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How to Get Started with Your TomTom Multi-Sport GPS Watch

After purchasing the TomTom Multi-Sport GPS Watch at Alza in Prague, I opened the watch at a restaurant near Wenceslas Square, ground zero of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution.

I took an overnight train from Prague to Krakow and setup the watch at the Krakow train station.  Krakow was once the capital of Poland and houses a lot of beautiful and historical sites.

Setting up the TomTom Multi-Sport Watch was easiest using the Microsoft Surface 3 tablet.  The Surface is the only portable tablet in the market with a standard USB port which makes it easy to connect to the watch.

The TomTom Multi-Sport Watch comes with a USB cradle that slides into the thick area of the watch.

After you turn on the TomTom, the watch asks you go to tomtom.com/123 from where you download and install the software.

After installation, you then need to connect your watch through USB.  If the watch is already connected you need to disconnect and connect the watch again.

Once the watch is connected, TomTom will download the latest firmware from their servers and update the watch.

Once the update is done, you can then start to personalize your watch.

You then need to connect your watch to the PC, and create an account and register the watch online with TomTom.

After registration is done, you can finally use your watch.  Note that the TomTom Multi-Sport Watch can be synced to TomTom online servers through USB on your PC or Mac, or through Bluetooth on smartphone or tablet.

Through your online TomTom account, you can look at maps that track where you've been, how fast you've moved, and how much calories you have burned.

TomTom also has several YouTube videos on how to use the watch.

You can also create different training programs to achieve in a variety of sports activities like cycling, freestyle moving, using the treadmill, and running outside.

You can also track your progress through your account on the TomTom site.

If you don't wish to use your PC to do the setups, you can also directly do the setups on the watch.  This process is a little more tedious compared to just using a PC.

After the setup process is complete, you can immediately start using the TomTom Multi-Sport Watch, which shows the time and date as the default screen.

It takes a little while to figure out the up/down/left/right navigation menu system on the watch, but you can eventually navigate to the right places to check watch status and change settings.

The TomTom Multi-Sport Watch is not like the Fitbit Charge HR which tracks your stats in the background or the Samsung Gear Fit which is more an extension of your Samsung phone.  It's more geared for sports enthusiasts who want to track where they have been and how fast they are going while cycling, running, etc.  Think of it as a GPS navigation system for you instead of your car.

Unfortunately for the watch, after you have selected what sports activity you want to track, the watch tries to lock on GPS signals from the satellite.  Like many GPS systems on your phone, this can take a while to lock especially if you have been traveling around or indoors.

One unique feature of the TomTom Multi-Sport Watch is the large 4-way pressable button below the screen.  In fact, you don't interact with the screen at all and everything is done through this large button.  This button makes watch a lot bulkier but like I said earlier, TomTom is not trying to subtlety weave the watch into your life but rather make it easier for sports enthusiasts to navigate the menu systems while on the go.  Even the watch band is very sports friendly compared to other wearables on the market, and has small hooks that grab rightly into the watch band, making it more secure.

One of the main problems with the watch is that the screen is dark making it hard often hard to see.  There is no way to adjust the brightness of the screen.  At the same time, the battery life of the watch is very good unless you turn on the GPS tracking.

Also, don't expect that this TomTom watch can track your fitness wherever you can go.  You need to start a specific sports activity to start tracking your location.  It also doesn't steps and if you want to track heart rate, you need to purchase a separate heart rate monitor that you wear on your chest.  It's quite annoying and confusing that even if there is no heart rate monitor connected, the TomTom watch acts as if it constantly searching for a pulse to measure your heart rate.

Still the TomTom Multi-Sport Watch is very sturdy and waterproof enough that unlike other wearables, you feel like you can take the the watch everywhere on land and sea without breaking it.  As long as you are a sports enthusiast looking for a GPS sports watch and not a general fitness tracker, you will get more out of this watch.