Heads up!!! Here’s your massive Cyber Monday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $619, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
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Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
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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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
How do these sleep trackers account for a spouse (or whomever) in the bed?
Many of them only go half-way across. Others also support dual sensors, such as the Withings Aura which recently released that capability. So you have one sensor for each half of the bed.
In my testing with the Withings Aura with a single sensor (my second sensor just arrived this week, but obviously I’m out of town), the results were mixed. I’d say 75% of the time it’d correctly detect that I’ve left the bed if she is still there. But about 25% of the time it’d pickup her sometimes. And then yet further sometimes even if nobody was there it’d pickup a pillow or something out of alignment, and think we were there.
I’m guessing pets on the bed would really mess things up then.
I don’t suppose you’ll get a chance to ask Misfit when they will add Windows support for the Flash? I thought it was the same internally as the Shine so it wouldn’t be too difficult, but the page still says support is coming “soon”
I got the Beddit from their Indiegogo campaign. I was nothing but disappointed. They did not provide any API to access your data (the most important part to me) and their iOS app was really bad. I have the unit at home and maybe I will give it a try in the future.
Looking forward to your Withings Aura review. Hopefully Withings provides (raw) data download.
It horrifies me. The empty face of the watch reminds me of a face with no features.
Going by the size of that woman’s ring it is either pure bling or an activity monitor. Being CES it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a few smart-rings about.
Yeah, I was wondering if that large ring is a new Misfit tracker…?
When I originally read about the beddit, it required your cell phone to be “at your bedside” to do the snoring detection. Is that still the case? Randy said built in microphone. I don’t sleep with my cell phone, it recharges in the kitchen while I recharge in bed.
David, I checked and you are right, actually. No built-in mic, it does leverage your phone’s mic. I updated above. Thanks for the insight.
A pendant? This is getting silly. Do manufacturers pay any attention to the literature establishing locations on the body that are known to be ‘good’ locations for a device to measure physical activity?
It’s been a few years since doing studies with devices that estimated physical activity, but I remember having to be extremely picky with how different devices were located on our participants’ bodies. While I’m not wild about wrist based measuring, a pendant seems crazy. Are manufacturers doing any validation research? It seems most of them are nailing connectivity, mobile apps and computer interfacing. Those were nearly non-existent in the days we were getting excited about ActiGraphs and Sensewear/Bodymedia armbands.
Hi Ray,
Why you have not reviewed the Shine? Seems that it is quite promising and competitive product, compared to Fitbit etc.
I mostly lost interest in it. I wore it for many months, but didn’t feel like it really gave me anymore than my phone would via the motion co-processor. It lacks a screen, so it wasn’t glanceable like a Fitbit or others.
Did you wear the Flash in the pool at all? I’m reading its really only 3 atm but nothing specific from their website on the rating. Hearing many are failing in pools. Just picked one up on clearance for only $15 at Target but still don’t want to brick my cheap investment!
Any updates on a beddit review? Maybe compared to the new Emfit QS?
A comparision between beddit, emfit qs and sleep lab would be perfect.