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Week in Review–April 10th, 2022

WeekInReview22

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:

We’ve got a handful of new deals this week, a pile from Garmin in the cycling realm, and then a pile from DJI in the everything realm. Garmin does often put cycling gear on sale this time of year, albeit it’s far more rare for DJI to do the same this time of year.

ProductSale PriceAmazonOther siteSale Notes
Apple Watch Series 9 - $106 off!
$399/$499 (cellular)
$292I have no idea why this specific Apple Watch Series 9 combo is on sale this much more than the other editions (which are on sale to $320), but hey...the one I've linked to is the Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Loop, and is currenetly listed as new at $293. Else, it's $329 ($70 off).
Garmin Epix (Gen 2) & Sapphire - $300 off
$899/$999
From $549⚡ This deal is back, and at $549 for the base edition, and a mere $599 for the Titanium/Sapphire editions, it's a very strong deal. Sure, not as stong as Uncle Amazon back during Black Friday at $449, but those days are gone. Also, this Epix series just got another huge slate of new features this past week, and continues to get equal new features to the Epix Pro units.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S - $100 off$249This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 255/255S Music - $100 off!$299This 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.
Garmin Forerunner 55 - $30 off
$199
$169This is a good little running watch, though, it also supports plenty of other sport types as well. This is the normal sales price.
Garmin Forerunner 955 - $100 off!$399This is one of Garmin's most popular running watches, and it's back down to the lowest price ever. 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...)
Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $100 off!
$499/$599
$499See everything I said above on the Forerunner 955 base, except this one also has solar.
Garmin Index S2 WiFi Scale - 20% off
$149
$119I use this scale, merely for the weight tracking functions (not body fat). It works just fine, and integrates with the rest of your Garmin data. If you aren't in the Garmin ecosystem, there's plenty of cheaper options.
Garmin Instinct 2 Series - $60+ OffFrom $238⚡The Instinct 2 base is from $238 (on Amazon), a very solid deal - especially with all the major software updates it's had over the last year. It's also from $249 at REI.
Garmin Instinct 2X - $50 off$399This is the second 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, given the slightly different internals compared to the rest of the Instinct 2 series.
Garmin Instinct Crossover - $50 off$349
Google Pixel Watch 1 - $150 off$199While the new Pixel Watch 2 just came out last fall, the Pixel Watch 2 got almost all the software features via software update. The Pixel Watch 2 does have a slightly better optical HR sensor, and better battery life, but otherwise is relatively similiar. In fact, the Pixel 1 just got another pile of software updates last week.
HoverAir X1 Drone - $80 off!$349Note: There's virtually always a $80 coupon that can be clicked on the Amazon page.
Polar Pacer - $70 off!$166This is about as low as it gets price-wise for the Polar Pacer (base unit).
Polar Pacer Pro - $70 off!
$329
$269
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 - $50 off$249
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic - $100 off$299This is a reasoanbly solid deal for this watch, which came out last summer.
Tacx NEO 2T Smart Trainer (+ Free Motion Plates) - $400 off!
$1,399
$999⚡ This deal is back, except now they've sweetened it by adding in the $300 Tacx Motion Plates for free (via rebate). So, in the event you didn't pick up before, go forth.

DCR Posts in the Past Week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page this past week:

Sunday: Week in Review–April 3rd, 2022
Monday: Oura Outlines Missing V3 Features Plan (And It’s Not Good)
Tuesday: Whoop Exporting to Apple Health: Here’s how it actually works
Wednesday: Power Meter Pedal Buyer’s Guide: Garmin Rally vs Wahoo POWRLINK vs Favero Assioma vs SRM X-Power
Thursday: The New Stages Dash M200 & L200: Hands-On Details

YouTube Video 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:

1) Peloton Expands Bike Leasing Program: Just a few weeks after they announced the program, they’re already expanding it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see companies like Wahoo, Garmin, or others follow suit here. It makes a lot of sense, especially as demand for some of these smart bikes starts to wane (for a variety of reasons).

2) Stages Does Crypto Thing: Look, I can’t even figure out what this is all about. Apparently, in addition to a new crypto coin, there’s also riding bikes on Mars. Perhaps if the weather gets bad enough later this week, I’ll try and decrypt it. Or, I might just go for a real-life ride and eat ice cream afterwards instead.

3) Here’s hoping Samsung doesn’t make their new watches any bigger: I generally agree with this piece. I think (hope?) that there’s more than enough options for larger watches out there. And it’s certainly clear from the amount of feedback that I’ve seen on the Garmin Epix that people really want a Fenix 7S sized unit there too. I’m hoping in time that’ll happen. Just a question of how much time.

4) Apple adds new structured workouts for post-pregnancy: This follows in line with other fitness companies adding workouts in that genre, which is good to see. Historically many companies have been hesitant to add workouts here, for various medical reasons/concerns. But I think most companies have found that, when done right – with a doctor’s clearance, this is good for the majority of women.

5) COROS drops price of APEX Pro from $499 to $399, states the end is near for that line: I kinda appreciate that COROS is basically being upfront in saying that later this year, the COROS APEX Pro will go away, and that till then, you can get it for $100 off. COROS has done a good job in adding countless firmware updates to the COROS APEX Pro since it launched a number of years back. But it also should be remembered that for the last year, with the Garmin FR945 basically being at $499 (real-world street pricing), it wasn’t super competitive price-wise against that. The APEX Pro’s new $399 puts it in a far more competitive spot, especially with mapping (which the less expensive FR745 lacks).

6) Apple Maps Hiking Teams: This is interesting, not so much because Apple uses people hiking around with fancy camera/GPS backpacks – but because there’s actually a second Apple page that lists not only where Apple does backpack data collection, but the exact regions that are planned for the upcoming months.

7) Why Race Fees Are Going to Increase: Here’s a good look at the specifics of exactly which components are going up in price, and why – for both small races and big ones alike.

With that, thanks for reading!

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8 Comments

  1. John R

    Have there been any noteworthy updates to smart trainers since your 2020-2021 recommendations guide?

  2. Peter

    Any thoughts on the upcoming Polar Pacer and Pacer Pro?

    Seems to be an amazing runners watch.
    Kind of a slightly repacked VV2 with faster processor, better screen and exiting new features for cheap.

    • micoachfans

      hmm, i don’t think so.
      i heard the gps accuracy of pacer isn’t good enough.
      you may found the galvanic pins are gone.
      i think pacer doesnt have always-on display.

    • Peter

      According to the leaked/published ahead information from Polar the GPS do have a new antenna solution which should give better precision.

      We will soon know when NDAs are cleared and it’s released in May 20th.

  3. Pavel Vishniakov

    Regarding Apple Maps: it annoys me immensely that it’s been two years since Apple Maps have cycling directions yet it’s not available in mainland Europe/UK where there is all the infrastructure for it

    • To be honest, after a few massive Apple Maps navigation errors probably 5 years ago that nearly cost me to miss some international flights, I’ve never given them anything more than an accidental chance (and continue to be disappointed). I just use Google Maps.