For whatever reason, I’d been scheming on a fitness tracker during most of the later months of the pandemic. I guess I was looking for something to keep my focus and distract me from the Coronavirus shit show at work, and in the news. With gyms and jiujitsu all closed down, I guess I kinda figured it might be a reminder to keep halfway in shape.

I started out really interested in the Whoop band, but didn’t feel like paying another monthly fee. Friends recommended a FitBit or Apple watch, but the former didn’t do what exactly what I wanted, and the latter was not relevant since I have an Android. My own research led me to some better products from other brands. A couple of those brands, Coros, Suunto, and Polar kept appearing near the top of all the reading that I did. I priced them out, looked at dozens, settled on a few, never committed, did more research, made new choices, never committed and repeated the process at least two more times.

While doing all this research I found a few good sites with reviews and comparison tools which kept me informed about my choices and helped narrow down my options. One of the better sites which I used for reviews and comparisons was DC Rainmaker. Legit, this guy has a review of every fitness tracker type device you can think of, from the Apple Watch to something called the Wahoo Roam. On top of that he has a comparison tool with links to features, reviews, prices, and his impressions of the product. His work was extremely thorough, and after a bit, his site became my go-to stop.

Finally I decided on what I was going to get, The Polar Vantage M. I won’t try to write up a review like DC Rainmaker, but I’ll include a link to his review. The watch is comfortable, loaded with features, GPS enabled, water resistant, and has a long battery life. There are built in sport profiles on the watch which can be changed to incorporate your exercise interests. Polar also has its own app to use, Polar Flow, to analyze your data and track your progress. So far I will say that I am very happy with my purchase. Each time I use it I seem to find new features which I’d previously overlooked. If you are in the market for a new fitness tracker that is a bit more advanced then a FitBit or Apple watch, I would absolutely recommend that you go with the Polar Vantage M.