The IT Nerd

Wearable technology is all the rage right now. So, when TomTom sent me the Runner Cardio GPS watch that is aimed at runners, I had a problem. On paper it has a lot going for it, but I am not a runner. How am I going to test this?

Enter my wife. She’s a very serious runner having completed numerous 5k, 10k, half-marathons, and her first marathon last year. She can not only tell me how well this GPS watch works from a technical standpoint, but she could add value to the review because she’s well within the target audience for this GPS watch. So, I’m going to step out of the way and let her take over this review:

My first heart rate monitor was a Polar monitor that came with a chest strap, a clunky footpad to measure distance with a AAA battery inside that I would mount on top of my running shoe to get mapping data for my runs. I subsequently bought the very first Nike+ system complete with sensor that went into the heel of my Nike shoe and used my iPod to track my running data. However I had no heart rate monitoring with the Nike+ system.

Fast forward to 2014 where you are still in the world of chest straps if you are looking towards capturing information on your heart rate. That’s why I love the Tom Tom Runner Cardio watch as it dispenses with that chest strap. Looking at the watch I originally thought there were electrodes (similar to what is on a chest strap) on the bottom of the watch however I now know they are green LEDs that monitors the heart rate while being worn your wrist. It is accurate and responsive. I cannot tell you how nice it is not having to wearing a tight fitting chest strap which tends to slip easily during a run. From an aesthetics perspective it is a good looking watch. I have had my running friends ogle at the well designed large display too. One of the questions at the top of my mind before testing this watch out was the question of GPS accuracy compared with other comparable products on market. I can say that it is accurate as I had run one of my usual routes using my Nike+ and I have Google mapped the route as well and there is no difference between any of them in terms of recorded distance.

Even though I am married to the IT Nerd, I am an IT newbie at times and would have appreciated a fuller description that came with the printed manual in the box. The manual achieves what it is designed to do which is to get you started. It tells you three main points:

1. Charge the watch
2. How to navigate through the functions of the watch (it is fairly straightforward to do so by the way)
3. Wear the watch properly (This is important because it will not work properly if you don’t)

Navigation is done through a haptic feedback button on the bottom of the watch where you move left (for the status screen), move down for settings (clock, sensors, phone, mode, options, profile, standards), move right for activities (run, treadmill and stopwatch). This is a polite watch where it tells you to “Please wait” as it requires you to be sufficiently warmed up and for it to acquire a GPS lock. This took a while for me to achieve. I had to jog almost a city block and get my heart rate up to 120 bpm before the watch gave me the “GO” message. I am not sure if the bottleneck was the GPS lock or having to be warmed up as I know many Garmin running watches take a long time to acquire the GPS lock.

For those of you with “A type” personality or a competitive spirit the Tom Tom Cardio watch has a feature where you can compare your performance on same route. This is can serve to take the guesswork out of asking “how did this run compare to the last time I ran this route?” There are endless ways that you program this watch. You have the ability to set your training goals (distance/time/calories), intervals, laps (time/distance/manual), (heart rate) zones (sprint/ speed/ endure/ fat burn/ easy/ custom), or pace.

The second most important question that my running friends have asked is “can I upload this info to my computer?” The answer is yes. The Tom Tom Runner Cardio MySports can link to the following:

• MapMyFitness
• MapMyRun or MapMyRide
• Runkeeper
• Strava
• Training Peaks

I choose MapMyFitness as I already had the MyFitnessPal app to log nutritional information. But it is not restricted to one application. There are many other websites and file formats that it is compatible with such as KML for Google Earth, CSV for import into spreadsheets, GPX format – geographic data, FIT format for training applications, TCS format for training applications. I should also note that you have to download software for your Mac or PC and connect it to your computer using the included USB to make all of this happen.

One feature in particular that I would like to expand upon is the treadmill mode. Yes this means you can track your indoor / winter training. It will track your progress while you workout on treadmill but (unlike the treadmills in your gym) it will give you an accurate heart rate. There isn’t another watch of this type that can make that claim. The battery life is rated at 8 hours and it is waterproof as well. 

In my opinion this watch rocks! There’s no other running watch that not only gives you accurate heart rate monitoring without a chest strap. Plus with the treadmill mode it will allow you to pull all your training (indoor and outdoor) data together easily via the service of your choice. And to top it off it’s priced the same as less capable watches from Garmin for example. I’d recommend it.  

The TomTom Runner Cardio goes for $269.99 USD. If you’re a serious runner, or someone who wants to get accurate performance stats, this is the running watch to get. It’s available from TomTom.com or your local retailer.

This entry was posted on May 24, 2014 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Products with tags TomTom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.