Polar M400 GPS Smart Sports Watch

7.7
7.7 score
[Editors rating (7.7)] = (Gearweare.net) score (7.7)/10

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Editor rating: 7.7 / 10
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Polar M400 GPS Smart Sports Watch Review Facts

The Polar M400 GPS Smart Sports Watch was developed as a durable and comfortable running watch for both men and women runners to wear every day. It has a sporty design, training features, a GPS, a wide user-face, updatable software, and a high-resolution screen. Experience great visibility and easy monitoring of such activities and sports other than running, such as tennis, disc golf, skiing, yoga, and cycling. It is perfect for everyday use of exercising or training, plus has regular watch functions too of alarm, time, and date. Waterproof to 30 meters, this device tracks running cadence, sleep quality, calories burned, distance, steps, and workouts anytime. With the included GPS technology, you can monitor distance, pace, and altitude of your runs for performance checks and goal building. It connects to any heart rate model of Bluetooth Smart to monitor your heart rate, plus gives you inactivity alerts and smart notifications from your phone. The PolarM400 syncs with most modern devices of Android and iOS, and you can use the Polar app to customize your watch and join the Polar Flow community. The online customer ratings are high for this user-friendly device from Polar. Find out all about the terrific Polar M400 Watch and what most customers think about it below in our full review.

Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Comfortable, unisex, easy to view and use screen
  • Waterproof to 30 meters
  • Allows specific zones of heart rate and intensity
  • Inactivity alerts and smart notifications
  • Great for everyday use of exercising or training
  • Has disc golf, tennis, cycling, yoga, skiing and others
  • Sync, plan, and share data with others with Polar app
  • Syncs with most Android or iOS devices
  • Connects to heart rate models of Bluetooth Smart
  • GPS mode - eight-hour life; regular use - three weeks
Cons
  • Hard to sync to the Polar ap and devices for many people
  • Customer service is terrible for those who contacted them

Comfort

As a unisex watch model, the Polar M400 is comfortable to wear every day for both men and women. The user-face is easy-to-read and view, even in less than ideal light and visual settings. The one issue we found that female buyers experienced is with the actual size of the product on their wrists. Women who have particularly small wrists may feel that this watch model is too bulky or large to wear all the time comfortably. For those that love the style and size of a male watch, you will love this item. The large face is what makes it so easy to use and interact with, as it shows plenty of data at once with a screen that is bigger than some other competing brands.

Flexibility

Highly customizable with plenty of activities, the Polar M400 will shock you with some of the lesser known sports that you can track. We all know that there are tons of this type of device on the market, but the most deciding factor when it comes to choosing one is whether or not it supports your chosen activity. Chances are that this unique tracking model will. You can make up your own training plans and schedules with this watch when you connect to the company’s Polar app. This feature alone is worth purchasing the watch. The flexibility to go it alone or connect with others in the Polar community is all yours with this marvelous item. Your choices of activities are increased with the fact that this terrific product is waterproof to 30 meters. This means that you can add swimming and snorkeling to your activities list for tracking, and you do not have to remove it from your arm when bathing or showering. You will have loads of fun just discovering what this gadget can do for you!

Responsiveness

Compatible with the H7 sensor for heart rate tracking, the Polar M400 will connect successfully with most Bluetooth devices for heart rate monitoring. It allows you to train within your specific zones of heart rate and the correct intensity rather than trying to just guess at how you are doing with your activities. Most tracking devices are linked are can link to a heart rate monitor these days, so this is a feature you will want to use. the Polar M400 is very easy to set up and use, as most people found that they did not even use or need the included instruction manual. Most all functions are self-explanatory and just by pressing the buttons and watching the screen, the majority of folks just pick up on the device’s operations by playing with it. the directions are, however, very helpful and easy to understand when you need them. this incredible item has a sporty design, many training features, and a modern GPS to keep you on track of all your health statistics when active and idle. In user feedback online we found that buyers generally preferred this Polar model to similar Garmin versions because those can be hard to understand and use sometimes. If you feel that way too, then maybe this user-friendly device is for you. Who needs complicated, right?

Support

We want to mention that based on customer feedback if you do happen to have a problem with this watch model and try to contact the company’s customer service, you might not be aided much. There are several complaints online of customers being left in the dark when trying to contact this maker. We thought we would mention this in case you like to have good relations and prompt responses from manufacturers. Otherwise, the support you get from the device is immense. It does so much for the active person who loves to monitor their progress with activities and sports. It will accurately track your performance of distance, pace, and altitude with the included GPS technology. The fitness tracker keeps up with your sleep quality, calories burned, distance, steps, and workouts all the time. Get inactivity alerts and smart notifications from your phone while you are using the watch, so you do not miss out on important messages ever. The inactivity alerts are particularly great for those who have desk jobs. We all need a reminder now and then to get the blood flowing again after several hours of constant sitting. This model tracks running cadence to help you avoid injuries and increase efficiency during that activity. It features a running index, a running program, and sports profiles that can be customized. In short, the Polar M400 has you covered for your activity and sport monitoring needs!

Use

Developed as a durable and comfortable running watch for runners, the Polar M400 does so much more than simply monitor the progress of this one activity. It is marvelous for everyday use of exercising or training in almost any sport or activity you can think of, and then some. How about cycling, yoga, disc golf, tennis, or skiing? Yes, yes, and yes! The M400 will monitor your progress with each one of these. There are plenty of others too. If you like to do your exercising or training indoors on a treadmill, this device has you covered for that also. You will need a footpad to monitor the pace or cadence on the treadmill, but the M400 has the capability to help you track your activity. As you will see, when combined with the Polar app, your activities can become much more enjoyable than simply doing them and tracking the stats. A whole new world opens up for the Polar user when the app is connected.

Apps

With the Polar Flow app, it is possible to sync, plan, and share your data with others, as this product syncs with most modern models of Android or iOS devices. Join the community groups with Polar Flow to communication with others around the world about their training and workouts and share your own. The experience is much more rewarding than other social media forums because, with this group, you have much more in common in the way of fitness and health tracking. The website is loaded with incredible things for the user like videos and music that can be customized to your own workouts and runs. A few problems that buyers have experienced with the app and connecting devices is that the syncing often fail, and some people found it difficult to sync at all. Disconnections are not uncommon either once the watch is connected. Add to this that customer service has often been out of reach or not answering at all, and you have some very discontented customers with the Polar M400. This has not been everyone’s experience, but enough to mention it in this review for potential buyers.

Connectivity

The Polar M400 will connect to any heart rate model of Bluetooth Smart to monitor heart rate while active. You can purchase the device with or without a heart rate monitor to avoid being without one initially. It comes with updatable software and uses a regular USB micro cable for syncing with Mac or PC devices for tracking activities and sports. The included software that syncs the device with the phones and the Polar app has been some cause of concern and problems for customers. Some said that it takes a long time for the actually syncing to occur, while others were not able to get it to work at all. We mentioned this issue in the previous section also because it concerns the Polar app too. A tracking watch is not of any use if it cannot monitor your activities. It is then just an expensive regular time device. Buyers have narrowed the problem down to the actual software for the watch and not the watch itself, so this is something that Polar can fix quite easily. It is certainly much better than having to replace all of the watches that do not sync well or at all.

Face

With a wide user-face, the M400 has quick monitoring and good visibility as the screen is easy to read and interact with. It is high-resolution, so it can be seen even in low light or bad lighting conditions. The great dimensions of this user-friendly and accurate device are 4 x 3 x 3 inches, and it has regular watch functions of alarm, time, and date. It is ideal to wear all day and every day for your tracking, monitoring, and watch needs. This product is sporty and trendy with its modern and eye-pleasing design.

Power Source

As with any other type of device that you can customize and add functions and features of your choosing, the battery life is highly dependent on how many items you put on it and how often you use it. In the GPS mode, the battery has an eight-hour life, and in regular activity tracking or watch mode, the battery will last for three weeks. These figures are according to the manufacturer. Users have stated that they typically charge their devices once a week to maintain a good battery charge, but others have said that they must charge every few days. The more you do with it, the more the battery power is used. This is just common sense and will vary with each user.

Bottom Line

Bad customer service experiences and plenty of failed efforts to sync the Polar M400 using the included software are its major downfalls. The sports watch itself seems to be perfectly fine once it is connected and functioning, but the initial set-up and syncing have caused many people to be highly dissatisfied, making them choose another product and brand instead. Even with these issues, this product has a relatively high satisfaction rating from customers. It is flexible, durable, eye-pleasing, comfortable, and loaded with plenty of activities and sports for you to monitor and track. If Polar can fix the software and syncing glitches soon, then we would highly recommend this item to potential buyers. There are just too many people who have been left in the dark with a product they cannot use and no help from the company to fix it. Unfortunately, the only way that you will know that it does not work is if you purchase it. If you are willing to take this risk for an item that works well when it does function, then go for it.