to use on-the-go with its one-touch control knob that allows you to easily move between sections of your workout.
If you’re a serious athlete and you’ve got the budget to spare, the Coros APEX is a hardcore fitness watch that’ll track everything you need to know and more.
Coros APEX vs. Polar Unite
- Much more expensive
- Integrated GPS
- Much better battery life (30 days vs 4 days)
- Stamina and nutrition tracker
- Built in exercises for Strength and Training modes
Conclusion
For too many people, staying on top of their fitness goals is difficult simply because of a lack of information.
Fitness watches like the Polar Unite make this much easier with their wealth of tracking information, including activity and sleep tracking.
Overall, the Polar Unite is an affordable fitness watch that’s packed with excellent features to make your fitness journey a little easier.
Consider checking it out while you explore your fitness watch options.
