The wallet-friendly younger
sibling to the Polar V800, the M400 is one of the first fitness devices to
bridge the gap between the fitness band and the GPS sports watch. For £169/$179, it offers full activity tracking from your wrist, whether you’re walking up the office
stairs or speeding through your local park on a 5km training run.
Polar M400: Design and build
While it does have some
multisport credentials (it will track the GPS related stats for cycling and
even horse riding) the M400 is built to be a running watch with added
intelligence.
Let’s face it, being the younger
relation to a multi-talented piece of tech like the V800 was always going to be
difficult but the M400 stands up remarkably well.
Unlike the V800 it won’t pair up
with quite as many accessories and cycling cadence sensors are not an option,
but on the plus side, the design is actually better than its rather pricier
stablemate.
For starters the strap is more
comfortable on the wrist. Added to that the watch face is a little smaller and
more ergonomic.
Then there’s the simple USB
charging that does away with the need for a unique charging cable or dock; a
bone of contention with many other GPS watches, including the V800. Despite
this, it still manages to be fully water-resistant in water up to 30m, taking
the activity tracking element off of dry land.
There’s also a high-contrast
display that makes it easier to see your stats even in direct sunlight.
It’s a real shame that it doesn’t
have the built-in heart rate monitoring that some running watches like the Adidas miCoach Smart Run or the TomTom Cardio Runner now offer, but it can be
paired with a chest strap for added accuracy andthe Polar staple heart rate
zone training.
Weighing in at 56.6g and
measuring 11.5mm thick, it’s also not the bulkiest of the running watches,
which adds to the overall comfort.
