By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Few fitness wearables offer the range of specialized features and conveniences as Tom Tom does. The Spark 3 Cardio + Music combines one of the best standalone fitness tracking solutions, a GPS and a built-in heart rate monitor with the ability to independently play back music and other types of audio files.

Understated and elegant, the Tom Tom Spark 3 is all business and is actually one of the most mature products in the market. Looking back to Tom Tom’s collaboration with Nike +, this is easily the first fitness wearable sold on a mass scale.

The Spark 3 improves on this in every way. It is slimmer, less obvious and maintains the features user’s love the most, namely the clear display, great GPS performance and outstanding battery life of up to 5 days on a single charge. Throw in the waterproofing (a solid 40m/ 130 feet or 5 ATM) plus the ability to track a range of exercises ( incident treadmill, running, indoor cycling, cycling, swimming, freestyle and gym) and you have one of the most comprehensive and accurate fitness trackers in the market, bar none.

I like that Tom Tom has included a pair of comfortable Bluetooth headphones (not ware resistant) which pair nicely and save you the trouble of finding good sport headphones. The Tom Tom Spark 3 Cardio + has 3GB of onboard storage and a music player which makes it possible to store around 500 songs or other types of audio content such as podcasts, audiobooks or whatever helps you exercise, meditate or relax.

Being able to have the combination of fitness tracker, music player and watch in one device is convenient, specially for more serious runners or cyclists. Tom Tom’s software is easy to use and tracks activity accurately plus the Route Exploration feature helps break off repetitive running and cycling routes by offering alternatives.

After having used the Tom Tom Spark 3  Cardio + for a few weeks, I value its rugged build and great battery life.

Its great the you can shower with it and rinse all the sweat away and it looks good as new even after a rigorous workout of outdoor run.

The ability to play music without having to carry a smartphone is huge and Tom Tom delivers on this promise. I download my favourite podcasts and NPR shows in the morning, load them up on my Tom Tom Spark 3 and get informed and entertained while I’m in the gym or even headed to meetings afterwards.  This makes the Tom Tom Spark 3 Cardio + valuable as more than just a top-tier fitness tracker but also as a music player.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5