As you may have heard, Amazon is running a so-called “Early Access Sale” with Black Friday-like sale prices on October 11th and 12th. I’ve rounded up the best sports technology-related sales, or just sales on things that I like/use a fair bit. I’ll keep adding to this over the course of the two days, so keep checking back.
Note that this sale does require Amazon Prime Membership. Also, more importantly, you can find far more non-sports tech deals here:
Thus far looking at the available items and prices, I’d say we’re seeing prices pretty close to what we see on Black Friday (if not matching it), though, not quite the breadth of items we’d see on Black Friday. That makes some sense, given that companies know consumers are mostly on the lookout for big-ticket Black Friday deals, and may still wait till then.
If you know of a sports tech deal (gadget-focused), feel free to drop a note in the comments or in the contact form. As long as it’s not spam-like, I’m more than happy to share it out! 🙂
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.
There are no deals currently.
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.
There are no deals currently.
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.
There are no deals currently.
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.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | HoverAir X1 Drone - $80 off! | $349 | Amazon | Note: There's virtually always a $80 coupon that can be clicked on the Amazon page. |
I’ll continue to add deals as I find them.
With that – thanks for reading, and for supporting the site via the links above. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Have a great weekend!
Hi Ray,
GoPro table is slightly inconsistent – the link is for GoPro 11, but the description talks about GoPro 10
And out of curiosity – will you write anything on Peloton Guide or is it slightly outside of your regular scope?
In the UK early access Amazon deals, the Garmin 245 is £139.99 and Garmin 245 with Music is £169.99. Any thoughts/comparisons?
The Garmin instinct is also on offer.
While I agree with the Pizza oven size of 12 over 16, I have to disagree with the aspect of using a grill as a pizza oven for gas powered. You don’t get that flame from above like you do with an Ooni. It’s not the same. Sounds like we need a review of the full Ooni lineup!
Having gone from Uuni 2s* to Ooni Koda 12 I am definitely on the side of wood pellets. They’re messy but the heat is way better for the base and produces a better pizza.
*In the it took Ray to finish his jobs list and get approval from the boss they changed the company name from Uuni to Ooni because English speakers couldn’t pronounce it. Uuni means oven, I believe Ooni is just a trademark and otherwise meaningless.
Ooni Karu 12 (can use gas or wood) owner here and LOVE it.
My $ .02
* Agree, that pizza stone in grill does not do the same thing
*either gas or wood will get you to 500C degrees
*wood is convenient (always there) but i find no wood/smoke flavor transfer
* gas keeps flame/heat at consistent temp for longer time, important if doing multiple pies/plates
*Ooni ovens have gotten pricey but usually there are black friday deals
The gas is definitely not as hot as the wood pellets, and takes considerably longer to get up to max temperature as well as to reset between cooks. It’s definitely cleaner though, and agree the pizza ends up tasting the same. I wouldn’t go back to wood, but that’s just because gas is so much cleaner, everything else is better with pellets.
The Apple TV natively runs the training apps, without linking a phone or laptop?
Yes
That is very cool
Can you download routes to make them stream smoother? This is especially key for something like Rouvy with real video routes
Garmin Speed & Cadence Sensor is good price too on Amazon UK – £39.99
Cheapest it’s been for a long time..
Suunto also just reduced the price of their 9 Peak watches considerably, to US$469 and US$569 for titanium (down from $575 and $700). But they also just released the 9 Peak Pro today too (better battery life, faster menu, and other things??). I’m interested in Ray’s opinions on the 9 Peak Pro and if it’s worth the $549/$699 price over the regular 9 Peak.
My thinking is that Ray prioritised this post and the Marq post over the new Suunto. Even at the newer low price it’s overpriced in 2022 as a watch with no music or maps, and a very iffy track record of app support from Suunto. The FR955 is similar in price and is more capable in almost every way, you’d have to really hate Garmin or really love the look of the Suunto to get the new 9 which although it has a new charge cable doesn’t really add anything over the original 9 Baro.
I do prefer the look of the Suunto 9 Peak (and pro) to any of the Garmins. But coming from a Garmin Fenix 3, the question is if I’m going to be disappointed in the functionality of a Suunto. I have heard some say they love the Suunto phone app for interfacing with their watches. But you’re right in that functionality/feature wise, all signs point to Garmin.
Yup, full post on the Peak Pro coming.
Frankly, I just wrote down the wrong embargo date (as tomorrow), and woke up this morning to see that apparently, it was not the 12th. Sigh.
Sadly, with as busy as things are these past 5-6 weeks, nothing is done/ready till minutes before something announces (or, when I thought it would announce).
Surely the Peak Pro you can just copy and paste from the original 9 and add a section about shiny titanium? Did they add any actual functionality?
I’d love to see them move forwards, the watches are quite nice looking (same for Polar) but realistically compared to pretty much any Garmin it’s a hard choice. Maybe if they reassigned the budget/team in charge of charge cable design to music, maps, apps, anything else…
So much snark! You’re clearly not a Suunto fan, but everybody’s deserves to find what works for them.
Lets wait for the review before dogpiling.
It’s not snark, it’s just where we’re at in 2022. I have several Suunto watches, actually, and used to be a huge fan including my Stinger dive watch which is still going strong after 23 years. They’ve fallen very clearly behind on features due to constant changes in direction instead of focusing on innovation. They’ve added almost nothing since the original 9 (or even Spartan, realistically, which removed a bunch of features from their older range). In that time they destroyed a great platform (movescount) and replaced it with a barely functional app. On the dive side they’ve replaced the platform multiple times in order to make watches obsolete, leading to users like me using third party apps. Every watch has had a different charge cable for no reason whatsoever.
In the mean time, Garmin added maps, music, Wi-Fi, drastically improved their app and web platform, which has been consistent throughout. They also added Amoled to the range, LTE, increased battery life to literally weeks or months, added solar, and kept a single charge cable for all of their watches so they are interchangeable. I now have 5 spare Garmin charge cables plus the ones in use in my work bag, car, boat, home.
It’s not up for debate that Garmin have a better range, better plan, and better execution. The Peak is a nice looking watch, albeit more bulky in person than it looks in marketing pics. But realistically, it’s a $300 watch in 2022 when viewed alongside Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix. Even measured against a Polar it comes up short due to their much better training platform (I also have a few Polar watches).
Spot on.
I think the swim, bike, run drills from the Suunto App+ might be a good starting point. If they add an AI training feature included in the ecosystem at a free or better price than Humango or simillar they might get a something new out of it.. Otherwise it’s a very nice, very good looking sportswatch assembled in Finland.
@Dave Yeah, Garmin is a bigger company with better “range,” but that’s like saying GM is automatically better than Tesla because GM makes sedans, trucks, SUVs, minivans, etc. while Tesla makes … a car. For some people, that car is all they want and/or need and it suits them best. Likewise, many people find that smaller brands like Suunto or Coros deliver exactly what suits them in a combination of features, design, activity tracking and price.
A company like Suunto has formed its niche in the ultrarunning and adventure space and isn’t necessarily expecting to shoot for mass appeal.
There are many reasons I have zero interest in a Peak or even the newer Peak Pro, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand why others are drawn to the watch. Everyone has their preferences. Even in this conversation, you call Sunnto’s app “barely functional,” but in many ways, it is worlds better than what Garmin’s app is. So is Coros’ app. Garmin’s app is functionally loathsome, visually obnoxious, and directionless, and it’s the reason I left Garmin in early 2021.
But I’m probably wasting my time here, since “it’s not up for debate” …
Hi Ray,
Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt V2 -22% 232,89€ in Amazon Spain.
Is it a good option?
Thanks.
Nice list
I don’t know why, but Apple TV sells for 219 Euro when I click the Amazon.de link.
What do we think of that first grit x at half off? $213 seems like a great deal.
So, Apple just announced new Apple TV devices. This while the 2021 Apple TV 4K 32GB I bought from Amazon sale last week ($105) just arrived and is still in the box.
Is it worth returning and upgrading to the new, faster WiFi model for $129 or even the $149 model with Ethernet now?
The one I have does have network connection I might use. How crucial is that compared to CPU? I’m guessing many if not most people just use WiFi
Yeah, I’d honestly return it and get the $129 one (unless you really need Ethernet, but I doubt most do) if you’re using it for Zwift. We probably won’t know for 3-4 weeks what the perf on Zwift will be like, but realistically it’s heavily likely to be better – perhaps substantially so.
Given you’ll probably have this unit for 2-3 years (or longer), I’d spend the extra $25. I ordered one, and will dig into it, once things are released and Zwift updated.
Thanks for being a DCR Supporter!
Thanks for the reply! Wasn’t sure if you’d see question on old thread.
Does Tacx Neo 2T ever go on sale on Black Friday in the US?
Sorta. Not historically from Gamrin themselves, but rather, from generic 20% off sales you see from retailers.
I strongly suspect we’ll see those sales again in the coming weeks.
Thanks Ray. Safe to say any deals will be posted here so I don’t search around the internet?