Samsung / Adidas SGH-F110 miCoach > Reviews (1)

This is an innovate, unique and generally great phone but you need to be clear about what's important to you in a mobile. In fact, if you're not a runner looking for a lightweight and functional training aid, then I'd suggest looking elsewhere. But as a tool to motivate, manage and report on your running, this is without compare.

Simply, it does everything you expect, in a robust and functional way. It's certainly not as flashy as some of its rivals. The camera is inadequate and practically useless in low light. And the menu system is unnecessarily complicated, especially with text messages, forcing you to trawl through a list of pointless sub-menus. And the WAP facility is pretty useless (or maybe that's my network?).

But here's the thing, despite these flaws it the best phone I've ever owned. The MiCoach training system is excellent. The stride sensor, once attached to your shoe, measures how far you have run - pretty accurately as well (it was only 0.2 of a mile out when I did a half marathon), and the heart rate monitor works out how hard you are working and what your training zone is. You can also opt to have voice coaching during your run where you are instructed to speed up or slow down to hit your training targets. All this while you are listening to the excellent MP3 system which you can easily navigate to and from the MiCoach manager by pressing one of two dedicated buttons.

Linked up to your computer you can upload details of your sessions to your personal training log on the excellent MiCoach web-site. Here you can monitor your progress over the weeks, months or years - reviewing distance, average heart rate, pace and calories burnt. You can also generate a training program based on your goals and current level of fitness. This program can be downloaded to your phone's MiCoach calendar, reminding you when you have a planned session and what your goals are (distance, speed, intervals etc).

In summary, a great phone for a runner looking for an excellent training aid and a phone which does the basics well. For anyone else, look elsewhere.