Best Polar Loop Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

Specialist in heart rate belts and sports watches, the Polar brand has just launched its activity tracker bracelet . Sold for less than 90 €, it holds its operating principle on a LED display, like the Nike + Fuelband SE , but differs from its competitors by a different approach as to the objectives that can be set with it

Best Polar Loop Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Polar Loop Activity Tracker

2. Polar Loop 2 Activity Tracker

3. Polar M430 GPS Running Watch

4. Polar OH1+ Optical Heart Rate Sensor, Bluetooth/ANT+

5. Polar M200 GPS Running Watch with Wrist-Based Heart Rate

Ergonomics

It starts badly. Available in one size, the Polar Loop requires the customer to do a little DIY. Because yes, it is up to you, friend of Digital , loyal reader and concerned about your good health, that it will come back to cut the small tracker to the size of your wrist! Yes, “prune”, literally …

Supplied with a small paper ribbon serving as a meter (!), The Loop’s silicone bracelet will have to be cut with scissors (!!) to be the right size. Beware not to miss. No, but frankly (!!!). Competitors Nike and Jawbone have the merit of offering their bracelets in different sizes. Another reason for surprise: the Loop recharges via USB, but the bracelet connector is not ergonomic.

With its magnetic proprietary plug, it is certainly easy to connect to the bracelet, but by doing it repeatedly. And it continues: the capacitive button of the tracker only works if the inside of the bracelet is in contact with the skin. Care must therefore be taken to adjust the Loop so that it tightens the wrist somewhat. Finally, note: once on the wrist (left or right, to calibrate in the dedicated application), the Polar Loop is almost as bulky as a small watch, larger in any case than the Nike + Fuelband SE which has already not the merit of discretion!

Otherwise everything is fine. Once these manipulations have been carried out, it is necessary to download the Polar Flow app (available on iOS only) in order to create a profile: it is she who, depending on your age / gender / height / weight and type of day declared (“Mostly sitting”; “Mostly standing”; “Mostly moving”) determines your daily activity goal. 

The daily sensor

On the wrist (tight, eh!), The Loop offers a display based on red LEDs. They are awakened by pressing the small button on the surface of the wrist. Therefore, each time the index is pressed, the activity level achieved is displayed in the form of a small gauge which gradually fills, the number of calories burned, the number of steps taken and the time.

To find out the intensity of the efforts to be made in order to reach your daily goal, leave the index finger long pressed on the button. The display of the small gauge will be followed by that of the mentions “To Go”, “Jog”, “Walk” and “Up”, the last three being followed by the time of effort to be accomplished in each category (ie: High intensity , Medium intensity, Low intensity). Significant indications.

The interface

The Polar Flow mobile app has the merit of being fairly clear, although a little sad with its dark colors. The quantity of the activity carried out is symbolized by colored bars distributed on an hourly dial. In white, the sleep time, in light gray, the inactivity time, in light blue, that of low activity, etc. Press the center of the screen and detail is provided, minute by minute. The Loop made in lace.

Another level of reading with, under the dial, a small avatar lying, sitting, standing, walking or running, each with the corresponding activity time. We can know right away if we have moved enough or not during the day. At the bottom of the screen is displayed the percentage of the day’s goal achieved. A second window opens (from a flick of the finger from the bottom to the top of the smartphone screen), revealing the calories burned, the number of steps taken, the activity and sleep times, as well as the number of ‘inactivity alerts received.

It is possible to associate with this daily data a small emoticon according to our felt form: Evil, Not terrible, OK, Good, At the Top. The application also provides access to our weekly and monthly activity calendar, but also to the training summary (see box). The social aspect is not part of the application. You cannot, for example, challenge another Loop user from a smartphone. To do this, use the Mac or PC Polar Flow app.

Very clinical with its white screens, it allows users to follow anywhere in the world, but also to relive their training on a 3D map with a few photos and access their statistics. The functionality is really nice. It is thus possible to give free access to its sessions, or to reserve them for relatives. The application also offers a global vision of our activity calendar, each session as well as progress made.

Autonomy

Announced at 5 days by Polar, the autonomy of the Loop hardly exceeded 3 days during our tests, which spanned 3 weeks. As such, this tracker is on a par with most of its competitors. Its recharging time is quite fast: a good hour and voila. On the other hand, beware of aquatic use: in contact with water, the sensitive button of the sensor activates and launches the display in spite of you. A swimming session can siphon the tracker’s battery .

CONCLUSION

Polar delivers an original activity tracker, some features of which are particularly well accomplished. Its possible coupling with a heart rate monitor provides a complete experience, which can be shared on the Internet. It is also one of the few that can be used underwater. Too bad, remains a bulky bracelet and an implementation that clearly lacks ergonomics. Obviously, it is a good tool but which seeks its way between a general public target and a sports target. Design and approach flaws cause it to lose a star.

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