Test of the new referee watch from Spintso, S1 Pro

Have you considered buying a Spintso Referee Watch Pro as a referee, or as it is now called Retro, or do you already own a "Retro" and like it? Then you should definitely have a look at buying S1 Pro instead.

As a referee, I have appreciated my Retro, where I easily see the extra time, how much time it is left and how much time of the match have gone. All questions you get from leaders and players around the time can be answered easily, quickly and professionally. In addition, the other two things I appreciate most about it are the vibration and the feeling. The vibration in it tells me when the first 45 minutes are over (plus extra time), when the  full match is over and when I have paused the match. And of course the vibraition that remember you to start the clock again when it’s paused. I have liked the feeling of my Retro model because it gives a stylish look and a feeling of professionalism and a certain simplicity. The feel of the S1 Pro is slightly better than the old model, I think. It looks more modern, while that "Spintso feeling" remains. It looks professional and is more comfortable than the Retro model as well.

What I did not like about Retro is that you have to change the battery on it. If you do not learn to change the battery yourself (as I know some referees do), it entails a cost of 150-200 SEK every or every other year if you use the vibration a lot. When I first came in contact with Spintso through this blog and buying products, it was one of the first things I then explained to Spintso: “How can you not have a watch that can be charged via USB? A smartwatch”. To make a long story incredibly short: Now we have it! Now Spintso has a referee watch that retains all the appreciated functions and that feeling, and that you can charge it via USB. It also has lots of other features around this, which allows you to use the watch also for everyday and training. You also get a Heat-map and more data from your matches and training. In other words not just a referee watch and not only for matches.

Well then. I have hard-tested mine for a week now and thought below to write about the watch, and tell you a little about how it works and how you do things in it. See it as a small test or a review. I was going to do it in two different formats. A video format where I briefly show and tell about the functions and how the watch feels. Below it, you will also find a text version for you who may be wondering how you now increased or decreased the vibration during the match function or some other small feature that may be difficult to find. Enjoy! And remember, we have relatively large opportunities to change functions, think new, add, remove… We develop our products for referees, but also by referees. So let us know at Spintso in one way or another if you have a smart idea or if you are missing something!

Video review of the Spintso S1 Pro

Text review of Spintso S1 Pro

I will try to keep this text quite short, so sorry if I miss features because I will not address everything here, but only the most important that I consider now at the time of writing and with a focus on the use around the match and focus on the refereeing role. As I said, you can use the watch everyday for heart rate, steps and for training - but I do not go into that as much today.

The feeling and design

We start with an important thing for me. How the watch looks like, the feel of it and the design. The watch is in my opinion nice, but discreet. It does not stand out and will fit in with, at least the preconceived notion, the role of a referee. I have had my S1 Pro on me for two weeks now, both for everyday and training. It is clearly nicer and feels better on the wrist compared to my Retro model from Spintso. The bracelet you get with the watch is nice, feels well and has two mounts of the bracelet, which I miss, for example, in the variant I bought for my other smartwatch. From now on, there will be two mounts so that the bracelet stays in place better. Should I say something short negative about the bracelet here, the jump between the mounts is a few millimeters too large. Where I want the watch, it is either a little too loose, or a little too hard. But this is completely individual, of course, depending on where on the wrist you have the watch and how thick, or narrow, wrists you have. I have bought a couple of other bracelets as well, it is easy to change with quick fasteners. Remember to buy 22 mm bracelets and they will fit nicely. If I compare with the Retro model, the S1 Pro is clearly better in both design and the feeling.

The Match Function or Spintso-Function

In S1 Pro you have a number of different choices of functions. They include Spintso, Sports, Heart, Blood Pressure and more. I will go into the most important of them, for a referee, which is Spintso-Mode or the match mode. In Spintso-Function, as it is so nicely called in the manual, you get four choices. Interval training, Stop watch, Activity record, Referee Match. Below I go into the one we referees will use the most during matches which is Referee Match.

When you select a match, you can also set up different settings in three match modes: Youth, Pro 1 and Pro 2. Pro 1 is the one I will use the most, here is also the default mode of 45x45 min and 15 minutes break already set. For Pro 2, I will set a 15x15 min and 5 minute break, this for extra time at cup matches and more. This was not possible in the old clock, without changing your match clock settings or you had to set 4 periods. In Youth mode, you can also set penalty-minutes, away and home colors and goals. In youth matches, you do not have to record the goal scorer and minute as we do in senior matches and there are more often more goals. Then you as a referee can easily keep track of the position in the watch and do not have to record anything – smooth. I hope this function also comes in “Pro” and senior matches, maybe with a possibility to also track numbers and goal, and yellow card and so on.

Pro 1 mode then, what we senior referees will use a couple of times a week. Here you still have the same good features you had in the Retro model: Vibration, four watches that work together. One difference from the previous model is that you can set the power of the vibrator yourself. I have tested a couple of matches with max vibration and it sounds a bit too much I think. So out of 5 bars, I will probably run at level 3, I think. When you have selected the function "Referee Match", you have two choices, Match or Match Settings. Click on Match Settings and there you get all the choices, ie how many periods, how long the period break, vibration and choice of how to stop / start the clock again when you pause.

The last thing I wanted to tell you briefly about is just that, the different choices of start / stop when you have paused a match or are about to start the match. On the old model, I was a little bothered that you had to hold down the button to pause for a few seconds. When I started the match again, I had to do the same thing again, hold in the button for a while. A lot can happen in the few seconds of the match. Now you can choose whether you want Long press, Short press or my favorite Double press. My favorite double press is two short and quick presses on the button. I will for sure use that one!

Charge the watch via USB

Finally! We do not need to write much about this. Does the watch have a bad battery? Only charge it via USB. I think this is the biggest change. Enough said! Remember to charge the watch before the match. After testing it for a week now with two or three matches a day, we know that the match function with vibration, GPS and the different watches draws more battery compared to a regular training watch. When my S1 Pro is fully charged, it can handle three full 45x45 minute matches without having to charge. I will never come to match with an uncharged watch though. Total battery time with GPS and match function is according to manual 5.5 hours. Which agrees quite well with my tests where the watch can handle about 4 matches, which is 6 hours. Our test on battery life, Idle, where we left the watch on the desk with display activation, the battery lasted 30 days.

Touchscreen but not during match

S1 Pro has a touchscreen, which feels modern and works well, I think. However, Spintso has done there homework here. There are apps for referees during a match, which can be connected to your smartwatch, but here Spintso has found an important thing that the S1 Pro has. If it rains or you have sweat on your fingers, you can sometimes have problems with the touch screen. This problem also applies on other smart watches. When you as a referee activate the match mode and start the match, the touch screen is deactivated and you can only use the buttons, which means that you do not have to bother about the screen during the match.

Summary

Now this post was a little bit longer than I thought (sorry) and I have lots of more features I would like to talk about and show. Among other things, the GPS mode, more detailed on each match mode, the app, the interval function and more. But it may be another time! The above is the most important thing for you as a referee and after testing these functions, I am guaranteed to say goodbye to my Retro model and hello to the S1 Pro! Will I skip my Garmin for running sessions and replace with the S1 Pro? Maybe in the future, or yes in the future, but not immediately. I'm way too used to and comfortable / happy with Garmin at the running sessions for now. Will I have my S1 Pro everyday for steps and matches? Guaranteed!

You who have read all the way here clearly deserve a discount code on S1 Pro Referee Watch or S1 Referee Watch. You can find them here: https://www.spintso.com/equipment/referee-watches/

Use the discount code “TED22JAN” to get a 10% discount on a purchase of one of these watches. The discount code is valid to 31 January.