Fitness watches are a spin-off from the niche category of smartwatches, and not many do it better than the Dutch company TomTom, well known otherwise for its navigation products. In fact, watchmaker Timex has also jumped on to the fitness watch bandwagon with a unique product.
Timex Metropolitan+
Rs.9,995
This is by far the most unconventional smartwatch. It doesn’t have the LCD display that smartwatches usually have; instead, what you get is the traditional, round-dial watch face, complete with the usual hour, minute and second hands. The mineral glass and brushed stainless steel casing feels premium. The Metropolitan+ has a built-in night light too—press the crown for a couple of seconds, and a pale blue backlight comes on for about 3 seconds.
There are two separate dials on the face. The top one allows you to switch between the steps and distance mode, switch on Bluetooth for syncing with the Timex Connected app (free on iOS and Android) or turn off the tracker altogether. The second dial shows how much of the fitness target has been achieved. In terms of accuracy, we found the Metropolitan+ to be better than a lot of other fitness watches which sometimes even register random hand movements as steps. In this case, the numbers give you a pretty good measure of the actual activity.
The app is quite basic. The watch itself only holds tracking data for a week at a stretch, which means you will have to take regular backups to keep a tab on your exercise levels.
Most smartwatches do not have good battery life. Timex, however, claims that the battery in the Metropolitan+ lasts a year and a half. There are reasons for this—there is no LCD display to illuminate, the Bluetooth switches on only when you need it, and there are no unnecessary bells and whistles. This is perhaps the best smartwatch on offer—simply because it hasn’t forgotten the basics of what a watch should be.
TomTom Spark Music
Rs.17,999
TomTom has retained the four-way button below the screen to navigate on-screen menus. One reason it doesn’t have a touch screen is that the additional display hardware would have increased the weight and made the watch thicker. The on-screen menus are laid out clearly, with easy-to-read fonts.
“Music” has been added to the watch’s name because there is 3 GB of internal storage that can be used to store music for your workout sessions. The Spark also has Bluetooth for wireless headphones.
This smartwatch lets you keep tabs on the number of steps, activity minutes, distance covered and calories burnt, and also has pre-set modes for treadmill runs, running, cycling, swimming and gym workouts. The entire package does a good job of presenting the fitness data, with daily, weekly and monthly numbers.
Battery life will depend on what you use the Spark for. If you are using GPS and music playback, you’ll need to charge it in around 6 hours. For just basic fitness tracking, it could last a couple of weeks.
While the numbers that the Spark, or, for that matter, any other fitness watch throws up are not 100% accurate, they do provide a pretty good idea of your exercise regimen.
