I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
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.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Have some fun in the travel section.
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.
4
My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
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 (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
5
The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
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 2024 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.
Tag Archives: Fitbit
Fitbit Ace LTE Kids Activity Tracker Announced: Initial Thoughts
Google/Fitbit has just announced the new Fitbit Ace LTE kids activity tracker. This new model takes their existing inexpensive $79 Fitbit Ace 3 activity tracker, up to a full-blown smartwatch-level device, based entirely on the Google Pixel Watch 2. Aside … Read More Here
Fitbit Charge 6 In-Depth Review
The Fitbit Charge 6 is an incremental update to the existing Charge 5, focusing on a blend of physical usability enhancements (bringing back the side button), while also increasing day-to-day usability (letting you access all the sport/exercise modes on … Read More Here
Fitbit Announces New Charge 6: What’s New and Different?
Fitbit has just announced an update to their most popular fitness tracker series, with the new Fitbit Charge 6 (obviously, replacing the existing Fitbit Charge 5, from September 2021). The Fitbit Charge 6 has much the same form factor as … Read More Here
Fitbit Makes Some Premium Subscription Features Free
Fitbit has announced that they’ll be making a set of their Fitbit Premium subscription features free to all Fitbit users – including for Pixel Watch users which leverage the Fitbit features. These features are mostly historical data access features (versus … Read More Here
Google Pixel Watch In-Depth Review: A Promising Start
After many years of rumors, hints, acquisitions, and probably a few false starts – the Pixel watch is finally here. The end resultant is largely what you’d expect in a first-generation watch from a major company: Something that appeals as … Read More Here
Google’s Pixel Watch Hands-On: Here’s What You Need to Know
Today Google finally launched its long-awaited Pixel Watch. No wearable device has been rumored to “happen soon” as many years as the Pixel Watch. But this past spring Google confirmed it’d be coming this fall, and here we are. The … Read More Here
Fitbit Recalls Fitbit Ionic Smartwatches Due to Burn-Hazard, Offers Refund
Fitbit has announced a recall of their older Ionic GPS smartwatch, due to situations where the battery can overheat and cause burn injuries. The Ionic was introduced back in 2017, which was really their first smartwatch to support a 3rd … Read More Here
Fitbit Daily Readiness Score Review: Here’s How it Works
Today Fitbit announced that they are rolling out their new Daily Readiness Score to Fitbit Premium users. This covers the Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Charge 5, Luxe, and Inspire 2. As long as you have one of those … Read More Here
Fitbit Charge 5 In-Depth Review
Fitbit’s new Charge 5 aims to take their most well-known wearable series and catapult it forward with a revamped AMOLED display that doesn’t feel like a TI-82 graphing calculator that previous Fitbit Charge units have had, while still trying to … Read More Here
Fitbit’s New Charge 5 Details: Starts To Go After Whoop
At Fitbit’s annual end of summer announcement event, the company did not announce a Wear OS device (of any type). Though, they did (re)-commit to building one sometime in the future. Instead, they announced the Charge 5. The company says … Read More Here
Google Completes Acquisition of Fitbit: Analysis of What It Means
More than a year after Google first announced their planned acquisition of Fitbit, it’s finally complete. Or at least, complete from the legal standpoint. The real work actually begins now, of figuring out how to integrate the two companies and … Read More Here
Fitbit Versa 3 In-Depth Review
The Fitbit Versa 3 is the first Fitbit Versa series watch to include GPS built-in, along with a slate of new health metrics. But are these metrics accurate, or even useful at all? It’s time to dig in. Read More Here
How to Get Fitbit Non-GPS Activities to Strava
This post is going to be incredibly niche. And I’m OK with that. Heck, this post might just be more for me remembering this site than you. Sometimes I use this blog as a personal notepad. Like when I take … Read More Here
Fitbit Sense In-Depth Review: All the Data Without the Clarity
The Fitbit Sense is both a departure from the norm and not, for Fitbit. On one hand, it’s vastly more expensive than any recent Fitbit smartwatch with vastly more sensors. Yet on the other end, the interface and day to … Read More Here
Fitbit Announces Fitbit Sense Smartwatch: Dives far deeper towards health metrics
When the winds of change bring you a pandemic, you respond with the most health and almost-but-not-medical focused Fitbit you’ve ever seen. Which is essentially the gist of today’s sweeping pile of new feature and hardware announcements. In a virtual … Read More Here
Fitbit Charge 4 with GPS In-Depth Review
The Fitbit Charge 4 includes key new features like built-in GPS & contactless payments. But is the new GPS accurate? And what does it do to battery life? Plus, I detail the sleep score and related new metrics. Read More Here
Google Acquires Fitbit: What it actually means to wearables and the industry
Google has just announced the acquisition of Fitbit for a cool $2.1 billion (USD). The move will undoubtedly drive change in the industry, though, not as much as one might think – at least initially. Don’t worry, I’ll explain in … Read More Here
Fitbit Versa 2 with Amazon Alexa: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
This new device includes Amazon Alexa, new sleep metrics, plus Spotify support. Not to mention hosting Fitbit’s new premium platform. Read More Here
Fitbit Inspire HR Activity Tracker In-Depth Review
Here’s everything you need to know about the Fitbit Inspire lineup, including what’s new, what’s unique, what works, and what doesn’t. I dive into all the details. Read More Here
The Fitbit Versa Lite Hands-On: Everything you ever wanted to know
Today Fitbit launched their least expensive smartwatch to date – the Fitbit Versa Lite. This newish watch essentially takes the existing Fitbit Versa smartwatch and removes the music playback, along with a handful of smaller features like stair counting (and … Read More Here
First Look: Fitbit Charge 3 Activity Tracker with SpO2 Sensor & Sleep Disturbance Tracking
***UPDATE: Fitbit has since released the Fitbit Charge 4, check out the in-depth review here!*** No matter how you slice it, the Fitbit Charge series is Fitbit’s leading line to date. Having sold over 35 million units amongst the various … Read More Here
Fitbit Versa In-Depth Review
*** UPDATE: The Versa 3 is out! Check out the in-depth review here!*** Do you know what happens when you remove GPS and style from the Fitbit Ionic? You end up with a Fitbit Versa. Which is probably the easiest … Read More Here
Fitbit rolls out slew of apps to Ionic…and…umm…virtual cats
It’s been just over three months since Fitbit announced their Ionic GPS smartwatch, and about two months since they started shipping it out into the wild. The watch is generally seen (by themselves and others) as critical to Fitbit’s revival … Read More Here
Fitbit Ionic GPS Smartwatch In-Depth Review
Last month Fitbit announced their latest device – the Fitbit Ionic. This would be a significant step forward for the company, as it would represent them stepping into a slightly different (and higher end) market. While it was previously difficult … Read More Here
The Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch: Everything you need to know
Today Fitbit launched their first legit smartwatch with 3rd party apps, wireless payments, and music support onboard. That’s all in addition to a revamped optical heart rate sensor, refreshed GPS platform, new coaching services, and a boatload of smaller features … Read More Here
Investor Call Tech Tidbits: Fitbit Q2 2017
As I noted just a few hours ago, when I’m sufficiently bored, I listen to investor calls for companies in the segment. In today’s case, that was two investor calls. It’s that time of quarter with plenty of earnings calls … Read More Here
Fitbit Alta HR In-Depth Review
In what may seem like a sea of Fitbit models, the Fitbit Alta HR attempts to strike the balance between what folks want as a straightforward activity tracker, while making some nods towards basic workout support. I’ve been wearing a … Read More Here
Fitbit Charge 2 Activity Tracker In-Depth Review
It’s been a bit over two months since Fitbit announced their latest wearables, the Fitbit Charge 2 and the Fitbit Flex 2 (they also announced some Blaze updates and Alta bands at that time). This review however is purely focused … Read More Here
Garmin enables migration from Fitbit: Here’s how it works
Over the last few days, Garmin made three fitness related software announcements: A) They (finally) enabled you to combine activity tracker data from multiple devices into one cohesive picture B) They enabled Strava Beacon support through Garmin Connect Mobile C) … Read More Here
Fitbit Alta In-Depth Review
It’s been a touch over two months since Fitbit announced their most recent wearable, the Fitbit Alta. Like all of Fitbit’s entrants this year, it was designed to be more fashion focused, while giving incremental upgrades in terms of features … Read More Here
Fitbit Blaze In-Depth Review
Almost exactly two months ago at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Fitbit announced their latest higher-end wearable, the Fitbit Blaze. The company positioned it as a smart fitness watch, aiming to offer something midway between the higher-end … Read More Here
First Look: Fitbit announces new Fitbit Alta activity tracker
Today Fitbit announced their latest activity tracker – the Fitbit Alta. This unit is effectively a replacement for the existing Fitbit Charge (or previous to that, the Force). However, unlike those, this unit sports smartphone notifications, move reminders, and the ability … Read More Here
Fitbit’s Bad Day: How it ended up with multiple optical HR lawsuits, and a 20% stock drop
For the San Francisco based firm Fitbit, yesterday was likely the mother of all bad roller-coasters. They started off the morning at 7:30AM with a packed press room in the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Convention Center with the launch of … Read More Here
Fitbit Announces New ‘Fitbit Blaze’ Smart Fitness Watch
Update – March 2016! I’ve published my full Fitbit Blaze In-Depth Review here! Swing on over for all the details after extensive use! Today at CES Fitbit announced their latest wearable, the Fitbit Blaze. This new unit is effectively a … Read More Here
Strava news of note: Fitbit integration & Local Routes
Over the last week, Strava has rolled out two new integrations – one mostly driven by Fitbit, and the other solely by Strava. I wanted to briefly go through them since I think both are important for slightly different audiences. … Read More Here