Garmin vs Polar: I tried fitness trackers from both brands - and this one came out on top

Garmin vs Polar - one of the debates to have if you're looking for a new fitness tracker, whether you're a hiker, runner, or gym lover. These two top brands might have much in common, but a few key differences will push one above the other for you.

Garmin and Polar devices are favourite among the best fitness trackers. Sleek in design and function, they both have excellent workout and sleep monitoring sensors, health data, and smartwatch features. Choosing just one among the bunch can be tricky.

To help you decide which of the two brands is best, I tested the Garmin Venu 3S (a smaller version of the Garmin Venu 3) and the Polar Ignite 3. While it all comes down to personal preference, some interesting findings during testing brought a couple of need-to-knows to light. Let’s dive in.

Garmin vs Polar

Garmin vs Polar: Design

Of all the smartwatches I’ve tested over the years, the Garmin Venu 3S and the Polar Ignite 3 are two of the most stylish designs. Lightweight with large digital touch screens and the same hardy glass display, they are comfortable to wear and, thanks to the range of neutral colours to choose from, should fit in easily with your everyday wardrobe.

Both the Garmin Venu 3S and the Polar Ignite 3 feature larger circular touchscreen displays. You'll find other Garmin watches with a different navigation and display appearance though, so don't let that put you off this brand if the circular design isn't for you.

The Garmin Venu 3S has three hardware buttons on the side of the screen as well, which helps navigate the device mid-workout or when you're on the move. The Polar has just one button, used to ‘wake up’ the screen, cycle through activities and start tracking workouts - but it’s a bit fiddly and can occasionally be unresponsive.

Winner: Garmin, thanks to the manual control buttons.

These devices have a more ‘sporty’ feel than other trackers though, so it's worth exploring your options and weighing up Garmin vs Fitbit. The Fitbit Charge 6 is an excellent slimline, rectangular tracker, that isn't nearly as chunky or weighty.

Garmin vs Polar: Accuracy

I’ve tested a lot of fitness trackers over the years, and often find most to be fairly accurate give or take. However, I had some issues with the Polar Ignite 3 in the first few days. The heart rate monitor would bounce up and down when I was working out and resting, and the device didn’t track my steps or activity accurately several times. As the testing period went on, I found this did improve and perhaps it would do so even more as it gets more familiar with my baseline over time.

On the other hand, I’ve always found the Venu 3S to be accurate when tracking activity and sleep. It’s hard to say any fitness tracker is 100% accurate but, in general, the Garmin device wins for me in this instance. I didn’t get any unusual data throughout the testing period and beyond.

Winner: Garmin

Garmin vs Polar: Activity tracking

The Garmin Venu 3S and the Polar Ignite 3 pride themselves on their versatility. The Venu 3 offers almost 30 activity profiles - everything from running to kayaking - and doesn't prioritise one sport. As well as recording workout essentials - such as time, pace, distance, calories burned, and so on - you can follow along with visual strength training, yoga, Pilates, and HIIT workouts on the Venu 3 screen, making it easy to improve your technique and form. The Polar Ignite has over 150 activity profiles you can choose from in the app and send to the watch, offering the same variety of useful data.

While some Garmin devices (particularly in the Forerunner range) have multi-band GPS for the most accurate location data, the Venu 3S does not. The Polar Ignite 3 has it though, and so may provide more accurate GPS data - especially off-road or in tree-dense areas. There is also plenty of running data to explore on the Polar Ignite 3 that goes beyond what the Garmin provides, making it a better option for those more interested in running and hiking.

However, Garmin does offer running and hiking-dedicated watches too. If that's your sport, the Garmin Forerunner 255 and Garmin Forerunner 165 are worth looking at instead of the Garmin Venu 3.

When it comes to recording your calorie burn, the Polar Ignite 3 offers a very unique insight I've not seen on any other fitness tracker: a breakdown of how much fat, protein, and carbohydrates you used up during your workout, helping you to refuel appropriately. Whether this can be entirely accurate or not remains to be seen though.

As two of the more advanced fitness trackers out there, they both served up the usual data and then some - with insights into step count, heart rate, readiness, and recovery time (although, as I said, I initially had some issues with the heart rate and step tracking on the Polar Ignite 3). In both apps (Polar Flow and Garmin Connect), I could access even more data - including pace and laps for running, calories burnt, and heart rate zones.

However, the Venu 3 wins out just for ease of use. I tested both devices and so did Health Editor Grace Walsh. During her workouts, she found the Polar Ignite 3 a little more fiddly to use than the Garmin and said the display felt unreliable at times, freezing on occasion.

Winner: Garmin - unless you're hooked on running data

As someone who enjoys moving my body in various ways and who uses a fitness tracker to get a better overall picture of my health and progress, both the Polar and Garmin devices deliver a lot of data that may feel overwhelming if you're new to exercise or coming back to it.

For everyday activity trackers, these fitness-first devices probably aren’t the most beginner-friendly and the data isn’t presented in the app in the most user-friendly way either - especially when compared to the best Fitbits, for instance. So, I'd recommend one of these - or the Google Pixel Watch 3 if you have an Android phone - if you're looking for a more basic tracker with similarly useful insights.

Garmin vs Polar: Sleep tracking

While most people think of a Garmin watch as a fitness-first tracker - but that's far from true. I've been really impressed with the brand's sleep sensors in recent months - so much so, my Venu 3 is rivalling my beloved Oura Ring. Along with the standard review of hours slept and the type of sleep, Garmin monitors stress levels throughout the day and night to provide a single sleep score. This can offer an insight into how rested you are versus the amount of activity you've done.

The Polar Ignite 3 doesn’t disappoint either though. In fact, it provides even more detailed insights into the amount of sleep you're getting and how it compares to your usual routine - known as sleep regeneration. Sleep solidity looks at any interruptions you experience during the night. With this, Polar provides an ANS charge, which assess how well your autonomic nervous system calmed down overnight to activate the 'rest and digest' response. This can offer an indication of how you are recovering from daily stress. With all this, you get a sleep score.

It's fair to say this is all rather advanced and I have to note that neither brand does particularly well at explaining what all this means. So, if you're not familiar with the terms, you may be left wondering what exactly is going on - and whether your scores are good or bad. For a simpler approach, consider weighing up the Oura Ring vs Garmin.

Winner: Polar, but it's a close call.

Garmin vs Polar: Smartwatch features

Given the release of the Apple Watch Series 9 and newest Apple Watch both in recent years, fitness trackers have had to compete by offering some smartwatch features alongside health and fitness tracking. As standard, you can receive notifications on both the Garmin Venu 3 and Polar Ignite 3 and listen to your music via the watch, rather than your phone. However, in the debate between Garmin vs Polar, Garmin wins out.

While the Venu 3 uses Garmin Pay, which isn't as widely available as other on-wrist payment methods like Apple Pay, the Polar Ignite 3 has no way to make contactless payments at all so you'll have to take your phone or purse with you, should you want to stop for coffee on your walk. You also can't answer phone calls or send a text from the Ignite 3 - although you can receive one - and the limited storage on board means the music playback just isn't as good as on the Garmin Venu.

The Garmin Venu 3 offers full music playback so you can leave your phone in your pocket during your workout. You can also make and receive phone calls with a connected phone, and send and receive text messages.

Winner: Garmin

Garmin vs Polar: Battery life

While the Polar Ignite 3 boasts an impressive battery life of up to 100 hours in power-saving mode, most of us will need at least a couple of GPS enabled sessions - and you can have up to 30 hours of continuous GPS usage, which is pretty impressive for a device at this price point.

Health Editor Grace Walsh has also taken the Polar Ignite 3 for a spin. On this, she said: "I got about five days into using this watch for one workout and 10,000 steps at least every day before I had to charge it. I'm happy with that - especially when you consider other, more pricey trackers sometimes need to be charged every day or every other day at least."

The Garmin Venu 3 offers about four days of battery life in my experience, with some recorded workouts and daily wear, monitoring step count and heart rate consistently.

Winner: Polar Ignite 3

Garmin vs Polar: Price

This is where the sticking point will come for many people. While comparing the Garmin Venu vs Forerunner will leave you spending the same amount of money either way, the Polar Ignite 3 (£249 for standard, £329 for titanium) is almost half the price of the Venu 3 (starting from £449).

So, unless you can get a good saving in the next sale, that's a serious consideration to make.

However, the Venu 3 isn't the only Garmin watch out there. If Garmin wins in the Garmin vs Polar debate for you, it's also worth exploring other models - such as the Garmin Vivoactive 5. It has many of the same features as the Venu 3 but not all, and it's not as advanced so it's easier to use and it costs about the same as the Polar Ignite 3.

Winner: It depends on your budget.

Garmin vs Polar: Which is better?

Overall, when looking at these two individual trackers, the Garmin Venu 3 wins out. It's a fitness tracker-smartwatch hybrid that makes it easy to track workouts of all kinds, with animated on-screen workouts, advanced sleep and stress sensors, all wrapped up in a sleek design with smooth performance.

While the battery doesn't last as long as the Polar Ignite 3, it lacks some of the running-related insights, and it's a price tag that isn't necessarily justified by the device, if it's in your budget, these are worthy trade-offs for the reliability of the Garmin. There are also other Garmin devices with similar features available at a lower price point.