Polar RC3 GPS Watch Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I am a fan of Polar Products. I have had many monitors, including the RCX5, which I like a lot. The RCX5 is a more advanced, multi-sport, customizable monitor than the RC3, but I like the all-in-one nature of the latter. As soon as I knew that a monitor with integrated GPS was out, I started looking for places to but it, so I found it on Ebay. It is surprinsingly well sized for a GPS unit (it's not bulky) and the design is a little retro (it looks like a watch from the 80s), so I wish it were better looking. It uses WIND technology so the HR sensor doesn't work with most gym equipment which is a bummer. I had to put away the H3 sensor and started using a Wearlink Hybrid instead. I wish I had realized that before buying, so I had bought the without-HRM version. Using it with the Wearlink Hybrid seems to be good, but recently I have been experiencing occasional bad HR readings... I will have to find out if it's a faulty battery in the heart rate sensor... or perhaps I will buy an H2 sensor instead. Battery life seems to be good because I have to recharge it twice a month, using it at the gym for 6hr/week and using it with GPS on for 3 hours on sundays (my mountain bike ride).

I miss the water-resistant capability of my previous monitors because I like wearing my watch at all times and getting it clean in the shower, but with this unit, I always have to take it off and clean it with a wet cloth so it won't get soaked. Other than that, I am very happy with the monitor because whatever sport I do (all but swimming, which this monitor is not intended for), all I need to have with me is my RC3 and the HR band (no additional sensors required). I also miss the customizable screens of the RCX5, but I guess I can live without those until a more advanced unit is released. =).

2013-01-31 update: I am updating my review, changing the rating from 4 to 3 stars, since the plastic GPS logo from the wrist band just fell off and the lower left button just got cracked. I use this watch mainly in the gym and for running. This shouldn't be happening after 4 months use.

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I've had a lot of running watches over the years and my last couple watches were a Polar RC300x with a footpod and then a Timex Run Trainer for the past year. The RC300x was everything I wanted in a running watch sans GPS. The Run Trainer was everything I wanted in a GPS watch but I seriously missed the Polar 'experience'. I think when it comes to a training aid, its hard to beat Polar.

I love everything about this watch. Its super easy to use and has lots of great information during the run. Post-run, its really easy to sync up with polarpersonaltrainer.com and since it syncs/charges via micro USB I don't have to carry around an extra cable on the road which is nice. My Timex ran out of juice a couple times because I didn't have its special charging cable with me.

There is only one issue now that keeps this watch from being perfect as a running watch:

Waterproofing: Its only IPX 7 waterproof which means its safe to shower with or in a rainstorm but don't swim with it. Surprising for a sports watch and I wonder if that's a tradeoff for the micro-usb

So the watch isn't perfect but its also the best one I've personally used.

EDIT You can set the watch up to do interval training with the latest firmware. I will say that as I've used the watch, the volume of the beep is so quiet, however, that its difficult to use with the audio cues.

EDIT 2 As reported at the DCRainmaker blog (and what better place to get information about running watches? ;) ) the $25 fee is not in effect. I don't know if I got bad information from CS at Polar or if they changed their mind on this but as of now, all that is required for the update is to send the watch in to Polar. This will give older units interval support and GPS based altimeter support. New units have this out of the box.

I would love to bump this up to a 5 star review based on the newest functionality but because its so hard to hear the watch beep when I'm running I feel that it will be very difficult to make use of the intervals. The beep should be significantly louder or they should have included a vibration function. That said, this is still an excellent running and biking companion.

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I've owned previous polar products. For the most part they were bullet proof.

This one, not so much. The loop on the end of the heat rate monitor strap broke before the end of my first cycle trip.

Then the buttons on the watch started cracking. By the end of my 2rd run, the watch the up/down buttons on the right hand side had broken into two pieces and come apart from the watch body.

After less than 4 hours of use I returned it to the retailer with a broken strap, two broken buttons, a 3rd on its way, and a 4th showing cracking. Who knows what else was destined to break over the next couple years.

Also, even though I enabled sounds in the general menu, and the training sounds options, the watch never made a single noise during the entire time I owned it.

All that said, the watch functions themselves seem pretty solid, fairly quick gps lockup, etc. My only real complaint on that front was the fact that polar apparently no longer provides local software to manage the data collected. Rather expecting you to upload it all to their cloud service at .

In the end, I might have signed up to be a beta tester if the product was 1/3 of the price I paid for it, but as is, too many things failed in the first few hours of use.

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Beware, this unit does not work with the H7 Bluetooth chest transmitter. Other than that, this is a great unit with Polar's on-line personal training software making it even better. Polar has really picked up their game and their products are better than ever.

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I bought this item in November 2012, just after it was released, and after just 2 months of use two of the buttons cracked and fell off and the rubber bands on both sides of the dial have come lose. This is not acceptable from a manufacturer like Polar and I have used other Polar products for years and which have not given me any problems at all. In addition to these build qualty issues, I also have had repeated problems syncing my watch to the HRM device. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't....