- Polar-V650-Cycling-GPS-Computer
A bit of tinkering with the Polar V650 Cycling Computer has enabled a wider support for powermeters outside of Polar’s own. Now PowerTap and Stages are covered along with the Wahoo KICKR trainer.
It’s not earth-shattering news in itself you might think. And you’d be right.
But it’s like hitting that rock hard ANT+ brick with a Bluetooth hammer.
Bit by bit, resistance against moving from ANT+ is progressing quietly in the background. The obstacles to switching are being slowly dismantled. Until recently if you went with Polar then you were tied to Bluetooth-only sensors (ignoring ANT+ bridging devices). Now you’re still tied!! but there are more dual band sensor options open to widen the appeal.
What makes that ANT+ hard is the weakness of the Bluetooth hammer. It’s more power hungry and, far worse than that, it’s not a standard of the same quality. Someone might bring a new Bluetooth powermeter out next week but it probably won’t work Polar until the two vendor get together to ensure detailed glitches are ironed out with the compatibility. Think of Bluetooth, sometimes, as more of a signal of compatibility intent rather than a standard!!
Version release notes from Polar.com:
Version number: 1.2.4
Enhancements/Fixes
- Button logic updated. Possibility to take lap times with red button, even though display lock is activated. You can toggle between displays by pressing side button shortly
- 3rd party power sensor support (Power tap G3 and P1, Stages, Wahoo Fitness KICKR), added
- Increased the font size of street names in Open Street Maps
- Other minor bug fixes and improvements
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