Before purchasing the Rookie model from Tangram, I tried to find some detailed reviews on the web, including YouTube. Perhaps because this is a newer model, there were none.
There were however, a lot of reviews available on the original Tangram rope which retails close to $90 and features a fancy LED feature in the rope to beam your skip count out in front of you. The reviews I read on this model mentioned concerns about the weight and hesitation to use it outside because of the electronics in the rope.
This "Rookie" model features none of that fancy stuff so the rope is just as light as a standard jump rope. All the electronics are in the left handle and you won't even notice it.
Setup was pretty easy, but I did need to read the manual to figure out how to get going. The right handle features battery storage and you will need to open it to grab the included battery before transferring it to the left handle where the actual electronics are located. The battery is a C2032 flat battery which will apparently last for months. This also is unlike the fancier legacy model, which features a rechargeable battery via USB. That likely needs a lot more charging due to the LED beaming ability.
Once the battery is in you'll just need to insert the rope into the handles. This was very easy after reading the instructions in the manual. All that's left then is to set up the app, which only takes seconds. You can also set up Apple Health integration to log your workouts and grab your weight and heart rate.
Performing the actual workout is easy. You really don't need the fancy beaming ability of the original model as it's easy to either set up your iPhone in front of you or occasionally check your Apple Watch for your skip count and time. There's also a sound feature to notify you at skip intervals of your choosing. (I assume this works just as well on Android devices).
One annoying feature is that the count will reset after about ten seconds of inactivity and also then send data as a workout to Apple Health (or presumably the Android equivalent). Thus you could end up with a dozen "workouts" in a 30 minute session. The app itself will show you the total count when you're done, but it's not fun from a data management perspective. Since "skip count" isn't an Apple Health value anyway, I figure I can just use my Apple Watch to log the workout and use skip count within the Smart Rope app for reference separately. That way I will get my workout as one chunk and will still have heart rate and calorie data. At the end of your workout you can create some nice data images to share on social media and such. This will use your total.
Other than standard skip tracking the app also has a few additional features. Workout-wise there's an interval tracker which will let you pick from intervals with rest at various skill levels. The interval program does not have the annoying 10-second workout end time, so this is more enjoyable to use if you're going to use Apple Heath or the Android equivalent. Additionally there's a competition mode so you can compete against friends in the somewhat unlikely event you have one with the rope as well.
For data there's a simple global leaderboard to compare yourself against other users as well as a personal log with some basic graphs.
At a sub-$40 price tag and with no more bulkiness than a standard rope, this is a good edition to your home fitness equipment with the added benefit of some fun data to keep you motivated. It also appears to be the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys fitness.
| Brand | TANGRAM |
|---|---|
| Target Audience | Adult |
| Special Feature | Adjustable Length |
| Material | Polyurethane (PU) |
| Color | Black |
| Item Weight | 0.2 Kilograms |
| Grip Material | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene |
| Handle Diameter | 26 month |
| Item Length | 3 Meters |
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 6.5 x 3.11 x 3.11 inches |
| Package Weight | 0.25 Kilograms |
| Brand Name | TANGRAM |
| Manufacturer | TANGRAM |
| Part Number | SR100-MB |
