TomTom Spark GPS Multi-Sport Fitness Watch with Music and Heart Monitor, Large Strap - Black

I bought this as a replacement for a Garmin forerunner that was no longer syncing correctly. After doing a bit of research I opted for the Spark because of the heart rate monitor and music. I also got a really great deal with free headphones. It's a good product. It's not without it's flaws, but overall after 5 weeks I'm relatively pleased with it.First, the good points.The heart rate monitor is a revelation. I've found that my recovery time is improving, and I'm running for longer distances at a more consistent speed. I'm actually running slightly more slowly overall for my longer runs, but am finding that my shorter, faster runs are a lot quicker because of it.There are much better training mode options than there was on my Garmin. The mode where you can "race" against previous runs on the same course is a lot of fun and makes running the same course more interesting. The intervals also work better than my old Garmin because it gives you warm up and cool down times - and you can set those by distance or duration.The music player is decent enough when it works. It doesn't have the best capacity, but I've got 300+ songs on there which is sufficient for the amount of training I do. The headphones stay in my ears better than any of the other wireless types I've tried, and are at least as good as any of the wired types I've tried for running. I wouldn't pay £50 for them though, and I do have issues with them cutting out when I wear the watch on my right arm.It syncs through my iPhone rather than having to plug it into a PC like I had to with the Garmin. The app isn't perfect, but it does the job. It also syncs through to Strava meaning that my runs are uploaded there immediately too.It seems to find the GPS signal in a fraction of the time it took my Garmin.Now, the not-so-good pointsWhen running I have to wear it on my left arm or the music doesn't work. I realise that for 99% of the population this isn't a problem, but I've been wearing a watch every day for 30 years and I've always worn it on my right wrist. Wearing it on the left just feels wrong. Surely moving the watch 1 foot away shouldn't cause the bluetooth to drop out, but it does. For now I'm managing with it on my left, but over time I'll need to invest in a pair with the sensor at the middle or right hand side.I have a couple of issues with the music. It's pretty simple to get the music on there - you plug it into your PC, it looks for iTunes or Windows Media Player and gets the playlists, you select the ones you want and it copies them onto your watch. It's just so slow. It took 3 hours to find my running playlist and sync it over. I then found that I can basically play that playlist at random - I can't choose a particular song. You also can't skip a song while it's playing because the controls aren't available on either the watch or headphones. But it works well enough, you just have to make sure you only add songs you might want to hear and then you can largely forget about it.The battery life is pretty poor. If I go for a 2 hour run on full charge (with heart rate monitor and music playing) it will be under 20% by the time I finish. I couldn't trust it for a full marathon, and would probably have to do without the music and heart rate monitor.The charger is awful. The connectors were bent and buckled after the second time I used it. I doubt it will last 6 months. It's quite odd that you have to remove the watch from the strap, then click it into this flimsy bit of plastic to charge it - what's wrong with a normal mini USB port?The sleep monitor is pretty pointless. I couldn't sleep while wearing this - it's too bulky.The strap is starting to irritate my skin. I don't know if this is because it's got dirt underneath it (I've cleaned it thoroughly) or if it's caused by sweating, but I've never had this problem with other watches. I may buy a different strap and see if the problem persists, or go back to wearing a normal watch and keep this just for exercise.From a user interface point of view, it would be nice to be able to select/set/edit a training mode without having to first declare that you want to complete that activity. It would be a lot better for battery life too as it wouldn't be looking for a GPS signal at the same time.It would also be nicer if it had a touch screen or separate buttons. That direction pad thing isn't the best way of navigating.I'm pretty sure that my resting heart rate is more than 48, but that's what it's been reporting nearly every day since I started wearing it.Overall I'm fairly happy with it. It's not perfect and there are some things which have annoyed me about it, but I would say that it's a massive step up from my previous running watch. In the main it works really well and has some excellent features, I just wish that I could wear it on my right wrist.

This is my second running watch as I have also used the Garmin Forerunner which is a great watch also, but having an inbuilt heart rate monitor and 3GB of music storage means this watch is definitely a one stop shop in terms of training. Most of the features have worked quite well and I am reasonably pleased with this watchThis is a brilliant, multi-function sports watch that allows for accurate and seamless tracking of many activities. The Bluetooth headphones that come with it are excellent and stay put when running and the music storage on the watch is a nice bonus.This is a well built, and comfortable watch with a nice clear screen. What this size allows for is the inbuilt HR monitor and also a very nice display and menu options that you don’t get on other fitness monitors.The main button to control the watch is located below the front screen and it work quite well and intuitively, once you get to grips with the what each of the 4 sides do.What do you get in the box?- Watch- Charge / data cable for watch- Bluetooth headphones- Headphone charge cable- InstructionsWhen the watch is not being used for tracking activities you should get around 1 week of constant battery life. Battery life will vary greatly depending on how often you track a specific activity or play music. My watch has never fallen below half charge as I connect it my laptop to upload my gym workouts which are about 1-2 hours most days.The watch will track your general activity each day without the requirement to select an activity. By default the watch captures:Steps - Which I don't find accurate. Sitting at my desk until lunchtime tracks that I have walked a 1000 or more stepsActive minutesDistanceCalories - When used with the heart rate monitor is very accurateSleep - I have no need for this so I cannot comment on this functionIf doing a specific activity you can select one of the pre-set 7 ‘activities’ each function should monitor different things:Running – tracks HR, speed, pace, distance, calories, durationTreadmill – tracks the same as running (update distance run after work out manually, although is quite accurate)Cycling – tracks the same as runningIndoor Cycling – same as cyclingSwimming – tracks laps, distance, speed, duration, calories, strokes (no heart rate tracking in this mode)Freestyle – tracks HR, speed, pace, distance, calories, durationGym – tracks time, HR, caloriesI use the watch for running, cycling and swimming and it tracks all these activities fairly accurately and when uploaded to the mySports app shows a wide range of statistics which has something relevant for everyone.The Heart Rate Monitor - I find this very accurate and closely matches those I used to use at the gym. When doing interval training you really see the spikes and your recovery times and those bits where you know you’re not quite pushing yourself – your watch will confirm if you weren’t giving your all. When you have an accurate HR monitor on your wrist it helps to have a more detailed summary of your work out.The music function of the watch is the nice bonus of the watch as it means I don't need to bring my phone for my workouts. It comes with preloaded track from ministry of sound which was a nice touch. Following the instructions, I had no problems loading my own playlists on to the watch.In play you do have the option to play all tracks, individual playlists, and you can play in either ‘normal’ or ‘shuffle’ mode.The 3 GB storage is more than enough to keep me entertained throughout my workouts.The Bluetooth headphones are very good in terms of build quality, quality of sound and comfort. They stay firmly in place while doing my workouts which is a nice plus as a lot of other earphones do seem to fall out when I am busy exercising.I charge my earphones after most workouts so I cannot comment on the battery life but I have had no issues whatsoever with this aspect.The one downfall for the watch is that the mySports app can be quite temperamental which is what worried me slightly when reading other reviews. Sometimes the syncing works seamlessly, other times it doesn't which can be a little frustrating but when you connect it to your laptop it works pretty good so the Bluetooth syncing doesn't really bother me. It also syncs my workout to MyFitnessPal app which is a great feature for me and apparantly it syncs with other popular apps on the market which should be a selling point for many.ProsMultiple activities can be trackedAccurate HR MonitorNice comfortable designMusic playerBattery lifeConsStep counter not very accuratePoor syncing over BluetoothOverall I am happy with this watch and if the mobile app could be update ( which is happening incrementally ) this would be the best value watch on the market. The fact the Tom Tom Spark 3 is out now means there are great deals to be had on this watch.