Polar Vantage V3 - 3.0.16 firmware update

There is a new firmware update available for Polar Vantage V3. You can update your watch on your mobile via the Flow app or on your computer via FlowSync.

Version number: 3.0.16

Release date: January 8th, 2025

Points of Interest

The Points of Interest (POI) feature allows you to easily locate key landmarks like shelters, supermarkets, cafés, and more. Whether you’re training or exploring, POI helps you find these locations on your map or offers a direct beeline route with distance guidance to your chosen point. You can also set your own custom POIs and navigate to them with precision.

To use the feature, you need a detailed map file on your watch that contains POI information. If your watch has an old map file, POI information may be missing from it. In this case, when you choose the POI feature from the map navigation menu, your watch will prompt you to download an updated map file. For instructions, see Download and transfer maps to your watch in the user manual.

The POI feature is available both during training and outside of training. See Points of Interest in the user manual for more information about the feature.

Find My Phone

The Find My Phone feature allows you to locate your lost or misplaced phone using your watch. It shows the last synced location of your phone on your watch map, and lets you play a sound on your phone when it's within Bluetooth range. Access it quickly from the Quick settings menu, that is opened by swiping down from the top of the display in time view. During training you can access the feature via Settings in pre-training and pause modes. See Find My Phone in the user manual for more information about the feature.

New watch faces and widgets

Two new analog and three new digital watch face layouts have been added to the watch face settings, giving you plenty of new options for customizing the time view on your watch. These layouts include new capsule shaped widgets for quick data access. For more information, see Watch face settings in the user manual.

Charging during training

The watch can now be charged also during training. Before charging, it is important to ensure that the charging contacts of both the watch and the charging cable are clean and dry. Dirt, sweat and moisture can cause oxidation or other potential damage to the watch and the charging cable. See Battery in the user manual for detailed information on charging the battery.

Internal notifications

Stay up to date with internal notifications like sync reminders, planned training sessions, or alerts when you leave your phone behind. You can choose the notifications you want to receive on your watch in Settings > General settings > Notifications. For more information, see Internal notifications in the user manual.

Route overview and pool swimming styles in training summary

After your outdoor workouts, you can now view your route directly on your watch in the training summary. For pool swimming sessions, the training summary provides detailed information about your swimming styles, including the distance, duration, pace, and SWOLF score for each style.

Updated training start and pause views

The training start and pause views have been updated for enhanced usability. Smaller sport profile icons make it easier to browse and quickly find your preferred sport. Clear visual indicators show the GPS fix status: while the watch searches for GPS satellites, the start button is orange and displays 'Wait'. When the GPS is ready, the button turns green and displays 'Start'. Additionally, accessing the 'Settings' menu is now more convenient in both pre-training and pause modes.

Updated Cardio Load Status feedback

The Cardio Load Status calculation has been updated to provide more actionable feedback in situations where the load has been low, such as when you are just starting to train or recovering after an intensive training period.

We have added a new status: Recovering. This is shown when you have been overreaching in the past 14 days. As your training load decreases, you'll now see "Recovering" instead of "Detraining".

With the previous Cardio Load Status calculation, you could reach "Overreaching" too quickly, for example, when you were just starting to train or beginning to use the Training Load Pro feature. This could give the impression that you were training too hard, even if you weren’t. We have adjusted the status to better reflect when you are training at a productive level. In relevant situations, you will now see “Productive” instead of “Overreaching”.

Other improvements/fixes in this release

• Improvements on occasionally too high optical heart rate (OHR) readings during training sessions.
• Improvement to display brightness in bright sunny conditions: you can now temporarily enable the high brightness mode during training by pressing the top left button (LIGHT).
• Improved Route Guidance start logic: Starting your route mid-point now picks up your current location and recalculates routes from where you are, instead of guiding you to your set starting point.
• Fixed issues related to 3D speed calculations, providing more accurate readings during elevation changes and terrain variation.
• Fixed a bug that caused for some users incorrect pool swimming distance calculations.
• Improvement to compass calibration: When the watch detects that the compass needs calibration, it will display the message: "The compass is slightly off. Do you want to calibrate it?" You can then decide whether to calibrate the compass. If you choose not to, the message will not appear again during that training session. However, you can calibrate the compass later during the session through the navigation menu if needed.
• Other minor updates and bug fixes