A pacer, or in Dutch ‘a hare’, is a runner who takes other runners in tow and helps them achieve their dreamed performance. According to Polar, the new Pacer and Pacer Pro GPS sports watches really help runners get better. And getting better, which athlete doesn’t want that? It is therefore high time for an extensive test!
Polar Pacer and Polar Pacer Pro
Recommended retail price € 199 / € 299
Colors gray, white, blue, purple + green (last Pro only)
Platform Android, iOS
Screen MIP (240×240)
Format 47 x 47 x 14.5mm
Weight About 40 grams of polymer
Sensors heart rate monitor, breathing rate, sleep monitor, pedometer + , barometric altimeter (last Pro only)
Connectivity wifi, bluetooth, ANT+
Other waterproof 50m, interchangeable straps Pay
Website www.polar.com 8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Sports Features
- health features
- Polar Flow
- Multisport
- Price
- Negatives
- No touch screen
- No voice prompts
- Non-standard charger
- No navigation
- Route guidance only on Pro
Buy the Polar Pacer or Polar Pacer Pro at Bol.com
Just like the slightly less extensive Pacer, the Pacer Pro is a pleasantly thin and light sports watch that offers a lot of wearing comfort and is therefore also suitable for wearing at night. Runners know that just training doesn’t make you any better, rest is just as important. Good sleep registration via Sleep Plus Stages provides input for recovery after an intensive training.
However, this is not all that Polar offers the athlete. Training Load Pro measures how hard a workout is and provides insight into the load, Fuelwise provides advice for carbohydrate and fluid intake during a workout, while Serene also helps with breathing exercises to, for example, reduce stress and promote recovery.
If you start exercising or if you want to know how things are going, you can have your fitness measured in the meantime via a Polar Fitness Test. This can be done by walking, cycling, running, but also by lying down for a few minutes and letting the Polar take various measurements. The result is a VO2max value that can be used as input for new workouts. Both Polars measure the heart rate on the wrist, but can also be combined with a separate heart rate sensor or additional bicycle sensors.
Multisport and smart coaching
All training functions mentioned are standard in every Polar and are not unique to the Pacer Pro nor the Pacer. And the mystery grows even greater, because there is no reason why Polar calls these two watches ‘real’ running watches. The whole standard range of sports and recreational activities is supported, from walking, hiking, cycling and mountain biking to SUP-pen and Padel and even multisports like triathlon are supported.
You can do much more with it than just running and that is a big plus that applies to more and more brands, sports watches suitable for only one sport are becoming less common.
Through FitSpark, Polar offers ready-made training advice on a daily basis, tailored to fitness, previous training and recovery during the night. It is also possible to work remotely with a personal trainer via Polar Coach.
Through this online platform, coaches offer to prescribe tailor-made training courses based on your training results. It is comparable to TrainingPeaks, which, just like Strava and Komoot, can be easily connected, but unfortunately the synchronization between the platforms at Polar is limited to uploading the training results.
Unlike Garmin, workouts prepared by the coach are not also downloaded and synced with the Polar sports watches, they must be entered manually via Polar Flow.
Polar Flow
The synchronization of planned and completed workouts as well as spontaneous bike rides or walks is done via Polar Flow. This is the combination of a website and apps for iOS and Android, as actually all brands of sports watches now offer. By regularly connecting the GPS sports watch to the smartphone, all data remain synchronized and you can, for example, plan a training via the website and then perform it according to the instructions on the Pacer or Pacer Pro.
Depending on the required function, it is more convenient to do this via the app or the site. Creating a workout with different separate and repetitive intervals is not possible on the Pacer itself, in the app it is limited to two intervals while you can add endless intervals online, vary and easily repeat. Flow is and remains an excellent part of Polar’s offer, which the buyer of one of its sports watches can also use for free.
Buttons, no touch
The plastic housing of the Pacer and Pacer Pro are both 45 x 45 millimeters in size and 11 millimeters thick. The weight is 40 grams. The MIP (memory-in-pixel) screen, surrounded by a relatively wide bezel, has a diameter of 30 mm and a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels. The color screen is always-on and easy to read even in sunlight, but is less beautiful than OLED screens on more expensive models. Both models are equipped with strong Gorilla glass, which, however, suffered a significant scratch when too tight a bend along the kitchen counter.
Polar does not have models with sapphire glass that are still hard. The Pacer and Pacer Pro can be operated via the five buttons on the side of the housing, touch control via the screen is missing. However, the buttons are fine to use and the software from Polar is also relatively simple, so every function can be reached with a few pushes on one of the buttons.
When used as a watch, both models last up to a week without charging, with active GPS use more than a day. For unclear reasons, Polar has developed a new connection for the charger that is not better than the previous one, although it could certainly be improved. A missed opportunity.
Route guidance
The main difference between the Pacer Pro and the cheaper Pacer is the ability to follow a route. Polar uses Komoot for this, where athletes share routes among themselves, but which also offers the possibility to create a route from one place to another with possible intermediate locations. Such a route can then be synchronized with the Pacer Pro via the Polar Flow website and then Flow app.
Along the way, the Pacer Pro shows the direction and course of the route as well as the distance to the next change of direction. There is no real navigation and the Pacer Pro does not have its own map material. Nevertheless, it is not disappointing in use and it is sufficient for completing a walk or training, also because if the route is unexpectedly abandoned, the Pacer Pro does indicate in which direction the route can be found again. A free Komoot account is enough for this.
Another difference between the Pacer and the Pacer Pro is that the latter has a barometric altimeter including a Hill Splitter function that automatically detects ascent and descent.
Better?
Whether you really become a better athlete with a Pacer or Pacer Pro depends on more factors than the watch. It is evident that the services for registration of results, tests and planning of new training courses can help with this, but it strongly depends on the runner’s own efforts. It is also a pity that there are no indications during exercise. Lap times and averages can only be read as the transition to the next interval is only indicated via a vibration on the wrist, voice prompts and times such as the more expensive models that do offer are missed.
What is also missing compared to the more expensive Polar models are a touch screen, a compass and the Polar Recovery Pro service for even more insight into recovery after a workout, also a payment function such as Garmin Pay would make the Pacer and Pacer Pro just above the eliminate competition.
Also read: Does a smartwatch help you live a healthier life?
Conclusion
With the Pacer and Pacer Pro, Polar will soon introduce two new models of GPS sports watches. The fact that it also promotes these two new models as watches for runners is striking because both are simply multisport sports watches and offer more than comparable competing models and brands.
As running watches they do not or much less. And that already applies anyway, the Pacer and Pacer Pro mainly compete with the other Polar models and the Pacer in turn is the one hundred euros more expensive Pro, the differences are very small. This makes the Polar Pacer and Pacer Pro especially attractive upgrades for athletes who are ready for a new sports watch and who already use the Polar services.
If this is your first sports watch, it is wise to also take a look at the Garmin models in the Forerunner 255 before purchasing.
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