Hill Splits

The Hill Splits feature is the one that trail runners will probably get the most out of. This function automatically breaks down your performance going up hill, including your speed, distance and altitude gain and it does the same for the downhills as well. Using the Polar app, it’s possible to check in on your performance post-activity and see how it compares to previous trips.

Keeping Tabs on Food and Water Intake

This is a very clever feature that feeds back information on how much you should be consuming, what you should be consuming and when – all based on your own biology and fitness and the type of activity/workout you’re doing. This is another feature that will be particularly useful for trail runners and also hikers as well, especially the hydration side of things. We’ve all managed to get a little knackered due to dehydration on the trail and the prompts on this are very handy for avoiding that.

Using It For Navigation

The navigation system this uses runs off komoot, an app we rate highly here at Outdoors Magic. You’ll have to register with them, but it’s free so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. Once you are signed up, you’re given a free download of one ‘region’, which tends to be about a county (or two) in size. The London region, for instance, gives you access to mapping for the whole city and then about 50 miles north of it as well.

To follow a route, you plan it out first using the Komoot app on your phone or desktop, then you enable it for your watch, activate it on your wrist and go. You’ll view the route you’re supposed to follow as a breadcrumb and it gives you the distance until your next turn and a prompt when you need to make it. It’ll also let you know when you’ve stepped off your trail. You won’t be able to see contours or terrain detail on the watch itself unfortunately but you can see the distance you’ve travelled. One slight downside is that there’s no offline mode for navigation, so that could be an issue when you’re venturing somewhere particularly wild.

“The navigation system this uses runs off Komoot, an app we rate highly here at Outdoors Magic”

Battery Life

The battery life is pretty decent. With all the economical settings turned on you’ll get about 100 hours juice from it. That would be with the GPS recording rate set to every 2 minutes the heart rate off and screen saver on.  With the GPS recording every 1 second and the heart rate monitor and screen on full blast, you’ll have 40 hours. Not bad at all though not quite as impressive in this department as Garmin’s new “unlimited battery life” watch admittedly. The charging cable, by the way, is the same as the one featured on the last Polar watch – one of those little circular platforms that you plonk it on top of.

Other Features

OK, it might be a little beyond our usual remit here at Outdoors Magic, but the Polar Grit X does seem to offer some very useful stuff for monitoring and improving fitness. As we’ve already mentioned, there’s that wrist-based heart rate monitor, a feature that lets you test your VO2 Max and then a bunch of pre-programmed exercises for certain types of training, with each workout/exercise demonstrated with little animations.

Tester’s Verdict

Mike Brindley, cinematographer at Outdoors Magic

“Straight off the bat, I’ve got to say the Grit X is a great looking smart watch. I’m by no means a connoisseur, but having tried out a few bulkier models, the compact and (relatively) discreet design made this feel like something I could wear day-in-day out no problem. Over the best part of a month, I’ve taken it cycling, running, hiking and more, without really taking it off in between – other than for charge cycles which are thankfully quick and can be done over a few hours.

“The interface is simple but effective, and with minimal introduction this watch is easy to navigate. For me it functioned primarily as a training aid, giving me a good idea of when I needed to push harder, and when I was slacking off, as well as gently guiding me towards a better sleep cycle. There are even stretches and breathing exercises to follow so you can make sure you’re getting as rounded a routine as possible – although at some points scrolling through those instructions on a small screen is a little irksome.

“Where the compact design does leave room for improvement is in processing and additional features. The software update and phone sync speeds feel quite dated, and unlike competitors there aren’t inbuilt maps/music software/endless watch face options. But in accepting that this is a watch (not a phone/GPS replacement), the Grit X excels at being something that’s practical and appealing, rather than over-complicated and unnecessary.