Multiple alarms, RPE workout scoring and map enhancements are just some of the updates landing with Polar OS 5. The new firmware will soon roll out for the Vantage V3, Vantage M3, Grit X2, Grit X2 Pro and Ignite 3, though a few features are watch-specific.
Multiple alarms and smarter sleep settings
The new alarm feature does what it says. You can now set and run more than one alarm on your Polar watch. This is useful if you want one for weekday wake-ups and another for Sunday long runs, or just need separate reminders for different parts of the day.
Also tied to rest, Night Mode now works more logically. When Do Not Disturb is active, the display dims and stays that way even if you tap a button. This stops accidental flashes of light at night, especially useful on AMOLED-equipped watches like the Ignite 3.
New widgets for quick access
OS 5 brings two new complications to the main watch face. One shows your Nightly Recharge status, the other is a weekly activity summary. These should make the watch face more useful at a glance and reduce the need to scroll through menus.
Map improvements and dark mode
Polar has made several improvements to its mapping tools. First, there’s now a dark mode option for maps, which helps reduce eye strain during night runs. This doesn’t extend to the Ignite 3, which doesn’t support mapping to begin with.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
Route previews have also been updated to show the direction your route begins before the session starts. Zooming has also been streamlined. You can now use pinch gestures to zoom more smoothly, and there’s a new shortcut to bring up zoom controls with a single button press.
More training insights, even in pause mode
Workout summaries now show more data when you pause mid-session. That includes things like duration, distance, average and max heart rate, average and max speed, along with calories burned.
Also new is RPE scoring directly on the watch. After a session ends, you can now rate your effort on a 0–10 scale. This brings the watch closer to how Polar Flow handles training feedback, and supports more subjective input into your training logs.
A trend graph for SpO₂ test history has also been added. You’ll now see your past seven readings on the device itself. This, again, is not supported on Ignite 3.
Part of larger updates to come
There are a few under-the-hood improvements as well. Repeated iOS notifications, a common bug, have been fixed. And 3D speed calculations have been tuned to improve accuracy on hilly routes. Finally, the current time now appears on the same screen as charging information.
Looking through the change-log, this does not seem like a big update. But it’s clear Polar is still refining its OS across multiple devices. The update continues their recent focus on deeper training tools, more accessible data and smoother usability across devices.
Much larger things are expected further down the line. As announced in late last year, a full overhaul of its Flow ecosystem is under way, spanning both the mobile app and web platform. This redesign is structured in phases, so will take a while to fully roll out. No fixed timeline has been made official yet.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter! Check out our YouTube channel.
And of course, you can follow Gadgets & Wearables on Google News and add us as your preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinion in your feeds.
