The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter and Facebook, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCRAINMAKER.com Posts in the Past Week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week:
This week kicks off a handful of deals, largely in the realm of activity trackers, though both the Fitbit Ionic, Vivosport, Vivoactive 3, and Suunto Spartan GPS units are in there.
⚡ Both myself and my wife have been using these since last fall, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. Sure, they're good for sports, but frankly, I use them on planes, editing, and such more than anything else. In fact, I've been listening to them now for 8 hours as I type away on my flight across the ocean. Only briefly putting them in the case to top-up.
⚡ This is by far the lowest price we've seen to date for the Apple Watch Series 10. Of course, we're probably only 60 days away from an Apple Watch Series 11, but Apple has alreay announced WatchOS 26 last month, which the Series 10 gets all the new features from.
⚡ This is the lowest price on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 we've seen to date. It's likely we'll see an Apple Watch Ultra 3 this September, but like the Apple Watch Series 10 above, WatchOS26 has already been announced and all the new features there go to the Ultra 2.
This is (by far) the lowest price we've seen on this watch to date. This is their first full smartwatch focused on kids activity tracking and gamification.
⚡ This is the go-to sale price for the Fitbit Charge 6. It happens often, but it still doesn't take away from the fast that it's argueably the best bang for your buck fitness tracker out there.
I believe this is the lowest price we've seen for the Epix Pro series (which has an ECG-capable HR sensor). Note that while some sites might tout $500+ off, in reality, this watch has been floating around $800 recently.
⚡ This continues to be one of the best deals out there. While this watch won't be getting much in the way of big ticket new features, it does continue to get minor software updates - and for the money, has far more software features than any of Garmin's competitors (or for that matter, products like the Instinct 3 AMOLED lineup).
While not as good as last month's $200 off, that annual spring sale price won't likely be seen again till Black Friday-ish type sales. Thus, if you want a Fenix 8 for the summer, might as well take the $100 off and put it towards ice cream.
Honestly, I just put this one in there, merely to point out you shoudn't buy it at this price. Buy the FR255 at $30 more, far better watch.
This thing should be priced at $129 or something to move units.
⚡ This has been one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and it's down to a very strong price. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. Note this is the base edition without solar. It'd be hard to find any better deal in sports watches today, from any company (given this has full mapping, tons of new features even this week, etc...). I say '$100ish', because it's usually been on forever sale at $499.
⚡I believe $169 is the lowest price we've ever seen for the Instinct 2. Or at least, I have no record of it being sub-$199. Very solid deal for a solid little watch.
This is a great deal for Garmin's little-sibling to the Venu series. It has almost all the same features as the Venu 3, except the voice calling related bits.
This is a great dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart (with two Bluetooth Smart connections) chest strap that you'll often find me using as a reference strap in heart rate sensor testing. We only tend to see deals on it around Black Friday, always topping out around 20%.
If you're looking for a good solid high-quality strap, that does both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart, for a reasonable price...look no further than the Polar H9
Look, Samsung is less than a day away from likely announcing a new version (on July 9th), so if you buy now, you might want to wait a few extra hours after delivery to decide if you want to return it. Otherwise, this is Samsung's best watch to date.
⚡ This is a solid deal on this watch, which has offline mapping and continues to get new features. Further, it's the lowest price we've seen to date on it.
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet.
1) GoPro Plus Subscription Now Actually Valuable: This is actually really darn cool. No, not the increased storage piece (though I do use that occasionally), but rather the new bonus feature now is that you can kill your camera – you get a no questions asked fix/replacement. Up to twice a year, in which case you’re doing something wrong. That’s fantastic value for $5 a month, which also includes the 10% off accessories and the cloud storage piece.
2) Uber gets into the bike sharing business: Personally, if Uber has a bike sharing business, I think the empty bike should magically pedal to me like a driverless Tesla. Then I’ll be impressed.
3) Listing of nominees for Connect IQ Developer Awards: For the second year in a row the Connect IQ summit will take place at Garmin’s HQ. I spoke last year as the keynote speaker, and while I only was in town for the first day of it, I was pretty impressed with the direction of where Garmin could take this event. I’m looking forward to returning this year – both to stay for the entire event this time, but also to keynote it as well. In many ways it has the potential of something like a Microsoft Build or Apple WWDC type event, obviously, just on a much smaller scale.
5) Intel plans smart glasses (again): Holy balls. Any bets on the date they shutter this attempt? I know Intel, I get it, you really want to be a consumer company. Really badly. Like, teenage heartthrob badly. Except, it just never ends well. The irony being they just finished laying off the entire wearables division last summer (including the market leading heads up display company….sigh).
7) Warren Millers Dies At Age 93: For those skiers in the crowd, I’d be remiss for not mentioning the famed ski movie maker Warren Miller. I grew up waiting each season in the fall to go to the theatre with my Dad. This article is a pretty good overview of him and his impact. (via my Dad)
9) A new Fenix 5 competitor? That’s what this new GPS watch on Indiegogo is aiming for. Note that while this looks good at a 50,000ft level, I’d urge caution. Almost all crowd-funded watches we’ve seen in the last forever years have been big disappointments upon delivery. The main warning sign here is that no media outlets (none) have hands-on time with a real (or even fake) unit. And the 50-day standpoint claim would represent a massive leap in technology not seen by any player in the industry. I look forward to trying it out though down the road, but I’d urge extreme caution until some media outlet somewhere can provide a bit more color on where they stand.
Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:
Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one-liners are perfect, or Tweet it at me is even better) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good? Oh – and if you want to get a head start on things, this page is a great resource for watching Garmin firmware updates.
Garmin Vivomove HR: Handful of performance improvements/tweaks around accuracy
Vivosmart 3: Almost identical to Vivomove HR changes
Vivosport: Also almost identical, except with a few GPS fixes too
Zwift Updates: A pretty substantial list of updates, some of which you might notice, some of which you’re less likely too. I do think people don’t realize just how many changes are occurring in the background. Though, none of them being sprint count-down markers…
Sorry, yeah, I’m thinking more count-down style (i.e. 100m to go, 50m to go, etc…). Basically, just like how the sprint finishes are done within a UCI event. I’ll clarify.
9) fenix 5 competitor i see as a flop after kick starter ends. it is priced more than the 5x and only has the advantage of more battery life but no maps, CIQ, easily changeable watch band, and possibly no external sensor support (atleast not mentioned).
I suspect the 50 day time is just a dumb watch no connected to cellphone or hr monitoring. It says 30 days in time mode and 30 hours of gps time.
I am not sure I get that watch. They asked for only $10k to develop the watch and put it into production? Including OS development, app development, physical manufacturing etc.? Or am I missing anything? Putting aside, all renders look like a copy of Garmin’s OS and even form factor and design elements.
@Juro, if you look at timeline, the watch is already developed (supposedly), mass production in March. They appear to be just using Indiegogo for marketing. That being said, their real competition would be the Coros Pace, which is set to retail at a price less than the Ironcloud’s lowest funding price. Am I missing something?
Crowdfunding is often used primarily for publicity, to generate hype and get attention. As you can see, with Ray mentioning it and us commenting about it, this strategy works.
Let me rephrase, what’s suspicious is that a bunch of guys just turn up and basically replicate a Fenix 5. I find it funny that one of their gifs actually shows a Connect IQ watchface: link to media.giphy.com, wait until this one appears: link to apps.garmin.com
Seeing what challenges Garmin is facing with fenix 5 with all the new tech – and assuming there are significant costs of ongoing development of the product and platform beyond initial delivery I can’t see how this can be possibly successful.
If they are raising $ for marketing and awareness, they should show more than just renders and mockups.
I’m mixed on them from a pure specs standpoint. That said, I ordered one, and in theory it’ll be here early next week (it’s slated to be in a pile of other things I’m sending over from the US).
Suunto Ambit 3 Peak vs Stratos/Pace 2.
17km in a forest in TrailRunning mode
Sunny, 5.Centigrades
Raw Data Suunto / Stratos
Distance: 17,02 / 17,01 (almost identical)
Track: Pretty similar and accurate both of them (see screenshoot). Suunto Blue, Stratos Red
Highest point: 737 / 736 –> similar
Lowest point: 668 / 665 –> similar
Ascent: 291 /338
Descent: 294 / 340
Althoug there are more than 40 meters difference (too much), ascent and descent are similar. This was expected as the circuit was circular.
Battery: Suunto battery is legendary. Between 20 and 200 hours with GPS on depending on the GPS interval. Stratos: I charged it yesterday and it was at 52% when I finished the test. Pretty bad. By this very same token it would not last enough to finish a Marathon (more tests are needed)
Heart Rate: Suunto with HR chest strap, Stratos Optical HR
In this case the heart rate I obtained with the Stratos was rubish.
This circuit has lots of slopes. This means your heart rate is constantly changing. Example, when you are running uphill you go slower but your heart rate increases. And when you go downhill, you go faster but your HR can decrease. This is normal and easy to understand… but not for the Stratos.
I suspect is something related with the data analysis that the Stratos do from the optical readings and it asumes that, the lower the pace, the lower de HR.
What´s your opinion? Have you observe something similar other optical HR sensors?
Great comparison. I’d glad to to see both GPX if possible.
Regarding very bad battery performance – you might have not the latest firmware (one on them causes very fast discharging). Stratos should last for +35 hours on both GPS nad HR enabled.
The Stratos had the very last firmware ( 2 days old literally).
But, I think something went wrong because this comsuption is not normal.
Nevertheless, I do not think it can last 35 hours with GPS and HR enabled.
Next time I will do a 30km run with my Ambit3, Garmin 735 and the Stratos.
Regarding the Track here it is. Suunto Blue, Stratos Red
Hello, I may contribute to Xiaomi watches the following:
I ‘ve had a Xiaomi Amazfit Pace for some days in Feb 18.
I noticed also much to much ascent / descent while the absolute altitude was quite accurate. At my very flat 11km track with aktual 40m ascent/descent the pace noticed over 500m. That seems to be a software problem with the evaluation of the barometric sensor: the altitude chart shows many jumps of few meters up and down even in flat terrain.
The GPS-Track, Pace, Cadence and also the optical HR were compareable to my Garmin FR235 (also optical).
I also had more battery drain then expected. It was about 15% for 60min runnig with GPS and optical HR. Not very good but probably enough for a marathon-run. If you use even more functions, like playing music, notifications etc. the battery goes down very quickly. Especially often activating the display (even without light) brings it down. That’s of course the case when you are testing a device, may be better in daily use.
Mostly I missed a prestart-mode as well as manual lap-stopping.
So in my mind, it is a very nice smart-/ fitnesswatch but not (yet) suitable for runners and endurance athletes. I go on with my FR235 and save up for FR935.
Any update on a review of the Stratos? Very eager to hear your thoughts on it as a triathlon/multisports watch and compared to something similar e.g Suunto Trainer?
Woke up this morning with an email from Garmin that my “TailLightField” app is a nominee for the ConnectIQ awards and then find out that my favourite blogger links to it! Thanks Rat, that made my day :)
Regarding GoPro plus subscription; of course, there is couple of catches for replacing broken device: it’s only for Hero 5 and newer models, it’s US only (at least for now), the replacement is provided only if GoPro has available stock (and as a pessimist I guess you will find out the stock status only after you try to use the benefit) and there is processing fee. Funnily, it costs double to “process” (= package & send the camera, what else?) Hero 6 compared to Hero 5.
Did you see this news “Apple eyes FDA approval filing for investigational heart device” put a link in the website field. Interested in your thoughts – but perhaps nothing new here…
On Go Pro Plus subscription. It looks like this is based on user, not the device. For someone with multiple devices, this should be a no-brainer. The exchange fees are similar to Apple Care or the smartphone insurance provided by phone companys (although some include lost devices). The statement that this will be available “as long as supplies last” sounds a bit ominous, however.
Might be handy to have more data for diagnosing things when testing Garmin watches. Of course I’m not sure it should change the opinion if the result is the same – after all, it’s just as important how a watch performs when trying to interpolate bad data vs having good data. But it might be handy for a data-geek like you to see what’s going on, and how often watches getting a segment right seemingly by pure chance really was by pure luck/good interpolation of bad data.
Thanks for the updates – I’m definitely looking forward to more drone awesomeness as they make it, even if it’s not quite there yet for tree avoidance lol.
Thanks Ray
How does the Zwift update affect your Wattbike Atom review.
I remember your conclusion was that some thIngs needed to be fixed on both sides.
Is the Wattbike Atom now fit for Zwift riding.
Thanks
Phil
Unfortunately I’m not near a Wattbike Atom until early April (at best) being in Australia right now, so I can’t say for sure. But I’d drop a note on the Wattbike Atom review and ask the same question for how the changes impacted things, as others there often comment back on new firmware updates.
As for the Atom coming to the states, the last plan I heard was Fall 2018.
Any chance on reaching out to see Ironcloud… can’t find a website (super sketch seeming) or contact information without backing it (hmmmmm) about sensor support. It’s like they are trying to target triathletes… the single biggest consumer of powermeters and sensor data but no info on sensor support….. also, 10k flex… that sounds sketchy without a website
Hi Ray, any reply? Ive backed the watch & am hoping it will eventually connect to pwoertap etc. Bit gutted there are no plans to connect to strava either. Why would you setup a new community when everyone already plays over there?
I give the Intel glasses about a year. It’s a bit strange really. They have an entire department for “new devices” and as far as i can tell, they haven’t gotten a single product out on the market that hasn’t been abandoned a year later. They have a lot of IP, but should probably stick to that and just sell the IP when developed.
The IronCloud seems very weird to me, too bad there is no way to ask questions without backing the project. There is not a single word about supported sensors. Neither bluetooth nor ant+?
I haven’t poked into it a ton. It’s tricky in that in general I haven’t seen a huge amount of interest in SMO2 sensors when I’ve posted about it in the past, relative to other things. :-/
For $150 (25% off with code SUMMER on their US site), I think the Stratos is definitely worth a review. More press, more sales could put more pressure on Xiaomi to up their game on the firmware side and quicken the pace to ironing out the kinks.
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Didn’t they add sprint line markers a month ago?
link to support.zwift.com
“Added a more visually obvious starting line to timed segments.”
Sorry, yeah, I’m thinking more count-down style (i.e. 100m to go, 50m to go, etc…). Basically, just like how the sprint finishes are done within a UCI event. I’ll clarify.
9) fenix 5 competitor i see as a flop after kick starter ends. it is priced more than the 5x and only has the advantage of more battery life but no maps, CIQ, easily changeable watch band, and possibly no external sensor support (atleast not mentioned).
I suspect the 50 day time is just a dumb watch no connected to cellphone or hr monitoring. It says 30 days in time mode and 30 hours of gps time.
Oh yeah, the post-Indiegogo price is a non-starter. But I think most crowd funded projects know that.
I am not sure I get that watch. They asked for only $10k to develop the watch and put it into production? Including OS development, app development, physical manufacturing etc.? Or am I missing anything? Putting aside, all renders look like a copy of Garmin’s OS and even form factor and design elements.
@Juro, if you look at timeline, the watch is already developed (supposedly), mass production in March. They appear to be just using Indiegogo for marketing. That being said, their real competition would be the Coros Pace, which is set to retail at a price less than the Ironcloud’s lowest funding price. Am I missing something?
Crowdfunding is often used primarily for publicity, to generate hype and get attention. As you can see, with Ray mentioning it and us commenting about it, this strategy works.
Kreyos anyone?
Let me rephrase, what’s suspicious is that a bunch of guys just turn up and basically replicate a Fenix 5. I find it funny that one of their gifs actually shows a Connect IQ watchface: link to media.giphy.com, wait until this one appears: link to apps.garmin.com
Seeing what challenges Garmin is facing with fenix 5 with all the new tech – and assuming there are significant costs of ongoing development of the product and platform beyond initial delivery I can’t see how this can be possibly successful.
If they are raising $ for marketing and awareness, they should show more than just renders and mockups.
Hi Ray,
Talking about GPS Watchs… What do you think about Xiaomi products amazfit bip or pace ?
Any review in project ?
I’m mixed on them from a pure specs standpoint. That said, I ordered one, and in theory it’ll be here early next week (it’s slated to be in a pile of other things I’m sending over from the US).
Great news, because i don’t find any sport reviews of Xiaomi amazfit. Really interesting to have a sport/tech reviewer point of view
Iḿ very interessed on your review on the Amazfit Bit and Pace, can t wait
Forget Amzafit pace, please test/review Amazfit 2 (Stratos)!
Suunto Ambit 3 Peak vs Stratos/Pace 2.
17km in a forest in TrailRunning mode
Sunny, 5.Centigrades
Raw Data Suunto / Stratos
Distance: 17,02 / 17,01 (almost identical)
Track: Pretty similar and accurate both of them (see screenshoot). Suunto Blue, Stratos Red
Highest point: 737 / 736 –> similar
Lowest point: 668 / 665 –> similar
Ascent: 291 /338
Descent: 294 / 340
Althoug there are more than 40 meters difference (too much), ascent and descent are similar. This was expected as the circuit was circular.
Battery: Suunto battery is legendary. Between 20 and 200 hours with GPS on depending on the GPS interval. Stratos: I charged it yesterday and it was at 52% when I finished the test. Pretty bad. By this very same token it would not last enough to finish a Marathon (more tests are needed)
Heart Rate: Suunto with HR chest strap, Stratos Optical HR
In this case the heart rate I obtained with the Stratos was rubish.
This circuit has lots of slopes. This means your heart rate is constantly changing. Example, when you are running uphill you go slower but your heart rate increases. And when you go downhill, you go faster but your HR can decrease. This is normal and easy to understand… but not for the Stratos.
I suspect is something related with the data analysis that the Stratos do from the optical readings and it asumes that, the lower the pace, the lower de HR.
What´s your opinion? Have you observe something similar other optical HR sensors?
Great comparison. I’d glad to to see both GPX if possible.
Regarding very bad battery performance – you might have not the latest firmware (one on them causes very fast discharging). Stratos should last for +35 hours on both GPS nad HR enabled.
Hi,
The Stratos had the very last firmware ( 2 days old literally).
But, I think something went wrong because this comsuption is not normal.
Nevertheless, I do not think it can last 35 hours with GPS and HR enabled.
Next time I will do a 30km run with my Ambit3, Garmin 735 and the Stratos.
Regarding the Track here it is. Suunto Blue, Stratos Red
Hello, I may contribute to Xiaomi watches the following:
I ‘ve had a Xiaomi Amazfit Pace for some days in Feb 18.
I noticed also much to much ascent / descent while the absolute altitude was quite accurate. At my very flat 11km track with aktual 40m ascent/descent the pace noticed over 500m. That seems to be a software problem with the evaluation of the barometric sensor: the altitude chart shows many jumps of few meters up and down even in flat terrain.
The GPS-Track, Pace, Cadence and also the optical HR were compareable to my Garmin FR235 (also optical).
I also had more battery drain then expected. It was about 15% for 60min runnig with GPS and optical HR. Not very good but probably enough for a marathon-run. If you use even more functions, like playing music, notifications etc. the battery goes down very quickly. Especially often activating the display (even without light) brings it down. That’s of course the case when you are testing a device, may be better in daily use.
Mostly I missed a prestart-mode as well as manual lap-stopping.
So in my mind, it is a very nice smart-/ fitnesswatch but not (yet) suitable for runners and endurance athletes. I go on with my FR235 and save up for FR935.
Any update on a review of the Stratos? Very eager to hear your thoughts on it as a triathlon/multisports watch and compared to something similar e.g Suunto Trainer?
How is the Amazfit doing in the “pile of other things”?
Any chance of looking into the Amazfit Bip that’s only $80?
Woke up this morning with an email from Garmin that my “TailLightField” app is a nominee for the ConnectIQ awards and then find out that my favourite blogger links to it! Thanks Rat, that made my day :)
Regarding GoPro plus subscription; of course, there is couple of catches for replacing broken device: it’s only for Hero 5 and newer models, it’s US only (at least for now), the replacement is provided only if GoPro has available stock (and as a pessimist I guess you will find out the stock status only after you try to use the benefit) and there is processing fee. Funnily, it costs double to “process” (= package & send the camera, what else?) Hero 6 compared to Hero 5.
link to gopro.com
Sure, this is nice add-on if you are already a subscriber and happen to own Hero 5 or newer.
Hi Ray.
Did you see this news “Apple eyes FDA approval filing for investigational heart device” put a link in the website field. Interested in your thoughts – but perhaps nothing new here…
Cheers.
On Go Pro Plus subscription. It looks like this is based on user, not the device. For someone with multiple devices, this should be a no-brainer. The exchange fees are similar to Apple Care or the smartphone insurance provided by phone companys (although some include lost devices). The statement that this will be available “as long as supplies last” sounds a bit ominous, however.
Speaking of the Connect IQ summit and nominees, have you seen this? link to apps.garmin.com
Might be handy to have more data for diagnosing things when testing Garmin watches. Of course I’m not sure it should change the opinion if the result is the same – after all, it’s just as important how a watch performs when trying to interpolate bad data vs having good data. But it might be handy for a data-geek like you to see what’s going on, and how often watches getting a segment right seemingly by pure chance really was by pure luck/good interpolation of bad data.
Thanks for the updates – I’m definitely looking forward to more drone awesomeness as they make it, even if it’s not quite there yet for tree avoidance lol.
Any thoughts about the VIITA Smartwatches? Says up to 4 weeks battery life and ready soon.
Thanks Ray
How does the Zwift update affect your Wattbike Atom review.
I remember your conclusion was that some thIngs needed to be fixed on both sides.
Is the Wattbike Atom now fit for Zwift riding.
Thanks
Phil
…and when is the Atom coming to the states? I’m keen on ordering one for my better half, but there seems to be no news on timing.
Thanks!
Unfortunately I’m not near a Wattbike Atom until early April (at best) being in Australia right now, so I can’t say for sure. But I’d drop a note on the Wattbike Atom review and ask the same question for how the changes impacted things, as others there often comment back on new firmware updates.
As for the Atom coming to the states, the last plan I heard was Fall 2018.
Any chance on reaching out to see Ironcloud… can’t find a website (super sketch seeming) or contact information without backing it (hmmmmm) about sensor support. It’s like they are trying to target triathletes… the single biggest consumer of powermeters and sensor data but no info on sensor support….. also, 10k flex… that sounds sketchy without a website
I can’t find any contact info either, but I know someone who makes their sensors…so, I just shot them an e-mail to see if they can make an intro.
Hi Ray, any reply? Ive backed the watch & am hoping it will eventually connect to pwoertap etc. Bit gutted there are no plans to connect to strava either. Why would you setup a new community when everyone already plays over there?
Nope, never heard back. :(
I give the Intel glasses about a year. It’s a bit strange really. They have an entire department for “new devices” and as far as i can tell, they haven’t gotten a single product out on the market that hasn’t been abandoned a year later. They have a lot of IP, but should probably stick to that and just sell the IP when developed.
well – apart from the NUC line of course.
The IronCloud seems very weird to me, too bad there is no way to ask questions without backing the project. There is not a single word about supported sensors. Neither bluetooth nor ant+?
Yeah, it’s definitely odd on the sensor front. Hoping to get some answers shortly.
Wasn’t there a DJI Mavic Air review on the site ? If so, has it been removed ? I can’t find it anymore …
No Mavic Air review published here yet, but, you can find two overly detailed videos I put together on it on YouTube up above.
Any thoughts on Humon now that they started shipping their muscle oxygen sensor?
I haven’t poked into it a ton. It’s tricky in that in general I haven’t seen a huge amount of interest in SMO2 sensors when I’ve posted about it in the past, relative to other things. :-/
One more vote for stratos review! Looks decent, especially in that price range.
For $150 (25% off with code SUMMER on their US site), I think the Stratos is definitely worth a review. More press, more sales could put more pressure on Xiaomi to up their game on the firmware side and quicken the pace to ironing out the kinks.