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:
A new slate of sports tech deals began over the last few days. These are typical deals that Garmin does *every* single year, usually starting about a month out from Father’s Day. Suunto also often jumps in the fray (and others too).
| Product | Sale Price | Amazon | Sale Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | AmazFit T-Rex 3 - $40 off | $240 | Amazon | |
 | Amazon Echo Dot Kids - 42% off | $34 | Amazon | Despite 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 $34? 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.) |
 | Apple 11" iPad - (Wi-Fi, 128GB) - $70 off! | $279 | Amazon | ⚡ 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 4 - $60 off! | $119 | Amazon | |
 | Apple Watch SE (2022/2nd gen) - $100 off $249/$299 (cellular) | $169 | Amazon | It's really hard to beat $169 for an Apple Watch. Again, like the other Apple units on this list, the SE3 was announce last month - which adds an Always-on Display, among other features. But at $169 with otherwise all the same software features as the higher-end Apple Watch units, this continues to be one of the best deals in smartwatches out there. |
 | Apple Watch Series 10 - $120 off $399/$499 (cellular) | $279 | Amazon | With the Series 11 out last month, you'll see sales on the Series 10. That said, there isn't a huge difference between Series 11 and Series 10. So if you were looking at the Apple Watch SE3, this might be worth grabbing instead for the added features. |
 | Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium - $150 off | $649 | Amazon | With the new Apple Watch Ultra 3 announced last month, it's time to clear some Ultra 2 inventory. This is pretty much the 'normal' sale price for the Ultra 2. |
 | DJI Mini 4K Drone - $60 off | $239 | Amazon | If 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! | $159 | Amazon | This 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. |
 | DJI OSMO 360 - $137 off | $412 | Amazon | NOTE: This is not sold by DJI directly via Amazon. DJI itself is NOT selling the OSMO 360 in the US, and WILL NOT support/repair it in the US. That said, it's a solid deal if you're ok with those risks. |
 | Garmin Edge 540 - $73 off | $267 | Amazon | ⚡At $267, it's pretty much impossible to beat this deal in terms of bike computers. There's no competitive option that beats it on features/battery/etc at this price, or frankly anywhere near it. Sure, it doesn't have a touchscreen, but it's not as bad as it used to be (I did a stint on it this winter for a week or so, and was fine). |
 | Garmin Epix Pro - $250 off! $899/$999 | $499 | Amazon | ⚡ This is avery solid deal! The Epix Pro has the latest optical HR sensor in it, and thus has full ECG support as well. Note, this is for a 'renewed' model. In Garmin lingo, it means it went back to the (same) factory in Taiwan, and went back to the assembly line and is effectively a new watch again. I wouldn't have any concerned with a renewed model, but some might. |
 | Garmin Varia Radar (RTL515) - $50 off | $149 | Amazon | This is Garmin's standalone radar+taillight option, and $149 is pretty much the standard sale-price. Even despite all the new radars out there, this remains the most accurate option on the market. Now, only if Garmin would just re-release it with USB-C. C'Mon Garmin... |
 | Garmin Venu X1 - $100 off! | $699 | Amazon | This is the first time we've seen the Venu X1 on sale, since it came out this past summer. This is a good deal, though, I do wonder if it indicates the original pricing wasn't quite right here. |
 | Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way) - $40 off | $360 | Amazon | This 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. |
 | Garmin inReach Messenger Plus - $100 off! | $399 | Amazon | This came out last fall, and is the second time this has been discounted. The key difference with the new Plus model is that it adds the ability to send photos and voice messenges via satellite. I've used it a bit, and it's pretty cool because it makes it a lot faster to just say something rather than type it out, but the $499 price seemed excessive. $399 makes it slightly more palatable. |
 | GoPro Hero 13 Black - $50 off | $349 | Amazon | |
 | GoPro Hero 13 Black Bundle (extra battery/SD card/floaty) - $100 off! | $379 | Amazon | ⚡ This is a very solid deal. It's a Hero 13 Black on discount, but then an extra battery tossed in, then an SD card, and then a floaty. |
 | GoPro Hero 4K - $20 off | $199 | Amazon | While the new Hero Lit was announced a few weeks back, which includes a front LED light, for the most part it's the same camera inside. Note I'll have a full comparison shortly though between the GoPro Hero Lit, DJI OSMO Nano, and Insta360 Go Ultra. |
 | Google Pixel Watch 3 (45mm) - $70 OFF | $229 | Amazon | The newer Pixel Watch 4 came out last month, and will start shipping this week. I see the Pixel Watch 4 as a pretty substantial hardware upgrade over the Pixel Watch 3, notably due to satellite SOS, as well as a user-replaceable battery. Still, this is a solid deal. |
 | Insta360 X5 360* Action Cam - $50 off! | $499 | Amazon | |
 | Polar H10 Chest Strap (Dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) - $15 off $89 | $84 | Amazon | |
 | Polar Verity Sense - 15% off $99 | $82 | Amazon | I use this as one of my reference devices for heart rate accuracy testing. |
 | Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) - $100 off! | $549 | Amazon | |
 | Samsung Galaxy Watch8 - $35 off | $314 | Amazon | |
 | Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-frame Mirrorless Camera w/ 28-70mm Zoom - $400 off | $2,398 | Amazon | This 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 Run - $50 off! $249 | $199 | Amazon | This is a very solid deal. It's got virtually all the software features of Suunto's higher-end watches (minus the app store), and just came out this past May. |
 | Suunto Vertical - $120 off! | $379 | Amazon | While the new Suunto Vertical 2 just came out last week, if you wanted to stock-up on MIP-based display watches before they disappear, here's your chance. |
 | Suunto Wing headphones - $30 off | $119 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo ACE Cycling GPS - $90 off! $599 | $531 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo BOLT V2 - $30 off $279 | $237 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo KICKR 2022/V6 - $155 off! $1,299 | $894 | Amazon | ⚡This is actually the lowest price we've ever seen on the KICKR V6. Wahoo says we won't see a new top-end KICKR this fall, with them instead focusing on the new KICKR Bike Pro, KICKR CORE 2, and all their new bike computers/radar/etc... |
 | Wahoo KICKR Core Smart Trainer - $75 off! $499 | $427 | Amazon | This is basically the lowest price we've ever seen for this trainer as far as I know. It's still a very solid trainer, and the cornerstone to the new Zwift Ride bike as well (it uses the KICKR CORE as the base). It works with the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB too. |
 | Wahoo KICKR Desk - $30 off | $199 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo KICKR ROLLR - $130 off $599 | $569 | Amazon | |
 | Wahoo ROAM V3 - $70 off! | $395 | Amazon | This is the first time we've seen the ROAM V3 on sale (notably the BOLT V3 is not on sale, though the larger ACE is). |
 | Wahoo TRACKR Heart Rate Sensor - $15 off $89 | $84 | Amazon |
DCRAINMAKER.COM Posts in the Past Week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week:
Wednesday: Garmin Varia RTL515 and RVR315 Cycling Radar In-Depth Review
Thursday: Garmin Launches Strava & Komoot Route Sync: Works on devices a decade old
Thursday: FORM Swim Goggles Adds Openwater Swimming with Garmin & Apple Watches
Saturday: How To: See Map Overlays of Varia Radar Data, with Vehicle Counts
I suspect for this week ahead we’re going to see a bit more variety in the subject matters. I don’t plan dates for announcements, they just happen when they happen. Outside of some Monday announcements, it’s gonna be a review focused week!
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!
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) Wanna build your own power meter? Now you can: If you ever wanted to channel your inner Keith Wakeham, you’ve got your opportunity. This company is well known in the power meter industry, and makes OEM products for a few different major players. I’m not super clear on the business motivation here, aside perhaps marketing and maybe trying to help a few power meter start-ups leverage their products. But it’s a fun story nonetheless.
2) The story of a Dutchman trying to build a mountain: While this post was only this week, the backstory predated my arrival to the Netherlands. That said, I’m totally game for a mountain around here somewhere!
3) Fitbit to build ventilators: Interesting. Keep in mind the Google acquisition of Fitbit has not yet closed, so it’s not clear what – if any, say Google had in this. It’s also not super clear to me how much demand still exists for ventilators given how many companies have stated their intentions to build them.
4) Behind the scenes on returning broadcast football to TV shows: This is fascinating for a lot of reasons. Technical, logistics, etc… But I think the biggest takeaway here is that this changes the landscape forever. While much of broadcast TV sports is done by hiring local crews that staff a remote truck that effectively plugs in the side of a stadium, the reality is that there’s still a lot of people that travel around. Like every other element of business, companies are going to realize they can do this remotely – even if those people are now in a building with good connectivity versus their homes.
5) Uber sells Jump to Lime: Jump was their bike-sharing scheme. I used it a few times in Paris, though I wouldn’t call myself a huge user of that specific platform. Ultimately, I think the challenge is there’s just too many platform options in some cities, coupled with some cities being super-resistant to making bike-sharing platforms easier. And of course, COVID-19 was simply the knife to the heart of many efforts that relied on people constantly touching and sharing the same space or objects. Still, COVID-19 has also showed us how valuable cycling can be as a replacement for short-distance journeys using other methods.
6) Apple continues to extend wearables lead: However, the real story here is that Garmin has surpassed Fitbit on sales of smartwatches, selling over a million units in Q1. For reference, the singular requirement of a ‘smartwatch’ by these analysis firms (I asked) is that it must support 3rd party apps. Which is a debatable, but probably fair line in the sand to draw.
7) The 20 Fastest Road Bikes In the World (according to Strava): I dipped into this a bit back earlier this year in the Strava annual report, but Cycling Tips decided to do it justice with all sorts of fascinating analysis. Note the caveats (which the author does a great job outlining), as always, but I think it still begins to paint a clear picture. [Yes, this is from last month, it was in my bucket to share since then.]
8) Remember AirDog autonomous sports drones? Before there was Skydio, there was AirDog. I even wrote a few reviews about them. Super cool stuff at the time. Ultimately though, they just couldn’t compete with the likes of DJI, and lacked the capital to dance solo like Skydio. In any case, they were sold to a US company. Exactly how they’ll be used is highly fuzzy. Sounds like an IP purchase to me. (Thanks Mārtiņš)
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 820/520/Edge Explorer Firmware Update: Pile of bug fixes
Garmin Fenix 5 Series Firmware BETA Update: ANT sensor improvements and other bugs
Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Series Firmware BETA Update: Random performance improvements
Garmin Forerunner 735XT Firmware Update: Bug fix
Garmin Vivosmart 4 Firmware Update: Algorithm improvements
Garmin Vivoactive Firmware Update: Bug fix
Garmin Vivoactive HR Firmware Update: Same bug fix
Stages Dash M50 and L50 Firmware Update: Added ANT+ trainer control, new data field types, and a boatload of other tweaks
Wahoo ELEMNT/BOLT/ROAM Firmware Update: Bug fix related to speed/cadence sensors
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Thanks for reading!
Hey Ray,
Nice to see the category return. Any chance you‘ll get the Lama to podcast again?
Thanks
Yup – I think soon!
Thanks Ray! I really enjoyed the power meter and remote broadcasting articles.
Thanks!
not much to say on the Suunto 9 Baro sale. Does that mean you wouldn’t go for it? :)
I struggle with the value prop these days there. Suunto has largely said ‘shrug, we don’t care’, when it comes to their platform. These days for that price I’d happily pickup a Polar Grit X instead (not even on sale mind you). Polar has shown significant interest in improving their platform for performance athletes, and keeps on delivering new features.
As far as I can tell, the Garmin/Fitbit deal hasn’t received antitrust clearance yet so any detailed involvement in Fitbit’s business by Garmin while the review is pending would be what antitrust experts call “gun-jumping” – it’s basically illegal to behave as if the deal has received clearance before it actually has, and can lead to substantial penalties.
Source: used to be an M&A lawyer before I retired.
Their accuracy claim: 2% at 200W – 90RPM. This is very reasonable but devil is usually in the details. I am curious how this number will change if some big lad is crunching pedals at 45RPM up steep hill? Or somebody doing high powered sprint. Also is there any thermal compensation?
The 2% at 200w/90RPM is honestly a pretty common way companies baseline power meter accuracy. That’s because at higher wattages most power meters actually get more accurate %-wise (claims). And at lower wattages slightly less so.
Whether or not a power meter is accurate at sprints or low-cadence all comes down to design (HW & SW).
With all the Garmin deals, any insight if we’ll see new models of Forerunners coming out? 955 finally?
The two most obvious new hardware features for Garmin to move forward with would be the AMOLED screen (as seen with the Venu), and LTE connectivity. Both of these would come with a battery hit, and given the premium that 945 users place on battery life (Ironman, ultrarunners, backcountry hikers) I can’t see Garmin looking to introduce these features with a 955. More likely they will introduce them at the 655 level, and then you’ll see them in a 955 some months later when they have had the chance to optimise them (especially with power consumption). This was the pattern with the 645M.
Add to this the wildcard of COVID. The 2020 triathlon season is largely a wipeout (perhaps some shorter local events in September?), but with gyms being closed, you may see more interest in running. I can see Garmin prioritising a more general purpose/running watch for release this year, with a tri watch in 2021.
That said, mapping on an AMOLED display would be sweet, and having onboard LTE connectivity might address the flaky mess that LiveTrack is.
All this is just idle speculation of course.
I don’t really see the upside to AMOLED across their line of watches. I’ve noticed the (slight) difference in the number of pixels in the Fenix 6 series over my 5x. Why not make a LED Retina display? The screens would look better and wouldn’t get the battery hit from an AMOLED display.
AMOLED actually draws less power than LED displays, all else being equal, as LEDs require a backlight capable of sufficiently lighting the entire panel, where AMOLED only draws power on “lit” pixels (and proportional to the amount of light needed to emit).
Drawbacks of AMOLED are potential aging and “burn-in” issues over long periods (longer than most people keep their watches nowadays, LOL).
AMOLED are also significantly higher in PPI in small form factors compared to LED Retina displays. Having said that, “Retina” is an Apple “buzzword”, their latest, highest-end Retina displays (SuperRetina) are actually OLED, not LED/LCD, although with substantially lower pixel density than Samsung phones of the current generation (iPhone X = 458ppi, Samsung S9 = 570ppi).
link to support.apple.com
Finally cost is a factor, AMOLED simply costs a bit more than similar LED/LCDs (including LED Retina models)… so that’s a factor also (although in 1.3″ watch displays, it’s probably a few dollars difference between them, some of which may be offset by the thinner AMOLED panel giving more “design room” in the watch back)
Here’s a good write-up by someone else,
link to smallbusiness.chron.com
Anyhow, AMOLED is probably the best display tech available in watches (and anything else), so long as the (minimal) considerations above are understood. Most also consider AMOLED to be the “best” (visually) display option, LED/LCD Retina displays are very nice, in comparison to other LED/LCD displays, but not next to an OLED of similar specs, or even the OLED “SuperRetina” displays.
Hi Ray
The link to the Garmin Edge software update is broken.
Regards
Jerrod
Weird. Works for me. :-/
Hammerhead added Live Segment functionality to the Karoo about a week ago.
It would be interesting to see a post or video comparing the implementation on all the different devices that support Strava Live Segments.
A nice deal on the fenix 6x pro.. and I have promised myself not to buy another watch until my fenix 5 plus is 2 years old which happens to be only 2 months from now. I hope there will be a similar deal in the summer or towards the end of the year.
Did you notice you can now import GPX files in Garmin Explore and thus easily sync waypoints/tracks/.. to a fenix 5 plus (or other supported devices), also without an active internet connection.
Garmin seems to have a really hard time with the next firmware for the Edge 530/830: last stable release (5.10) on December 21st, first beta on January 10 and continuing until now…
Any idea what’s going on here Ray?
Not sure I follow? 5.24 had a pretty massive list of changes: link to www8.garmin.com
Yes, lot of changes, but 5.24 was a beta version. And every version upto 5.48 (May 9) is labeled as a beta. So for whatever reason Garmin doesn’t have the confidence yet to push the new firmware to all their users.
See Peter, ask and you shall receive! Major production update last week just after your post. ;)
Hey Ray! Got quite a dilemma I would really appreciate some assistance with. Just purchased a new Cervelo S3 and struggling with what PM to go with. Partially, I have an InfoCrank on my tribike (which triathlon is primarily my focus) and struggling with whether I should match my tribike setup for training consistency or go with a more economical setup of adding the stages left side only to my Shimano Ultegra 8000 crank that comes stock with my new road bike. Is this a no brainer that I am overthinking?
That’s a good option to be fair. Certainly, I’ve got some minor concerns around left-only power, especially if you vary a lot on balance. But my guess is you can look at your Infocrank data and know whether or not that’s case.
The key things I’d be looking at are:
A) Poke at a few long rides, does your balance shift over the course of the ride?
B) Poke at a few interval workouts (hard ones), any major shifts there?
If not, a left-side unit would probably work well for you.
Ray,
That’s great feedback and exactly what I needed. Thanks a lot!!!
Hey Ray, is the Garmin Edge 520 (without +) EOF and therefore will not get any firmware updates? Thanks.
Nothing feature-wise. Sometimes we see minor maintenance things, or random backwards compatibility type updates to much older units. But definitely not features.
Hi Ray. I just want to find out if you think it’s worth it to buy the Fenix 6X in June 2020. Do you think there is going to be a new variant to the Fenix line in August??