Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple AirTag 4-Pack for just $69, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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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.
4
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!
5
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 2024 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.
I know it’s been said by you before that $450 was the cut off for training readiness but now with it coming to a $350 Watch is there any talks of it coming to 255?
I feel like this needs that Meme where the guy is looking at the other girl, but with FR255/Instinct 2.
yeah, thats sortof what my immediate reaction was. except that havig bought a 955 and F7 for me and my wife i’d be kindof annoyed if they did – i would have probably saved money and got the 255 if it had training readiness.
it makes sense for garmin to reserve premium features for premium priced devices, especially features designed for athletes being reserved for devices aimed at athletes.
i’m a big supporter of their recent change toward adding new features to existing devices rather than only addingnew features when they release a new device but a bit bemused as to why they would add an existing feature from their software library to an existing device – makes me wonder if the instinct had not been selling well and needed a boost
I have the same question. The instinct 2 nonsolar was 350 euro at launch, nowadays it’s more like 250 on its better days, the solar barely 350, generally under.. meanwhile the fr255 non music holds its 350 euro price and I’ve never seen a discount on the music version.
Also, for me it’s a bit strange that an adventure watch gets a so called advanced training feature and a more expensive athlete focused watch misses out on this…
But I guess, it is what it is…cheers!
– On Garmin.com, without discounts, the Instinct 2/2s is listed at $299, the 255 at $349 and the 255 Music at $399.
– The Instinct 2 series was also released 4 months prior to the 255 series.
– The Instinct 2 is also more of a adventure watch while the 255 is a training watch.
– The software for Training Readiness will be copy and paste for the 255, while it has to modified for the Instinct 2 thanks to it’s unique UI.
Missing the # of days in – “Generally speaking it’s been about days of data before it shows up, if you were a brand new customer.”
Funny tidbit: One my main Windows laptop, my number keys (1-3 and 7-0) stop working randomly. Like, hard nothing happens – sometimes for a few hours, sometimes a few days, sometimes just till I hit them a bunch, and then they’re fine again. This started last winter sometime, then stopped for a few months, but now is back. I think it’s actualy a software issues, and not a hardware one, but after extensive troubleshooting, I’ve given up. Usually a few reboots fixes it for some unknown period of time (hours/days/weeks).
When that happens, like half-way through this post, I have to use the on-screen keyboard to touch the numbers on the screen. I suspect when I typed that sentence, I never even noticed the numbers weren’t showing up yet.
Anyways…
(Typing this comment on my Mac…)
What? No new activities like the FR/Fenix are getting? Given that many of those activities are ones that I’d guess people would want to wear something more rugged like an Instinct for, it seems a very surprising and odd omission!
Ray, would you daily-drive a future Instinct 3x with higher-resolution and colour display? That would be my dream Garmin watch!
ps: this gets TR but not the 255. I’ll complain forever!! =D
Just buy Fenix then.
Heavier, more expensive, maps, different style of watch etc.
Because I want to be lazy and not side load mine right now. With the reintroduction of Morning Report and Training Readiness does this mean they’ve given the Instinct workouts based off the race calendar?
It’s actually done that behind the scenes since launch, neither TR or Morning Report directly impact that. Rather, they just make it easier to see some of those things.
Not sure how much actual use the screens will be, but it’s nice to see Garmin is taking support of (alightly) older models more seriously.
Ray – BTW one of the photos is wrong: you’ve repeated the workouts photo for the tides one.
Thanks. I just swapped that one out, and actually, just swapped almost all the photos out. Didn’t like last night’s photos due to weird sunset lighting coloring.
Took new photos, and added a bunch more with other details for the fun of it.
I assume (hope?) Instinct Crossover will get Training Readiness, too? It already has Morning Report.
I’ll ask, but yeah, I’d assume it’ll match it shortly. We’ve seen the Crossover lag just slightly behind on firmware updates since launch, likely because the UI is just slightly different.
Dang at this point I’m assuming they aren’t doing it. I actually really like the Crossover and was wanting to get it….. but am thinking at this point I’m likely to just go get the big instinct 2 just to have the newest and all the stuff on it.
Thanks for the update Ray. Could you please confirm if now it’s possible to log HRV during a workout when using a HR band? Right now Instinct watches, even Instinct 2X, don’t log HRV during a workout, which makes it impossible to estimate aerobic threshold using DFA alpha 1.
I know it’s a rare edge use case, but still strange to not have it since the watch supports external sensors anyway.
Interesting, so, it looks like the latest beta does indeed have that in there. I had seen some hints that might be coming – thus, there ya go!
(I haven’t tried it yet, but my guessing is that since it’s there now…)
Interesting…. but I can’t find this menu in my updated Instinct 2, where did you find it?
Nice! Thanks for checking Ray, it was kinda of an odd omission, even though it’s an “advanced” feature.
Where in settings do you find this? Is it on by default or do you have to switch it on??
I found it. It under „data recording“ settings.
Hardware wise is there a big difference between the Instinct 2 and Fenix 6X Pro?
Just curious to understand if is there a hardware limitation that makes impossible these two features to be added to the Fenix 6 line or if it’s simply a question of Garmin choosing not to add them to the F6.
Btw, I was in Amsterdam last weekend and did a couple of laps on the track you normally run. Tried to do a lap on the Olympic stadium track but there was some sort of festival there and the stadium was closed.
Not sure if all of them are free-to-use but saw at least 3 tracks while staying there… cool place to do some run workouts :)
Is there any indications these features will also be added to the Instinct Crossover?
It’d be really nice if they’d add this to the Fenix 6 line. I understand they want to sell new devices and all, but I’m not comfortable contributing to the e-waste stream at that rate. It’s a several-hundred-dollar piece of equipment– seems like they could support it for more than a couple of years.
Fenix 6 is supported – it got a firmware update a month ago. Support doesn’t meen adding new features – there is definitely no need to get rid of your 6 just because you didn’t get a feature a different model got.
Nice. Too bad the Garmin Connect app is so utterly unreliable, it renders the great watches virtually useless for training purposes.
Currently trying to sell a Garmin D2 Mach 1, Instinct 2 Solar, Index scale and Index BPM because the Connect app stopped working 2 months ago and won’t upload anything.
Look at all the negative reviews and comments about how bad the app is, efore shelling out that kind of money for a stand-alone watch that has no useable app.
What do you mean with Garmin Connect being “utterly unreliable”? I am using the Garmin Connect app for many years now and have never had any unreliability issue. Always worked, on my smartphones and the laptops I use. Even works behind the company firewall. And data is always consistent over different devices (like watch, Garmin Connect on smartphone, Garmin Connect on laptop…). So, reliable.
I have looked for the negative reviews you say exist, but didn’t find them. So what do you mean?
Yeah, one can complain about whether or not they like the design of the Garmin Connect app, or how the UI is, or really anything else. But if there’s a reliability issue – it’s almost certainly something on your phone that’s the problem. Either an issue at the Bluetooth level, the OS level, or perhaps some sort of corrupted app install. But more than likely, the BT phone level.
Connect software on my Mac is terrible. I’m glad you aren’t having any trouble, but you are a rare person. First Garmin connect software is old and clunky. Most it’s a pain to try to get it t upload any updates.
the software certainly has been neglected.
That sounds more like a “you” problem and less like a “Connect” issue. I still have my Fenix 2 and it connects as well as my Epix and Instinct.
Yeah, it could be.a ‘me’ issue, if you just leave out the 1000’s of other users that have the same problem, along with all of the negative reviews, and the articles which highlighted the app’s lack of reliability.
When I was looking online for a solution, which Garmin couldn’t provide, I found out I am far from alone.
So what features does the 2x has but 2 doesn’t after this update? Other than the flash light and muiltibanb GPS?
So, here’s the full list of differences from my 2X review, with things notated accordingly:
[Hardware] – Increased watch size to a 50mm case (previous Instinct 2S is 40mm and Instinct 2 is 45mm)
[Hardware] – Increased display size from 0.9” to 1.1”
[Hardware] – Increased solar panels by 50% compared to Instinct 2 Solar
[Hardware] – Massively increased battery claims/specifications (see battery chart)
[Hardware] – Added screws to front case
[Hardware] – Added multiband/dual-frequency GPS/GNSS
[Hardware] – Added flashlight/torch, both white and red light, plus strobe options (like Fenix 7X or Enduro 2 series)
[Software: Added now in beta] – Added Training Readiness suite of metrics (like Fenix 7 series)
[Software, but based on hardware differences] – Added solar lux hour tracking metric (like Fenix 7 series)
[Software: Added now in beta] – Added Morning Report (like other Garmin watches)
[Software: Was added in previous update] – Adding obstacle course racing activity profile in near-term update (like Fenix 7 series, also now in Instinct 2 public beta)
[Not on either yet] – Adding Boxing and MMA Activity Profiles in the next quarterly update
So yup, as far as I know, the only difference now software-wise would be Lux hours, which according to Garmin is technically hardware dependent based on some differences in the components they use.
thanks dc!
Can you make a comparison of FR255/Instinct 2? Also maybe an updated “The Best GPS Sport Watches: Buyers Guide”? Thanks!
So I tried installing this on my Instinct 2S, followed the instructions and it didn’t install, tried a couple of times :-(
OK so this was me trying to install the wrong version, I tried the 2S thinking S stood for Solar, and it doesn’t. Once I tried just the 2 (without the S), it installed
Hi DC,
I tried side loading the Beta following all the instructions in the README. It seemed to update and said GPS had been updated. The software version did not get updated. I tried factory resetting my watch a few times and doing the install process many time, but had no success. Any thoughts?
There are 2 zip files, if you have the Solar version then you want the one without the S, the S doesn’t stand for Solar. I made that mistake and it took me a little while to figure it out
For those who don’t want to side load, would you have any guess as to how long this would take to be rolled out as the main firmware? (This month, fall/winter, next year?) Thanks
When will this beta be released to everyone?
Do you know when the official software release will take place for Morning reports?Couldn’t find it on instinct 2 as of today.
How long does it take for beta stuff to be released on the watches as non beta…? Seems like it stays a pretty long while.
13.21 was released last week