Best Polar Smart Watch for music controls

music controls Decision Dashboard

Best for music controls

Polar Pacer Pro

4.1 feature score

Highest scored product for this feature based on supporting review evidence.

Safest pick

Polar Grit X Pro

4.0 feature score

Balances feature score, supporting reviews, and overall product strength.

Most evidence

Polar Ignite 2

10 supporting reviews

Has the broadest review evidence for this feature.

Best overall product

Polar Vantage M2

3.7 overall score

Strongest overall product among items with scored evidence for this feature.

See ranked products
Narrow by brand

Showing Polar only. Switch back to all brands anytime.

#1 Polar Pacer Pro
4.1
4 reviews

Music controls were generally useful for controlling phone audio, though reviewers repeatedly noted they are not a substitute for onboard music.

Pros: workout tracking variety, activity auto-detection

Cons: onboard music storage, blood oxygen tracking

#2 Polar Ignite 3
4.0
3 reviews

Music controls were one of the better smartwatch staples, generally described as working well or being well optimized, though only as phone controls.

Pros: brightness, charging speed

Cons: call handling, third-party app support

#3 Polar Vantage M3
4.0
1 review

Music controls get one positive navigation-review mention, but evidence is limited to phone-control convenience rather than broader media features.

Pros: brightness, display quality

Cons: call handling, voice assistant quality

#4 Polar Grit X Pro
4.0
8 reviews

Music controls were usually liked and often useful during workouts, although reviewers repeatedly emphasized they only control phone playback.

Pros: water resistance, health tracking accuracy

Cons: contactless payments, onboard music storage

#5 Polar Vantage M2
3.8
3 reviews

Music controls were useful but limited to controlling phone playback rather than operating as a full music player.

Pros: running power support, fitness tracking accuracy

Cons: contactless payments, smartphone notifications

#6 Polar Ignite 2
3.8
10 reviews

Music controls were generally useful and convenient, though reviewers emphasized they control a phone rather than providing full music storage and sometimes felt basic.

Pros: wellness insights, coaching features

Cons: mapping and navigation, contactless payments

#7 Polar Pacer
3.7
3 reviews

Music controls are useful once working, but setup and interaction can be clunky; there is no evidence of rich standalone music functionality.

Pros: third-party app support, comfort

Cons: contactless payments, onboard music storage

#8 Polar Vantage V2
3.5
4 reviews

Music controls were useful when framed as phone controls, but disappointed reviewers who expected on-watch playback or storage.

Pros: workout tracking variety, build quality

Cons: blood oxygen tracking, onboard music storage

#9 Polar Grit X2 Pro
3.0
1 review

Music control was available for phone media, but reviewers saw it as basic.

Pros: recovery insights, build quality

Cons: contactless payments, onboard music storage

#10 Polar Grit X
1.5
1 review

Music controls were a weakness because reviewers criticized missing music and Spotify-style lifestyle features.

Pros: materials quality, recovery insights

Cons: contactless payments, music controls

#11 Polar Unite
1.5
4 reviews

Music controls and music-related features are weak overall, with most reviews noting no music while one found limited phone-control behavior that did not work on iPhone.

Pros: app ecosystem, charging speed

Cons: call handling, contactless payments