TomTom Spark 3: A fitness tracker that will never let you lose your way

GPS navigation, heart rate monitor, Bluetooth music playback set the device apart from peers

The third iteration of fitness tracker from the stable of satellite navigation expert TomTom, the Spark 3 is the latest entrant in the smart wearables market. Being a fitness tracker, the TomTom Spark 3 does not sync notifications or offer other attractions of a smartwatch, but it has some features that make it one of the best fitness trackers in the market. 

The TomTom Spark 3 takes care of your daily activities and also throws in some extra goodies like sports tracking, GPS satellite navigation, compass for route exploration, efficient heart rate monitor, sleep monitoring and music playback capabilities via Bluetooth in-ear headphones that come bundled along with the device.

We took the device for a spin and here are our observations about the TomTom Spark 3:

Getting ready

The TomTom Spark 3 features a touchpad that makes it easier and relatively quick to set up. Once the basic set-up is done, the device can be connected to the smartphone through a Bluetooth connection. Because the device is a standalone fitness tracker, there is no need to keep it connected with a smartphone. While connected with a smartphone, the fitness tracker syncs data with it and takes the ‘QuickGPS’ fix to help track the GPS location within 30 seconds.

Design

The TomTom Spark 3 sports a removeable device module that sticks well within the strap. The tracker has a rounded square display that sits in the middle of a thick bezel. Below the display, there is a rounded square area along with a bezel that acts as a four-way control pad to navigate the display. It, however, took us some time to figure out that the rounded square area is a design gimmick and actually has no role to play except supplementing the design of navigation key.

The fitness tracker features a monochrome display with a big bold font setting. There is an option to keep the display backlight on, but that takes a toll on battery and it is recommended that you keep it off. The screen light can be turned on by covering the display with your palm. That helps look at the details on the display without consuming much battery power.

The strap is made of thick silicon, which feels comfortable to wear but is not the best in the market. The inner side of the strap is soft and textured which makes a great difference if you sweat a lot. The strap, along with the fitness tracker module, feels light and comfortable through the day.

Overall, the TomTom Spark 3 offers a no-frills design. The strap, available in different colour options and easy to change, adds charm to the aesthetics of the tracker.

Features

The TomTom Spark 3 keeps a tab on your calorie count, step count and heartbeat. The fitness tracker remains active and keeps tracking the activity. The daily and monthly record of calories, sleep and steps can be viewed by pressing the left key of the control pad and then up and down keys.

The device also features seven modes for sports tracking – run, cycle, swim, treadmill, gym, indoor, and freestyle – and a stopwatch option. These can be accessed by pressing the right key of the control pad and then up and down keys to navigate the options.

These are some basic features that the Spark 3 offers. Additionally, a special feature that sets the device apart from peers is the GPS with compass for route exploration.

The fitness tracker’s GPS module fixes signal with the satnav quickly. Also, the ‘QuickGPS’ fix allows the fitness module to trace location with the help of a smartphone, so the next time you use the Spark 3 without a smartphone, it takes the GPS signal within seconds – indoors or outdoors.

With the help of a compass, the device keeps track of the route and assists in path tracking. So, you never get lost again. You can follow back the route and come to the point where you started.

The heart rate monitor is precise and accurate to a certain extent. It does capture the right bpm but at times shows the exact figures with a lag. Indeed, the heart rate monitor in the Spark 3 is the most accurate we have found in a smart wearable device lately. 

The fitness module has an internal memory to save around 500 songs in .mp3 and .aac formats. Also, the window media player playlists can be synced with the tracker. In a feature unique to the Spark 3, the device offers music playback capabilities via Bluetooth headphones.

Battery life and app

The TomTom Spark 3 offers an exceptional on-battery time. It works flawlessly and keeps tracking activities in the background without causing much damage to the overall battery life. But, turning the backlight on and using battery-intensive features like sports monitoring and route exploration drains battery; the fitness tracker then works for only 5-6 hours before the battery juice runs out.

The TomTom sports app’s offerings do not have anything exceptional, and that may be the only negative to the overall good device. Syncing the device with the app is cumbersome and at times becomes lengthy. Recently, TomTom announced a new app with newer features, but the issue of syncing the fitness tracker with the app remains.