Polar has confirmed it is working on a new fitness wearable for consumers, and you can expect it to arrive shortly. 

The upcoming device will feature a built-in optical heart rate monitor. Keep in mind Polar specialises in heart-rate monitors that you wear strapped across your chest, while other companies, such as Apple, have developed wrist wearables that track your heart rate as well as serve up notifications.

Polar is now taking the more common approach used today; it is building an OHR sensor into a wrist-worn wearable. Although this device will be aimed at gym-goers, it isn't a pro-device for athletes. In fact, it seems like Polar's new device will be affordable and primarily meant for basic, functional tracking.

Speaking to Wareable, Polar said it made a wrist-worn OHR monitor after female athletes in particular began expressing how uncomfortable it is to wear a chest strap. Polar added:"There's an image of this optical heart rate idea that it's easier or more comfortable and I think it's a trend."

The company noted however that do-it-all devices aren't as accurate as the chest-strap technology currently found in products like the Polar H7. Polar therefore seems to think that technology needs to get much more accurate before professional sports start adopting wearables with OHR sensors.

So, from what we can tell, Polar's new wearable will be a retail product, but it won't be a professional sports product like the Polar V800, which features an OHR sensor. It'll be a low-priced, low-end fitness product.

But Polar said it should develop overtime and become more sophisticated.