Review of the Magellan Echo Sports Watch

 

This weekend I got the new Magellan Echo Sports Watch to review.  Which was perfect as my favourite exercise is most definitely running.  I just love the way it makes me feel (all those endorphins!) and the challenge of beating your own personal best times.  To keep motivated and on track I love to use running apps to track my time, distance and speed.  The only problem with that though is my iPhone is rather large and clunky and having to hold it and keep unlocking it to see my progress is not ideal.

Enter the Magellan Echo Sports Watch.  This watch works with your favourite running apps and uses bluetooth to send the data to the phone – so you can pop your phone in your armband and simply glance at the watch to get an up to date real time picture of how your run’s going.  You can even control your music from the watch too with a simple click of a button.

I took the Echo running watch for a run this weekend and here’s how it went.

To Set up – before you go anywhere you need to download the Magellan Utility App and sync your phone with the watch.  You then need to go into the app settings to allow it to connect with your watch. There are instructions on the net which are pretty straight forward to follow, but make sure you read them carefully.  I spent ages trying to figure out how to make Map My Run work with the phone – when I realised there was another link to click on with instructions…. Duh.

 To start off it’s easy, just start your app (I used Map My Run) once your watch is synced and voila – you’re ready to go!

I ran one of my favourite routes in town which is up by one of the local golf courses – there’s some good hills plus a nice downhill stretch which helps you recover.

It was so useful to have a real time view of how your run was tracking.  You can customise the display and flick through your pace, total distance, time and calories burned.  You can also control your music with the watch.

Because I’m working on improving my pace, being able to see it at a glance was awesome for helping me run a faster than usual run – especially in those challenging hill climbs!

When you finish, all the data from your run is stored in your running app rather than the watch which makes it easier to view.

I actually ran one of my fastest runs with the Echo – maybe a combination of all the Easter buns and chocolate and the new motivating watch?  Who knows, but the Echo is definitely a fantastic motivator if you don’t want to have to hold your iPhone, slide the lock screen, and enter your passcode as you’re trying to run your best run.

To read more about the Magella Echo, check out the website here.  It retails from $199 at sports stores around New Zealand.