Polar has announced that it will start licensing its sports tracking tech – and it will power the all-new Casio G-Shock GBD-H2000 smartwatch.
‘Powered by Polar’ will see the company’s algorithms made available to smartwatch and wearables manufacturers, so that they can offer prosumer-grade insights and accuracy.
Casio
Polar will offer up to 25 different algorithms, including its SleepWise metrics, as well as specialist insights around fitness, performance, and recovery.
It sees Polar follow a similar model to Firstbeat, which has provided fitness algorithms to wearables manufacturers over the years.
However, Firstbeat was acquired by Garmin back in 2020, and we’ve seen manufacturers such as Huawei and Amazfit ape those metrics.
Polar hopes that its brand – which has been in the field of heart rate tracking and performance analysis for 50 years – will be a catalyst for more entry-level users using its technology, via less prosumer devices.
The Casio will feature the following Polar services:
• Nightly Recharge
• Sleep Plus Stages
• HR Zones
• Serene Breathing Exercise
• Training Load Pro
• Running Index
• Energy Sources
We reviewed the Casio G-Shock GBD-H1000, which also featured Casio interpretations of many of the above features for fitness.
However, we found issues with heart rate accuracy and the presentation of the data.
It feels like a great fit for Casio to plug into Polar’s algorithms, which should boost the accuracy of the baseline heart rate data.
Casio
Accurate sleep data is also key to recovery metrics – so the presence of Sleep Plus Stages and Nightly Recharge should make the H2000 a much better fitness partner than the original.
We’re still waiting on firm details of the rest of the Casio G-Shock GBD-H2000 spec sheet – but this will be a serious contender for a place in our best running watch round-up.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.