TomTom Runner Cardio heart-rate sensor
Exercisers have familiar for a protracted time that coaching at a selected pulse rate can assist you get the foremost out of your elbow grease. However, until now, this has meant buirdly a tool to your chest or gliding joint, additionally to a running watch or smartphone. The TomTom Runner Cardio solves that downside by incorporating a heart-rate sensing element into the undersurface of the watch. additionally, this $279 GPS watch tracks your location, distance, elevation and pace as you run, creating it one amongst the foremost complete running watches nonetheless.
Design
The Runner Cardio appearance a twin of TomTom's Runner GPS watch from last year. Its square face incorporates a one x zero.85-inch show with a resolution of 168 x one hundred forty four pixels. Below the show may be a arched section with a sq. four-way button accustomed navigate the watch interface.
Flip the follow, and you will see the most distinction between the Runner Cardio and last year's version. within the middle may be a pulse rate sensing element, created by Mio, the corporate behind the Mio Alpha fitness band.
The intercalary sensing element makes the Runner Cardio somewhat thicker (0.54 inches versus zero.45 inches) and heavier (2.2 ounces versus one.75 ounces) compared to the Runner that lacks a pulse rate monitor. The new device is additionally rated to resist up to five atmospheres of water pressure, or a depth of regarding one hundred sixty five feet.
The Runner Cardio's red and black band is removable. the opposite wristbands out there available on TomTom's website can match the Cardio. However, solely the one that came with the watch was designed in order that little or no lightweight gets between the watch and your skin, guaranteeing a a lot of correct reading.
TomTom conjointly sells the $299 Multi-Sport Cardio watch, that offers 2 further choices, Cycle and Swim. once used with associate nonmandatory accent, the Cycle mode permits you to monitor your pedal cadence, and in Swim mode, the watch can live your strokes, stroke kind, efficiency, length, distance and speed.
Interface
Like the TomTom Runner, the Cardio incorporates a black-and-white interface; it is not the foremost exciting, however it's simple to navigate. once not being employed for a elbow grease, the screen displays the time and date; 3 white dots to the proper allow you to activate the backlight, that remains lit for many seconds.
Pressing the proper button on the D-pad below the show results in 3 options: Run, Treadmill and timer.
If you choose Run, the heart-rate sensing element activates, and therefore the watch starts searching for a GPS signal. once it finds one, the watch buzzes and emits a four-tone noise. At that time, press the proper button once more to start out your run.
Pressing the Up button here permits you to read metrics from previous workouts. If you press the Down button, it brings you to the coaching menu, wherever you'll be able to amendment the settings for every run. Here, you'll be able to make a choice from Goals, Intervals, Laps, Zones and Race, that permits you to vie against yourself, by employing a previous elbow grease as a guide. Zones permits you to choose a pulse rate zone (Sprint, Speed, Endure, Fat Burn, simple and Custom).
In order to pause a elbow grease, press and hold the Left button for 3 seconds. to finish the elbow grease, press and hold this same button for one more 3 seconds.
In addition to Run, you'll be able to conjointly choose Treadmill and timer, neither of that activates the Cardio's GPS radio, and instead depends on the measuring instrument and pulse rate monitor.
Mobile App
We're happy to envision that TomTom developed a mobile app, that permits you to synchronize knowledge from the TomTom Cardio while not having to attach it physically to a pc.
The TomTom MySports app is simple. the house screen shows all of your previous activities, organized by date. A button at the highest left permits you to amendment account settings, and check the watch standing and knowledge settings. atiny low icon within the higher right shows if the watch is presently paired together with your phone.
After we tend to paired the watch with our iPhone 5s, the app was somewhat slow to synchronize data; it typically took over a moment. we tend to conjointly found that you simply cannot set the Cardio on the time and date screen if you wish to try it.
Selecting one amongst the activities brings up more-detailed data, like calories burned, elevation, pulse rate and a map showing wherever you ran. Below the map, a collection of charts displays your elevation, pace and pulse rate over the course of the elbow grease. you'll be able to rivet and choose any person purpose on any of the charts to envision a lot of metrics for that time in time. it is a welcome boost, however we tend to found it easier to use on the iPad version of the app, because the charts were larger.
All the information synced with the mobile app conjointly gets uploaded to your TomTom mySports account on-line, wherever you'll be able to read an equivalent charts. the net website, too, is colourful, well ordered out and informative, however like the mobile app, we tend to would like it might show our split times.
Also missing from each the mobile and net app may be a thanks to simply share your accomplishments via Twitter or Facebook.
Heart Rate Monitor
The killer feature of the Runner Cardio, of course, is its constitutional heart-rate monitor. once you initial use the watch, it estimates your most pulse rate supported your age, height and weight.
As mentioned earlier, the Cardio sets 5 pulse rate zones supported your Georgia home boy heart rate: Sprint (for interval training), Speed (for high-tempo training), Endure, Fat Burn and simple. you'll be able to manually change these zones, further as your Georgia home boy pulse rate.
We like that the watch conspicuously displayed our pulse rate, however would like it might beep or buzz once we born below or went higher than a such zone. For all the Samsung Gear 2's different limitations, this was one feature we tend to likeable on it device.
Performance
The TomTom Runner Cardio tested correct as we tend to went on many runs, as well as the Brooklyn 0.5 Marathon. The watch measured the gap at thirteen.19 miles, 0.9 miles longer than the course, however solely as a result of we tend to begined temporal arrangement slightly before the particular start line.
During the course of the runs, it absolutely was simple to scan the show and switch the screen in order that totally different metrics appeared within the outstanding spot. Reading the smaller numbers at the highest of the screen tested trickier.
Overall, we tend to likeable victimization the watch, however would like it might beep and buzz and show the period of time and average pace at the top of every mile. If you set the Runner Cardio to Laps mode (and set every lap to one mile), it'll perform this action, however we tend to would like it were automatic, adore it is on the Garmin Forerunner 220.
Storage
The Runner Cardio will store around twenty seven hours' value of elbow grease knowledge if you are not victimization any sensors, twenty four hours with the center rate sensing element, and nineteen hours with each the center rate and GPS sensors. As presently as you transfer the information victimization either the mobile or net app, the information is removed mechanically from the watch.
Battery Life
As a results of the intercalary pulse rate sensing element, the Runner Cardio's battery lasts eight hours victimization GPS and therefore the pulse rate monitor. that is regarding a pair of hours but the initial TomTom Runner further because the Garmin Forerunner 220, however it'll still get you thru a marathon.
Verdict
The days of the chest strap square measure over. The $279 TomTom Runner Cardio effectively integrates a pulse rate monitor into a GPS watch, while not sacrificing a lot of within the approach of battery life or style. whereas we tend to like that the Garmin Forerunner 220 shows your splits and incorporates a (slightly) a lot of colourful display, there isn't any argument that, for simply $20 a lot of, the TomTom Runner offers way more knowledge, belongings you get the foremost out of your runs.
Thanks For Visiting
Thanks For Visiting