American sports-technology reviewer who publishes as DC Rainmaker; tests GPS watches, cycling computers and trainers in long-form reviews and annual buyer's guides at dcrainmaker.com.
This one might come as a surprise to some, but the reality is that at Fitbit’s more reasonable pricing as of late, the Fitbit Sense is a pretty good option. And it’s a super well-rounded option
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
In some ways, it’s really a disservice to assume that because these are budget options that they’re somehow bad.
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
As one might suspect from this lineup of four watches, the Garmin unit is the most sports-focused one of the bunch.
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
The Galaxy Watch 4 is easily the best smartwatch that Samsung has ever made, and also notably, the first one on Wear OS.
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
Arguably the single unit on this entire post with the most bang for the buck, the COROS Pace 2 is a full multisport watch that can do swim/bike/run/triathlon, but even more than that
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
While this Garmin watch lacks some of the triathlon features the COROS Pace 2 has, it makes up for it with added running features like PacePro and in the case of the 245 Music, well, music.
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
There’s still really no competition here. If you’re looking for the most feature-packed higher-end watch
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
Out of all the Apple Watches I’ve used over the past year, the Apple watch SE is the one I’ve tended to use the most.
Maker's annual GPS-watch buyer's guide, bylined “by Ray Maker”. He states on the page that he takes no money or sponsorships from the companies; the product links are nonetheless affiliate-tagged (Amazon tag=dcr07-20 and AvantLink), which is why these are labelled affiliate rather than none.
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Hardware, services4 years
Software5 years
Podcasts, courses, other8 years
Books25 years
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.