The Ticwatch S2 is marketed as a sports smartwatch just as the Polar Vantage V is.
But what justifies the extra cost of the Polar Vantage V?
Within the smartwatch realm, the more specialized the smartwatch, the costly it is. Oftentimes, that also comes at a cost of some features.that even an entry-level watch like the Ticwatch S2 will have.
The Polar Vantage V is a specialized watch with very advanced features only available on this tier of watches. Read on to find out whether you’ll benefit from them…
Related: Ticwatch C2 vs Polar Vantage V | Ticwatch E2 vs Polar Vantage V | Polar Vantage V vs. TicWatch Pro
FYI, thanks to AI imagery software, we’re able to create very specific fashion and hairstyle examples to illustrate the points being made. In some cases, imagery is exaggerated to hammer home the point.
User interaction
As the world moved on to touchscreens in the early 2010s, so have watches. Smartwatches are almost always touchscreen these days, and luckily, both the Polar Vantage V and the Ticwatch S2 have touchscreens.
But the Polar Vantage V’s touchscreen is very much like the good old days of Palm PDAs where the screen isn’t very good. In fact, I find myself using the five buttons a lot more than I do use the touchscreen.
The Ticwatch S2 is a lot more user friendly. It has one button and a touchscreen that is on par with a smartphone.
The Ticwatch S2 also has an LED screen which is great because everything is more colourful on that watch. The downside is that the S2 has poorer battery life than the Polar Vantage V.
The Vantage V uses an LCD screen that uses ambient light to illuminate the screen. Thereby saving you battery power.
Winner: Ticwatch S2
Operating systems: Wear OS vs Polar OS
Google’s Wear OS is a great operating system for general-purpose watches. Its features can bring great convenience to everyday tasks.
The Polar OS is much more focused on sports, specifically running. It can’t do many different things that the Wear OS can do.
The chief difference here is that you cannot install custom apps on the Polar Vantage V. You get whatever Polar gives you. Its latest updates gave users a breathing app.
The Wear OS is a lot more flexible in that you can install whatever is on the Google Play Store. That means you can have a grocery list app, Google Maps or Google Translate on your wrist.
Winner: Ticwatch S2
Google Assistant
Google Assistant is fantastic and only the Ticwatch S2 has it. The Polar Vantage V does not have a microphone and so can’t receive voice commands.
Having a voice assistant is a major plus because there are so many tedious tasks that can be streamlined. This is especially true with the Google Assistant, which is excellent at interpreting your commands and has very varied features to help you solve your needs.
For example, if you wanted to set a timer on both watches, you could do it manually. It’s very tedious because you have to press many buttons and then scroll to set the time. With the Ticwatch S2, you can just say “set a timer for five minutes” and Google Assistant will do it for you. All with the press of one button.
The conveniences go further. Google Assistant can help you find information online and it can also help you find directions with the help of Google Maps. Tasks such as “find me a pharmacy” can be fulfilled directly on the watch.
Winner: Ticwatch S2
Emails and text
When paired to Android smartphones, the Ticwatch S2 excels. You can receive messages and reply to them all on your wrist. Paired to an Apple iPhone, you will only be able to read the messages but not reply to them.
Replying to messages and emails on the Ticwatch S2 is easy because of the excellent methods of text input. Chief of which is the superior speech-to-text transcriber which can usually understand you well.
Otherwise, you can use a 26-alphabet keyboard, hand write letters, send pre-composed messages or emoticons.
However, with the Polar Vantage V, you can receive messages but not reply to them, regardless of platform. This is a bit of an inconvenience.
Winner: Ticwatch S2
Sports
Mobvoi, the creators of the Ticwatch S2, market that watch as suitable for outdoors enthusiasts. In fact, its marketing material shows people going surfing and mountaineering, so it really should appeal to the more hardcore outdoors enthusiasts.
In fact, the Ticwatch S2 has a US Military Standard 810G durability rating which means the S2 is operational between -20ºC to 55ºC; resistant to humidity, dust, and salt fog.
The Polar Vantage V is also a watch that’s meant for sportspeople and it’s definitely more technologically advanced than the Ticwatch S2. Just look at the underside of the watches where their heart rate sensor is. The Vantage V has connectivity sensors and more LEDs than the Ticwatch S2.
What’s great here is that both watches are water resistant and that you can take them swimming and since they have an integrated GPS, you can go on a workout without your smartphone and you’ll still get location data.
The Ticwatch S2 comes with two suites of apps that you can use to record your workouts. Like all Wear OS watches, it comes with the Google FIt suite of lifestyle and workout apps. Mobvoi watches also come with the TicHealth/TicExercise/TicPulse suite.
Both suites offer similar functionality. They track steps, they can track your workouts and they can monitor your heart rate. The one advantage the TicHealth suite has is that it will remind you to take some steps if you have been inactive for too long.
The Polar Vantage V tracks many other metrics to help you become a better sportsperson. Particularly for runners, the Vantage V has many features that can help you improve your fitness.
The Vantage V needs some time to collect data on your lifestyle and thereafter, it will be able to advise you on whether you are doing enough training.
The Vantage V can also provide suggestions as to what types of exercise you should be doing for the day, split into cardio, recovery and strength training.
For runners, you get the fantastic Polar Running Program which creates an exercise regime customized to your next race and fitness level. In addition, the Polar Vantage V has a power meter that estimates your power output based on an algorithm.
Winner: Polar Vantage V
Verdict
The Ticwatch S2 is a great watch. It offers great value and fantastic functionality for daily productivity.
You won’t get the same functionality with the Polar Vantage V, but you will get a set of tools to enhance your sporting performance. Almost all features that are on the Polar Vantage V are geared to helping you improve your performance.
The everyday user will benefit a lot from having a watch like the TIcwatch S2. Having Google Assistant, a big variety of apps and the ability to reply to messages is fantastic. But runners and other sportspeople will really benefit from the Polar Vantage V.