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Garmin's spendy Fenix Chronos is a tax on golfers
I'm a fan of Garmin's Fenix smartwatches. I've been wearing the Fenix 3 for about a year, and, for me, it has a solid balance between battery life (two weeks), training tools, smart features and good old basic horological tasks. The only addition I'd like is all day heart-rate monitoring -- something added in the Fenix 3 HR. The Fenix line has never been cheap -- the 3 starts at $499, and the 3 HR, $599 -- but the new luxury Fenix Chronos will test most wallets, starting at $899. For that extra $300 you sure are getting a nice looking timepiece, but glance at the spec sheet, and you'll see some surprising downgrades. In their place are new golf features that track your putts per round, greens and fairways hit plus average distance.
Garmin bike headset warns about traffic behind you
There are already bike-friendly smart headsets that will tell you how you're doing, but they won't usually say much about traffic. How are you supposed to know when a car is getting uncomfortably close? That's where Garmin thinks it can help. As part of a larger CES launch, it's unveiling a Varia Vision headset that not only gives you vital cycling data (directions, notifications and performance) but also teams up with the Varia Rearview Radar to warn about traffic behind you. In other words, you'll know about trouble right away, without losing focus. It won't be cheap when it ships this quarter for $400, but it could be justifiable if you regularly bike on busy streets.
Garmin intros three smartwatches, all of them aimed at sports junkies
Credit where it's due: Garmin has managed to basically reinvent itself. Once the king of in-car GPS navigation, the company is now equally known for its sports watches and fitness trackers. Indeed, with the exception of a few low-end navigators no one cares about, Garmin is pretty much only showing wearable devices here at CES. In brief, this year's lineup runs the gamut, with prices starting at $250 and going all the way up to $600. Still, they all have this in common: They're equal parts smartwatch and fitness tracker.
