During the year 2022 Polar has launched a seduction operation with its fitness watch Ignite 3. Coros presents its running watch Pace 2. Let’s enter the world of these connected watches to know which one to choose between the Ignite 3 and the Pace 2.
Comparison of the ergonomics and design of the Polar Ignite 3 and the Coros pace 2
| Polar Ignite 3 | Coros pace 2 | |
|---|---|---|
 | US$329.95 | US$199.00 |
The Polar Ignite 3 has 4mm black borders with a 1mm steel bezel. Its Gorilla Glass 3 display with curved edges and black depth blends in with those borders.
The Ignite 3 at 10.1mm thick remains one of the thinnest connected watches on the market. The watch is light with a weight of only 34.5 g including bracelet (20.8 g case alone). It is a watch that is quickly forgotten on the wrist.
Polar has equipped its Ignite 3 with a 1.28″ Amoled touch screen with a definition of 416 x 416 pixels.
The Coros Pace 2 has a plastic looking case, made of fiber reinforced polymer. It measures 42 x 42 x 12 mm. The watch is very light as it weighs only 30 g (26 g case alone). It uses a nylon strap that irritates very little when wet. The Pace 2 is also quickly forgotten on the wrist.
The Coros Pace 2 has a 1.1 inch LCD screen with a 240 x 240 px definition. Its glass incorporates an automatic backlight function that can be activated manually by pressing one of the buttons. We can regret the fact that this screen is not touch-sensitive.
The Ignite 3 and the Pace 2 are almost equal in terms of lightness, although the Pace 2 weighs a little less. They are not bulky on the wrist. But the Ignite 3 with its screen configuration seems to offer a better display than the Pace. On the other hand, the waterproofness of the latter is a plus on security.
Interface of the Polar Ignite 3 vs Coros pace 2
The Polar Ignite 3 retains the interface already used on the last Pacer and Vantage V2. A single button is used to access the main menu or to return to the previous screen, hence the usefulness of touch.
To scroll through widgets, access notifications or the shortcut pane, you have to use your fingertip. Some tests, however, note recurring fluidity issues or screen shake that disrupts the user experience.
The Polar Ignite 3 does not include a catalog of third-party applications, like many connected watches, and remains focused on the essentials.
The interface of the Coros Pace 2 focuses on sports-related functions. The watch in its connected “lifestyle” aspect, is content to receive notifications from the smartphone to which it is coupled.
To navigate the interface of the Pace 2 you have to use two side buttons. The first one, a crown-push, allows you to rotate in one direction or the other to navigate through the menus. To validate you press this crown. With the second button you can go back or press and hold to open a shortcut menu (night mode, do not disturb, “find my phone” and other settings).
The home screen shows various statistics collected by the watch. After several seconds without use, the screen locks automatically.
With its touch screen, one could have expected a good user experience on the interface of the Polar Ignite 3 if it were not spoiled by concerns about smoothness and jitter. We would then feel more comfortable with the Coros Pace 2 which despite its non-touch screen presents a more pleasant interface to use.
Comparison of applications between the Polar Ignite 3 and the Coros pace 2
The Ignite 3 syncs with the Polar Flow app for Polar watches, available on Android and iOS.
The Polar Flow app displays only the essentials on its home page, starting with the heart rate status (which tells us whether we can work out or should rest). Then the percentage of daily activity, the maximum and minimum heart rates of the day, then our Nightly Recharge recovery based on the quality of our sleep and our ANS (autonomic nervous system) status.
The application also provides a summary of our sleep last night when we wake up in the morning. A tab is reserved for starting workouts and physical tests, if we happen to prefer to use our smartphone rather than our watch.
A tab is dedicated to the calendar, in order to visualize our last workouts. You can see the intensity of your workouts and whether to increase or decrease it.
Polar reserves a tab for sleep analysis with its Sleep function, which shows trends over the last five nights. A way to better organize our physical activities according to our sleep habits.
The Pace 2 syncs with the Coros app, available on iOS and Android. It is divided into four main sections and is complete.
In the first tab, the manufacturer presents statistics on our daily activity: calories burned, exercise time, number of steps, average heart rate, sleep tracking, etc.
The second section presents the different exhaustive reports of our activity in a clear and readable way. A third tab compiles all the in-house features of the application: a race predictor, a muscle heat map, a selection of routes and a list of personal records.
A Training category allows you to configure a session according to your desires from scratch. A final tab allows users to configure their profile and watch, update the software, set the silent mode or transfer their training plans to the watch.
The Polar Ignite 3 is equipped with an application with interesting sports coaching functions to better organize our activities according to our state of form. But the application of the Coros Pace 2 is more complete.
Polar Ignite 3 vs Coros pace 2: which one has more accurate measurements?
The Polar Ignite 3 incorporates the Precision Prime heart rate sensor. This one offers a very good precision on the cardio. The heart rate curves generated correspond perfectly to those obtained with the Polar H10 chest cardio belt, which serves as a reference in terms of accuracy.
On the GPS side, the Ignite 3 is equipped with a multi-GNSS dual frequency chip. Its tracks of races are fairly accurate overall. But its road trips give a location in half-tone.
The watch is rather consistent on the tracking of sleep. It correctly identifies falling asleep and waking up, as well as most of the deep sleep phases.
Coros Pace 2 features a heart rate monitor, GPS, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
Synchronized with a Stryd power sensor or a chest belt, the GPS produces consistent and reliable results during training. But the heart rate monitor produces mixed results.
On the monitoring of the sleep of its user the Coros Pace 2 produces data that correspond to reality, at least in terms of sleep and wake-up times.
The Polar Ignite 3 is more accurate on the cardio results than the Coros Pace 2. While the latter produces more reliable results on the GPS.
Autonomy of the Polar Ignite 3 and Coros pace 2
The Ignite 3 has a 220 mAh battery. According to Polar its autonomy can go up to 5 days. It takes about 1 h 30 min of charging to refuel.
In intensive use, the Pace 2 can last 12 days. In moderate use the watch can go up to 15 days of autonomy. It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to recharge the Pace 2 with the supplied proprietary charger.
Price and market presence of the Polar Ignite 3 and Coros pace 2
| Polar Ignite 3 | Coros pace 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| US$329.95 | US$199.00 |
The Polar Ignite 3 is launched at 330 € while the Coros Pace 2 is available on the market from 192 €.
Conclusion
The Polar Ignite 3 is a simple and beautiful lifestyle watch that will appeal to some athletes thanks to its functions to better organize training and the accuracy of its cardio. Unfortunately, many will be discouraged by its unpleasant user experience.
The Coros Pace 2 with its complete application, its very comfortable autonomy, its precise GPS and its sufficient number of sports profiles will attract a very large number of athletes. On the other hand, it will struggle to satisfy those who are more interested in statistics or progress.
In the end, looking at the quality/price ratio, the Coros Pace 2 is better than the Polar Ignite 3.
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