FULL Comparison Review
2 Week Comparison and More In-Depth Thoughts So Far
Polar Vantage V Titan vs Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Titanium - Initial Comparison
Full Concept of This Page
I am undergoing a full side-by-side comparison CrossFit Review of the Titan versus the Fenix 6 Pro Titanium to compare the long term benefits of the workout analysis differences and load calculations for each unit, and their overall usefulness for CrossFit training and development.
The first video above is just an initial comparison of the unit differences in looks, design, feel and some components of their functionality. Stay tuned for more updates along the way.
The first video above is just an initial comparison of the unit differences in looks, design, feel and some components of their functionality. Stay tuned for more updates along the way.
Optical Heart Rate Analysis
This section is to evaluate the Heart Rate sensor of each watch on its own, compared to a Chest Strap and also to each other. It is always considerably better to utilize a chest or arm strap, but here's how they do on their own.
Front Squats, BMUs, DB Front Squats, & Row
This is a comparison of the pure optical HR on the PVV versus the GF6 - both compared to the OH1. The PVV measured low at 118 Ave and the GF6 came in high at 134 Ave vs 122 in full accuracy. The OH1 picked up the 5 sets of Front Squats perfectly, and both the Polar and Garmin struggled to exactly distinguish.
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OH1 arm band
Polar Vantage V
Garmin Fenix 6
Run, Pull Ups, Wall Balls (without Chest Strap to Compare)
This was a workout of 4 rounds for time of:
- 400 m Run
- 25 Pull Ups
- 25 Wall Balls
The Polar came in considerably lower, and is of concern when tracking stand-alone optical based (the HR on the watch itself) workouts.
Additionally, the Garmin's Training Effect evaluated the workout almost perfectly displaying that it fully exerted me, leaving me considerably wiped afterwards.
The Garmin also gave it a Recovery Time (again, unfortunately not displayed in the stats, but in the watch itself) of 40 hours, versus the Polar, due to the low HR tracking, that gave it an 8 hour recovery. This was way off as the workout was more extensively exhausting.
It was also really helpful to use the Lap tracking metric to track my time per rounds, to see how badly I'm slowing down in the third round to gauge areas of improvement.
If you look at the stats the times listed in the highest intensity zone for the Polar was considerably off, as the Garmin came in more accurately.
- 400 m Run
- 25 Pull Ups
- 25 Wall Balls
The Polar came in considerably lower, and is of concern when tracking stand-alone optical based (the HR on the watch itself) workouts.
Additionally, the Garmin's Training Effect evaluated the workout almost perfectly displaying that it fully exerted me, leaving me considerably wiped afterwards.
The Garmin also gave it a Recovery Time (again, unfortunately not displayed in the stats, but in the watch itself) of 40 hours, versus the Polar, due to the low HR tracking, that gave it an 8 hour recovery. This was way off as the workout was more extensively exhausting.
It was also really helpful to use the Lap tracking metric to track my time per rounds, to see how badly I'm slowing down in the third round to gauge areas of improvement.
If you look at the stats the times listed in the highest intensity zone for the Polar was considerably off, as the Garmin came in more accurately.
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Cleans, CTBs, Ring Dips, Box Jumps
This was an good workout to test the opticals. The Polar continues to lag real HR, and the Garmin over reported in the beginning and came in lower in the Metcon. Nothing worked as well as the chest strap, although the Garmin at least got to the same averages, but missed the zones pretty badly. The Load calculations will be off for both as a result.
Workout;
- 8 rnd EMOM on the 90s of one clean pull followed by a pause squat clean
Metcon
3 rounds for time of:
- 6 CTBs
- 6 Ring Dips
- 18 Box Jumps
- 6 Squat Cleans
Workout;
- 8 rnd EMOM on the 90s of one clean pull followed by a pause squat clean
Metcon
3 rounds for time of:
- 6 CTBs
- 6 Ring Dips
- 18 Box Jumps
- 6 Squat Cleans
Polar VV Optical
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Garmin F6 Optical
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H9 Chest Strap
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H9 Chest Strap
Polar VV Optical
Garmin F6 Optical
Training Load
(w Chest Strap for Same HR)
This section is all about the calculation of Training Load across both watches/operating systems.
Hang Cleans, DUs, & Wallballs
This workout is to compare the output/workout evaluation of each when both are paired to the same chest strap - both were linked to the H10, so HR would be the same. The Polar records the effort with Trimp at 81 and the Garmin with Training Effect at 3.5. The Polar output gave a 12 hour recovery time whereas the Garmin (not pictured) set it at 24 hours.
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Deadlifts & Metcon
Unfortunate single-time event of accidental workout-ending button press from a hand strap - but you can see for what it's worth - the output on both devices felt reasonable, but it's hard to lose the continual tracking, therefore full Training Effect eval, on the Garmin.
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Rowing, Overhead Plate Lunges, Burpees, GTO
This was a great workout for evaluating the output measures of each device. It was an exhausting workout, so the Recovery by each device was important - the Garmin gave it 33 hours, the Polar just 21 - the 4.1 output on the Garmin felt accurate on a scale of 0-5, whereas the Polar of 113 is high but hard to compare to anything.
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Cleans and 30s AMRAPs
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