The Week in Review is a compilation of all the good stuff I’ve written over the past week about the internet, plus a small pile of links I’ve found interesting – generally related to endurance sports. I’ve often wondered what to do with all the awesomeness people write about, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter And Facebook, that’s a better forum to send it to you all. Most of the time these different streams don’t overlap, so watch out all these places for the good stuff!
So with that said, let’s get into action!
Last week’s DCR posts:
Here’s what’s new on the site:
Tuesday: An In-Depth Suunto Vertical GPS Watch Review: Solar Power, Mapping, WiFi, and More!
Thursday: Suunto Vertical: The Complete User’s Guide
Friday: Peloton seat reclaimed, Zwift’s Curiosity steering revived, GoPro price drop
YouTube videos in the past week:
Here’s what happened in the You of Tube channel, definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they arrive!
Sports Tech Offers:
A few more things popped up this week to add to the pile, so here’s a quick reference:
| project | selling price | Amazon | Another site | Sale Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Apple Watch Series 8 – $60 off $399 / $499 (cellular) |
$329 | Amazon | That’s pretty much the regular price, almost always on sale for that amount on Amazon. | |
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Garmin HRM-DUAL (ANT+ / Bluetooth Smart Band) – 35% off! $69 |
$45 | Amazon | This is the perfect Garmin strap if you just want an affordable dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart option, especially when it’s on sale like this—it really becomes the best deal out there right now for a multi-connection strap. | |
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Garmin Instinct Series 2 – $100 off | From $249 | Amazon | REI | ⚡ The Instinct Base 2 starts at $249 (on Amazon), which is a pretty solid deal—especially with all the major software updates it’s gotten over the past year. Very solid deal. |
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Garmin Instinct Crossover – $100 cheaper now | $399 | Amazon | While this watch just came out a couple of months ago, its price has now been reduced by $100. In fact, it appeared that Garmin tested the new lower price about a month ago at a temporary sale, and the lower price clearly worked. Thus, the official retail price is now $399 for the base, and $449 for the diesel. | |
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Garmin Venu 2 Plus – $50 off! $449 |
$399 | Amazon | ||
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Garmin Venu 2/2S – $100 off | $299 | Amazon | REI | |
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Garmin Vivoactive 4 – $100 off $299 |
$199 | Amazon | REI | This watch is *well* past its prime and is now coming out at 4 years old, but hey, I think if you’ve decided it’s the watch for you now – it’s for sale (again – fitting 32nd time). |
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Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro – $100 off | $399 | Amazon | This watch is more or less always on sale, but it is still on sale. |
Things I found interesting about Interwebs:
Here are some random things I stumbled upon while doing my civic duty to find the end of the internet:
1) Zwift now supports the Apple Metal graphics engine natively: This is noticeable. Like, significantly noticeable. Tarek did a really good video on it, and that’s worth watching (or worth watching if you want to see how much Burrito has just changed). Given that Zwift has been taking its therapies on this premise for nearly two years, some speculated that there might be some tie-in here between Zwift finally launching this one, and the upcoming Apple WWDC conference in a few weeks, where the company will announce an AR/VR headset ( which requires Metal as the starting point for any game). I guess we just have to see…
2) Peloton Expands Seat Recall in Canada: Interestingly, they have identified weight/height combinations that have led to fractures in 35 cases so far. Note that statistically you are more likely to be hit by lightning than to break the peloton (1 in 62,857 for the peloton, versus 1 in 15,300 for lightning). It should also be noted that UK/EU/Australia units are still strangely excluded from refunds. I find it very hard to believe any difference in these seating functions.
3) A security researcher delves into Connect IQ Security Bugs (and Fixes): This is an incredibly in-depth article, from a security researcher who has been working with Garmin (via responsible industry standards disclosure) to find and get Garmin to fix a number of Connect IQ security issues over the years. Most of these errors are pretty much standard errors causing floods that allow access to other areas on the watch. The process described here is also a standard issue item in the IT world (both issues and fixes). In other words, the detection responsible for security bugs and the company’s response works exactly as it should here – and well, just as it does with other big-name companies day in and day out (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc…). (H/T to Brian R. for sending it)
4) Jiro never disappoints: No, I’m not talking about racing on the track—I’m talking about all the theatrics that happen at the event.
5) Wear OS 4 hopes to improve battery life: If there’s one constant in Wear OS, it’s the hope for better battery life. And to be fair, Wear OS 3 actually isn’t all that bad compared to their competitors in this area. This post explains what’s coming, but the big ticket item aside from battery life is the ability to finally backup and restore your watch (versus a factory reset).
6) Meanwhile, Samsung is teasing out some of its planned updates: This includes customizable heart rate zones, more detailed sleep tracking, and emergency notifications for a fall.
7) Polar’s New Outlet: I’ve been quietly watching this for the past month or so, since Polar announced their half on their blog. Since then I have received a number of Polar Outlet deal emails. It’s a little confusing to me, as Polar actually seems to be discounting all of its budget to mid-range products on the site, at varying rates of 20-50% (including the Polar Pacer Pro). Effectively, the only thing that hasn’t been discounted yet is the Grit X Pro. Although, Amazon can take care of that for you. It’s an interesting approach, and undoubtedly aims to reduce the commissions paid to retailers by offering deals directly to consumers.
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Nonetheless – thanks for reading!
#Review #week