The miCoach's sliderphone design is attractively tactile, with a textured rubber-feel back and clever roughened navigation button panel that provides suitable purchase for sweaty fingers. Grooves separate the largish buttons to facilitate easy texting. It has a reasonable sized 2in, 262,000-colour display, but its modest 176 x 220 resolution really limits the graphical performance. The miCoach’s predominantly monochrome user interface comes across as stylish, nonetheless.
The Adidas branding is subtly applied at the bottom of the screen – just enough for others to clock your phone’s sporting pedigree. The navpad is familiar stuff, with quick keys in all directions, including an additional "My menu" list of personalised shortcuts, plus soft-menu keys below the display. Dedicated miCoach and music player buttons flank the navpad, providing quick access to this phone’s main attractions.
The branding is subtle, but enough to show your phone’s sporting pedigree
At 101.5 x 45 x 14.5mm, the miCoach isn't particularly small, but its 80g weight makes it feel light in the hand - and in the Adidas-branded armband holder that comes with the device.
The miCoach user interface is nicely thought out. Tapping the runner button on the front slips you into the application, where you’re presented with a carousel of six icons representing the coaching system’s various elements.
You can load in vital statistics (age, weight, etc.) and then try an assessment run to judge your fitness level. Slip on the Adidas heart rate monitor, connect the running shoe stride sensor - both are automatically detected by the phone - plug in the supplied earphones for a running commentary or tune listening, and you’re ready to go.
COMMENTS
Looks Smart
As an all in one device that looks impressive, the heart rate monitor etc is very good.... i wonder what it does if you get a call whilst running though :D
I agree it's not going to be up there with the Garmin products (though i think the 305 must add 30lbs to your wrist, it's a brick!!!), but by the looks of it it moves the game on a little from the Nike+ system.... it won't be quite as accurate without GPS (neither is the Nike+) but it's all one place.
Shame neither of them have bloody Mac software though. Grrrrrrrr
@Joe K
I have been skeptical of such products. However your description of mapping a route with HR data has changed my mind. I don't know that I'd drop a ton for it but it is an excellent idea.
Running
There is no other training than running. If you want to get fit, you start to run. And when you run, you'll get fit. Or injured.
What?
No scripted-motion bespectacled black dude in flourescent yellow lycra cycle shorts and wife-beater?
I DON'T WANT ONE WITHOUT MY HOMOEROTICISM!
A nice idea...
..sadly, without GPS this thing appears next to useless once you've used a Garmin Forerunner. You can get a 305 for a little over a ton nowadays.
Nothing like seeing your routes in Google Earth, along with speed and HR data overlaid in a on-map 3d graph detailing HR , speed and elevation at whatever point.
Once you've used that, this phone appears little more than a nice HR watch.
