TechSmartwatchesPolar Ignite 3 review: not so smart, but it’s prettyThe Ignite 3 is the first watch from Polar to feature an AMOLED touchscreen and multiband GPSWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Polar)T3 VerdictSlim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wristReasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the timeWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechSmartwatchesPolar Ignite 3 review: not so smart, but it’s prettyThe Ignite 3 is the first watch from Polar to feature an AMOLED touchscreen and multiband GPSWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Polar)T3 VerdictSlim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wristReasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the timeWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
The Ignite 3 is the first watch from Polar to feature an AMOLED touchscreen and multiband GPS
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Polar)T3 VerdictSlim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wristReasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the time
(Image credit: Polar)
(Image credit: Polar)
T3 VerdictSlim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wristReasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the time
T3 VerdictSlim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.
T3 Verdict
Slim, stylish, and lightweight with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, the Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness band disguised as a smartwatch. It reliably monitors your sleep, workouts, heart rate and step count, and even has multi-band GPS to accurately track outdoor workouts. But it lacks smart features such as onboard music and contactless payments to justify the price.
Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wristReasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the time
Reasons to buy+Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen+Super slim and lightweight+Detailed fitness and sleep data+FitSpark provides workouts on your wrist
Vibrant AMOLED touchscreen
Super slim and lightweight
Detailed fitness and sleep data
FitSpark provides workouts on your wrist
Reasons to avoid-Slow, laggy software-Pricey for what you get-Always On Display only shows the time
Slow, laggy software
Pricey for what you get
Always On Display only shows the time
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Polar Ignite 3 deals
$339.95$305.96ViewDeal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025$339.95$305.96View$339.95View
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Five years is a long time in the world of wearable tech. Back when Finnish health- and fitness-focused smartwatch brand Polar launched the OGPolar Ignitein 2019, it was heralded as a versatile mid-range fitness watch with plenty of impressive features to giveGarminand Fitbit a run for their money.
Then came the release of the slightly updatedPolar Ignite 2in 2021, and while it remained a solid choice for fitness fans, many questioned the price hike against the lack of technological advancements - especially when other brands were giving us plenty of new and exciting features for less money.
So, when Polar released the Ignite 3 just one year later, in 2022,we were expecting big things. Did we get them? Well, yes, and no. Which begs the question: does the Polar Ignite 3 appear in our round-ups of thebest fitness trackers,best smartwatches, andbest running watches? Read on to find out.
Polar Ignite 3 review: price and availability
The Polar Ignite 3 is available to buy now atPOLAR UK/POLAR US/POLAR AUfor a recommended retail price of £289/ $330/AU$499. Available in Night Black, Purple Dusk, Greige Sand, and Brown Copper with a matching silicone strap, you can customise the look from a choice of over 30 wristbands in different finishes from thePolar Online Store.
Left: Polar Ignite 3, right: Apple Watch Ultra(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
Left: Polar Ignite 3, right: Apple Watch Ultra
Left: Polar Ignite 3, right: Apple Watch Ultra
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
Polar Ignite 3 review: design and ergonomics
Incredibly, the Ignite 3 is the first ever watch from Polar to feature a Hi-Res AMOLED touchscreen for sharper, crisper, more vivid colours, and while the crystal clear display is very much appreciated, it’s something I’ve come to expect from cheaper fitness trackers, including theHuawei Band 7which costs less than a fifth of the Ignite 3 price tag.
(Image credit: Polar)
(Image credit: Polar)
Indeed, the tagline for the Ignite 3 at the launch was ‘Find Your Rhythm’, so I was waiting for the announcement of a menstrual cycle tracking feature like you’d find on theApple Watch Series 8, thebest Fitbitor thebest Garmin watches. But no. And there’s no capability to download music, make contactless payments, answer calls, or reply to a text either, which would all suit a lifestyle watch.
Instead, it appears Polar is attributing the price increase of the Ignite 3 to it being the brand’s first-ever watch to feature multi-band GPS. This is confusing, seeing as this upgrade would surely be more suited to one of Polar’s more technical outdoor watches, such as thePolar Grit Xor thePolar Pacer Pro.
The silicone strap is thin and narrow at just 20mm across, but it isn’t especially breathable (Polar recommends you loosen off the strap when you’re ‘not measuring heart rate or tracking sleep…to let your skin breathe’). Another downside is that the texture on the outside of the silicone strap picks up dust and pet hair easily, so it can quickly look dull and dirty.
Waterproof to 30 meters, the Ignite 3 weighs an incredibly lightweight 35 grams with the strap, meaning it’s comfortable enough to wear during sleep, and you can forget it’s there during the day. There’s just one button on the left side to open and close menus or pause and stop workouts, which will either simplify things for some users or frustrate others (more on that later).
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
Polar Ignite 3 review: battery life
The Polar Ignite 3 promises up to 120 hours (or five days) worth of battery life in Basic Mode with continuous heart rate tracking and phone notifications turned on, going down to 30 hours in Training Mode with single-frequency GPS, and 21 hours using dual-frequency GPS. I generally found these estimates to be true, but I usually put it on charge every three or four days because I was using the GPS a lot.
Charging the watch is a quick and simple affair, and the USB-A proprietary cable clips securely onto the back and stays fixed in place (a nice change compared to some clips that fall off with the slightest nudge).
Disappointingly, however, the battery life goes down to two days with AOD (Always On Display) turned on, and all you get for activating it is a dim reading of the time as opposed to the usual dimmer version of your watch face showing other stats. Therefore, while I usually like to have AOD on, losing three days of battery life just to see the time doesn’t seem like a fair trade.
(Image credit: Polar)
(Image credit: Polar)
Polar Ignite 3 review: health and wellness features
Many of the Polar Ignite 3 features focus on heart rate, activity levels, and sleep to help you balance your lifestyle with your circadian rhythm.
Once you’ve collected five nights of sleep data, you can view these insights in the free Polar Flow companion app, but only once you have manually synched your watch after waking, which takes a while and gets a little tedious. But the data is reliable enough once you can access it.
The FitSpark feature offers daily personalised on-demand cardio, strength, and mobility workouts based on your body’s readiness and conditioning, and it’s especially useful when used in conjunction with the in-training voice guidance to provide real-time feedback and metrics via your headphones.
On top of this, the Ignite 3 can track over 150 pre-defined sports profiles – including swimming, where it automatically detects your swim style, distance, pace, and strokes – providing you with comprehensive real-time and post-workout stats to help you track your progress and see how you performed.
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
Polar Ignite 3 review: accuracy and perfomance
The Polar Ignite 3 looks so promising out of the box. But then you put it on, and the frustration begins. Polar says you get two times faster processing than the Polar Ignite 2 for more a smoother performance, but the reality is the Ignite 3 still only has a 192 MHz CPU and 5MB of RAM. That might be okay for lower-resolution screens, but it’s not enough to power the vibrant AMOLED touchscreen.
Scrolling left and right through the activity tiles isn’t so bad, but swiping up or down for notifications or through the menu feels slow, laggy, and often unresponsive, as is the ‘raise to wake’ function.
I wish I could have tapped the touchscreen to wake up the screen instead, and I also wish there was another button on the watch to help stop, start, and exit various features. I understand why Polar would want to simplify their usual five-button control system, but having just the one button only complicated the user experience when combined with the slow touchscreen.
On the plus side, I found the Ignite 3 did a great job of tracking my heart rate, sleep, step count, and workouts, and I enjoyed the presentation of my data in the Polar Flow app. The multi-band GPS also delivered a solid connection and proved reliably accurate at tracking my pace, distance and location when tested on my usual running routes in very built-up areas, so long as I had my phone on me.
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
(Image credit: Jo Ebsworth)
Polar Ignite 3 review: verdict
Polar Ignite 3: Price Comparison
$339.95$305.96ViewDeal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025$339.95$305.96View$339.95$305.96View$339.95View
$339.95$305.96ViewDeal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96
$305.96
Deal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025
Deal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025
Deal endsTue, Jan 28, 2025
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96
$305.96
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96View
$339.95$305.96
$305.96
$339.95View
$339.95View
$339.95View
$339.95
$339.95
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TOPICSGarmin
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