Polar Unite

The Unite fitness watch is one of Polar’s more affordable watches not as packed full of features as the Vantage or Grit X it is more suited for those taking their first steps into fitness or easing themselves back in after a break.

When unboxing the watch it was a pleasant surprise to find all cardboard packaging, less plastic in the bin. The watch is a lot more compact than expected too, I have little wrists and often these watches look far too big but the Unite is a good fit. With measurements of 43.4 x 43.4 x 10.4 mm, it weighs just 32g. There are lots of wristbands available to customise your style, we received the Black version which comes with a genuine leather strap with an Alcantara lining that is soft against your skin and has a more traditional look than a chunky silicone strap. The fastening could be more user friendly, it takes a firm press to close it which means pressing into the wrist, the excess strap then threads inside the watch instead of sitting outside which also makes putting it on fussier.

The touchscreen is highly intuitive with colour display and one button interface, the screen has IPS TFT, with Ambient Light Sensor (ALS), a 240×204 resolution, the lens is Asahi glass and the case uses glass fibre reinforced polymer for a durable finish. The Unite is powered by a 174 mAh Li-pol battery which offers up to 50h in training mode (with wrist-based heart rate and connected GPS) and up to 4 days in watch mode with continuous heart rate tracking, with a mixture of the two you will find yourself recharging every 2-3 days which could be improved. It is worth pointing out the Unite only offers connected GPS, this means it needs to be connected to your smartphone to utilise the GPS whereas other fitness watches in this price bracket do feature built in GPS. Moving on let’s look at what it does do, the Unite will track your sleep quality as well as your recovery from training and stress during the night.

The Serene breathing exercise offers a moment of mindfulness, the built-in Precision Prime sensor fusion technology heart rate tracker, this gives you feedback on your heartrate zones and proved to be reasonably accurate (also compatible with Polar BLE heart rate sensors for increase precision). The Fitspark training guide is a handy tool for those looking to kick start a new exercise routine, with personalise ready-made workouts that match your recovery and fitness levels, whilst the Polar Flow app can log all your data where you can review it. There are over 100 different sports available to record and you can add your favourites via the app, the watch can also be set up to display your phones notifications including incoming calls, messages, emails and calendar events. Other features include the Smart Calorie tracking, feedback on your training efforts, the Fitness Test measures your fitness levels via your heart rate, no sweating necessary, the running program offers a personalised plan to get you out in those running shoes. The waterproofing is suitable up to 30m which means you can take the Unite swimming as well as into the shower afterwards. You can share your successes with the Polar Flow Community which helps to keep you motivated and use the app to share your data with your PT or take advantage of the free Polar Flow for Coach service. The Unite offers wide-ranging tracking on your fitness and general health, the strap fastening won’t be for everyone and that lack of built in GPS puts it a little behind other trackers in this range. If you are into your functional fitness and a bit of a stat buff the Unite gives you a lot to play with, the personalised exercises help ease you in and gently encourages you to improve your health. RRP £134.50

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