Polar launches the Grit X2 sports watch — an affordable Garmin Fenix rival that's built for adventure

Tom's Guide

3 days ago

Polar has launched the Grit X2 sports watch, which is a smaller and more affordable alternative to the Polar Grit X2 Pro.
According to Polar the Grit X2 will address a gap in the market, in that almost all of the best sports watches designed for adventurous activities are very large and bulky.
The Grit X2 will work better for those with smaller wrists, and the fact it packs impressive features like offline maps into its smaller design means it could be an interesting rival to top models like the Garmin Fenix 8, despite costing half as much.
The Polar Grit X2 will be available in the U.K. and Europe on 4 June 2025 and it costs £399 / €479.90. A U.S. launched is planned for later in the year, but the date and price have not been confirmed yet.
It will be available in two colors at launch — night black and brown copper — and comes with a silicone band, which can be swapped out for any standard 22mm watch strap.
The Grit X2 is significantly cheaper than the Grit X2 Pro, which is $749 / £649, and costs less than half as much as the Garmin Fenix 8, which starts at $999 / £879.
The Polar Grit X2 has a durable design with a steel bezel that's built to meet the latest military 810H standard, so it can withstand extreme temperatures and shocks, and is waterproof (WR50).
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It has a 1.28in AMOLED display protected by sapphire crystal, and the Grit X2 comes preloaded with color topographic maps that you can use offline.
Although the battery life is shorter than on larger models like the Grit X2 Pro, the Grit X2 can track 90 hours of activity in Eco mode, which is ideal for hiking, or 30 hours in performance mode, which offers the best accuracy for runs and bike rides.
It will also last up to a week in smartwatch mode, though in my testing of other Polar AMOLED watches like the Polar Vantage M3 and Grit X2 Pro I find they usually fall a little short of Polar's estimates.
It's certainly true to say that most adventure watches opt for chunky designs, so a rugged adventure watch that can fit slimmer wrists is a good idea.
Garmin has smaller models of the Fenix 8 and Garmin Instinct 3 watches, but the Grit X2 might be a good affordable alternative for those who want a smaller device.
'Outdoor sports are thriving like never before – and it's women who are leading that growth," says Sander Werring, CEO of Polar Electro.
"Yet the market still lacks well-designed outdoor watches that truly cater to those seeking a more compact fit. Too often, designs are bulky or lack essential features."
The Grit X2 aims to address that gap by putting top-of-the-range features like maps into a smaller device that 12mm thick and weighs 62g, and it also runs the same software as the Grit X2 Pro, so it should get the same access to updates in the future.
It all looks promising on paper, but we'll be putting the Polar Grit X2 to the test soon for our full review to see if it lives up to that promise.