Polar Vantage M3 vs Garmin Instinct 3

Polar Vantage M3

Polar Vantage M3

vsGarmin Instinct 3

Garmin Instinct 3

Polar Vantage M3Garmin Instinct 3
Display1.28-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 416 x 416, Gorilla Glass 3, always-on option with ambient light sensorAMOLED or solar-charging display, both in 45 mm and 50 mm
Body44.7 x 44.7 x 12.2 mm; 53 g with wristband (35 g without); glass-fibre reinforced plastic case with stainless steel bezel; 22 mm quick-release silicone wristband; WR50 water resistance—
BatteryUp to 7 days in smartwatch mode; up to 30 hours in training mode (Polar's spec table lists 27 hours performance, 90 hours eco and 8 days smartwatch); 310 mAh replaceable Li-Pol battery—
Storage32 GB (offline maps), 37 MB memory, 275 MHz CPU—
SensorsPolar Elixir biosensing: 4th-generation optical heart rate, wrist-based ECG, SpO2, nightly skin temperature; barometer, magnetometer compass, accelerometer, gyroscope—
GPSDual-frequency GPS (L1/L5) with GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS—
NavigationPreinstalled and upgradeable offline topographic maps, planned routes, breadcrumbs, komoot turn-by-turn guidanceMulti-band GPS with SatIQ, TracBack routing, altimeter, barometer, 3-axis compass
ConnectivityBluetooth LE (no ANT+), USB-C charging cable (proprietary connector)—
SoftwarePolarOS; Polar Flow app; Training Load Pro, Nightly Recharge, Smart Coaching; over 150 sport profiles—
ColorsNight Black, Greige Sand—
Battery (smartwatch mode)—AMOLED up to 24 days; solar models "unlimited" under Garmin test conditions (3 hours a day outdoors at 50,000 lux)
Durability—Metal-reinforced bezel, fiber-reinforced polymer case, scratch-resistant display, MIL-STD 810, water-rated to 100 m
Light—Built-in LED flashlight on every model (variable intensity, red light, strobe)
Health—Heart rate, Pulse Ox, HRV status, sleep monitoring, women's health tracking
Payments—Garmin Pay
Price—AMOLED from $449.99; solar from $399.99 (suggested retail, launch)