polar a370 display screens pricelist

Polar"s A370 Fitness Tracker is sold at 2 retailers with a low price of $119.99 as of Wednesday, October 19 2022. Knoji"s price tracker scans today"s lowest prices for every Polar A370 model at every store, including Amazon, eBay.

We then calculate the best discount available for each Polar A370 model compared to its average lowest price over the past 30 days. Only when a particular Polar A370 model hits a new 30-day low price do we show this as a "price drop." In this way, this page provides a complete picture of today"s best Polar A370 deals, across all 3 models (UPCs).

We then test and apply today"s best discount codes made available by each retailer. For example, if today"s best Polar A370 price is $119.99 at eBay, but eBay is also offering the promo code SAVE20 for 20% off on their site today, we"ll test to verify that this code can be used to get a discount on Polar A370 at ebay.com and show the final lowest price (including the 20% off) here. You just need to click the "Apply Code" button and the code will be automatically copied to your clipboard and you"ll be sent to the product page on ebay.com where you can complete your purchase.

By default, we sort all Polar A370 Fitness Tracker models by the "Best Discount Today" which means the best discount compared to each model"s 30-day lowest price average. You can also sort by "Best Retail Discount" which will sort all Polar A370 models by the biggest discount as compared to its list price or retail price. Sorting today"s Polar A370 Fitness Tracker deals by "Newest Price Drops" will sort the models to show the most recent price drops (vs 30-day average best price) up top. You can also sort Polar A370 Fitness Tracker prices by the "Lowest Price" on top, as well as by "1d Price Change" which will show the biggest decrease in Polar A370 price in the past day.

Looking for more offers like these the Polar A370 Fitness Tracker deals? Also check out today"s best fitness tracker brand deals as well as today"s Polar promotions & offers.

Our service network can help you if your Polar product needs repair. Please check first whether you are able to troubleshoot your problem with the help of Polar support pages. You can find product specific support pages from the dropdown menu below. Our customer care team in the United States are also happy to help you.

Please note that warranty service is done only by Polar Central Service. Register your service online and send your Polar device directly to Central Service.

Non-warranty service is done by Authorized Service Centers or by Polar Central Service. Please refer to the recommended price list for service charges for different types of non-warranty repairs. Please check the map below for the nearest Authorized Service point. You can also use an Authorized Service point as a service drop-off if your service case is more complex and needs to be sent to Central Service.

Like the A360, the A370 is waterproof and has a glass lens color touch display, as well as vibrating notifications. The interchangeable band comes in a variety of color options.

Polar"s new A370 fitness-tracking wristband is a course correction from its predecessor, the A360, which was lacking in a few key areas. The A370 improves upon the last-gen model, with continuous heart-rate monitoring, GPS (sort of), an easier-to-fasten band clasp and a new sleep-tracking tool called Polar Sleep Plus.

But the $179 A370 is also a direct shot at Fitbit, the category leader, with a handful of marquee features yanked straight from last year"s best-selling Fitbit Charge 2. Can Polar out-Fitbit Fitbit? Spoiler alert: no.

The A370 looks almost exactly the same as the A360. Both have beautiful, bright, full-color TFT capacitive touch screens that show the time when you move your wrist. Fitbit"s Charge 2 also has a touch display, but I prefer the A370"s because it"s much longer and can show more information at a glance.

When you swipe down from the main clock view, you"ll see settings, your heart rate and an overview of your daily activity. You can also start a training session from that menu. A bigger display makes it easier to see data at a glance while you"re running outside, which is a bonus.

To sync the tracker with the Polar Flow app, press and hold the side button on the A370. (It"s bizarre that this function has a dedicated hardware button.) The same button will pause or end a workout. The A370 supports phone notifications from any app, which is far better than what the Charge 2 offers: limited text, call and calendar alerts. Like the Charge 2, the A370 also enables alarms and sends you messages encouraging you to move. All of these alerts are accompanied by a strong vibration, which will definitely wake you from a dead sleep. Trust me.

But the A370 still looks very much like a run-of-the-mill fitness band. Its six interchangeable straps are available only in a sporty elastomer material, which you won"t want to wear with a dressy outfit or to a fancy event. Polar offers two band lengths, small and medium/large, but if you have a small wrist, the A370 will look massive. There"s no getting around it. I prefer the size of Fitbit"s Alta HR over both the Charge 2 and the A370, which both look ridiculous on me. But the A370"s larger display almost makes up for its all-around huge size.

I do like the in-app sleep-continuity rating, which tells me how many times I woke during the night, and the ability to give my own feedback on each night"s sleep. Polar"s nightly report also includes your lowest heart rate during sleep, which Fitbit"s doesn"t. While that data point is probably more useful to people with sleep disorders or heart problems, I still found it fascinating.

Optical heart rate sensors have improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years. I took the A370 on several 3-mile runs over the course of a week and a half, and it consistently and accurately tracked my heart rate. I strapped a Polar H10 heart rate monitor to my chest for comparison and got almost exactly the same results.

Frankly, the connected GPS was annoying. First you have to change your smartphone settings to allow Polar Flow to constantly track your location, which is a setting I hate to turn on for any app. Without doing that, you won"t get maps of your routes. Even after I changed my settings, the A370 kept losing the GPS signal on my morning runs and vibrating my wrist every single time to alert me. That may have been the fault of my iPhone 7 Plus and Brooklyn"s tree-lined streets and parks, but it was still irritating. The Polar Flow app still managed to accurately map my route and graph my pace per mile, but those constant vibrations killed me.

The Activity tab gives you an overview of your day with charts and graphs galore, and includes data on workouts and sleep. But then workouts and sleep get their own tabs with deeper insights, because why not? The whole app could use a streamlined redesign. This is where Fitbit shines. Its app is gorgeous; its social features are easy to find and use, and I don"t have to dig around to find the data I want to see.I took the A370 on several 3-mile runs over the course of a week and a half, and it consistently and accurately tracked my heart rate.

Polar has another app, Polar Beat, which syncs with the company"s H10 chest strap and offers voice coaching. That app looks like a million bucks with a very Apple-inspired design, but it offers far fewer features than Polar Flow. If Polar would marry the two, I would love the A370 a whole lot more.

The A370 wins bonus points for using a micro USB cable instead of a proprietary charger, though the port cover feels flimsy, like I might lose it at any moment.

The A370 is a vast improvement over the A360. It offers accurate, continuous heart-rate tracking; connected GPS; deeper sleep insights; and a better band clasp at a lower price than Polar"s previous band.

If you"re a serious athlete, a more fully-featured GPS watch, such as the Garmin Forerunner 35, would be a better investment. If you just want a fitness band that can track your exercise and sleep without too much fuss, the A370 is a good option. But Fitbit"s Charge 2 is less expensive and offers many of the same features, with the bonus of a great app and interchangeable bands that can transition from the gym to the office.Today"s best Polar A370 deals

Polar is a company known, historically, for making heart rate sensors and hardcore GPS tracking watches - but its new fitness tracker, the Polar A370, is far more mainstream.

However, use these extras and the Polar A370 doesn’t last very long between charges. And for more basic activity tracking it doesn’t give you as immediate a fix as the Fitbit Alta HR.

The Polar A370 looks almost exactly like the Polar A360, its predecessor. In pictures, it also appears similar to something like the Garmin Vivosmart 3 or Fitbit Alta. However, it’s actually much larger.

The Polar A370 is also not the most comfortable band around. For exercise, you need to do up the watch-like strap fairly tight in order to get a good heart rate reading, but as such it tends to leave some pretty serious indents in your skin thanks to the strap’s contouring. At times it also gets a bit itchy by the buckle.

One of the slightly unusual elements of the Polar A370 is that it has a glass display covering, just like a phone. There’s no mention of any brand-name toughening, like Gorilla Glass, but this should make it take on scratches less readily than plastic.

Glass also improves the touchscreen feel, and the touch display is the main way you operate the Polar A370. It feels much like a smartwatch display, and the software is also more responsive than a lot of fitness trackers. It may not move as fast as your fingers can flick, but it’s smooth and fairly quick.

The display is also set to turn off when dangling by your side, which may irk some, but you can alter this to be always-on (although it"ll come at the battery price).

Other elements of the Polar A370 display aren’t so impressive. Virtually all fitness trackers have either no screen at all or a small, low-resolution one.

In a $180/£170/AU$300 device, it’s a cheap look. As this is an LCD, with a backlight rather than individually lit pixels, the display doesn’t meld into the surround either.

It has the brightness to deal with very bright days without becoming all-but invisible and the backlight automatically adjusts to ambient light conditions - so in terms of raw usability, the Polar works well there.

In this Polar A370 review we present to you an alternative to the already available A360 from Polar, the A370. New features include a dynamic 24/7 heart rate measurement on the wrist for the very first time, as well as a more detailed breakdown of sleep phases, including feedback, read more about it.

The Polar A370 and the predecessor model A360 have many similarities. You can find everything you need to know about the A360 in our review. The weight depends on the size variant at a maximum of 37.3g, the display resolution at 80×160 pixels and the water resistance at WR30, which allows the A370 to be worn even during swimming.

Furthermore iOS (iOS7 or higher) and Android (Android 4.3 or higher) are supported. In addition, the A370 is compatible with the Polar Balance health scale, the Polar Heart Rate Sensor H10, Apple HealthKit, Google Fit, MyFitnessPal and MapMyFitness.

While A370 and its predecessor A360 look very similar, only a few details have been improved. In general the A370 is well crafted. This applies to the case including the display and buttons as well as the silicone band. The silicone band makes a very pleasant impression because it is soft and flexible. Newly added is a barely visible ripple on the surface, which ensures that the band does not stick to the annoying clothing lint. It also feels good to wear over several days.

In this case, the manufacturer would have had to improve and should install a freely accessible water-resistant interface as with Polar’s sports watch M430. The USB port cover does not look so stable.

The Polar A370 has only one button, as well as a touch screen with swiping functions. The touch screen can also lead to issues with the use of sweaty fingers, so the fingers must be thoroughly dry beforehand.

The display is usually deactivated and can be activated via typical manual movements, the display or the button. In dark environments (such as dark rooms), the display is very easy to read as soon as it is activated.

With the Polar A370, it now changes, because it measures the heart rate at rest as well as during daily activities automatically. Polar uses a dynamic algorithm, which operates at a minimum of five minute intervals. However, if the sensor detects that the wearer moves with higher activity (for example, when running,) the A370 dynamically adjusts the sampling rate of the heart rate measurement and measures at shorter intervals. The A370 also detects periods of inactivity and records the resting heart rate every five minutes during these rest periods.

In our tests we took the Polar A370 out for running. Among the highlights are, besides the heart rate sensor, the option to use the smartphone GPS receiver, complete running programs or even the Training Benefit. More advanced features such as statements on the training load, the recovery status or the running index can not be found on the A370. These features are reserved for Polar’s M430 or V800 sports watches.

For the beginning we went a round jogging. Polar has also catered the A370 specifically for runners, because it can be transferred from flow programs to the A370. Running programs, for example, can be prepared with one of the adaptive Polar Flow training plans on 5 km, 10 km, half marathon or marathon runs. Alternatively, you can also create a training plan that fits your own fitness and individual goals.

If you start the running training, the Polar A370 automatically searches for a GPS (via smartphone) and heart rate. This process usually takes only a few seconds.

After training and synchronization, the data is available extensively and in detail in the PolarFlow web service as well as in the app, and can also be exported in CSV, TCX or GPX format.

It is easy to see that the M430 as well as the A370 need some time until they can keep up with the chest strap. If you know this, however, the training can be prepared accordingly in order to obtain as precise data as possible. This would mean warming up well before the actual workout. Further test data:Polar M430Average: 164 S / min

The Polar A370 combines the continuous heart rate measurement with the new Polar Sleep Plus feature. Polar Sleep Plus automatically detects sleep and wake-up times, the duration and quality of sleep by means of the movements of the wrist. Sleep interruptions should also be reliably detected automatically.

In the Polar Flow app, the sleep duration can be set to determine a sleeping goal. Sleep can also be assessed retrospectively. Based on the measured sleep data as well as the sleep assessment, flow can give feedback about the sleep quality. In Flow, of course, the long-term sleep rhythm can also be seen.

Does the A370 have a GPS receiver?No, but the A370 / PolarFlow can use the GPS receiver of the smartphone. If you absolutely need integrated GPS, look more like the similarly positioned M430. The M430 is not an activity tracker, but a corresponding larger sports watch with some additional training features.

Will the extended sleep analysis SleepPlus be available for other PolarTracker?SleepPlus can only be used with the A370 and the M430 (as of 25.02.17).

Did Brad Pitt"s head get really wrinkly or is that just your crown molding? If you have a projector but no projector screen, you"re getting subpar picture quality and are wasting a great machine. Even if your wall is a crisp, spotless white, any imperfections will be obvious. But do you get wall-mounted screen or freestanding? Which size and aspect ratio? Manual or motorized? Don"t worry - we"ve got you covered. Below are the best projector screens of this year, no matter your budget. For more background, see our projector screen comparison table and buying advice below the picks.

We think that right now, the best projector screen needs to be automated, easy to set up and use, and guarantee a particular level of picture quality. In our opinion, the Elite Screens VMAX 2 ticks all three boxes. For starters, not only do you get a very sizeable usable area, but you get a slightly increased aspect ratio, at 16:10. There is a full 180 degree viewing angle, and like many models in this range, it comes ready for both 4K and 3D viewing. Installation is dead simple, as it comes shipped fully assembled (so no electronics knowledge required) and you won"t have to get up to adjust it, either, as it comes with its own remote. It"s a clear choice over screens from Silver Ticket, its big competitor.

That said, we do think the price could stand to drop a little. The Elite Screens VMAX 2 comes in multiple sizes, like most screens here, but to be honest, it"s still a little expensive for what it is. If you"re looking for a less-expensive automated screen, we"d recommend the Spectrum Electric, also from Elite Screens.

Up until recently, we’ve recommended Silver Ticket as the go-to brand for affordable projector screens. They recently discontinued many of their products, and are no longer widely available. Fortunately, there are several other excellent options, and one of them is the Vamvo Outdoor Indoor screen. It’s basic and functional, but it has several key advantages to other screens from the likes of Mdebeddron. For starters, it’s exceptionally easy to put together, and we think the picture is comparable to some of the more expensive screens mentioned here, like the Elite Screens Spectrum 2.

Although the one we have listed here is a 103” screen, Seymour works with a kind of mix-and-match system, allowing you to choose your frame type and size, and pair it with its Ambient-Visionaire material, giving you a highly customisable package. Regardless, we think the combination of specs that we’ve got here will be more than enough for most people, and most people will be utterly awed by the picture quality, which is out of this world. Rich, deep blacks and soaring contrast make this a winner. As a bonus, it’s incredibly easy to put together. It must be said that although it’s not expensive as something like the Stewart Filmscreen Phantom HALR, it’s still relatively pricey, and probably not suitable for those just getting started. For some screens that do fulfill that particular category, just check a little further down the list. They’re still very good, we promise!

Now here"s something a bit different in an outdoor screen: this Giant Gemmy model inflates like a bouncy castle, so you won"t need to mess around with pegs and guy ropes. It’s 151 inches wide and 85 inches tall, and even though the picture isn’t the sharpest on this list, you"re still guaranteed lots of fun at the next barbeque. There’s nothing to stop you using it indoors, too - although it won"t beat out similarly-priced models from Epson and Elite Screens on this count.

Any manufacturer can attach a motor to a screen, but only a few can do it really well. Elite Screens Make the best on the market, in our opinion, and their Spectrum 2 proves it. The screen uses a tubular motor, which is much quieter, faster, and smoother than the synchronous motors found in screens like Elite’s VMAX 2. The inclusion of the new MaxWhite FG material not only stiffens this non-tensioned screen, but also enhances the picture. We don’t think it beats the VMAX 2 or other motorised screens like the Screen Innovations Solo Pro 2 for quality, but it more than holds its own.

The biggest downside is the price. The Elite Screens Spectrum 2 is almost a hundred dollars more expensive than the original, and that may raise a few eyebrows. However, if you’re prepared to spend the money, you’ll get what is commonly considered to be one of the best motorised screens around. Elite have really made this particular category their own, and the Spectrum 2 is an exemplary screen.

Portable projector screens can be hit or miss, but the Pyle PRJTP46 is definitely a hit. Its small size (40 inches) and light weight make it easy to take with you, and it sets up in moments. It’s the ideal screen for impromptu movie nights at a friend’s house, or quick presentations while at work. The image is bright and clean and although pricier screens like the Vamvo Indoor Outdoor have the Pyle beaten on clarity, the quality is still good for the price.

One thing to be aware of with the Pyle PRJTP46 is that the design isn’t as robust as we’d like. The portable nature means that it’s somewhat flimsy, and can be knocked over or out of true if you brush against it. The viewing surface also has a tendency to not be completely flat, with more than one wrinkle popping up when we tried it. If you demand absolute clarity, and a totally flat viewing surface, it maybe worth looking at a more permanent option like the aforementioned Silver Ticket, or a model from Elite Screens.

Stewart make some of the most expensive screens available, so it’s a good thing the image quality matches the price. The Cima 135” isn’t quite as mind-blowing as the Phantom HALR, but it’s very good, with a big viewing area matched by some excellent picture quality. It’s relatively easy to set up and use, and we think that were it not for the eye-melting price tag, it would probably snag a spot on the regular list.

Inflatable outdoor projector screens tend to be massive— it’s sort of the point— and the SUNCOO Inflatable Movie Screen is no exception. It’s a gigantic 120 inches wide, with 12.5 square feet of viewing area. Inflating it is relatively simple (the package includes a motorised pump) and although it doesn’t match the clarity and sharpness of indoor screens, it’s a perfectly acceptable option for hosting an impromptu outdoor movie night.

The problem is that there are better options available. The Giant Gemmy Airblown is still the leader in this particular category. Although it’s more expensive, by about $30, it’s also larger, and even easier to set up than the SUNCOO. The world of inflatable projector screens is a crowded one, and although the SUNCOO is a viable alternative to the Gemmy, it lacks any killer features to elevate it to a true essential. If you want an even larger option, there is a 200 inch version available, although it is of course more expensive.

Da-Lite are an odd company. They’ve been around since 1909, and they make some exceptional screens (such as the one we featured here, the 130” Model C) but they have next to no online presence. That’s peculiar, but it doesn’t stop the Model C being a worthy alternative to models like the Elite Screens VMAX2. The picture is solid, and we think that the roller used by Da-Lite is one of the best we’ve tested, with an impeccably smooth action.

One big downside with the Da-Lite Model C is that it doesn’t offer any advanced features for the money. Da-Lite Have a feature called Controlled Screen Return, which allows you to roll up the screen without jerking or damaging the mechanism, but you’ll have to pay an extra few hundred dollars to get it, which we think is kind of outrageous at this price. If picture quality is what matters to you, then the Model C is worth considering. But other screens like the previously mentioned VMAX 2 offer a better overall package.

Screen Innovations live up to their name. For the second version of the Solo Pro screen, they kept what made the previous model successful – the sleek picture and excellent, eye-catching design – while adding in some fresh ideas. There’s now a huge range of size options, all the way up to 160” (we’ve highlighted the 100” version here). The motors are rechargeable, meaning you no longer need to connect this motorized screen to a wall outlet. Perhaps the best improvement of all is that the screen can now be mounted in reverse orientation, which means it can be hung directly above an existing picture or TV screen. The Solo Pro 2 is also one of the easiest screens on this list to install.

The only downside is that it’s significantly more expensive – to the tune of about $1,500 – than the original Solo Pro. While you’ll certainly find different prices if you shop around, they won’t be all that different, making the Screen Innovations Solo Pro 2 one of the most expensive screens on this list. Given that our top screen - the stupendous Seymour Screen Excellence Ambient-Visionaire Black 1.2 - costs a mere $2,200, we don’t believe the Solo Pro 2 offers quite enough value here. However, it’s a top 10 screen without question.

EPV made one of our previous favorite screens, the DarkStar eFinity, and the Polar Star is a significant improvement. It has a unique edge-to-edge design, which means that while there is still a very slightly smaller viewing area than the overall size, it"s kept to an absolute minimum. The screen also ships with a backlight, helping to further enhance the already fantastic picture and color. It also helps that it"s fully ready for 3D and 4K, and that installation is a cinch.

The Elite Screens Aeon CLR UST 100” is a screen designed for ultra-short-throw projectors – as in, ones that are directly beneath the screen. This model is one of the better ultra-short-throw (UST) screens available, despite not being quite as assured as the Screen Innovations Solo Pro 2, and costs just over a quarter of the price. It offers outstanding picture, especially in rooms which are not perfectly dark. Although the gray shade might not look great when it isn’t being used, it’s able to push back up to 65% off-angle ambient light. That means that you can get away with just closing the curtains without having to worry about stray ambient lighting sneaking in.

However, to get this effect, you will require a really good projector, which can easily double the total setup cost. Other similarly-priced screens, such as the Stewart Filmscreen Cima 135", are a little more forgiving with low quality projectors. However, we still think that the Aeon CLR UST is a solid choice, especially if you have a room that isn’t ideal for projection.

If you’re looking for a screen that can pull double duty as both an indoor and outdoor system, then it’s worth checking out the Elite Screens Yard Master 2. We think it’s the best ‘double duty’ screen on this list, with a better picture than the cheaper JaeilPLM 100 Inch 2-in-1. The robust construction and high quality materials make the Yard Master 2 a good pick and, as a bonus, it’s exceptionally easy to set up. It comes in a variety of sizes, all the way up to 180”. We’ve flagged the 120” version here, which should be more than enough for most people – the availability of larger versions varies depending on the store.

One thing to note with this model is that it may take a little time and experimentation to get the best picture quality from it. The Elite Screens Yard Master 2 is an excellent screen, but it felt a bit unforgiving. As such, it may be worth sacrificing picture quality for ease-of-use if you are new to home projection. Regardless, this screen definitely belongs on this list.

Normally, we’d steer you away from screens that cost less than about $30. There’s a massive drop-off in quality. The Akia Screens 120 inch is one of the few exceptions, and it’s genuinely startling how well it manages to perform for under $20. It’s a good, basic screen that will get the job done, although of course it doesn’t challenge even slightly more expensive screens on this list like the Mdbebbron, above. If you are looking for a basic, no-frills solution, the Akia is the one to go for.

The most common question we get sent regarding projector screens is very simple: why can’t I just use the big, white wall that is already in my living room? To answer that question, and explain why it’s a really bad idea, you have to understand how light reacts on certain materials. When you project a movie, what your projector is doing is shining light onto the projection surface. No more, no less. For you to be able to get a high quality image, as much of that light as possible needs to be reflected back at you, so it can enter your eyes. So far so good.

The problem is, walls – even ones painted white – aren’t built to be reflective. There’s a very good reason for that, in that living in an apartment or a house with reflective walls would be pretty unpleasant. More importantly, walls aren’t completely smooth: even the best ones have a slight texture, one which is random – if you look close enough – and will do horrible things to light when it’s reflected onto it. That’s irrespective of how bright white the paint is. Yes, you could still in theory project an image onto it, but it will be nowhere near as good as it would be if you used a dedicated screen. That’s not only due to the fact that screen material is designed to accurately reflect the light from your projector back, while rejecting as much ambient light as possible, but also because most if not all projection screens come with a black border. There’s a reason for this: it’s a psychological trick, separating the image on the screen from the world around it in our mind, and making the image clearer. And no, painting a black square or rectangle on the wall will not give you the same effect. Put that paintbrush down.

Each screen will come with full instructions. If not, have a quiet word with the manufacturer, and tell them to stop being ridiculous. Many screens are free-standing. Some can be inflated, which is often the easiest option. Others will need to be bolted to the wall, which will require the use of a screwdriver and a cable detector. Please use a cable detector. Don’t go drilling into walls that may hide an electric shock.

If you’re setting up a theater room, you’ll have seats spread across a wide area and you’ll want to get the same picture everywhere. If you’re getting a screen for a theater room, you may want to dip below 1.0 screen gain - gain is explained below). Some grey screens claim a 0.8 measurement, which would help in wider rooms. However, if you’re setting up a conference room, or putting a projector in your living room, getting a higher-gain screen means you’ll be able to project with some lights on or when the sun is out. In general, a high gain is more helpful in a wider range of environments while a low gain is better at accurate color recreation and producing wide viewing angles. If this is super important to you, and all you want is a screen that is easy to set up, then we strongly recommend the Elite Screens VMAX 2, which balances terrific picture quality with very simple setup.

Very obviously, when you’re working with projector screens, you need to be concerned about size. This is not just a simple as two measurements of height and width. For starters, actually getting those figures involves a (sometimes reasonably deep) dive into manufacturer specifications. This is because manufacturers give the size of the screen in a single measurement, which represents a line from one corner to the other, diagonally. It makes for good marketing copy, but it can be a little bit annoying, as it doesn’t actually tell you how much of the screen is going to be taken up with an image.

Aspect ratio refers to the shape of the projected image, measured in various sizes.16:9 and 4:3 are common, but there are various options. Although 16:9 has stormed standalone TVs, some movie aficionados prefer 2.35:1. However, the HD standard (and the upcoming Blu-ray Ultra High-Definition standard) are for 16:9. If all your media is 16:9, you’ll want to get a screen to match to maximize your screen real estate. Also consider that larger screen need more support, with many large screens coming in at 35 pounds or more.

Now you might think that, taking all that into account, a screen with high gain is what you want to go for, right? Well, it’s not that simple. High gain screens have problems. For one thing, the higher screens gain, the lower the viewing angle is – we will talk about this in more detail below, but the upshot is that the higher the gain, the harder it is to see a clear image unless you’re sitting directly opposite the screen. If you have a large screening area with lots of seats, especially ones off to the sides, you may want to go for a screen with a slightly lower gain. You’ll need to reduce the ambient light, but you should be fine. If you have a small viewing area, or space to put all the seats directly in front of the projector, then by all means go for a high gain screen.

If the screen"s viewing angle is 180°, you will be able to see a clear image on it from anywhere in the half-circle. If it’s 120°, the image will start to blur and disintegrate as you move to the sides of the circle. The lower the number gets, the more you will need to be seated directly in front of the screen to get a clear picture. Really, that’s all there is to it. Viewing angle is a subject that can be filled with tons of jargon, if you delve into it, but all you need to know is that the wider the viewing angle, the better. And as we said in the previous section, high gain screens typically have slightly lower viewing angles, so do take that into account.

Ah, the beauties of modern technology. You want to get started on projection, but don’t want a boring projection screen hanging around your living room all the time? At the touch of a button, it could just roll away – although you will certainly pay for the privilege. Motorized or automated screens, which roll up into their housing, are typically a little more expensive than static screens, which don’t. You will also have to deal with potential breakages down the line, although it must be said that these are very frequent – especially not for the manufacturers on our list, most of whom make reliable screens. We think one of the best motorized screens, for reference, is the $318 Elite Screens Spectrum 2, along with the VMAX2 mentioned above.

You may have bought a projector because it takes up less space than a TV, so you’d want a screen that hides away too. Or you might be decking out a media room and want a more permanent solution. Above we even suggest portable options that can be taken outside for backyard viewings. If you want something that can be hidden away, consider a ceiling-mounted screen. They can even be pulled down at the push of a button if you opt for a motorized version. However, if you’re setting up a Hollywood theater, get something a little more permanent — these screens are optimized to be perfectly flat and can be attached directly to your wall, mitigating any concerns about the screens getting damaged via wear-and tear.

This is a particular stat that isn’t always immediately clear, but if you want to make projection of permanent part of your life, it’s super important to bear in mind. It refers to the ability of the screen to stay flat and even throughout its life. A tensioned screen will have sturdy wires running along the outside to keep the surface pulled taut, whereas a non-tensioned screen will not. A screen without tension will sometimes, over the course of its life, develop these weird little waves in it that can mess with the image. This isn’t a guarantee, but it’s sometimes prevalent, especially in cheaper screens. Not to worry, though. Most screens above around $200 will almost certainly have this feature included.

For the most part, projector screens and their setup instructions/buying advice have progressed to the point where actually purchasing and mounting one of these monsters is relatively straightforward. Unfortunately, this is a product category with a legacy of difficulty when it comes to actually getting the products themselves mounted, so it’s worth pointing out a couple of pitfalls that can easily be avoided.

The first, very obviously, is to make sure that your buying the right kind of projector, in terms of whether you want it manual or motorized. It’s an easy mistake to make, as you’re swallowed alive by aspect ratio and gain stats and viewing area sizes. You will also be wanting to closely measure the area you’re going to mount/display it, as it is super annoying to have to return a screen for a different size once you’ve actually bought it.

Second thing. We haven’t covered it here, as it’s not too big a problem with modern screens, but you need to make sure that the one you buy has a decent viewing angle. It’s not a problem if you just have a single couch, but if you have multiple sitting positions, you’ll want to make sure that your guests are going to be craning their heads or nudging their way into your space. Anything from around 90-180 degrees viewing angle should do the trick, and obviously the closer to 180, the better.

Finally: installation accessories. Some screens come with everything you need to mount them. But this is by no means guaranteed. You may need additional mounting brackets, screws, hammers, glue… Anything, really. Make sure you fully understand what is required to get a screen up and mounted, and if necessary, invest in things like mounting brackets.

One of the biggest announcements at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas was the reveal of 8K TVs from manufacturers like Samsung. 8K is a visual standard that measures 8,192 x 4,320 pixels. It looks, as you can imagine, quite brilliant. But what role is it going to play in the world of home projector screens?

Forget the obvious point that, if you can afford that JVC projector, you probably won"t have any issues buying an enormous screen. There"s the rather concerning question of whether a screen bought today will be able to cope with the images thrown onto it by the projectors of tomorrow. We admit that we don"t actually have an answer to this question yet. Everything we know about projectors and projector screens leads us to say that it won"t be a problem. After all, there"s nothing to stop you reducing the size of the image to fit your screen, and no matter how many pixels are crammed onto it, you should still get an excellent picture. The question we face is how an 8K image from a projector as tooled-up as that JVC would fair on different materials.

Part of the problem is that there’s almost no content produced in 8K. Hell, there"s not even enough being produced in 4K right now! It’s one thing to buy a4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray of Game of Thrones, and quite another to track down a version of the series shot in 8K. You can"t, because it doesn"t exist. But that will change in the next few years. Not only are more Hollywood studios starting to shoot in 8K, but the Tokyo Olympics were broadcast in that format by the Japanese government. It"s televisions that will lead the charge here, rather than projector screens. We will update with more information when we have it.

As the name implies, Ultra Short Throw projector screens are designed to take an image from a projector close to the screen. However, it"s not as straightforward as you might think. Ultra Short Throw is one of the biggest R&D topics in projector screens right now, and there"s a lot you need to consider when buying one.

The biggest issue with Ultra Short Throw (UST) screens has to do with their light rejection, especially with ambient light. These screens tend to spread their light off-axis, thanks to the short distances involved. Unfortunately, this spreads a lot of it out of the viewing sweet spot, making it more difficult to get a good picture. The solution to this problem is to invest in a screen specifically designed for UST projectors - the top one on our list is the Screen Innovations Solo Pro 2. Of course, you"ll pay for the privilege - the Solo Pro 2 goes for $4,079 at the time of writing. However, despite the price, we believe it"s worth it for the convenience and the extra sharpness UST projection provides.

Here’s the good news. If you decide to have a movie night in your backyard, setting up the screen is actually the easy part. There are several dedicated outdoor screens available, and several on our list – the best one right now is the Giant Gemmy Airblown ($164). All you have to do, quite literally, is inflate it. As long as you pumped enough air into it, it will give you a competent, if slightly uninspiring, surface to project movies onto.

Just over a week ago Polar announced their latest wearable – the Polar A370.  This new unit took the hardware of the Polar A360 that was released about 18 months ago and plopped in a few new features like continuous heart rate (the first Polar unit to offer such) and rebroadcasting over standard Bluetooth Smart HR protocols (also the first Polar unit to do so).  Not to mention more advanced sleep metrics.  Well, and that’s actually about it.  But those features are definitely notable, and ones I’ll dive into in more detail in this review.

While the unit just starts shipping this week, I’ve spent time with it and have gotten in a pile of workouts and a bunch of sleep and 24×7 data – including on the final firmware version.  Polar sent over a loaner A370 for me to test, and as always I’ll send it back to them once I wrap up this review.  If you found the review useful, you can hit up the links at the bottom of the post to help support the site.

Sometimes I get the box, and sometimes when things come in at the last moment, I’m box-less.  Which, would be the case with the A370.  I’ve got the box contents, but no actual box.  No worries, I’ll add one in down the road.  But in the meantime, here’s what’s actually in the box that you care about:

Then you’ve got the Polar A370 itself.  As you can probably tell, it’s identical from the exterior to the Polar A360 that was released last winter.  Like that one, you can swap out the pod and place it into different colored bands that Polar sells.

The Polar A370 is a pretty easy and straightforward device to use.  There aren’t really that many options to configure (in a good way), so you’re not likely to get lost in the menus.

The unit’s display is turned off unless you raise your wrist, or tap the button on the left side.  From there you’ll swipe and tap the screen to navigate things.  The default screen is the clock, which shows the current time as well as your progress towards your step goal (it’ll change the text color like filling up a bucket of water).

Within the My Day function you’ll see a timeline of your day, starting with your sleep from the night before.  This will show you what time you woke up, as well as the total sleep for the night.  Additionally, it’ll display how much of that sleep time you actually spent sleeping (versus being awake/interrupted), as well as a sleep quality score.

One area to discuss here that is of note is Polar’s new sleep tracking feature. This is something they’re rolling out starting on the A370, but will eventually expand to other new wearables of theirs.  This offers far more detail than past Polar devices, including expanding out details on your mobile app.

Finally, on the My Day journey, you’ve got continuous heart rate monitor stats.  This will show your resting heart rate for *both* night and day heart rate minimums.  This is great, as it completely sidesteps the endlessly silly arguments that some companies and organizations make about what a true ‘resting heart rate’ is.  Does it include sleeping or not?  Well, Polar’s now giving you both numbers – so you can decide which you prefer to track.  Nobody else does this.

This is a good time to note what’s obvious at this point: The Polar A370 is Polar’s first product to include continuous heart rate stats.  Later this year in Q3/2017, the also recently announced M430 watch will also get the same functionality.  With the A370, it samples your heart rate every 5 minutes.  It’ll increase that sampling rate if it believes you’re doing some sort of sporting activity.  During an actual workout though (where you press start), it’ll up that rate to once per second.

All of this data is then displayed within the smartphone app, allowing you to easily see your RHR values as well as max values by day or week or month.  You can simply slide your finger across the chart to check any points in time.

It all works really well, and I like that I can slide the graphs to the left and right and have it be a near continuous timeline (see my video up top for how that works).  Note that when you reach the critical low-battery warning, the 24×7 HR will turn off automatically to save battery and try to prolong life.  Also, when charging the sensor is turned off as well (since it’d be impossible to wear the unit while charging).  You can grab a HR reading at any time you’d like by launching the ‘My Heart Rate’ function from the A370’s dashboard:

Before we go onto workouts modes, note that like most activity trackers, it’ll sync your steps and daily activity to your mobile phone.  In this case to the Polar Flow mobile app on iOS or Android.  It’s here that you can dive into status around steps and distance walked.

Note though that the Polar A370 does not count flights of stairs, which is a bit of a gap compared to the rest of the market (most of which at this price point do).  Though for many people, that may not matter too much.

The only thing I dislike about the notifications on the A370 is the little icon that pops up with each one.  Aside from being somewhat hard to read because of how it splits the notifications, the little red ‘X’ icon drives me crazy.  Mentally I associate a red X with something bad.  Like ‘Your band has failed life, it’s now restarting’.  Not just ‘go away’.  I would think a simple black X wouldn’t be so alarming.  But that’s just a nitpicking thing (albeit something that happens a gazillion times a day).

On unrelated functions, note that you can create a single alarm for the device, though it’s configured on your Polar Flow phone app, and then pushed to the A370.  This is a vibrating alert, as the A370 has no audible features.

Next, let’s talk about the workout functionality.  The A370 offers a gazillion more sport types than any of their competitors do.  The list is pretty large on the unit itself, encompassing just about every sport I can think of.

What’s unique about the Polar A370 compared to the A360 (and many competitors) is that it’ll use the GPS signal from your phone to provide distance and track information afterwards.  Sure, with activities like walking or running, you can use the accelerometer to get pace or distance information, but when you cross-over to cycling – you’d be out of luck.  Plus, in most cases, GPS will give better accuracy on distance in walking/running activities than wrist-based accelerometer will.

Now as regular Polar folks might note above, you can’t actually do a whole lot when it comes to customizing the data fields of your Polar A370.  You get what you get.  About the only thing you can customize in this arena for the A370 is your heart rate zones and whether or not you want vibration feedback.  Burger King this is not.

Still, keep in mind that most other companies at this price point for a band-like device don’t allow much customization either.  Usually, it’s a minimal set of sports you can toggle on/off, and that’s about it.  So in a lot of ways Polar is a bit ahead here in terms of sports you can enable.

Speaking of sport features, the Polar A370 can connect to Bluetooth Smart heart rate straps (external ones), if you have one.  It cannot connect to either ANT+ or analog HR straps.  Of course, it also has that optical HR sensor on the back of it – which enables you to get your heart rate directly from the wrist during sport activities.

Another unique feature of the A370 over any of Polar’s other wearables is the ability to broadcast that wrist HR to other apps/devices.  Now you may be saying “Wait, Polar already had that on their V800?”.  Nope, they had the ability to relay your HR strap data to other Polar devices.  Meaning if your Polar V800 connected to a Bluetooth Smart strap, it could then relay that onto your Polar bike computer or Polar group/class system.  But the V800 didn’t have optical HR, and none of Polar’s other optical-enabled units actually broadcast the HR from your wrist.

Now with the A370 the unit broadcasts your wrist HR as a standard Bluetooth Smart signal.  For example, here it is within the Wahoo Fitness app, seen by the app using standard Bluetooth Smart.

Note that this isn’t compatible with any given sport mode though.  So it’s one or the other.  Thus that’s kinda a bummer for those hoping to perhaps use this to broadcast to something like the Polar M460 or V650 bike computers while at the same time recording your workout on the A370.  On the bright side – Polar does correctly recombine all the data from these devices back to your A370.

One last item to note before we get too far into things is that the Polar A370 allows you to execute custom structured workouts.  You can create these workouts on Polar Flow ahead of time, with things like heart rate targets:

Then, on the A370 itself, you’ll tap ‘Favorites’ and select from any of the custom workouts you’ve pre-created.  These can then be applied to any sport modes that we’ll talk about in two seconds.  Note that no other activity tracker band on the market from any major manufacturer has this functionality (I show this a bit in the video up above).

Next note that the display is turned off at all times unless you either press the button or raise your wrist.  This is similar to many other wearables with higher-quality displays (that in turn burn more battery).  I found that the wrist-raise detection is OK, but not great.  In general it works good during most workouts, but sometimes you need to slightly lower and then re-raise your wrist while running, to get it to trigger.  When it does trigger, there’s still about an extra second delay.  Some might find this annoying, I found it ‘annoying but not horribly annoying’.  If that makes sense.  In general the best wrist detection I see out there is on the Apple Watch (either generation), but of course that’s a heck of a lot more expensive.

So what about optical HR accuracy?  Well, there’s two pieces to that.  First is the 24×7 HR component.  How well does it record heart rate when not in a workout?  The first thing to understand is how frequent it does it.  In Polar’s case, it samples every 5 minutes.  That’s not horrible, but it’s not great either.  It does strike a reasonable balance though in that it will usually pick up your correct resting heart rate (which is largely the goal of 24×7 HR data capture).

The first we’ll look at is a relatively steady state (but higher intensity) run I did.  Nothing to long, but it wasn’t super warm this day – so it’s a good look at how the sensor responds to cooler temperatures (many optical HR sensors at the wrist have trouble in cold temperatures as the blood-flow isn’t as easy to read in your wrists as the temperature cools).  In this case I’ve got a Wahoo TICKR HR strap, a Fenix 5 optical HR sensor, and the Polar A370.  You can look at the actual data here in this link.  Here’s the high level overview.

There is however that one section for about 2 minutes where the A370 dropped over 20bpm lower for no logical reason.  It did it on and off in three brief sets, and then was happy again.

So starting off at the beginning both the A370 and TICKR-X are incorrect.  Despite wetting the TICKR-X strap prior to start, it struggles for the first 2-3 minutes.  It’s somewhat funny, but a lot of people have forgotten the not so recent past with chest straps and getting accurate data in the first few minutes on colder days.

In any event, the A370 missed the boat too – as it doesn’t take me 4-5 minutes to get up to my normal HR’s for that intensity.  So the Fenix 5 actually got this one correct.  Then from about the 4-5 minute marker they start to converge.  Some differences here and there, with the A370 a bit more offset than I’d prefer in some sections before the intervals.  Not horribly so, but a bit off.

It’s the third and fourth ones where we see the A370 start to lag a bit in terms of catching the interval.  Though these are only 90-second long intervals, so it doesn’t have very long to figure it out.  My guess is that in warmer weather it’d probably pick it up more quickly.  But in this case I was wearing a t-shirt in chilly weather with a high wind-chill factor.

Next, we’ll take a crack at a bike ride.  Now typically I find most wrist-based optical HR sensors have serious troubles with cycling, at least if there’s any variation in effort.  For longer steady-state efforts (as some triathletes might do), many sensors tend to track better.  Here’s the data link, which contains data from a Garmin Edge 520 and Polar M460 (paired to a Wahoo TICKR X), then a Fenix 5 (optical HR) on one wrist and the Polar A370 (optical) on the other wrist.

The TICKR-X on both the Edge 520 and Polar M460 match (as expected, overlapping each other as a purple/teal line.  But then we’ve got wildly different opinions on the matter from the Fenix 5 and Polar A370.

In this case I’d say in the beginning that the Fenix 5 was most sucky, and the Polar A370 much closer.  They then traded being less sucky for about 45 minutes, but I’d accept neither of these values.  The last 20 or so minutes they started to all agree though, and generally were pretty close. In some cases the Fenix 5 was closer in those last 20-30 minutes.  But again, I’d accept neither of them as a valid HR record.

Let’s take a look at another ride, just for craps and giggles.  This one uses the same set of device (Polar A370/Polar M460/Garmin Fenix5/Edge 520), and here’s the data link for those that want to dive into the data sets.

The beginning they start off kinda close, then the Garmin Fenix 5 and Polar A370 differ again briefly, before consolidating again.  Around the 35 minute marker though they actually agree fairly well for a little while.  You’ll notice that’s a point where my effort was very steady state – and thus it’s easier to track.

But as soon as my effort starts to become more variable, so does accuracy.  Towards the end of the ride (as seen two screenshots above), it becomes more variable again, and neither wrist-based sensor does that well until the last 10 minutes or so.  At that point it’s uphill and pretty steady – so again…happy times.

So as you can see, for running things are mostly good (which is the trend I see across the industry), however for cycling it’s pretty much useless.  Keep in mind that the A370 likely got the slightly shorter end of the stick because my training grounds the last 10 or so days have been in colder Newfoundland – which is known to impact optical HR sensor accuracy.  Sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles when it comes to testing.  Still though, as I pointed out in the Fenix 5 review (for comparison) – I wouldn’t much use the optical HR sensor in that for cycling either.

All that said – each of the dataset links above for HR accuracy also will show you GPS accuracy, so you’re welcome to dive into that and see how my iPhone 6 handles compared to the Polar M460, Garmin Fenix 5, and Edge 520.

You’ll find I’ve added the Polar A370 within the product comparison tool for activity trackers.  It’s not currently in the GPS-based product comparison portion, since it lacks a GPS chipset.  In any case, you can mix and match it against various activity trackers in the database.  For the purposes of comparison below, I’ve compared it against the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ (has GPS), Polar A360 (original) and the Fitbit Charge 2.  It’s an imperfect comparison – since each unit offers slightly different price/feature points.  But again, you can create your own comparison charts here.

At first glance, one might think that the A370 is just a modest update, potentially uncompetitive.  But in reality it’s actually more than might meet the eye.  By adding in the 24×7 HR tracking, the HR rebroadcasting, and connected GPS functionality, they both catch-up to competitors, but actually edge ahead of certain ones.  For example, none of Garmin’s non-GPS units allow you to connect to a phone for GPS.  And none of Fitbit’s allow you to rebroadcast your heart rate.  And nobody else offers both night and daytime resting HR values.  And all of that ignores the far greater sport workout support that Polar has on the A370.

Of course, there are downsides.  First is the size – larger than most of the other major competitors.  Next, we’ve got battery life – again limited at 3-4 days, compared to 1-2 weeks for most other competitors.  Of course, that’s because the Polar screen is more brilliant and clear (and bigger) than everyone else.  So there’s certainly trade-offs to be made.  Just depends on what you’re looking for.

Overall though I’m actually more impressed than I thought I would be.  At first glance, I was kinda like ‘shrug’, but the more I used the device the more I realized these 3-4 feature updates were really the gas that the A360 originally needed to make it very competitive.  Well done Polar, well done.

I’ve partnered with Clever Training to offer all DC Rainmaker readers an exclusive 10% discount across the board on all products (except clearance items).  You can pickup the Polar A370 (or any other Polar A370 bands) from Clever Training. Then receive 10% off of everything in your cart by adding code DCR10BTF at checkout.  By doing so, you not only support the site (and all the work I do here) – but you also get a sweet discount. And, since this item is more than $49, you get free US shipping as well.

Polar A360 has been available at the following shops. For the best Polar A360 deals, price and stock refer to the list of products and prices above in Lowpi.

Lowpi will tell you where to find stock of Polar A360 in US and the curent price for each shop (MSRP manufacturer"s suggested retail price if available).

Specifications:Material:SiliconeLength:approx. 245mm /9.65 inchWidth:approx. 21.2mm /0.83 inchQuantity:1 PCCompatibility:For Polar A360 A370Package included:1 x Watch BandNotes:1.Please allow 1-3mm differs due to manual measurement.2.Due to the different display and different light,the picture may not