In the unlikely event the internet or Amazon hasn’t already informed you, today and tomorrow (Monday/Tuesday) is Amazon Prime Day. That means that most (all? Update: Not All, Not Canada) Amazon country properties are doing pretty substantial deals across the board on all sorts products, including yes, sports tech gear. Historically held in July, this year it’s a bit earlier, and historically, Amazon Prime Day has been *VERY* strong for sports tech deals – even eclipsing Black Friday (from an Amazon perspective).
In some ways, for sports tech items it’s timed perfectly. See, typically Black Friday deals are for ‘older’ things, rarely the ‘just announced’ stuff that often comes in the late August to October timeframe (especially cycling trainers, and watches). But with Prime Day being in June, there’s frankly not a lot of ‘just announced’ stuff. Thus, more opportunity for brands to put things on sale for a one-off summer day.
To take advantage of Amazon Prime Days you simply need to be an Amazon Prime member. The good news is that you can sign-up with the free trial and cancel later if you don’t find value in it. Just hit up this giant banner below to do so:
I’ve organized all the best sports technology Amazon Prime Days deals (and a few others I’ve found) below in the tables by category. I’ll be updating them throughout the next two days. Keep in mind not all deals last (in fact, most don’t). So if you see something that’s hot, I’d strongly suggest buy now (and return later if need be).
With that, onto the deals! And thanks for supporting the site via the links below. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Enjoy!
Europe Folks Note: This year almost *ALL* of the watch/cycling deals you’ll see in the main lists are available in Europe too! So you can click on those links and it’ll redirect to the correct Europe store. For the most part, the %-off are the same (a first!). I’m also adding in Europe-only/unique deals to the bottom Europe section too.
Watches & Wearables:
This covers anything you can wear that’s watch-like or activity band-like, including sensors. Generally speaking, you’ll mostly find deals here that are on things I’ve written about in the past. So you won’t find a deal on some random non-sports tech watch here, or on socks. Unless the socks have some crazy sensor or something in them.
I've been using these the past few months, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. My wife has already started stealing them, which means she'll probably get a set for Christmas so she'll stop sealing them.
These aren't the latest anymore, that's the newer 3rd gen units. But if budget is in mind, it's hard to beat these. It's still what my wife uses as her daily driver, including tons of time on the indoor trainer/bike.
⚡This is now the lowest price we've ever seen the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) - a very solid deal, especially with the new WatchOS 10 features adding in offline topo mapping, power meter support, and plenty more.
This is Apple's latest Apple Watch model, and did quite well in my review when it launched about two months ago. Especially notable is all the new sports/fitness features it got this year, such as cycling power meter/sensor support.
This is really the first slate of sales we've seen on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the lowest price to date. Note: It'll show $739, and then to get the full extra $10 more off, you have to check that 'Apply Coupon' button under the price.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $449 (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates. Also note: This deal is *STILL* available. Sometimes you'll have to click to show other retailers (on the right side), but it's still live.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Epix Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. I'd say this is probably my go-to watch these days (middle-sized one), with the singular reason I tend to choose it over the Forerunner 965, being the built-in flashlight for night.
⚡⚡⚡ This is a crazy super strong deal, with Amazon having it as low as $499 for Sapphire edition (insane). Note that the Epix Gen 2 has continued to receive virtually all of the Epix Pro new features firmware updates.
[Note: This is a renewed unit] Obviously, the Fenix 6 isn't the latest anymore, but these are still very capable watches and frankly, at $329, there's absolutely nothing from any of their even brand-new competitor watches (COROS, Polar, Suunto, etc...) that can even remotely compete with the features here. Heck, not even Garmin's own pricing for their Fenix 7 Pro can compete with this. Fwiw, all Garmin renewed units go back to the same factory original units came from. Frankly, there's virtually no difference. If you're on a budget, this is where it's at.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the new Fenix 7 Pro series on sale, and it's a nice strong sale. The smaller Fenix 7S Pro watch has become my wife's go-to watch since it came out, for all of her training and 24x7 usage.
⚡This is a strong deal if you don't care about the new optical heart rate sensor (including ECG) of the newer Fenix 7 Pro, especially given the Fenix 7 series has received virtually all of the Fenix 7 Pro's new software features, keeping them essentially identical.
This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
This is Garmin's mid-tier running watch, and is a very polished option with good multi-band GPS, and of course, a boatload of running metrics. This model also includes offline music such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and this is now the lowest price we've ever seen on it. I often use this in my accuracy testing comparisons when validating other watches, due to it's very strong GPS performance. This is the SOLAR edition.
This is a good deal, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone.
This is a great deal at $199 for the smaller 2S units, especially considering the Instinct 2 series got Training Readiness and a host of other new features over the course of just this year alone. Plus of course all the existing triathlon/power meter/etc support it has built-in.
This is the first time we've seen the Instinct 2X on sale, and since announcement it's received a huge slate of firmware updates and new features. It's best thought of as an Instinct 2.5, as it has almost enough features to really be more of an Instinct 3 (which doesn't exist at this point).
While the new Pixel Watch 2 just came out a month ago, the Pixel Watch 2 got almost all the software features two weeks ago via software update. The Pixel Watch 2 does have a slightly better optical HR sensor, and better battery life, but otherwise is relatively similiar.
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%. Note, the medium- size is the one on sale.
This is the first time we've seen the new Suunto Vertical on sale, and especially notable given the huge firmware update it got this past week with tons of new features from the also-new Suunto Race watch.
⚡ At some point, everything becomes a steal. While the Wahoo RIVAL struggles to be comepetitive with higher-end watches, at $99, it's a pretty crazy deal - especially for triathletes where Wahoo does some cool stuff around automatic transitions.
This brings down the 1-year price to $17/month, which is the lowest it's been (only way to get that is normally a 24-month membership).
Cycling Gear & Trainers:
Got a bike? Then this section is for you. Everything from bike computers to bike lights to trainers, it’s all here. I won’t generally be adding things like brake cables or bike seats here, but if I find a good deal on a cassette to stack on that new direct drive trainer you just bought, I’ll probably list it here.
Product
Sale Price
Amazon
Other site
Sale Notes
4iiii Precision Ride-Ready Power Meters - $100 off!
This is for their non-drive power meter, in either the 'Ride-Ready' config (they send you a completed unit), or $50 off for the factory-install (where you send in your crank arm). The Ride Ready option is really a solid deal, considering you get a reliable power meter for $235.
Ride Ready R7000 - 30% off
Ride Ready R8000 - 20% off
Factory Install - 20% off
⚡ This is a strong deal from Favero, who is offering their Favero Assioma Duo pedals for 200EUR off. You'll pay the current exchange rate. The exact deal will vary based on which country you're shipping to.
⚡The Karoo 2 is down to $299 ($100 off), but you can use DCR coupon code DCRAIN40 to get an additional $40 off, bringing it down to $259!!! A very solid deal given all the software updates it's received!
Lasko High Velocity Pro-Performance Fan (U15617) - 23% off
This is one of the most popular indoor trainer fan companies out there, which rivals the Wahoo Headwind fan but cost a fraction of the price. Of course, it lacks ANT+/Bluetooth integration, but realistically if you really want that you can add a smart outlet for $10 to toggle it on/off from your phone if need be. I've actually got this fan in the DCR Cave recently on advice of many people.
⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.
⚡ This is a very solid deal that happens twice a year, if you were looking at the Wahoo power meter pedals, grab these before this disappears (and it usually disappears). As with the Garmin Rally pedals, I continue to use Wahoo power meter pedals for accuracy testing of other brands/units.
Action Cameras & Drones:
Wanna record it? No better way than an action camera. Anything that’s action camera related or drone related you’ll find here. That’s especially true of action camera mounts, which are often found for great deals around the holidays. Same goes with drone and drone accessories. Usually a great time to pick up an extra battery or extra props.
The DJI Avata is DJI's smaller form factor FPV drone, and one of my favorites to fly. I don't use it all the time, but more for very specific things requiring a bit more agility (whereas most of the times I'll use the DJI Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, or Mavic 3 Pro).
There's definitely something cool about seeing a sub-$300 drone. And there's nothing wrong with this drone, it's very good. Just be careful though, because it's lack of 360* obstacle avoidance means it's pretty easy to get yourself in a pinch for a beginner drone.
Up till the Mini 4 Pro came out, this was my go-to drone. It's what I shot almost all my drone footage from, and is great for both cycling and hiking (or trail running with a hydration pack to hold it), as it's super lightweight and includes everything you need.
⚡ This is the first time we've seen the DJI Mini 4 Pro on sale, for a product DJI rarely discounts so soon after release. This is a great drone, and my go-to unit now for most trips.
I actually quite like the Insat360 Go 3 and the combo of tiny form factor when you want it, and screen-box when you don't. I'm not sure $20 off is a sale worth jumping out of your seat for, but hey...a sale is a sale.
Other Sports & Fitness:
Anything else that’s sports and fitness related that I think is interesting will be here. It may not be super techy – but it’s stuff that most readers will be using in pursuit of their running/cycling/swimming/hiking/whatever.
⚡ 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.
This is one of the other more popular display-laden rowing machines. I haven't tried this, but my sports-tech reviewing buddy DesFit has (linked at side) and liked it.
Hyperice Normatec 3 Leg Recovery System - $100 off
Peloton has the Peloton Row on sale, both this base unit here, but also various bundled units as well. This is the first times we've seen the base unit (non-bundled) on sale.
This is arguably my wife's favorite sports tech gadget. She uses it pretty much daily. Thus, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this deal. Also, please don't tell her, she might just buy another one...
My wife uses the Theragun Elite, which is just slightly more expensive than this model at $299 on sale right now. But hey, I hear good things about all of these.
I've long been a fan of the Withings WiFi scales, especially since they can connect/push data to so many platforms, including Zwift! Note that the Body+ simply includes more data.
European Deals!
What’s that? You’re not in the US and still want a deal? No problem! Note that on Amazon Europe deals, generally speaking, you can order from any Amazon European country site (i.e. Amazon France) and have it shipped within the EU (i.e. Spain). Thus, many times deals are duplicated across the sites. I generally try and just distill it down to one.
Remember these deals refresh each day for the most part, and usually only last a few hours. Jump if you see something you like!
There are no deals currently.
DCR Random Gadget List:
This is basically the mostly totally unrelated gadgets and things I think are cool deals that I’ve likely bought one or five of (you can never have too many, right)? Some of it’s probably photography stuff. Some of it’s random stuff like chargers and battery packs that I use daily, fun camera gear I use to make videos like sliders and turntables, and well…just random things you’ll find around the DCR Cave. It’s all random…but it’s all awesome randomness!
Product
Sale Price
Amazon
Sale Notes
9th Gen Apple 10.2-inch iPad (Wi-Fi, 64GB) - $100 off!
⚡ 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 Wahoo SYSTM, 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.
⚡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.
There's just no competition in our minds on the best running stroller - it's what we used with all three of our kiddos for everyting from intervals to 20-mile long runs. In fact, we actually have two of them - one at home in Europe, and one with family in Canada that we picked up used. Go Bob Go!
We have more Nest cam's than I can count. No really, we have half a dozen at the DCR Cave alone, plus more at home. We love them. Nest Cam's really only go on sale about 1-2x per year.
These are the WiFi mesh access points I use both at home and the DCR Cave. Love them - I don't need to dork with them, they just work. Sure, there are fancier 'Pro' versions now, but really, I just have zero issues.
This 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 also use it on trips to Eurobike and elsewhere to keep equipment charged. I've even bought a solar panel to hook up to it (surprisingly effective). Heck, I've even powered a KICKR trainer ride from it!
Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee & Espresso Kit - 30% off
⚡ 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!
We use one of these and so far after just about five years, it's working great for us. Love it, and works better than trying to stick a regular Nest Cam out the window (since it'll reflect both during daytime and at night with the IR sensor).
⚡ I know, I know, I still owe everyone a review. Nonetheless, 2+ years later, I love this thing. We use it for more than pizza too, notably steaks (to get a really crispy sear). But a lot of pizza. It's completely portable, even easily fitting on our cargo bike. Note that I went with this model, the cheapest one they make, as I realized that buying the higher-end models that that support gas didn't make much sense for me. I have a gas grill already (and could easily just put a stone on it). Similarly, while a large 16" is appealing, realistically I've found this 12" more than enough for pretty substantial personal pizzas (and it makes it easier to handle). Full in-depth review pretty soon...probably. Also, $244 appears to be the lowest price ever.
We have a few SONOS speakers around the house and DCR Cave (the Ikea variants at DCR Cave), but by far our favorite is the Roam, which we take outdoors into the garden during the summer, beach vacations, AirBNB's, etc... It has a battery in it, and also connects to both WiFi and Bluetooth. Love, love, love
I use a literal flotilla of these small SSD's for all my photo/video projects until they get moved off to the NAS system (Synology) for longer term storage. I have T5/T7 units, and are picking up a few of the larger T9 ones given the sale prices. Love them, incredibly fast and reliable.
⚡I use the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards exclusively for all my video/photo shooting on my Panasonic GH5 and Nikon cameras (video and stills), including up to 6K recording with the GH5. I've mostly used 128's, but more and more lately I'm filling up cards faster with higher bitrates, so this sale is gonna have me pickup a bunch of the 256GB ones instead. The 128GB/ 512GB/1TB ones are also on sale too viathe same link. Note that usually I wait till these are about $40-45, so this is a fantastic deal and I'll be filling up.
With that – thanks for reading, and for supporting the site via the links above.
Many Garmin products are heavily discounted in Europe (link to amazon.de), including the Instinct Solar at 250 euro or the Forerunner245 at around 165.
Good reminder. I just ordered (on sale, woot!), the Vivofit Jr. 3 to see how it goes with our oldest one. She’s about to turn five and loves her current Disney Mickey one, so not entirely sure I’ll succeed with getting her to be the tester.
Not Amazon related, as we don’t have it here in NZ, but for all the kiwis, check out Noel Leeming – that have the Fenix 6 pro sapphire at half price (724 NZD), which is about 500 USD – sorry Ray, no affiliate link for you I’m afraid! link to noelleeming.co.nz
Ray: I know this may be a weird question, but I was thinking of getting the Fenix watch instead of a bike computer. I’m probably not thinking straight but is there a possibility of using it as such?
The singular downside is simply viewability. Meaning, having it on your wrist means less glanceability to the metrics, especially if mountain biking or such. But, lots of people don’t mind that, or, use it more for recording the ride than constant checking mid-ride. Cheers!
Just keep checking. I missed out on it when it was on a similar (identical?) sale on Black Friday, kept an eye on it, and got it again later in the day. Good luck!
Hi Ronnie – looks like it’s back, or, is close to back. Showing $26 off (instead of $30) at this second. Not sure how important that extra $4 is. As mentioned by Go Get that Deal after you, typically things ebb and flow, so it’ll probably be back at some point (hopefully): link to amzn.to
Actually, looks like the $174 is the RTL510 (not that it matters much in most cases). But yes, I see some people earlier got the RTL515 for $169, but agree, it’s now oscillating between $180 and not available.
Just bought a Fenix 6 Pro (mid-size) for £375.. I’ve been hovering pulling the trigger on a 945 for ages to replace my old Fenix 3 with a slightly smaller form-factor, but at this price I couldn’t resist. The Fenix 6X Pro is down to £425, put I decided I don’t really need the extra battery, size or weight, and the extra £50 bought a few strap options and some of Ray’s favourite charging pucks!
What do you think of the Jabra Active Elite 75t–Prime Day price is $120 down from $180? Was thinking of splurging for the new Vista 2, but worth it? Need them for runs, listening to podcasts, not necessarily highest sound quality.
I have them and at least when running they popped out all the time. It could be just me though. I got replacement eartips from Comply that seem to help. I previously had the Jabra elite sport and they were great but bulky. The sound quality is good and it could just be my ears that are the problem with them falling out.
I have those and compared them to many others and found that the 65t earbuds had a better fit for running than the 75t. Sure, you get ANC with the 75t and they are slimmer but the fit, for me, was not as good. I have the Jaybird Vista Run 1st gen and those are fantastic.
REALLY wish the forerunner 245 dropped a bit more after being out so long. The Vivoactive 4 was a nice drop but not really AS good of a running watch. 45 dropped but also doesn’t measure up and especially with 55 just out and the 55 doesn’t have as good of a screen as the 2+ year old 245. Grrrrrrrr!
Maybe not the price, but the BATTERY drops a LOT now after a year (actually wife had hers just over a year, and now it can’t hold a charge more than 1-2 days now, she’s moved to Coros because of her frustrations with the 245 battery problems, which are shared by many it seems after a firmware update a while back seems to have messed things up)… so although the price may not have dropped, some things about it are dropping, including the appeal, LOL. (Wife bought it expressly for music on-board, which she loved (except that same update, seems to have also caused her earbuds to drop out while running, something she didn’t have problems with in the first year (same earbuds), but when it can’t even keep battery for barely more than a day just over a year old, not even with training, just “daily activity”, that was highly disappointing to the point she looked for something that didn’t even have her most desired feature (she switched from Polar with days of battery life, to the 245, which originally had several days between charges, also, but now….)
And yeah, we tried all the rest processes several times, including with Garmin support, no luck, it just dies at roughly 5%/hr even when not recording any workouts. (And we turned off all the settings that are supposed to help, no luck).
The Fenix 6 Saphhire deal seems really good and I snagged one…only second guessing I would have at this point is whether prices will drop lower after the Fenix 7 is released (and if that’s in the fall vs 2022…I’ve heard rumors about a 2022 release date).
dang I just got the 6s on sale over the weekend & it’s so far a great device. But, a 6 Sapphire for a little over $50 more(with tax) is real tempting. Why couldn’t the 6S sapphire be this price as the 6 might be a bit on the large size for me?
I’ve been waffling between getting a Forerunner 745 and 945. Just gave in and pulled the trigger on the 945. If it looks too big on my skinny wrist, I can always send it back.
Withings body+ is on sale at $69.99 (from $99.99). In the past I’ve seen it down to $49.99 though.
It’s the scale I recommend for people who want maximal “connectivity”. Afaik it has the most open API, exposing all measurements (weight, fat, bone mass, water %, etc) not just weight.
When it comes to accuracy, I’m not an expert, but some users in the TrainerRoad forums said their DEXA scans (measuring body fat) weren’t that far off from what their scale was reporting to them.
The body fat measurement on my Withings Body+ scale isn’t even close to my last DEXA scan, and it sometimes fluctuates by up to 2% day to day (obviously not realistic). For basic weight measurement it’s fine. I recommend the cheaper model without body fat because that feature is worse than useless.
Do you have “athlete mode” turned off? If not – definitely do that. That’s what everyone in the TrainerRoad forums recommends.
But otherwise yeah YMMV, other’s have said it does read close to their DEXA scans, so yours could be defective or (as you said) the technology just isn’t there.
I tried with athlete mode both on and off and it was still inaccurate. And the scale doesn’t even provide a way to adjust the calibration manually. It’s just garbage.
Above is the link to the TrainerRoad forum post. There’s multiple people there who’ve done both and say the numbers are close. The main recommendation I saw there was to turn athlete mode off, but I wonder if they have any more tips.
Ray (and fellow readers), what’s your recommendation on the Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire deal (currently $500 on Amazon) vs the Garmin Forerunner 945 (about $550 on Amazon)?
They both sound like great smart watches, but it’s unclear to me the main difference between the two and which would be considered “better”. Thanks
The Forerunner line is more or less the Fenix line in a plastic shell…nearly identical sensors and software but the Fenix is built to be more rugged.
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The only reason I can come up with to go with the Forerunner 945 over the Fenix 6 sapphire is if you want a slightly lighter watch.
Overall, the Fenix deal is far, far better…normally you’d pay a few hundred more for the Fenix
Hi Ray
I’m from the Netherlands but currently in Curaçao
If I want to buy the fenix sapphire for 499 it ask for 150 additional cost en import fees.
Is that any different if I let someone order from the Netherlands?
Right now I tried to order had to pay 568 euro’s for the femix sapphire 6 which is still good because the cheapest I can find it was 599 but it wil be delivered in the Netherlands in November🤔🙃
So I cancelled. Just order the 599 at amazon which is not even a prime deal and get it in 2 days
Worth the 30 euros;)
Maybe not! , in Aussie Garmin are selling it from their website for this price, and in NZ where I am, a national retailer is selling it for this price, so I think it’s a price point driven by Garmin not Amazon. My guess is clearing overstock before the 7 is launched
Yeah, AUS/NZ is a different animal in terms of pricing.
But in the US, the pricing is very much controlled. In checking a few ‘known’ retailers that will follow MAP (so they don’t get naled with a MAP violation), nobody else is following Amazon here. Which is a good indication that this isn’t a Garmin sale, but an Amazon one.
Meaning, Amazon went out and bought X number of units (probably tens of thousands), at some point over the last Y timeframe, knowing they’d violate map and take the 6-month ban for replenishing *just* the Fenix 6 Sapphire. It’s an obscure and specific enough SKU that it won’t meaningfully impact things, and they’ll keep enough on-hand to sell for the next 6 months too.
It’s plausible that Garmin offered them a deal to take X number of units off their hands, but generally speaking Garmin really only tends to do that after a new product launch (for old products), and usually some time later, since the existing product tends to sell fairly well by itself for many months anyway.
But again, all this is US only. The whole concept of MAP is pretty much illegal in every other country.
Ray, did you review the Withings Body + somewhere that I can’t find? Trying to decide between it and the Index 2. In the Garmin ecosystem, so want consistent connection to Garmin Connect.
No, I don’t think I did. Essentially, it was just a rebrand of the Nokia one, at least, that’s my basic understanding of it. Which of course, was mostly just a rebrand of the latest gen Withings one.
Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing – not helping matters is that there are essentially half a dozen names that are near identical.
Not sure what the better deal is… that 5X Plus at $389 of the 6S at $449: link to amazon.com
I had been looking to trade up from an Apple Watch Series 3 into something that would take care of all of my sporting needs and could also do double duty on backcountry hiking (i.e. with maps)
Thanks for the quick reply! Looks like the only 6S Pro at that price ($499) is the white and rose gold, which I guess I could try to pull off (LOL!)–the black 6S Pro is $640. I’m having a hard time seeing a difference in specs between the 5X Plus and the various flavors of 6.
Honestly, I find the maps pretty useful across the board, but admittedly rarely use the watch maps for cycling. Instead, I use a dedicated bike computer with maps. I use the maps a ton for trail running and such though.
In a nutshell, people have for years used a clever workout of linking up your MyFitnessPal account to both Garmin and Withings. It works for a while, and then it craps itself and you poke at it with a stick for a bit before forgetting about it, and then trying again 4 months later (where it then works again).
When MFP got hacked a few years back, I was pretty frustrated with MFP and the MFP-to-Garmin workaround. It seemed to break all the time and afaik that’s still the case.
I wrote a program to automate the process and include all the supported metrics (MFP only syncs weight).
Eventually I turned it into a subscription app called SmartScaleSync.com. It now supports several other scales and fitness platforms. Ray actually mentions it in his review of the new garmin index scale. I have a few hundred users and people seem satisfied (if that’s not the case – send me an email).
There’s also a few open source projects that exist now on github, so if you have some technical chops you could host a withings to garmin solution yourself.
But as Ray said, out of the box support for connecting the two platforms is non-existent.
Yo Ray
Check out runningxpert.com
Its a Danish site who sell all across Europe. Very cheap prices.
Garmin fenix 6 sapphire 469 euro
Other garmin watches as well very cheap
And its legit.
Nice catch on the Synology NAS – they are not on sale too often. But, for those just getting involved in the Synology ecosystem, know that the last two digits of the model are the release year of the device (the numbers before that are the max number of HDD/SSD that can be accomodated, including attached expansion devices). So, the DS418 is still a fine device, but is 4 years old. As with any other computer – and these NAS devices are computers with their own OS – they will eventially be left behind b/c they will be unable to run a future OS and/or apps (packages in Synology speak). I bought a DS218+ a year ago and it’s great. I’ll need to upgrade around the time I’ll need more disks, so OK for me. But you might think twice about a DSxx18 (or older!) if you want to use it well into the future and/or push the processor-dependent virtual machine / photo management capabilities. I upgraded from a DS110j that is really underpowered (now – yup 2010 model, so 12 y/o), unable to run the latest OS – but is perfectably capable of syncing data over the interwebs from multiple clients.
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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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
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.
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.
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! It’s a nice break from the day to day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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.
Many Garmin products are heavily discounted in Europe (link to amazon.de), including the Instinct Solar at 250 euro or the Forerunner245 at around 165.
Thanks AA!
Just starting on the Euro deals now!
Hey Ray my kids are waiting for your review of the Garmin Vivofit Jr. 3 to see if they should upgrade.
10 year is on Jr 2 and 7 year old original Jr hand me down from his big brother.
Please have the peanuts put the Junior 3 through it’s paces
Hey Gary!
Good reminder. I just ordered (on sale, woot!), the Vivofit Jr. 3 to see how it goes with our oldest one. She’s about to turn five and loves her current Disney Mickey one, so not entirely sure I’ll succeed with getting her to be the tester.
Cheers!
On Amazon.de: GoPro Hero 8 bundle (incl. headband, shorty tripod and 32 GB SD card) for 279 €
link to smile.amazon.de
Not Amazon related, as we don’t have it here in NZ, but for all the kiwis, check out Noel Leeming – that have the Fenix 6 pro sapphire at half price (724 NZD), which is about 500 USD – sorry Ray, no affiliate link for you I’m afraid!
link to noelleeming.co.nz
Hi Ray,
Naturally I could be wrong, but the Fenix 6 Sapphire edition seems to be a Pro edition with maps and music.
link to buy.garmin.com
link to support.garmin.com
Oh and in Australia, it’s currently half price, down from A$1299 to $649.50
link to buy.garmin.com
Very good catch – thanks, and fixed!!! An amazing deal then!
Ray: I know this may be a weird question, but I was thinking of getting the Fenix watch instead of a bike computer. I’m probably not thinking straight but is there a possibility of using it as such?
Totally normal. Lots of folks do it.
The singular downside is simply viewability. Meaning, having it on your wrist means less glanceability to the metrics, especially if mountain biking or such. But, lots of people don’t mind that, or, use it more for recording the ride than constant checking mid-ride. Cheers!
Garmin has a handlebar mount for Fenix watches so you don’t have to keep it on your wrist. But the screen is still pretty small to use it that way.
link to buy.garmin.com
Prime Day in Canada is postponed due to covid. Yes really.
LOL canada. “No, you CAN’T buy stuff at home from your computer b/c virus something something scary mumble control freak”
thanks for the list
I can’t seem to find the $30 off for the RTL515?
Just keep checking. I missed out on it when it was on a similar (identical?) sale on Black Friday, kept an eye on it, and got it again later in the day. Good luck!
Hi Ronnie – looks like it’s back, or, is close to back. Showing $26 off (instead of $30) at this second. Not sure how important that extra $4 is. As mentioned by Go Get that Deal after you, typically things ebb and flow, so it’ll probably be back at some point (hopefully): link to amzn.to
Same here.. I am seeing a $181 price through your link here in USA.
Actually, looks like the $174 is the RTL510 (not that it matters much in most cases). But yes, I see some people earlier got the RTL515 for $169, but agree, it’s now oscillating between $180 and not available.
I’d keep checking back.
And now the RTL 515 is full price at the Amazon Link 🙁
Procrastinated on the $20 off wanting the $30 off and now I got nothing off….
Oh well, fun distraction but no reason to buy right now.
FYI, it’s now at $26 off. Do no despair!
Just bought a Fenix 6 Pro (mid-size) for £375.. I’ve been hovering pulling the trigger on a 945 for ages to replace my old Fenix 3 with a slightly smaller form-factor, but at this price I couldn’t resist. The Fenix 6X Pro is down to £425, put I decided I don’t really need the extra battery, size or weight, and the extra £50 bought a few strap options and some of Ray’s favourite charging pucks!
NB – in the UK these are the non-sapphire ones.
Cheers Ray!
Ray,
What do you think of the Jabra Active Elite 75t–Prime Day price is $120 down from $180? Was thinking of splurging for the new Vista 2, but worth it? Need them for runs, listening to podcasts, not necessarily highest sound quality.
Unfortunately, I haven’t tested those ones, so I can’t say there. Sorry!!!
I have them and at least when running they popped out all the time. It could be just me though. I got replacement eartips from Comply that seem to help. I previously had the Jabra elite sport and they were great but bulky. The sound quality is good and it could just be my ears that are the problem with them falling out.
I have those and compared them to many others and found that the 65t earbuds had a better fit for running than the 75t. Sure, you get ANC with the 75t and they are slimmer but the fit, for me, was not as good. I have the Jaybird Vista Run 1st gen and those are fantastic.
Thanks, all.
All the Anker Soundcore wireless earbuds are on the list except the Life Dot 2 – which happen to be the ones I want to buy…
REALLY wish the forerunner 245 dropped a bit more after being out so long. The Vivoactive 4 was a nice drop but not really AS good of a running watch. 45 dropped but also doesn’t measure up and especially with 55 just out and the 55 doesn’t have as good of a screen as the 2+ year old 245. Grrrrrrrr!
Maybe not the price, but the BATTERY drops a LOT now after a year (actually wife had hers just over a year, and now it can’t hold a charge more than 1-2 days now, she’s moved to Coros because of her frustrations with the 245 battery problems, which are shared by many it seems after a firmware update a while back seems to have messed things up)… so although the price may not have dropped, some things about it are dropping, including the appeal, LOL. (Wife bought it expressly for music on-board, which she loved (except that same update, seems to have also caused her earbuds to drop out while running, something she didn’t have problems with in the first year (same earbuds), but when it can’t even keep battery for barely more than a day just over a year old, not even with training, just “daily activity”, that was highly disappointing to the point she looked for something that didn’t even have her most desired feature (she switched from Polar with days of battery life, to the 245, which originally had several days between charges, also, but now….)
And yeah, we tried all the rest processes several times, including with Garmin support, no luck, it just dies at roughly 5%/hr even when not recording any workouts. (And we turned off all the settings that are supposed to help, no luck).
The Fenix 6 Saphhire deal seems really good and I snagged one…only second guessing I would have at this point is whether prices will drop lower after the Fenix 7 is released (and if that’s in the fall vs 2022…I’ve heard rumors about a 2022 release date).
Any thoughts Ray?
Ray,
Your “Product” link for the 1030 Plus goes to your review of the 1030 (Non-Plus).
Thanks Steven – much appreciated!
dang I just got the 6s on sale over the weekend & it’s so far a great device. But, a 6 Sapphire for a little over $50 more(with tax) is real tempting. Why couldn’t the 6S sapphire be this price as the 6 might be a bit on the large size for me?
Wahoo Tickr Fit is 20% off for prime members at checkout
Correction: it is 25% off, as well as the speed and cadence sensor bundle along with some other wahoo products.
Awesome, nice cath, just added in!
I’ve been waffling between getting a Forerunner 745 and 945. Just gave in and pulled the trigger on the 945. If it looks too big on my skinny wrist, I can always send it back.
Withings body+ is on sale at $69.99 (from $99.99). In the past I’ve seen it down to $49.99 though.
It’s the scale I recommend for people who want maximal “connectivity”. Afaik it has the most open API, exposing all measurements (weight, fat, bone mass, water %, etc) not just weight.
When it comes to accuracy, I’m not an expert, but some users in the TrainerRoad forums said their DEXA scans (measuring body fat) weren’t that far off from what their scale was reporting to them.
Nice find! Just added it in!
The body fat measurement on my Withings Body+ scale isn’t even close to my last DEXA scan, and it sometimes fluctuates by up to 2% day to day (obviously not realistic). For basic weight measurement it’s fine. I recommend the cheaper model without body fat because that feature is worse than useless.
Do you have “athlete mode” turned off? If not – definitely do that. That’s what everyone in the TrainerRoad forums recommends.
But otherwise yeah YMMV, other’s have said it does read close to their DEXA scans, so yours could be defective or (as you said) the technology just isn’t there.
I tried with athlete mode both on and off and it was still inaccurate. And the scale doesn’t even provide a way to adjust the calibration manually. It’s just garbage.
Interesting, I’ve never gotten a DEXA scan so I have no idea if mine is accurate or not.
link to trainerroad.com
Above is the link to the TrainerRoad forum post. There’s multiple people there who’ve done both and say the numbers are close. The main recommendation I saw there was to turn athlete mode off, but I wonder if they have any more tips.
Ray (and fellow readers), what’s your recommendation on the Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire deal (currently $500 on Amazon) vs the Garmin Forerunner 945 (about $550 on Amazon)?
They both sound like great smart watches, but it’s unclear to me the main difference between the two and which would be considered “better”. Thanks
The Forerunner line is more or less the Fenix line in a plastic shell…nearly identical sensors and software but the Fenix is built to be more rugged.
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The only reason I can come up with to go with the Forerunner 945 over the Fenix 6 sapphire is if you want a slightly lighter watch.
Overall, the Fenix deal is far, far better…normally you’d pay a few hundred more for the Fenix
Hi Ray
I’m from the Netherlands but currently in Curaçao
If I want to buy the fenix sapphire for 499 it ask for 150 additional cost en import fees.
Is that any different if I let someone order from the Netherlands?
Right now I tried to order had to pay 568 euro’s for the femix sapphire 6 which is still good because the cheapest I can find it was 599 but it wil be delivered in the Netherlands in November🤔🙃
So I cancelled. Just order the 599 at amazon which is not even a prime deal and get it in 2 days
Worth the 30 euros;)
That Fenix 6 Sapphire discount is insane! Is that just an Amazon Prime Day deal?
Indeed, as far as I know, just an Amazon Prime Day deal.
Maybe not! , in Aussie Garmin are selling it from their website for this price, and in NZ where I am, a national retailer is selling it for this price, so I think it’s a price point driven by Garmin not Amazon. My guess is clearing overstock before the 7 is launched
Yeah, AUS/NZ is a different animal in terms of pricing.
But in the US, the pricing is very much controlled. In checking a few ‘known’ retailers that will follow MAP (so they don’t get naled with a MAP violation), nobody else is following Amazon here. Which is a good indication that this isn’t a Garmin sale, but an Amazon one.
Meaning, Amazon went out and bought X number of units (probably tens of thousands), at some point over the last Y timeframe, knowing they’d violate map and take the 6-month ban for replenishing *just* the Fenix 6 Sapphire. It’s an obscure and specific enough SKU that it won’t meaningfully impact things, and they’ll keep enough on-hand to sell for the next 6 months too.
It’s plausible that Garmin offered them a deal to take X number of units off their hands, but generally speaking Garmin really only tends to do that after a new product launch (for old products), and usually some time later, since the existing product tends to sell fairly well by itself for many months anyway.
But again, all this is US only. The whole concept of MAP is pretty much illegal in every other country.
I’m tempted to get the iRobot Roomba 692 floor vac for $199 (normally $299). Prime Day deal.
Not really sports related… 😉
I know! I almost added it to the list (since a Roomba does float around the DCR Cave), but I don’t have that exact model.
Jackery Link not the right battery generator
Everything seems to work there? What are you seeing?
It does look like at some point in the last 90 mins they raised the price slightly by $10 (to $209), but still $90 off.
Ah I get redirected to the UK site as I’m in Ireland.
Redirected here
link to amazon.co.uk
KOM RPV2 Rocker Plate is $300 off – $499 on Amazon
link to amazon.com
Woah, very nice find!
Now it’s $499. :-/
Now it’s not available
I think the Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire (Pro) – $300 off is dead now.
Yeah, I can confirm: Amazon just raised the price on the Fenix 6 Sapphire to $642. A few hours ago it was $499.
6x Sapphire is currently $549 on prime day. 6S Pro is is $500 also
Ray, did you review the Withings Body + somewhere that I can’t find? Trying to decide between it and the Index 2. In the Garmin ecosystem, so want consistent connection to Garmin Connect.
No, I don’t think I did. Essentially, it was just a rebrand of the Nokia one, at least, that’s my basic understanding of it. Which of course, was mostly just a rebrand of the latest gen Withings one.
Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing – not helping matters is that there are essentially half a dozen names that are near identical.
Looks like the 5X Plus is marked down to $389: link to amazon.com.
Not sure what the better deal is… that 5X Plus at $389 of the 6S at $449: link to amazon.com
I had been looking to trade up from an Apple Watch Series 3 into something that would take care of all of my sporting needs and could also do double duty on backcountry hiking (i.e. with maps)
Nice find!
I think at $449, I’d pay the $50 more for the Full 6S Pro at $499, since that gets you maps/music/wifi, which the regular 6S doesn’t have.
Cheers!
Thanks for the quick reply! Looks like the only 6S Pro at that price ($499) is the white and rose gold, which I guess I could try to pull off (LOL!)–the black 6S Pro is $640. I’m having a hard time seeing a difference in specs between the 5X Plus and the various flavors of 6.
What about if the difference between the 6s & the pro was $50 & tax($40 in my case)? Also not into white watches.
Is the mapping useful for cycling and mountain biking? Or is that better feature of trail runners & hikers?
Honestly, I find the maps pretty useful across the board, but admittedly rarely use the watch maps for cycling. Instead, I use a dedicated bike computer with maps. I use the maps a ton for trail running and such though.
Ray,
What is integration like with the Withings Body+ WiFi Scale to Garmin app?
I’d describe it as poor and frustrating. 🙂
In a nutshell, people have for years used a clever workout of linking up your MyFitnessPal account to both Garmin and Withings. It works for a while, and then it craps itself and you poke at it with a stick for a bit before forgetting about it, and then trying again 4 months later (where it then works again).
:-/
When MFP got hacked a few years back, I was pretty frustrated with MFP and the MFP-to-Garmin workaround. It seemed to break all the time and afaik that’s still the case.
I wrote a program to automate the process and include all the supported metrics (MFP only syncs weight).
Eventually I turned it into a subscription app called SmartScaleSync.com. It now supports several other scales and fitness platforms. Ray actually mentions it in his review of the new garmin index scale. I have a few hundred users and people seem satisfied (if that’s not the case – send me an email).
There’s also a few open source projects that exist now on github, so if you have some technical chops you could host a withings to garmin solution yourself.
But as Ray said, out of the box support for connecting the two platforms is non-existent.
Yo Ray
Check out runningxpert.com
Its a Danish site who sell all across Europe. Very cheap prices.
Garmin fenix 6 sapphire 469 euro
Other garmin watches as well very cheap
And its legit.
Garmin birthday and great discounted item looks like Edge 1030 Plus in the UK
F6S Pro for $400 only in white/rose for me. Black F6S Pro is $470 (for me, US).
Camelbak Podium bottles are on sale. I scooped 4 up the last prime day.
Nice catch on the Synology NAS – they are not on sale too often. But, for those just getting involved in the Synology ecosystem, know that the last two digits of the model are the release year of the device (the numbers before that are the max number of HDD/SSD that can be accomodated, including attached expansion devices). So, the DS418 is still a fine device, but is 4 years old. As with any other computer – and these NAS devices are computers with their own OS – they will eventially be left behind b/c they will be unable to run a future OS and/or apps (packages in Synology speak). I bought a DS218+ a year ago and it’s great. I’ll need to upgrade around the time I’ll need more disks, so OK for me. But you might think twice about a DSxx18 (or older!) if you want to use it well into the future and/or push the processor-dependent virtual machine / photo management capabilities. I upgraded from a DS110j that is really underpowered (now – yup 2010 model, so 12 y/o), unable to run the latest OS – but is perfectably capable of syncing data over the interwebs from multiple clients.