I intuitively feel there should be a middle “select” button, as with most other 4-way control setups. However, I keep pushing down on the middle section where the GPS antenna bulges out. The menus are fairly intuitive to navigate, especially with the 4-way controller. Given the nature of LCD screens, I think it would be much more readable with black text on white background. It is very readable in sunlight, even though it has that annoying reverse field of white text on a black background. The display itself is a bright, reflective LCD. The electronics module is common and will fit interchangeably into either size band. There is also a small size band available and both sizes come in a variety of colours. I tested the large band version and it fits my smallish male wrist fairly well. Most of the size difference is in the slimmed down band, and not the electronics module itself. Overall, the Spark is smaller than the previous TomTom Runner watch. There is no touchscreen per se, except for a feature where you can trigger the backlight or advance the lap by covering the entire screen with your palm for a few seconds. There are no buttons on the side, unlike most other watches. The lower section also houses the primary controls, a 4-way button similar to a gamepad D-pad. This better positions the GPS antenna to face the sky, when your arms are swinging during the running gait. The most unique physical design feature is the GPS electronics are positioned below the watch face and wrap around, following the contour of the wrist. The electronics live in a discrete module that snaps into the wristband. The overall design is similar to TomTom’s previous watches. I will be focusing on GPS and HR accuracy, design and usability. I won’t list too much on the specs, as that can be found elsewhere on the internet. Garmin had announced their fall 2015 watches and none of them combined both optical HR and BT music playback. Having these two features built into the watch would allow me to ditch the iPod and second wrist strap for HR, in addition to getting rid of the headphone cable. Despite being a long-time Garmin user with three Garmin watches over the last ten years, I was eager to try out the TomTom Spark. The convenience and comfort of wrist-based HR is good enough for me to give up the running dynamics features provided by the Garmin HRM-Run chest strap. I’ve been using a Mio Velo alongside my Garmin FR620 and have given up the chest strap entirely. The main advantage is these can be wrist or arm mounted and are more comfortable than chest strap HR monitors. Optical HR uses a camera and LED lights to image the blood moving under the skin to determine heart rate. Somewhat more common is an integrated optical heart rate sensor on the back of the watch. None of the watches from the big players (Garmin, Polar, Suunto) have this feature. At the time of this writing, the only other GPS watches that support this are the Sony Smartwatch 3, Adidas SmartRun, Timex Ironman One GPS+ and MotoActv. The version I’m reviewing is the fully featured version with all of the above mentioned options, named the Spark Cardio+Music.ĭespite the fact that most of the current GPS watches have bluetooth radios for phone syncing, very few of them support BT music streaming. The new TomTom Spark combines a GPS fitness watch with an activity and sleep tracker, with options for a digital music player and optical heart rate sensor. We are starting to see a similar convergence trend with GPS fitness watches. The smartphone has combined a telephone computer, digital music player, camera and GPS navigation into a single device. Garmin FR225 and FR235, Fitbit Surge, and Casio 810 (HR, no music).Sony Smartwatch 3 Timex Ironman One GPS+(Music, no HR). The price is extremely competitive at $249 USD/$299 CAD. It’s important to match it with BT headphones that are on TomT om’s compatibility list. The mobile app and website have limited functionality, but this can be mitigated with the Strava or MapMyRun integration. It’s suited to an athlete who wants something easy to use and wants both built-in HR and music and doesn’t care too much about tweaking and configurability. It’s hampered by some usability flaws, especially during a workout. The GPS accuracy is very good and the HR accuracy is ok. It’s very easy to use but has limited customization. The TomTom Spark Cardio+Music is one of the few GPS watches with both optical HR and Bluetooth music streaming (as of fall 2015).
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