TomTom, which is known for its GPS navigation systems worldwide, has today launched four new GPS-enabled sports watches in India, two of which have a heart-rate monitor built in them. The four sports-watches launched are TomTom Runner, TomTom Multi-Sport, TomTom Runner Cardio and the TomTom Multi-Sport Cardio.
These watches will be exclusively available on Flipkart and the prices start from Rs 12,999 for the basic Runner going up to Rs 23,499 for the Multi-Sport Cardio. The TomTom Multi-Sport is priced at Rs 15,499, while the TomTom Runner Cardio is priced at Rs 20,999.
The watches will give real-time information on fitness metrics such as time, distance, heart-rate, pace, speed, calories burnt to runners, cyclists and swimmers. Do note that the running and swimming mode is not available in the ‘Runner’ series of watches.
We did spend some time with the Multi-Sport Cardio watch and here’s our first impression of the watch.
Design, Build: The watch is fairly large, with a dial height of 34 mm and width of 32mm. The watch weighs around 63 g and it has got some of the bulkiest straps I’ve seen as far as a smartwatch go. You can, however remove the strap to fit a different coloured one. Also TomTom has released bike accessories for the Multi-Sport watch and you can then strap it on your bike as well.
As far as the bulkiness goes, remember this watch is for training, but I personally would approve of a more sleeker design. The huge screen however is a necessary evil, since this watch has to show a ton of information. The high-contrast display isn’t too bad and you can easily read on the watch, although I’d like to try this out in the sunlight as well to see to how efficient it is.
The watch has a huge button below with four keys for navigation (top, bottom, left, and right). These four key though do feel awkward and it takes time accepting that the centre space in the middle doesn’t really serve any purpose. Could the keys have been sleeker? Definitely, given that right now it just makes the watch feel very bulky. Also you’re wondering why side buttons couldn’t help achieve the same purpose.
Features: The Multi-Sport Cardio watch is the most advanced watch out of the 4 in the series by TomTom. While the basic Runner Watch is also Waterproof and has ten hours of battery life, it lacks a heart-rate monitor, swim sensor, bike mount, modes for cycling and swimming. It will however track when a user is running on the treadmill as well. The Runner Cardio is a more expensive version of this watch with a Heart-rate monitor installed in it.
The Multi-Sport Cardio watch on the other hand has all the features that the basic watch is missing. The battery life is however less (8 hours), although given that the watch’s primary purpose will be for training and fitness, it shouldn’t be such a bad deal.
The watch has Bluetooth and you can sync the data from the Watch into your smartphone with the help of the TomTom MySports watch for both iOS and Android. There is no such app for Windows or BlackBerry platform. There is a Desk Dock to charge the watch that can connect with both PC and Mac easily.
As far as the features of the Multi-Sport Cardio watch are concerned, the biggest plus is the Heart-rate Monitor, which tracks your heart-rate while on a run. The Cardio watch has five intensity training zones which will determine the ideal heart-rate for a particular session.
The zones are are Sprint, Speed, Endure, Fat Burn or Easy. Sprint is for interval trainings, Speed to run faster than previous runs and for more fitness, Endure for moderate to high-tempo runs, Fat burn for more calories burning, Easy is when you’re just starting out. Depending on what Zone you choose, the heart-rate monitor will show a graph of your heartbeat, to show whether you are doing justice to your chosen zone factoring in your age, weight, height, etc. For instance, if you choose Easy mode and decide to go all guns blazing, the watch will give you alerts telling you to slow down to stay in the right zone.
The Heart-rate monitor will work during cycling if you have the watch strapped to your wrist or else you’ll need a separate chest strap if the watch is docked on your bike. In case of swimming, it won’t work.
Other features of the Watch include the ability to set Goals based on distance, time, calories;Interval training to improve your speed and cardio fitness and Race which lets you compare past performance.
In the swimming mode, you can also track swimming metrics, both indoors and outdoors. The watch can track based on efficiency, strokes, stroke type, distance, speed, lengths, etc. The Watch is compatible with other apps like MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks and Strava.
As far as the watches themselves are concerned, they are priced fairly high, especially for the two versions that come with the Heart-rate monitor built in. But it’s also evident given the plethora of details that each watch can give, that this isn’t aimed at your average runner, say someone like me who’s happy with just one app to do the job.
Cycling enthusiasts, triathlon runners, marathon runners, swimmers, will probably find the watch much more useful. If you want detailed stats or specifics on your training session, then this is the watch to go for.
Essentially the list of features and data that the watch can turn out is quite a lot, and it would be a great option for those who are training in any of these sports (cycling, running or swimming) provided they are willing to shell out more than Rs 12,999. To get all the features, along with the heart-rate monitor, the price is fairly steep at Rs 23,499, which perhaps even the most dedicated sportsperson might hesitate to pay.
Conclusion: If you’re looking for a fancy smartwatch with features like camera, phone-call alerts, etc, the TomTom Sports Watches aren’t for you. This is definitely aimed at a niche audience, the one that takes their fitness very seriously. As far as the smart-wearable and fitness segment is concerned, it is growing according to data and research firm Canalys, with Fitbit and Jawbone leading in the fitness segment. But how fast the market grows in a place like India, where smartphones are still booming, remains to be seen.
TomTom is hoping that India’s cycling enthusiasts, triathlon runners, marathon runners, swimmers, will pick up the watch. It is also hoping that by catering to these early adopters in this segment, it will be able to establish itself as a big enough name in the market, which could prove useful later on.
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