Our copy editor Matshidiso Nkokou recently used the TomTom Sports GPS Watch, and tells us what she thinks.
As a runner, you want to keep a track record of your training activities. This includes the distance you run, calories you burn as well as the routes you cover. These contribute towards your goal and progress towards it. The TomTom GPS Sports Watch has all this, and more.
With this watch, you can keep track of your performance on other activities including cycling, walking, swimming and off-road running. A plus is that whether you do these in dry or wet weather conditions, it also works as it is waterproof.
While the watch comes in handy by naturally keeping track of time when you’re not training, it also counts your steps. The best thing about this feature is that you get to know how many kilometres you walk per day, or the calories you burn while not consciously working out.
When you train regularly, wishing to improve your previous performances comes naturally. This gadget lets you do just that as it allows you to race against your past performances, which is a welcome motivation for anyone.
Although one of the best gadgets that you can own, it comes with a few glitches. I am not tech-savvy, so setting it up took a while – from downloading the app and syncing it via Bluetooth to eventually using it. While doing this, I also realised that it is not user-friendly.
The watch can also be loaded with over 500 songs that you can enjoy while training. However, I never got to explore this option because I was unable to do this – even after watching a how-to video. My attempts to do this cost me time, so I gave up. However, it is not safe to run while listening to music because you need to be alert anyway, right? I tried the good old way of just copying a song onto it straight from a computer; but while connected to the machine, you could see the song, only for it to disappear when you disconnected.
Verdict – The TomTom Sports GPS Watch is an excellent and useful gadget, but it requires time and tech know-how to set up.
