It’s a rough world out there for fitness trackers- for every model we’ve seen and liked, another has fallen upon hard times and been discontinued or had pieces bought up by competitors. At least in part because it’s simply a difficult business, with so many different niches you can focus on or have to support, not to mention deep-pocketed companies making plenty of options. If the field has been whittled down a bit recently, that should only help the best out there- like today’s company, which has been working in the field for years.
The TomTom Adventurer is, at first glance, a sort of antithesis to the Apple Watch. It’s sporty, with a non-color non-touch screen and no fancy apps, but still excels where it puts it’s fitness focus. Where some smart watches allow you to track your step count and leave it at that, this one has modes for everything from hiking to skiing, snowboarding to cycling. And while there might be a few different sensors in other models or they rely on your smartphone, this one boasts a built-in heart rate monitor, GPS, compass, and barometer tracking- so you don’t need to worry about carrying or holding another device, nor getting a heart rate monitor strap. And it’s actually quite a bit smaller than many, with compact four-way controls placed below the screen.
And these sensors are put to great work too- especially with skiing. While we were hitting the slopes to test out some recent winter wear, we also tested out the Adventurer (which definitely lived up to the name). It can automatically detect when you hop onto a lift, and display the statistics from your last run. You might not need it, but there is an integrated MP3 player so you can have access to some tunes (it’s limited and a little wonky but potentially handy). We liked that they even included a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones, their waterproof and sweatproof Sports earbuds with up to four hours of battery life, and normally a $100 value on their own. And speaking of of battery life, you can expect about 24 hours of battery life with the Adventurer in hiking mode- still a little short for longer hiking trips, but probably enough for many folks.
For some specific audiences, you might be better with dedicated models, like the Golfer 2 that we checked out earlier this year. But even if you’re a runner who loves apps like Runkeeper, MapMyFitness, or NikePlus, you can pretty easily sync data. It’s water-resistant up to 40 meters, so you can use it in the pool too. Accuracy seemed good, even challenging heart-rate accuracy during exercise. And while weather prevented us from fully testing the trail capabilities, the simple navigation seems like it could be a lifesaver. Available in orange or black versions, expect to spend around $399 for the TomTom Adventurer- on sale now online and in stores.