After months of being indecisive I'm finally the owner of a Tom Tom Multi - Sport watch! I've been debating getting a GPS watch for a while now and have been looking at a heap of different brands, models and price ranges. Some of the other major contenders were the Garmin 920XT and the Suunto Ambit3. However, due to both of these falling over the £300 mark I wasn't completely set on spending that amount of money at this moment in time. This is where the TomTom steps in. A functional piece of kit that suited my price range perfectly. Yesterday I picked up my TomTom, set it up and took it for a test run (literally a run!). As it's still brand new I wanted to write a quick first impressions post on setting it up and also how I found it on it's first outing.
Firstly, a bit about the watch itself. The TomTom Multi-Sport watch not only tracks runs but also swims, cycles, treadmill runs and also has a freestyle function. I picked up this model to help monitor and track my triathlon training. After deciding on the TomTom the next decision was whether or not to buy it with or without a HRM. I decided to purchase the one without as I already have one - and if worse comes to worse I could wear two watches at the same time. After a quick look at the instructions online it looks like I can use my existing HRM with this which is something I'll be testing out very soon.
Now for the set up - which was quick and easy. Simply, remove from the packaging and place in the unit into the dock (included) connect that to your computer and follow the instructions to download the MySports Connect software from the TomTom site. When you've followed through the set up instructions - including entering your DOB, height, weight, gender etc - you're good to go. When I first exited the software and went to open it again it wouldn't. But after a quick uninstall & reinstall, it worked perfectly from then. The software is clean and easy to navigate with nothing being to complex or confusing about it.
Now onto the run itself - a short just over a mile run around the block. It located my GPS in under 5 seconds, perfect if you're in a rush to head out and did not drop off once throughout my run. The system is easy to navigate (both whilst setting up and during a run). Using the toggle pad you can scroll through a number of views including current time, running time, distance and calories. I love the big display. It makes it very easy to see your current stats and the fact the display also dims meant that I didn't find myself constantly clock watching. In terms of accuracy it seems incredibly accurate - but I would expect this from a satnav brand! It also alerted me through a vibration that I had reach a mile mark which is very useful if you like to keep track of your distances. I used it on the just run setting but you can set it up for specific training as well as running laps.
When it came to collecting and exporting my data it wasn't a problem either. I wanted to upload my result to Strava and I was impressed with how easy it was to do just that. You allow the TomTom access to your Strava and follow the instructions to export and upload. I'm someone that really enjoys looking at all the information gathered and having a record of my activities, so this is a fantastic way of collecting everything in one place.
That's it for my initial review. After one go I'm very pleased I finally decided to purchase this watch. I'm still figuring it all out and finding the best way to set it up for me but for a first go I'm very impressed. As I'm yet to have tested it for a cycle or swim, I'll update you on those when I do!
I purchased my watch from John Lewis after comparing across a number of stores. The main reason was I could get a discounted price due to working for the partnership but also the gguaranteeis a big bonus when buying any technology.
Have you thought about getting a GPS watch before and what are your thoughts on them? Let me know @afloralcrown on Twitter.
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