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Week in Review–March 1st, 2020

WeekInReview2

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!

Sports Tech Deals of Note:

Here’s some continuing sports tech deals.

ProductSale PriceAmazonSale Notes
AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $80 off$199This is a solid deal, especially for a watch that has offline mapping.
Amazfit Active 2 - $20 off$79
Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 47% off$31Despite being a tech-focused dude, our kids don't actually get much tech in their lives. However, we got these two years ago for them in their rooms, to play music. They do lots of other things, but our kids mostly just use it to play music (from Spotify and Apple Music too), and occasionally they ask it questions. It has all the parental controls I want, so it locks it down from bedtime/etc...For $31? Solid deal (The coolest 'nice touch' feature is that if you whisper to it, it'll whisper back...in the owl kids voice it has.)
Anker 737 Power Bank (24,000mAh) with 140W Fast Charging - 30% off$76⚡ This is one of my favorite purchases, especially for long hikes. Basically, I can recharge my phone battery about 8 times. Or, I can recharge smaller drone batteries. Or, in the airports, I can power my laptop off it (super handy when no power ports around). I've since converted most of my tech friends to using/buying one as well.
Apple 11" iPad - (Wi-Fi, 128GB) - $70 off!$279⚡ This is an awesome deal. I use my iPad primarily for TrainerRoad as well as Zwift when not with a larger display. I also occasionally use it for other apps, namely Indievelo, Kinomap, Rouvy, and Peloton. But I pretty much test every smart trainer app on it. For all these cycling apps, the graphics capabilities is really pretty irrelevant, so having the absolute top-end/latest model won't make any difference. I prefer the budget options.
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen with USB-C) - $100 off$149⚡ 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.
Apple AirTags (4-Pack) - 33% off!$64⚡I make no secret how much I utilize AirTags, mainly, cause they've saved my butt numerous times already. We have them in every suitcase, and every backpack, and every bike bag. They're also hidden in most of our bikes (sometimes two of them). We were able to get our cargo bike back when it disappeared, as well as figure out when all our suitcases went missing during an annual family vacation where they were (for 5 days!), and plan appropriately. Seriously, just get them.
Apple Airpods (4th Gen) - $40 off!$99
Apple Watch Series 10 - $120 off
$399/$499 (cellular)
$279⚡ 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.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $150 off$649⚡ 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.
Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds - $70 off!
$249
$179
DJI Action 4 - $90 off$209While prior gen unit (and probably, 2 generations behind in a few weeks), it's still a very strong contender at this price point especially.
DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off$239If you're looking to get into flying with a DJI drone, this is a solid place to start. Of course, moreso than that, the days are very limited for how much longer you can actually buy at DJI drone in the US. So, grab them while you can.
DJI NEO - $30 off!$159This is the lowest price on this drone, and is a great option if you want a follow-me drone that's pretty hard to kill, at a price point that's still super reasonable.
Elite Riser - $250 off!$749This appears to basically just be an Uncle Amazon sale, but hey, if you've got an Elite trainer and wanted Rizer, this is a super good deal for US folks!
FORM Smart Swim 2 Goggles - $50 off$229
Fitbit Ace LTE Kids Activity Smartwatch - $100 off$129This 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.
Fitbit Charge 6 - 38% off!
$159
$99⚡ 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.
Garmin Edge 1040 Cycling GPS - $150 off!$399⚡⚡ This is a very solid deal, and the lowest price we've seen to date on it.
Garmin Edge 540 Solar - $150 off$299⚡⚡This is the lowest price we've seen on the Garmin Edge 540 Solar to date, which has gained virtually all of the new Garmin Edge 1050 features as well.
Garmin Edge Explore 2 - $60 off
$299
$237
Garmin Epix Pro Series - $200 off!
$899/$999
$609I 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.
Garmin Epix Sapphire/Titanium (Gen 2) - $400+ off!$469⚡ 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).
Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Solar - $100-$200 off
$799+
$499⚡ This is the lowest price we've seen to date for the Fenix 7 Pro series, and is a very strong deal!
Garmin Fenix 8 Series - $150 Off!
$999-$1,199
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 $150 off and put it towards ice cream.
Garmin Forerunner 165 (Base) - $75 off!
$249/$299
$219
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$199This is the lowest price we've ever seen the Forerunner 255 at.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!
$349/$399
$249This is the lowest price on this watch to date (previous low was $299).
Garmin Forerunner 265 Series - $50 off!
$449
$399
Garmin Forerunner 55 - A Few Dollars Off
$199
$169Honestly, 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.
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $150 off!$349⚡ 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.
Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $150 off!
$499/$599
$399See everything I said above on the Forerunner 955 base, except this one also has solar.
Garmin Forerunner 965 - $50 off
$599
$549This had been $499 for much of the spring, so $549 isn't that great of a deal.
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $75 Off$169⚡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.
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar$266
Garmin Instinct 2S & 2S Solar$217
Garmin Lily 2 - 20% off
$249
$199The leather version is also on sale as well.
Garmin Lily 2 Active - $50 off!
$299
$249
Garmin Venu 3 - $50 off!
$449
$399
Garmin Venu 3S - $50 off$399
Garmin Venu Sq 2 - $100 off
$249/$299 with Music
$149
Garmin Vivoactive 5 - $110 off!
$299
$189This 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.
Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $20 off$379This is a pretty small deal for this product. This is my defacto satellite communicator when out of coverage area, and I've used it on a number of major treks over the past two years when well outside of cellular service, both in a 24x7 tracking mode for friends and family, but also there in case of emergency. Would strongly recommend for anyone doing anything in the wilderness.
GoPro Hero 12 Black - $100 off!$279This is the older gen model, and to me, $279 seems a bit high. Get the Hero 13 Black for $50 more and have access to all the new accessories. Or, save yourself $50 and get either the DJI Action 4 (prior gen) or Insta360 Ace Pro 1 (prior gen) models.
GoPro Hero 13 Black - $70 off$329
GoPro Hero 4K - $20 off$199This was released back in September, and is GoPro's budget option, which includes a full color touchscreen on the back as well. It was previously released at $199, but price increases forced it up to $219. Now, it's back on sale for $199.
Google Nest WiFi Pro - 6E (3xPack) - $110 off!$289I've been using the Google Nest WiFi packs for years. And then I converted over to this last fall. Super happy with this three pod pack.
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $100 OFF$249
Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm) - $100 OFF$299
HoverAir X1 Drone Combo - $100 off!$279This has become one of my favorite drones, given it's tiny size (fits in my running shorts pockets) and ease of use. Plus, you can crash the crap out of it (hundreds of times for me and my wife) without any issues. This combo includes an extra battery and fast charger.
HoverAir X1 Pro Drone Combo Kit - $155 off$599This is a solid deal on a solid drone, and one of the two main ones I use when taking videos of myself hiking or running. This includes the two extra batteries as well as the fast charger (so 3 batteries total).
HoverAir X1 ProMax Bundle - $190 off!$765This includes three batteries, the drone, the vast charger, and some extra accessories.
HoverAir X1 ProMax Cycling Bundle - $332 off!$969This includes three batteries, the drone, the vast charger, and some extra accessories, plus the Beacon (handelbar remote)
Hyperice Normatec Elite Leg Recovery System - $100 off$999
Insta360 Ace Pro Action Cam - $50 off$239This is the previous edition, as the Ace Pro 2 just came out last fall. But for this price, it's hard to beat.
Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station - $100 off!$159This is something I use frequently when shooting out and about and I need to re-charge a crapton of drone batteries, action cameras, or just cameras and such. I've also bought solar panel to hook up to it (surprisingly effective) for very off-the-grid locales. Heck, I've even powered a KICKR trainer ride from it!
Nespresso VertuoPlus Coffee and Espresso Machine by De'Longhi Delux Kit - 30% off!$149⚡ Let's be honest: This place runs on Nespresso (or, well, the knock-off pods we buy). But, the machine is Nespresso. Without it, reviews most definitely would not get done (and certainly not on time). This is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel Outdoor Pizza Oven - $80 off$319I use the Fyra 12 (with wood pellets), and love it. The Karu 12 is essentialyl the newer version of that, and there's both a gas-only version, and a multi-fuel option (gas or wood). Love it!
Oura Ring 4 - $50 off!$299This is the first time we've seen a deal on the Oura Ring V4.
Peloton Bike - $300 off!$1,083⚡ This is the lowest price I've ever seen this (according to my records). This is still a solid bike, and actually one that I use at home (I have the newer Peloton Bike+ at the office). Both my wife and I use these bikes interchangeably, and while the Bike+ has a bigger screen and better accuracy, there's very little difference in the core Peloton experience. I'd still recommend this model to most people.
Peloton Bike+ is $500 off$1,995This is a solid deal for the Bike+, albeit largely the normal sale/deal price. Both my wife and I use both the Peloton Bike+ and the regular Bike (one at home, one at office) on a weekly basis. We like both. The Bike+ is more accurate than the regular bike, and also has a bigger screen and automatic resistance control. That said, the core Peloton experience isn't any different between the two - it's the same platform there.
Peloton Row - $330 off!$2,964
Peloton Tread - $300 off$2,694This is my main treadmill at home, and I really like it. I've got no complaints about it, and am happy I went with the smaller Peloton Tread versus the bigger unit.
Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - 27% off
$89
$76This 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%.
Polar H9 Chest Strap - $15 off$55If 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
Polar Verity Sense - 15% off
$99
$84I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing.
SHOKZ OpenRun Headphones - 31% off$89
SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 - 31% off!$124
SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 Mini - 31% off!$124
SUUNTO Aqua Swimming Open-Ear Bluetooth Headphones - 22% off!$139
Samsung Galaxy Ring - $115 off$284
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (40 & 44mm) - 50% off$159As with the Samsung Watch Ultra, Samsung is less than 24hrs away from announcing a new version of the Samsung Watch series.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra - 50% off$325Look, 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.
SanDisk 1-4TB Extreme PRO Portable External SSD - 30% off$128-$279⚡This is one of the two the high speed drives types I use to store the footage I'm actively video editing. I typically buy the 2TB and 4TB ones, and then eventually offload the footage onto a NAS array when I'm done.
Sennheiser Momentum Sport Earbuds - $60 off$129
Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off$2,398This is the main camera I use for still photography and video b-roll. I recently wrote about all the photography gear I use, linked at side here.
Suunto Race - $100 off!
$449/$549
$349⚡ 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.
Suunto Vertical - $200 off!$399This is, by far, the lowest price we've seen on this watch (which also has offline mapping).
Vacmaster AM201R Fan + Remote/holder (15% off)$67This is another very popular fan that people use for indoor training/cycling, especially due to inclusion of the remote and remote holder to clasp on your handlebars.
Wahoo BOLT V2 - $30 off
$279
$279
Wahoo KICKR Bike V2
$3,999
$2,974⚡ This is one of the lowest prices we've seen the Wahoo KICKR Bike at (ever).
Wahoo KICKR CORE with Zwift Cog+Click ($75 off)
$499
$424
Wahoo KICKR Desk - $30 off$169
Wahoo KICKR MOVE - $190 off
$1,599
$1,104⚡ This is a very solid deal.
Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $90 off
$599
$509
Withings Body Comp WiFI Scale - 26% off$169
Withings Body Smart WiFI Scale - 31% off$89

DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week:
Sunday: Week in Review–February 23rd, 2020
Wednesday: Suunto 7 Wear OS GPS Watch In-Depth Review
Friday: Oreka O2 Cycling Treadmill In-Depth Review

YouTube Videos This Past Week:

Here’s what hit the tubes over on the You of Tube, definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they hit!

FIT FILE Podcast This Week:

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Episode 100 is out!

– Coronavirus impact on sports tech
– Favero gets on social media?
– PRICE HIKES for sports tech!
– Pioneer Exits the Power Meter Business
– Wait, and a price drop!
– Peloton bricks competitor’s bikes
– The Suunto 7 Review (and a sad story)
– Tacx/Garmin NEO Warranty Fiasco
– Strava’s continued new features (!?!)

Listen here, or four options for where to find the podcast:

A) iTunes: If you’ve got an Apple device, we’re there!
B) Google Play Music: Yup, we’re here too (and on Google Podcasts app)
C) Spotify: Of course we’re on Spotify now – you can even cache it on your wearable too!
D) RSS Feed: Follow along using the direct RSS feed

apple-podcasts-badge google_podcasts_badge@2x

Stuff 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 (and in this case, some of these are from the past few weeks…as my backlog is a bit longer):

1) College XC Team Buys Airline Ticket to get to Airport Chick-Fil-A: Seriously, you need to read this story. It’s amazing. Gotta love hungry runner ingenuity! [Note: I linked to this intermediate story rather than the original source, as the original source is geoblocked in Europe due to GDPR]

2) Power meter company offering components at $6/unit: This is of course to be integrated into cranksets of other companies, but that’s the starting point to implement a power meter into a crankset. Sensitivus has plenty of experience in this sector, for not just their own units Team ZWatt units, but also those from Easton & RaceFace.

3) Samsung adds female health tracking features: It’s always been somewhat interesting to me that Samsung really had health features before *anyone* else had them. Years before Apple or Google. And at the time, at a massively deeply level in terms of metrics and sensors. But somehow along the way they kinda fell off the wagon for a while. For fun, check out this post from almost 7 years ago showing the depth of S Health back then.

4) Google Surveys Hint at Added Wear OS Health Features: Such a move would be zero surprise, given they bought one of the leading companies in the space (Fitbit), but it’s also badly needed – as my Suunto 7 review showed last week (which depends on Wear OS).

5) Turning a treadmill into a PS4 Game Controller: I know this is coming up on a month old, but, it’s still super cool.

6) Bike Paths Near Amsterdam Airport Testing New E-Bike Speed Control System: This will somehow automatically regulate the higher-speed 45KPH e-bike’s down to the usual 25KPH limit for certain paths. Also, it’ll automatically trigger green lights as the bike approaches intersections.

7) Peloton reaches full settlement with music industry over music lawsuit: It’s unclear how quickly (or to what extent) this might change or improve music on Peloton back to previous levels. But hey, at least they’re going to maybe properly pay for it now.

8) GCN Makes Strava Art: One of these days I’ll become less lazy and draw something. It’s long been on my to-do list. Don’t expect anything impressive from me though. Set your expectations low, and then you’ll be impressed later. Till then, here’s GCN.

9) A guide to watching the cobbled classics (in person): If you’re looking to head out for one of these races, these tips might help ya. Heck, I might even take advantage of some of these tips this spring too!

Sports Tech Device 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 and a few other firmware updates.

Garmin Edge 530/830/1030 Firmware Update BETA: Bug fixes.

Garmin Fenix 6 & MARQ Series Firmware Update BETA: This is a big one that fixes a bunch of minor things, but also adds new features like Grit and Flow for mountain biking (added last year to Edge series), as well as additional eTAP/Di2 bike support)

Garmin Fenix 5/5 Plus Series Firmware Update BETA: Adds same eTAP/Di2 features, plus ability to update HRM-DUAL HR Strap. And a few fixes. Note: Non-Plus series doesn’t get new stuff, just fixes.

Garmin Instinct Firmware Update BETA: Adds Swim 2 autorest functionality, plus abnormal heart rate alerts, and a few other fixes/tweaks.

Hammerhead Karoo: Added support for structured workouts using ANT+ FE-C trainer from TrainingPeaks, and also, handily, supports writing ANT+ sensor ID’s into the .FIT file (which, is enumerated into the DCR Analyzer)

Wahoo ELEMNT/ROAM/BOLT Firmware Update: Two bug fixes relating to speed sensors and kilojoules.

With that – have a great week ahead!

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20 Comments

  1. Vid Balek

    One more interesting thing… Strava added March Rollout Challenge (400 km in a month challenge) that should with my understanding include virtual rides. Maybe that is something worth to expose.

  2. Gregory S

    he shoulda hooked up the ps4 to a woodway

  3. Sylvester Jakubowski

    The inreach mini has a firmware update this past week too but mostly just bug fixes.

  4. Dmitry Pupkov

    Fun fact – in New Zealand for almost all domestic flights you don’t need to pass any kind of security at all. Show up in the airport 20 minutes before departure, proceed directly to the gate, show your mobile boarding pass, and you’re flying. No one even cares about your ID / passport.

    And domestic flights are operated mostly by ATR-72… To make this clear that’s not some 6-seats smallish Cessna, it’s a large 80 seats turboprop regional aircraft!

    • Bruce Burkhalter

      When I was in NZ a couple years ago I was amazed by this. Was so nice to just walk right through.

      Back in the US in the 70’s, friends and family could get on the plane with you. Before takeoff, they would announce that it was time for non-passengers to leave. If you wanted to stay on, you could pay the flight crew. Crazy.

    • Dave

      You have to go through security for any domestic jet flight, which means many of the flights to the South Island. Domestic is effectively split, with ATR & Q flights at the far end of the building. We anxiously await completion of the domestic and international terminal integration in the next couple of years. I’m getting sick of the walk after the trip home from Scotland…

  5. Bruce Burkhalter

    Ray –

    Regarding Sensitivus, do they also give all the software to “decode” and clean up the power data? It seems like that is the hard part at this point, especially catching all the weird cases like cobbles, quick accelerations, etc.

    On the topic, how well do you think the upcoming MTB/SPD pedals will perform on dirt/gravel? I would give up some accuracy if they worked pretty well.

    P.S. Glad you were able to take that week off. We are all hungry for posts from you but I can understand how the grind can be tough. Your job seems like it is 24/7. Hopefully you can balance it all!

    • Bruce, you are so right. We have spent a LOT of time on this. Starting all the way back in 2016 (link to youtube.com). The first commercial product released using this technology was for MTB, which required about a year of pro-level testing with this exact focus. Will it ever be “perfect”? Maybe not, but it’s pretty darn close. And way better than other things we have tested.

    • I honestly have no idea how the upcoming pedals will handle it.

      On one hand, MTB pedals will be ‘new’ to the industry. But on the other hand, not really. Knowledge and understanding of power meters and road conditions is so much further along than it was 5-7 years ago. A lot of these companies in the space today, already have to deal with some MTB-like conditions anyway. Hell, chip-seal road in parts of the US is often worse than MTB-conditions from an accelerometer standpoint (as a few companies have learned).

      And the underlying sensors to filter out bad data are more advanced than half a decade ago.

      I suspect we’ll still see issues, but they’ll be harder to find. I think the bulk of challenges in this area might actually be more logistical (battery cap waterproofing/ingest, protection against hits, etc…).

      I’m super tempted to put together a rig to replicate repeated pedal-strikes against a rock. That rig might just be a metal pole attached to my cargo bike with the pedal hanging off the end and going at 20MPH past a rock. We’ll see…

    • Bruce Burkhalter

      Rolf – Thanks for the reply! Unlike Limits, looks like you know what you are doing. :-) Really looking forward to trying some MTB pedals.

      Ray – Do an interview and/or visit with Rolf/Sensitivus! Also, I will be in Amsterdam May/June/July. Would be happy to help beat on some pedals. :-)

  6. Martin

    “plus ability to update HRM-DUAL HR Strap” – are there any updates available for HR straps??? Is there any list?
    I have HRM-Tri and HRM-Swim

  7. Dan

    How does $300 the instinct get swim auto lap, but Garmin ignores 5x plus (up to $1000) which was the latest fenix less than 6 months ago?

    • Yup, I agree. Garmin’s decision tree on which models get updates and which ones don’t is essentially boiled down to: What have you done for me lately.

    • Dan

      Which makes sense… but I own both an instinct and fenix 5x plus. Bought the instinct way before the fenix. The older unit is updated while the newer one is not.

    • Indeed. In their mind, the Instinct you have is ‘current’, since there’s nothing newer in that lineup, while the Fenix you have is stinky old cheese, since the Fenix 6 came out last summer. :-/

    • Dan

      Not to beat a dead horse, but three thoughts.
      1. I get that there are features that can’t be brought to older units due to licensing costs… Firstbeat metrics etc. Don’t expect those. On the other hand, simple enhancements (like auto swim lap tracking) that can be added to at no cost (especially those that should have been included all along)… should be added to recent generation devices.

      2. These simple enhancements should be added through at least the warranty period of recent devices. If I buy a Fenix 5x Plus one week before the Fenix 6 is released, there should be some expectation that implementation of device improvements won’t stop the day the new device is released.

      3. There has to be some consideration of price point when bringing enhancements. It makes no sense that a Forerunner 245, purchased in April 2019 for $300, gets new (no or low cost features – e.g. auto swim lap) but a Fenix 5x Plus purchased as the latest generation device in August of 2019 for $1000 does not. A higher price point should equate to better longer term update support.

      I’m more than willing to drop $2K for a Marq device, but won’t without some confidence that the day Marq 2 is released, my $2K device will be frozen in time with no consideration of adding “free” or very low cost enhancements.

      Bad business move by Garmin IMHO.

  8. Anirudh

    Seems to me like Garmin ForeRunner 645 has been ignored a tad bit. It hasn’t been getting the updates that 245 and 945 are getting. Now I’m looking to get into triathlon, and I’m kinda bummed I didn’t spring for the 935\945 :-|

    • Grant

      I have to agree here, I have the 735 and things like Virtual cycling option would be awesome to have and 735 is still the current 7 series model (although I might have missed a new version!), and it seems a lot of the new features are being added only to the 945.

  9. Robert Noir

    Hi Ray can you remind the BIG G the fr645 is current. Sure my 6 pro has pace pro, but I still wear my 645 as it’s a little more comfortable on my pipe cleaner wrists for day to day wear