Can a connected watch improve your daily life?

With just three weeks until 2023, you’re probably thinking it’s about time for me to finally try a smartwatch, and you’re not wrong. However, for me, who have completely stopped wearing all the jewelry that adorned my fingers and wrists since the end of the birth and who have never worn a watch for more than two consecutive weeks, it was a real challenge.

A challenge that was still quite easy to meet, I have to admit, given this clock in shape of the Polar brand is quite attractive and its ultra-soft silicone strap makes it absolutely non-binding. It would almost melt into the skin… This is almost the designers will of him.

This new Polar model is called Polar Ignite 3, its promises are numerous and the message that accompanies it is perplexing:

“It’s time to start living your life in tune with your body’s natural rhythm”

Which profile is Polar Ignite 3 aimed at?

This connected watch is aimed at the exercise enthusiast, who they are looking for fulfillment and well-being through sport. In fact, Polar has been a pioneer in wearables since 1977. The brand has built expertise in personalized supportive technologies in the sports, fitness and health industries.

Given its characteristics, the Polar Ignite 3 connected watch seems to have been designed to appeal to a female audience. Its functionalities are totally in tune with the times and are fully in line with the current of fit girls, yoginis and healthy girls who support personal development through regular sporting activity.

To hell with the blaming “No pain no gain” messages of the past, the keywords today would rather be “learn to listen to your body to progress at your own pace”. The ostentatious “fast life” hashtag was discarded for the benevolent “slow life” applied to real life. This doctrine surprisingly joins the message of the Polar Ignite 3 form watch. In my humble opinion, it is not just a coincidence.

24/7 with a connected fitness watch

Start with Polar Ignite 3

The fitness watch comes with a getting started guide translated into fourteen languages, a USB charging cable and a caution booklet. I personally chose the Purple Dusk model (dial and strap color) but the connected watch is also available in three other colors. Plus, you may very well choose to wear your Polar Ignite 3 mismatched, choosing from ten band colors.

As with many electronic items, it is recommended that you charge the connected watch before turning it on. Charging is pretty fast, about an hour. You can still use the watch while charging. The object is very minimalistic, it has only one button, for everything else you have to rely on his high definition touch screen. Life is Beautiful!

Once the fitness watch is turned on, all you have to do is choose the language you practice and the type of configuration you want. You can choose between a setup on your phone, your computer, or just your watch. I personally chose the latter option to not be bothered by incessant notifications. You still need to download the Polar Flow app and connect your watch to your smartphone via Bluetooth.

A fully customizable watch

Once your watch is ready for action, you can select the items that are most important to you so they appear at a glance on the watch face. You can choose the configuration of the clock, so you can choose between three backgrounds and eight colors for occurrences. Then, all you have to do is decide which elements to insert in the widgets. And the connected watch adventure can begin!

First night with connected watch

One thing that immediately struck me: the watch strap was designed to be able to attach it independently. The watch has a sensor that accurately measures your heart rate, so it should be adjusted correctly. Sure you find it strange, know that the watch will monitor your sleep and detect your sleep cycles to determine their quality. The next day you will find all the details on the Polar Flow app.

But before falling asleep I decide to set the alarm to wake up at nine (it’s Sunday, I refuse to wake up earlier) and I take the test the Clear function. It’s a four-minute breathing exercise with alternating inhales and exhales of five seconds each. Again everything is adjustable of course. Then I put the watch in airplane mode, I close the screen and fall into the arms of Morpheus.

A morning with a fitness watch

The next day, as expected, I was woken up by vibrations from my smartwatch alarm clock. I go to get dressed and turn on the phone. I turn on bluetooth and long press on the unique Polar Ignite 3 button to synchronize it with the Polar flowso that it retrieves information from my sleep.

After breakfast, I grab my gym bag and head to my 11-hour session of bikram yoga, a dynamic yoga I’ve been practicing for two years. Just before class, I click on “start training” and select “body and mind”. Starts the countdown. My session lasts 1h30 and at the end I stop the countdown. I am surprised to see that the watch has calculated all my data and even congratulates me.

My daily goal is 130% after my workout! The watch vibrates with applause, it’s quite satisfying, I feel like I have an audience, and I almost want to repeat this little feature every day. I go to the shower and go home.

An afternoon with a bodybuilding watch

After lunch, I take the time to sync my watch with Polar Flow. When setting up the watch, I announced that my sport profile was level 2 out of 3. That is, I exercised frequently between three and five hours a week. For this reason, the watch automatically assigned me a daily activity goal. This goal takes into account the number of steps, but also the energy to expend based on my heart rate and calories.

Also, calories are divided into three parts: those burned for my metabolism to function, those used by my body’s activity, and those that my body needed for my workout. Though my goal exceeded, the watch suggests exercises in addition to cardio. I have the choice of three sessions ranging from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. All exercises are detailed there and the time spent on them is indicated. To be honest, I didn’t set myself that extra challenge.

I slumped onto the couch to digest and played a YouTube video on my phone. I was surprised to find that I could manage video from my watch. This applies to the different music platforms that I have on my phone, to have my hands free during training.

A day with a connected watch

My only apprehension when buying a connected watch was that the services would duplicate those of my smartphone, and I wasn’t disappointed since this is definitely not the case.

Beyond the article, I intend to continue using Polar Ignite 3, to learn more about me. In fact, for a few days, I realize that I’m an intensive athlete and not an avid athlete. My daily goals are always exceeded. Also, I want to enter a contest this summer and I think the watch will be able to help me progress over the next six months.

Also, having always had a restless sleep, seeing the different stages of it will allow me to adjust a few things in my daily life so that my sleep becomes truly restorative. In summary, I’m happy!

Credits: Photo by Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels