Our review: <\/strong>Interface and navigation could be better, but otherwise a solid, reliable GPS watch with great training features<\/p>

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Jump to product specifications<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>
Polar is well known for producing excellent training features on its watches and for the accuracy of its heart rate devices.<\/p>
The brand has been in the GPS watch game for some time now and the question is, is it doing enough to keep up with the likes of Garmin?<\/p>
Let\u2019s find out how the Grit X Pro fits into that equation.<\/p>
What\u2019s the design like?<\/h3>
The Grit X Pro has a rugged appearance not too dissimilar to the Garmin Fenix 7<\/a>.<\/p>
It employs a stainless steel bezel, a solid plastic case and sapphire glass on the display, while the strap is made of silicone and has proved durable so far.<\/p>
A weight of 79g is on par with the Fenix 7, while the quoted 13mm thickness is slightly less than its competitor.<\/p>
How easy is it to use?<\/h3>
I don\u2019t find Polar watches quite as intuitive to use as Garmin watches, but once you\u2019re familiar with how to navigate the menus and use the buttons, it\u2019s not too bad.<\/p>
Just like the Polar Pacer Pro<\/a> that we\u2019ve also had on test, it comes with five buttons, broken down by back\/main menu, light, select, up and down.<\/p>
The display also doubles as a touchscreen, which performs reasonably well, but sometimes it can fail to register a tap or gesture.<\/p>
Speaking of which, you can only use a gesture to go back when in the setting menu. At all other times you\u2019ll have to use the back button.<\/p>
Another thing that feels like a miss is that there\u2019s no option to turn the touchscreen off and just use the buttons.<\/p>
Regardless of whether or not you\u2019re using buttons or the touchscreen, the interface isn\u2019t quite as smooth as we\u2019d have liked and at times there was a lag between screens loading up.<\/p>
How does the display perform?<\/h3>
$\"Polar$ <\/figure>
This isn\u2019t one of the Grit X Pro\u2019s stronger points. The resolution doesn\u2019t seem quite as clear, nor the colours as vibrant, as the likes of Garmin and I felt the need to crank the backlight up to its highest setting for added clarity.<\/p>
There\u2019s only one screen size available here, too, unlike many competitors, allowing 30.5mm of display real estate.<\/p>
We\u2019d call that neither small nor large, but the data displayed never felt cramped and was reasonably easy to read and consume.<\/p>
How good is the navigation?<\/h3>
It\u2019s not bad, but it\u2019s behind some other key players in the market, such as Garmin\u2019s Fenix 7 and Forerunner 955\/965 or Suunto\u2019s Vertical Titanium.<\/p>
You can upload your own routes to your watch with a GPX file via the Polar Flow web software, or you can sync routes across from third-party app Komoot (which can be done on the phone or web).<\/p>
The routes from Komoot can be premade ones from around the app or ones you create yourself and then export to your Polar.<\/p>
The good thing about doing this is that the Koomot routes come with turn-by-turn directions, while tracks imported via a GPX file don\u2019t.<\/p>
We think the lack of route planning in the Polar Flow app is a miss, but at least you can do it in Komoot.<\/p>
You can select your course from an activity\u2019s settings before starting to record. When doing so you\u2019ll have to select routes, though it\u2019s strangely called favourites in the app.<\/p>
Before starting you can look at the elevation profile, add hydration\/fuel reminders and view the route itself, though this is only in the form of a breadcrumb trail on a plain background.<\/p>
And that\u2019s how it remains, as there\u2019s no mapping on offer here.<\/p>
You can then see your progress along the breadcrumb trail, plus the direction you\u2019re supposed to be travelling in. If it\u2019s a route from Komoot, you\u2019ll also get those turn-by-turn directions.<\/p>
It works fine and is certainly functional enough, but I do prefer the extra detail you get with some competitors.<\/p>
You do also get a back-to-start function, which as the name suggests will guide you back to the start either via a straight line (not all that useful) or back along the route you\u2019ve already trodden (much more useful).<\/p>
GPS accuracy, meanwhile, proved pretty reliable and the watch picked up satellites relatively quickly.<\/p>
What training and performance features does it have?<\/h3>
The Grit X Pro is stacked with training features. For a start, you can store 20 sport profiles on the watch at any one time, but there are over 100 to choose from in total.<\/p>
You\u2019ll get detailed data on some of the main ones, such as running, cycling, swimming and hiking, with a built-in power meter giving you useful info for the former.<\/p>
The optical heart rate monitor regularly proved reliable and on par with many other wrist-based options, too.<\/p>
Then there\u2019s Polar\u2019s Training Load Pro feature, which helps give you an idea of how much impact your activities have had on both your cardiovascular system and your musculoskeletal system.<\/p>
Working with the Recovery Pro feature, you\u2019ll then get insights into whether you\u2019re maintaining, improving or negatively affecting your fitness.<\/p>
There\u2019s also a gamut of fitness tests to help you see where your performance or recovery is, while you\u2019ll also get suggested workouts.<\/p>
What other features are there?<\/h3>
Like most modern GPS watches, you get some general smartwatch functionality.<\/p>
In this case it comes in the form of phone notifications, music controls (you can\u2019t download music to the watch, though) and weather info.<\/p>
You also get 24\/7 activity tracking for steps, decent sleep tracking (with a host of metrics to delve into in the app) and sunrise\/sunset times.<\/p>
Being a watch targeting outdoor folks, there\u2019s a compass, an altimeter and current coordinates, but there\u2019s no storm alerts.<\/p>
There\u2019s also no contactless payment options here.<\/p>
How good is the battery life?<\/h3>
The Grit X Pro offers up to around 40 hours in GPS mode (there\u2019s no multi-band GPS here), which isn\u2019t bad, but isn\u2019t groundbreaking, either.<\/p>
It\u2019s about on par with the Garmin Forerunner 955, but it lags behind the Fenix 7, Suunto\u2019s Vertical Titanium and the Coros Vertix 2.<\/p>
Regardless, that\u2019s plenty to see you through a few days of hiking.<\/p>
In smartwatch mode you\u2019ll get up to around six or seven days. Again, it won\u2019t compete with the best, but it\u2019s reasonable.<\/p>
Best for…<\/h3>
If you\u2019re not fussed about detailed mapping and want a GPS watch that has a lot of great training features, this isn\u2019t a bad option. Particularly as it\u2019s now available for much less than its RRP.<\/p>
Facts at a glance: Polar Grit X Pro<\/h4>
Price: <\/strong>\u00a3459Size:<\/strong> 47mm x 47mmThickness:<\/strong> 13mmWeight:<\/strong> 79gDisplay type:<\/strong> MIPDisplay size:<\/strong> 1.2in (30.5mm)Battery life: <\/strong>Up to 168 hours in watch mode andBarometer: <\/strong>Yes<\/p>
Ready to buy?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>
<\/div>You can find more Polar models in our full roundup of the best GPS watches<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n
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Best for…<\/h3>If you\u2019re not fussed about detailed mapping and want a GPS watch that has a lot of great training features, this isn\u2019t a bad option. Particularly as it\u2019s now available for much less than its RRP.<\/p>

Best for…<\/h3>
If you\u2019re not fussed about detailed mapping and want a GPS watch that has a lot of great training features, this isn\u2019t a bad option. Particularly as it\u2019s now available for much less than its RRP.<\/p>