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 | Speed and Distance monitor Review - page 5 |
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| Speed and Distance monitor Review - page 5 |
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Page 5 - Overall Experience and Summary
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Polar
Here my bias may be obvious. With Polar I am accustomed to certain niceties, and may even take them for granted. I set up my watch via the software for everything from user data to the parameters for all of next week’s workouts. During a workout, whether simple or complex, I get sufficient feedback on the wrist to avoid confusion. I have three lines of display and can arrange the available data types to almost any combination. When I’m done, I exit the workout mode, and I know that the workout is safely ended and stored.
When I download, I see everything in a format that I want, with lots of display options. I have sufficient memory in the watch that I never worry about it – clearing it out once a month is normally enough, but the software pretty much manages that without my thinking about it. The smooth workings of this system are so familiar I almost forgot to mention them.
Now that I understand the way the features work, a simple workout goes well. I like that I can flip between different modes during the workout, each having a separate focus. I can switch from training mode to an altimeter-oriented view, to a speed/distance view, to the time of day view, and all the while the workout continues in a way that reminds me of the venerable Timex 100 lap Ironman sports watch. In each mode, the top two lines have a fixed purpose, and the third line can be cycled through a short list of other things to display.
True to its own heritage, the Timex also allow you to cycle between different modes while the stopwatch (i.e. the workout) is still going. This is especially useful here, where the modes have new names like ‘Navigate’ which shows your location, and ‘Finish’ which tells you how much longer until you get back to your starting point, and ‘Compass’, which gives you a heading after you take a few steps in one direction. In this context, showing your running pace or cycling speed can almost seem mundane, but they do that as well.
I like that the Timex system has a comfortable Ironman watch that I can wear all day if I like. It’s nice to know the GPS can log my speed and distance no matter what I am doing that day (cross country skiing, kayaking , as well as the usual biking and running.) And, it’s nice that Timex is modular, so if most of the time, if I just want a HRM, I only wear a small watch and a chest strap.
As a complete system with all the bugs worked out, Polar wins in a lot of categories. They have been at this for a long time, so their basic system is almost as solid as can be expected. To their credit they have integrated an accurate footpod technology invented outside of Polar, and the integration has gone well. The system works without hiccups from start to finish, with a minimum of fuss.
Yes, it can be complicated because it offers a lot of options and a ton of features. Polar has invested heavily in research, especially with respect to what to make of small variations in timing between individual heart beats. This shows up in a number of areas: the fitness test, the predicted max heart rate, the setting of heart rate zones. Polar is still a heart rate company, but there is little to complain of in their incorporation of running, cycling and altitude data.
The Suunto t6 is set up as a direct competitor to the Polar S625X. The technology used is either similar or licensed from exactly the same provider. Coming out one year later, they had a chance to one-up their cross-town rival. In a strict hardware comparison, the Suunto watch is slightly smaller and lighter than the Polar, and more streamlined, so it looks and feels less clunky. It also looks better aesthetically, in my opinion. Suunto’s choice to use the ANT wireless network is important, and it is an obvious selling point for those users who encounter interference from other athletes.
One gets the sense that Suunto put a lot of effort into producing a set of hardware that is ‘better than Polar’. They may have done just that, despite a few chinks in the overall system. The watch software and feature arrangement was confusing to me at first, but now I'm comfortable with it. The Suunto documentation is scant even once you find the pdf file, and until I did I had trouble doing basic things. Some advanced training features such as training zones and intervals workouts are not as flexible as on the Polar. But I have to say, the Suunto t6 is great hardware.
Suunto is trying to challenge Polar in all areas, not just the hardware. They have created a fully bi-directional PC interface, but don’t yet make good use of it. They have their own software, which looks good but has a lot of limitations. Software can be updated later, and this is release 1. Their evaluation method, EPOC, claims to tell whether you are training too hard or too easy, as an answer to Polar’s OwnOptimizer, but with little description of how it all works. For hardware I like the Suunto better in many respects. For usable training features and a well-integrated system, they make an impressive first attempt. If you don’t want all the features in the Polar system, then you won’t miss them. The software is rudimentary but it will improve, or else PC Coach may become compatible. Between the two, the choice may come down to how important are the advanced training features of Polar, compared to a really well-built set of hardware from Suunto.
The Timex Trail Runner is not designed specifically as a training tool for triathletes. It just happens to record the same types of data. I found myself needing to be reminded of this, when it sometimes come up short in the feature list. Forget about interval training, you don’t even get lap markers downloaded. But then, if I can live without some of those features, would it be cool to have the lat/long data, or an altimeter that doesn’t drift? I wondered how well it would serve a trail runner, since that is its name.
There are some nice display options such as ascent/descent rate. There is a GPS based compass: take a few steps in one direction and read your heading. But the lat/long display is only useful if you pull out a map, and so probably more useful for adventure racing than simple trail running. Access to my lat/long data has been a sexy idea for a few years now, and here it is, downloadable, reasonably priced. Trouble is, now what do I do with it? The answer is not inside this box, yet. I’m not worried about that though, because that will come along and that’s PC-side stuff that can be improved with free updates or 3 rd party software.
If you didn’t take the time to read the article, then give serious thought to whether you are ready to commit to a tool as complex as any of these. But in the end, this may be “what it boils down to”.
Polar Strengths
The S625X is a rock-solid system, proven by a year of trouble-free use. Full, rich feature set that has evolved over decades of commitment to high-end training tools. Documentation is mature. Software is mature. Interface is trouble-free. Watch is clunky but display is large and readable.
… and Weaknesses
Battery life of the footpod could be better. Wireless link with the footpod may be subject to interference if your training partner has the same setup watch. Watch could be cooler looking and less bulky. Although overall accuracy is good, distance and speed data are less accurate when you are doing interval training.
Buy the S625X system if y ou like getting speed and distance data from your workout, downloading it, and doing data analysis. The more S625X features (such as intervals, or multiple exercise sets) that you use, the more you will love this watch.
Don’t buy the S625X if you normally run in a group, and the rest of the group has the S625X or RS200sd. In that case, get the coded footpod system from Suunto.
Strengths
Hardware seems like an incremental improvement over Polar. The watch is smaller, lighter, and nice to look at. Footpod is better: smaller and lighter, and battery lasts three times as long. Bike pod and PC interface are fine. ANT wireless interface (coded footpod and bike pod) is excellent. All the hardware plays together very well.
… and Weaknesses
Watch software and button logic is somewhat confusing at first. The Suunto PC Software does not have as many features as the S625X yet. Feature set in the watch is not as robust as Polar – I miss exercise sets, multiple zones, pace zones, uploading a week of my training plan, etc. But still a great system - especially for a user that wouldn't normally use all those extra features anyway.
Buy this watch if: You need coded footpod or bikepod (if you often run/bike in a group, and the rest of the group uses Polar S625X or RS200sd). Also, if a better looking watch is important, this is a good choice.
Don’t buy if: You need some of the more sophisticated features of Polar or you wish to upload workout definitions to your watch.
A cool tool if defined as a new category of Speed and Distance PLUS location tool. It doesn’t compare to Polar directly in terms of features for sports training. But as its own unique product that takes a different approach, there is clear excitement in the GPS location data. Timex has adopted an open systems approach that invites 3rd parties to make the most of the lat/long data collected, so this should be an exciting area to watch in the next year.
… and Weaknesses
Trees are a problem with any GPS system. The separate data recorder is one extra piece to carry. Battery life of GPS means if all you want is speed, distance, heart rate and altitude, you’ll change batteries every 7 hours. If you don’t want altitude , that gets better but still not great. Lap markers and waypoints that you save on the watch are not downloaded to the PC. The Timex software as shipped does not make good use of the lat/long data. (But it appears there are some 3rd party sources for this.)Definitely buy this if.. you are someone who would really like to see a map of your workout. Also, the best choice for athletes who do alternative sports like cross country skiing or adventure racing. This is a great watch for an athlete who likes a modular design . Some days you might just wear the watch and HRM strap, some days you want to get all your data plus a map of your workout, so you wear it all.
Don ’t buy the Timex system if... wearing 4 items on your workout would bother you. Also, if you wish to record lap data and have that data appear on your downloaded workout data - this is not the right system for you.
Each of the systems described will give you speed and distance data for running and cycling. Each has plenty of strengths and each has a few weaknesses. I hope this review has introduced you to these monitors and saved you a few hours of investigation time by discussing the technology behind the watch.
If you still can’t decide which model is right for you, call us at 800-522-6224, or visit our website at www.pccoach.com for more information on these and other training tools. And now,, until Dec 11, we have all of our products on sale.
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