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Battery life
- Battery lasts up to a week
- Quick and easy to charge
The battery life on the Polar M200 is excellent. Polar claim the M200 will last six days on a single charge when used for fitness tracking and with one hour’s GPS activity tracking per day.
In reality, we managed to use the watch for a full week of running, as well as general day-to-day use, before needing to recharge.
And when the battery is running low you get a helpful notification on the smartphone app to let you know you need to recharge.
As previously noted, the recharging of the Polar M200 is pain-free, with the watch featuring a simple charging port. A USB cable provided in the box is all that’s needed.
In terms of juicing speed, we found the watch was fully recharged from empty within a couple of hours, which was acceptable if you remembered in good time...
Verdict
The Polar M200 is a decent entry-level running watch and, although a little basic in appearance, it packs in a lot of features for the price.
With GPS, heart rate monitoring, water resistance and a whole lot more there's something here for almost everyone.
But it doesn't excel in all areas, and is more suited to some kinds of exercise than others.
Who's this for?
The smartphone connectivity and ability to follow structured training programs makes the M200 a great companion for the athlete looking to start taking their training more seriously.
But despite offering multi-sport tracking it's clearly focused mostly on runners, so if you primarily want, say, a swimming watch, there are better options.
Should you buy it?
The only major drawback to the M200 is the slightly erratic GPS, which we can’t help but feel slightly frustrated with. If you are looking for a watch to start your training journey, there aren’t many that can rival the M200 at this sort of price.
It’s not perfect, but at the budget end of the market the Polar M200 sits head and shoulders above most of the rest in terms of its features. But for other options, check out our guide to the best budget running watches.
