Polar Pacer

I have had a couple of Suunto sports watches but my latest (Suunto S7) has developed some pixel burn-in obver the years so I thought it was a good time to buy a new watch. During the black Friday sales I saw a good deal on the Polar website for aPolar Pacer (non Oled/Amoled so less subsceptible to burn-in) and ordered one. Polar was one of the first brands providing sports watches and GPS watches for more serious athletes when I was young so I thought this would be a pretty safe bet.

THE GOOD This seemed like a pretty good deal at $185 instead of the usual $299. Compared to a decent Suunto this is pretty much less than half the price so I was quite happy with that....... for a bit. The shipping is exceptionally fast, I ordered the watch on a Friday morning and received it Monday afternoon...... and it came from Hong Kong. I'm usually quite impressed if products get sent that fast when they're already in Sydney and the shipping didn't cost anything either, full marks for that! Unfortunately that is also where the good news ends.

THE BAD While very happy with the fast delivery, that excitement disappeared quickly when I opened the box. This watch is incredibly underwhelming and does not feel at all like the quality product I was expecting. The watch is very light (which itself is probably a good thing) but it's very flimsy as well. The buttons feel inaccurate (they sometimes respond and sometimes don't), the strap feels like it can fall off any moment (the watch comes with a second strap..... I wonder why) the screen looks very low-rent and when it's even slightly light is illegible. Now I understand why everyone else is moving to Oled and Amoled screens, my Suunto S7 screen even with the burn-in is a lot easier to read in light or dark environments that this.

What is also incredibly frustrating is that the charging cable barely attaches to the watch. when I tried to charge it and put the phone on the table, it straight away disconnected. I had to check 3 times over if I had mis-aligned the charger magnets with the watch or tried to attach it incorrectly but none of that was the case, it's just VERY weak. This is also not exactly a strong point of my Suunto S7 and I often want to use my watch only to find the battery is empty (why they don't just use a USB C is beyond me, my running headlight which is as small as my watch is has one and it works perfectly).

THE UGLY I mentioned the screen and while I wasn't expecting Suunto or Apple watch like "visual pleasantness", this display just looks very cheap. After I scrolled through it a few times I knew enough...... this is NOT for me and I will not be wasting my time trying to get used to this ultimately very disappointing watch. While I got the watch cheap ($185 instead of $299), I feel the $185 price is still a stretch. My son's Samsung watch is also pretty simple but feels a lot better made with a display that looks a lot more attractive than this. I cannot help but feel this is a rip-off not worthy of the Polar brand..... or perhaps not worthy of what I (perhaps incorrectly) thought the Polar brand used to represent.

As Polar's return policy is not as generous as some these days (I have asked if I could return it but as I opened the box they don't accept a return..... unfortunate but understandable as well) I am selling this watch and will soon be buying another Suunto (my 3rd).