The Polar A360 simply happens to be a fitness tracker and heart rate monitor popular among users to track their fitness goals, activities, and sleep. There can come a time when the need arises to factory reset your Polar A360. Whether there are device issues, or you’ve just decided to sell the device, or simply are wanting to do a clean sync again, knowing how to reset your Polar A360 comes in handy. This review will go into everything you need to know about performing a factory reset on the Polar A360, including stepwise instructions, possible pitfalls to watch for, and the overall effect of the reset on your device.
1. Introduction to Polar A360
The Polar A360 is a fitness tracker that provides ample versatility to cater to several users from the very casual fitness lifetime into a more dedicated athlete. Introduced to the world in 2015, the foremost among fitness trackers offering a color touchscreen interface and wrist-based heart rate monitoring was the Polar A360. It provides the users with activity tracking, smart notifications, and personal training guidance, and the Polar Flow app can be used to view more in-depth data analysis.
The Polar A360 has, over the years, enjoyed great appraisals for its accuracy in tracking, ease of use, and durability. At the end of the day, in some situation, like any electric gadget, it must undergo a reset procedure to either act as a cure for the troubling abnormalities or wipe all personal data.
2. Why Do a Factory Reset?
A factory reset, aka a hard reset, revives your Polar A360 to the original state from the factory. In short, all your personal information will be wiped away, including your activity history, heart rate data, and customized settings. Common reasons one may need to perform a factory reset include:
Troubleshooting Issues: If the Polar A360 is freezing, crashing, or not syncing properly with your smartphone or computer, a factory reset might put it to stop by cleaning up software glitches or corrupted data.
Selling or Gifting: If the Polar A360 is to be sold or gifted, performing a factory reset will ensure your personal data are completely removed, allowing the new owner to set up the device as their own.
Starting Fresh: Sometimes users want to start fresh with their device, that is, if they feel overwhelmed with too much stored data or want to recalibrate their fitness goals.
3. Effect of Factory Reset on Polar A360
Before getting down to the reset process, let’s explore what can be expected of a factory reset performed on your Polar A360:
Loss of Data: A factory reset will wipe off the whole data on the device, including activity history, heart rate data, custom settings, and any paired devices such as smartphones and chest straps. Ensure you sync the device with the Polar Flow app before proceeding with the reset to back up your data.
Device Customization: Any custom settings, such as watch faces, units, and personal fitness goals, will, in all likelihood, get wiped clean as the device disappears after factory reset, and it will essentially require setting up again from scratch.
Firmware Updates: Any updates to the firmware that may have been pushed to your Polar A360 after you bought it are very likely to survive the reset. Hence, it is always a good idea to check for firmware updates after performing the reset, ensuring your device is running the most recent version.
4. How to Perform a Factory Reset on Polar A360
Factory resetting the Polar A360 is relatively straightforward and hence does not warrant being considered challenging. The instructions below should lead the way:
Step 1: Backup Your Data
Before you reset the Polar A360, it is crucial to backup your data lest you lose any valuable information. Sync your device with the Polar Flow app by following these steps:
Open the Polar Flow app on your smartphone.
Ensure that your Polar A360 is paired with your phone, and Bluetooth is enabled.
Tap the sync button within the app to sync data from A360 to the app.
With this, all your activity data, heart rate information, and other personal data are secure in your Polar Flow account.
Step 2: Go to Settings on the Polar A360
Swipe from the top of the main screen downwards to access the settings menu on your Polar A360.
Scroll down and choose “Settings”.
Step 3: Factory Reset
Within settings, scroll down until “Factory Reset” appears on your screen.
Tap it to start the factory reset.
A confirmation prompt will be displayed. Should you wish to continue, confirm it.
Step 4: Resetting Begun.
The reset process will start on the A360. This may go on for some minutes, erasing all personal data on the device as well as restoring it to the original factory settings. Once the resetting is over, the A360 would reboot.
5. Pre-Setup After Reset
Once the factory reset is complete, your Polar A360 will look exactly as if you had just taken it out of the box for the first time. Follow the steps below to set it up again:
Step 1: Choose a language
When the A360 restarts, you’ll need to choose the language for operation. Use the touchscreen to scroll through the options and tap to select one.
Step 2: Re-pair to Polar Flow
You will then need to re-pair your Polar A360 to the Polar Flow app:
Launch the Polar Flow app on your smartphone.
Follow the in-app instructions to pair your device; this involves turning Bluetooth on your phone, selecting the A360 from available devices, and confirming the pairing code displayed on both phone and A360.
Step 3: Customize Your Settings
Once paired, you can set your preferences for:
Profile Data: Enter age, weight, height, and gender so that the device correctly tracks your activities.
Activity Goals: Based on your fitness level and objectives, you can set activity goals for the day.
Custom Settings: These include changing the watch face, selecting units of measurement (kilometers versus miles), and so on. For notifications, you can choose your preferences.
Step 4: Sync Data from Polar Flow
If you had backed up your data prior to resetting, you could return it to your A360:
By hitting the sync button in the Polar Flow app, you can transmit the stored data to A360.
Your prior activity record should now be present on the device, together with other data.
6. Troubleshooting Common Issues
Though usually straightforward, resetting the Polar A360 to factory settings may come with certain problems. Here are some common ones, with solutions:
Problem 1: Device Fails to Reset
Your Polar A360 might not reset or may become stuck at some point during the reset. You’ll want to do the following:
Restart the Device: Hold down the side button for a few seconds; the device will perform a forced restart. After this, attempt the reset procedure once again.
Check for Firmware Updates: In some cases, updating your firmware may be required to fix issues with the reset. Use the Polar Flow app to check for firmware updates, and if any are found, carry out the installation process.
Issue 2: Data Not Syncing Properly After the Reset
If your data fails to sync properly after the resetting, attempt these steps instead:
Re-pair the Device: Unpair the A360 from the Polar Flow app and then re-pair it. This usually resolves the syncing issues.
Clear Bluetooth Cache: Go to your smartphone’s settings under Bluetooth and clear the cache, then try syncing again.
Issue 3: Reset Option Not Available
If you cannot find the factory reset option on your Polar A360, it might just be that your firmware is outdated. Thus, make sure your device is updated by checking for updates in the Polar Flow app.
7. Conclusion
The Polar A360 is an excellent and reliable fitness tracker loaded with features that allow you to work toward your fitness goals. However, it may have to repose on factory resetting every now and then, for the sake of remedying a problem or wiping old data clean. Hence, knowing how to factory reset your Polar A360 is crucial not only to keep the device working but also to safeguard your personal data.
With the instructions in this review, you can safely use a factory reset on your Polar A360 whenever you feel the need. Make sure to back up your data before resetting, and after finishing the reset, be ready to set up the device all over again. If the reset is to solve an issue, sell the device, or simply to wipe the slate clean, it has good ammunition to keep the Polar A360 running without a hitch.
Putting together, a factory reset may seem intimidating, but it helps keep your Polar A360 working with utmost efficiency. Equipped with a good explanation of what it entails and what it means for you, there will be no reason why you will not continue to enjoy the marathon of benefits from your fitness tracker.