Product Review: Nike+ Sportwatch GPS

I’ve been running with the Nike+ SportWatch GPS for the past six months, using it regularly during my runs.

While this product review is about the Nike+ SportWatch, there are takeaways to be had for any Jerd reader interested in GPS-enabled running watches.

So What Is It?

The SportWatch is a GPS-enabled device that tracks your distance and speed as you run!

It collects, and stores data, about your workout that you can later upload to the Nike+ website, where you can see the route you ran on a map, your pace, as well as elevation and calories burned.

We all know how much we geeks love data!

The Nike+ SportWatch looks like a large (okay, massive) wrist watch.

It has a large front face with over-sized numbers that displays the time of day. It has a heavy-duty, almost industrial-grade wrist strap that keeps it securely in place on your wrist.

The SportWatch contains two receivers – one is a GPS that can track your location as you run; the second receiver is used to talk to the Nike+ sensor (which we talked about here), a device that you can insert into your Nike+ shoes that is useful for tracking running data indoors where the GPS cannot, such as on a treadmill.

The two can be used together too… we’ll get to that in a second.

“Why Do I Want One?”

Good question!

Anyone with a map or a decent sense of direction knows where they are and where they went.

“‘Cause, remember: no matter where you go… there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai

While the mapping and elevation GPS features are way cool the first few times you use them, the novelty wears off pretty quickly if you run the same route regularly; especially if the route happens to be a circle (my favorite route). Having said that, the other data that it captures is what will probably ends up being the most useful.

It can track your pace & time, your distance, record laps, and your calories burned!

If you want, you can add an optional Polar Wearlink+ can track your heart rate as well.

If you’re a data junkie like me, are serious about running, or just want to see and monitor your progress, then a running watch like the Nike+ SportWatch could be for you!

I don’t know about you, but I like to see how I did today relative to yesterday and track my performance over time. I get to see how many miles I ran last month compared to this month, it tells me if I am running faster or slower than I did last week, and it calculates my average pace so I can tell if I’m improving or getting worse.

For me the value comes from the gathering of data over time.

There are also other uses you may find helpful… By combining distance and pace data with the GPS map data, you can see where you slow down and where you hit your ‘zone’. Was it a long hill that made you slow down? Or did you start too fast and end up paying for it later in your run?

So How Does It Work?

The Nike+ SportWatch is actually pretty intuitive.

There are only three buttons on the device, all on the left hand side. It has a two-button ‘rocker panel’ on the upper left and a single larger button beneath. The upper buttons are for accessing the menus, and the larger button is for selecting your choices.

The most common scenario is to choose ‘Run’, confirm the use of GPS and/or the shoe pod (the aforementioned Nike+ sensor). You’ll see a brief animation as it links sensors, and off you go!

As far as interfaces go – it’s simple, too the point and it works great (hello, UI Nerds!). You also get options like ‘History‘, ‘Records‘ and ‘Stopwatch‘. It’s streamlined and utilitarian!

Ready to download the data from the SportWatch to a computer? Just use the built-in USB connector. It’s really that simple. Believe it or not, Nike did a great job of incorporating a full size USB connector into the watch itself; it’s one less cable to deal with and you can plug it straight into your PC or Mac.

It is a little odd that there is no Bluetooth, and the SportWatch itself doesn’t talk to your mobile phone, but you can just use the Nike+ app and sync the data to your smartphone.

Truth be told, the Nike+ running app for your phone does pretty much the same thing; I just really hate running with my expensive-to-replace-and-don’t-really-want-it-sweaty-gross phone strapped to my arm!

Pros

• Easy navigation and intuitive interface.
• The large font used on the display seems goofy big at first, but it’s incredibly easy to see while running.
• Solid construction, it feels indestructible.
• It congratulates you with “Nice Job!” or “Strong Finish” when you complete a run. It won’t help your run, but (as long as you ignore the fact that it very well might Skynet lulling you into complacency) any encouragement is welcome.
• Nike is constantly updating its’ software; they seem to be committed to constantly improving the device.

Cons

There are a few things things that I noticed about the Nike+ SportWatch.

• It can take a while to find a GPS satellite. You choose to run with the GPS and then you…wait…and wait…and wait some more as the sensors link (the GPS that is, the shoe sensor links immediately) It’s not a huge deal, and it happens with most GPS watches, but when you are ready to run, you are ready to run! You can use the “quickstart” though, which relies on the shoe sensor to track you while the GPS catches up instead of standing around looking at the sky.
• The use of the backlight is great, once you figure it out. You have to tap – and by tap I mean bang – on the screen to activate it. I could not figure out why it would randomly turn the light on, and why I could not get it to work. It’s not a gentle tap like tapping a smartphone screen, it’s a significant pounding.

Bottom Line

I’ll be honest, after using the Nike+ SportWatch for about a week I wasn’t sure I would keep using it.

But I continued to use it and there is something addictive about seeing your running route get traced on the screen, seeing the mile markers appear, and seeing your speed (green – yes!) and lack of speed (red – boo!) render after plugging it into your computer.

I used to rely on the Nike+ Sportband but the SportWatch has won me over!

Runners, what model running watch do you use? Do you use a Garmin? Timex? Tom Tom? Do you use your smartphone instead? Tell us why in the comments below!

– Brian Kehs

About the Author: Brian Kehs is a husband, father of two, a runner, and a manager in IT. In addition to running, Brian is an avid Star Wars fan boy who thinks Neil Gaiman’s Sandman may be the best literature out there. He regularly run 5Ks, 10Ks, 10-milers and half marathons. In his free time he coaches an elementary school running club!