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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
So, the HR problems are finally gone on the AW S5?
Nice work with all those watches!
Yeah, for me they are. Somewhere late October early Nov they magically disappeared.
You didn’t draw conclusions, and maybe I am projecting, but seemed you guys thought the Venu was the winner in the 2019 release calculus of value, features, usability, etc. Ya’ll just kind if nodded and sort of agreed, “it’s good” without expanding too much.
At the right price. I don’t think $399 is that price. I think $299 might be a bit cheap for it (the current sale price), but hey, it’s solid at that price.
I think both of us were mostly talking about the display aspects. I don’t believe they’re tapping into that enough yet, but what they’ve implemented from a tech standpoint seems to be a solid trade-off for the vast majority of people, especially if they can find a way on some of the larger Fenix watches to get to 5-6 days of standby battery life.
I’d have to mirror the statement about the Venu pricing as well as the display.
At launch pricing ($400) it was a bit too much of an ask but at $300-$350 and I think it’s solid.
And in regards to the display, although Garmin isn’t tapping enough into it quite yet and is basically the same interface, it’s a welcome sight to have more brightness and clarity.
For a tri, would you recomment the Fenix 6, the Coros Vertix or the Garmin 945?
The one advantage the FR945 has is the quick release kit. So if you like to detach the watch and put it on your bike for the bike portion, that’s a big item.
If I plan to keep it on my wrist, verdict? Training for my 1st Tri(half ironman) and not sure what is the best to get. Upgrading from a Garmin 235 for all my running in the past.
In regards to functionality, the 945 and fenix 6 (Pro & Sapphire) are nearly identical, however there are some nice interface touches on the fenix 6 like widget glances. Plus, the display will be larger on the 6 and 6X (but not the 6S). Another thing to consider would be weight.
I miss the Sigma Sport iD.Tri?! I guess for the eu at least a very interesting budget multi sport option?!
Valid point. Though, given the Sigma Sport ID is only available in Germany and I think one other European country (off-hand), it’s hard to include in a global round-up. :-/
For an average entry-level user of smart watches what would be your recommendation
Polar Ignite or Garmin Vivoactive 3 ?
Currently, both are around 180 euros in Greece.
It’s tough. Really tough. I think the VA3 is a bit more well rounded in terms of customization, especially with CIQ. But I think the Ignite nails the ‘here’s the workout you just need to go do now’ bit slightly better.
Thank you for the reply. Still confused, I think I will go for the ignite though
Over the course of the year has the accuracy of the sony chipset improved with updates ?
I remember this was something you pointed out in your reviews of both the 945 and the 245 when they came out.
I’m considering jumping from a 225 to a 245, and I really find the gps tracking on my 225 to be spot on.
Thanks !
It definitely has gotten better. Perfect, no. But definitely better. I still see odd straying issues, but not as much as I did in the past. For the most part I find it acceptable for my general fitness tracking purposes.
thanks for the feedback !
Any insight as to whether garmin is going to come out with any future wearables with replaceable bands in the vivoseries? I don’t like bands or watches so have been using a vivofit3 with just the band taken off – it is obviously though quite dated. Seems unlikely though i guess now with everything using optical hr. Thank you.
For someone who plans on buying a watch to use for at least a couple of years which, for normal people, doesn’t seem to be too crazy for the price, I am just having too hard of a time accepting what I’m hearing about Garmin these days (even with that really rich post made here about their whole issues as a company) to get a new one. My FR 225 is way less interesting to me than the 245 but I have never had build issues or, especially, crazy-ass (and apparently endless) firmware problems.
It definitely does seem that Garmin’s tech (and for the price) is usually the answer… but should one include the nutso lack of attention to software (and some build quality) when coming up with a “best choices” sort of thing? Because as much as I want I can’t imagine buying in to the current state of things, regardless of how dope the hardware is.
So I guess my question is, ignoring price, which would you rather have, the Venu or the Vivoactive 4?
Ray have you been following the latest developments with the TACX bike and WAHOO bikes?
After reading the reviews probably The Garmin Fenix Plus sounds like the right fit
Another grest sum-up. Thanks to the both you.
Are you planning on reviewong Michael Kors? Where are the compared to Garmin?
Looks are good I think, but what about chipset, features, app? I can barrely find any serious reviews. (That may just be the answer though ;) )
Kind regards,
Rutger
Sorry for all the typo’s ??
No plans at the moment on the Michael Kors ones, it tends to be a bit outside the realm of things I’m diving into from a sport standpoint. :-/
Sorry!