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Smartwatch shipments grow 67 percent in Q3 thanks to Apple and Fitbit
The smartwatch market doesn't show any signs of slowing down, and it might have just hit a major milestone in the process. Strategy Analytics estimates that smartwatch shipments grew a whopping 67 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2018, with 10 million devices heading out the door. The frontrunner won't surprise you -- Apple is believed to have shipped 4.5 million watches (nearly a million more than last year) thanks to the debut of its overhauled Series 4. Fitbit proved to be the real upstart, through, jumping from zero to 1.5 million thanks mostly to the Versa.
Garmin's rugged $300 smartwatch can last two weeks on a charge
Garmin has added another entry to its growing list of rugged devices for outdoors enthusiasts. It's a smartwatch called Instinct, and it was built to comply with military standards for shock and water resistance. It's also encased in a fiber-reinforced polymer shell with a chemically strengthened and scratch-resistant display. Since it was obviously created for outdoor activities, the device has a 3-axis compass and supports GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, so it can track your location even if you go off the beaten path. To be safe, though, you can plan your route through the Garmin Explore app before you leave, and it will automatically send you on the same route when you head back.
Garmin fitness watches can finally play music from Spotify
Garmin's initial music support for its fitness watches has been limited to Deezer and iHeartRadio, which is odd to say the least -- most people don't use those services, and you weren't about to ditch a subscription to something else just so you could replace the gym's soundtrack with your own. Thankfully, Garmin is aware of your plight -- it's rolling out support for offline Spotify music on its wristwear, starting with the Fenix 5 Plus series. Download the relevant app in the Connect IQ store and you can save songs, albums and playlists to the watch using WiFi, giving you the chance to catch up on your Release Radar while away from your phone.
Garmin built a Spider-Man activity tracker for kids
Spider-Man is seemingly everywhere this year. The web slinger jumped off cinema screens in Avengers: Infinity War and on to his first console game in years, the universally-acclaimed Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4. Just in time to cash in on the craze, he's getting his own Garmin Vivofit Jr. 2. The shrunken activity tracker for kids already boasts a bunch of colourful editions (including Disney Princesses) and now you can get it in two new Spider-Man themes that match his outfit, red and navy (sold separately).
Garmin adds Deezer to its music-playing fitness watches
To date, Garmin's music-capable fitness watches have had access to iHeartRadio and... that's about it. You're about to get some much-needed variety, though, as Deezer's music service has finally arrived on Garmin fitness wearables after months of promises. You can store more than 100 tunes on your wrist and sync playlists (including curated workout playlists) like you might with other services on smartwatches, but the ace up Garmin's sleeve may be Deezer's Flow feature. While the mix of favorites and recommendations isn't that special on your phone or PC, it gives you a fresh mix every day -- important when you'd rather not repeat your gym soundtrack.
Garmin Vivosmart 4 tracks your sleep and energy levels
Garmin has launched the latest version of Vivosmart, and based on its features, the wearable is meant to be a direct competitor to Fitbit's Charge 3. Like Fitbit's new tracking device, Vivosmart 4 comes with a blood oxygen monitor called "pulse ox," which can monitor your oxygen saturation levels at night in order to gauge your sleep quality. It also has the ability to estimate light, deep and REM stages of sleep, which you can then view as sleep stats within the Garmin Connect app.
Garmin's latest golf tracker helps you choose the right club
You can already get golf watches that show hole data and track your swing. Let's be honest, though -- ideally, they'd give you some insight as to which club is best for that tricky dogleg or sand trap. Garmin, at least, thinks it can provide that helping hand. It's now shipping an Approach CT10 tracker that fastens to the top of your clubs and provides insight on a club-by-club basis thanks to automatic syncing with supporting Garmin watches. You'll ideally know which club to choose based on your actual performance and situation, rather than picking one based on arbitrary expectations. A 9 iron may be a better choice than a pitching wedge, for instance.
Garmin Forerunner 645 Music review: Better without the music
An invigorating playlist can be a runner's best friend, but for some, the Linkin Park jams aren't worth the discomfort of strapping a phone to your arm. That's why fitness-watch makers are adding audio playback directly into their products. This includes Garmin, which is giving the Forerunner 645 a musical makeover (creatively named the Forerunner 645 Music). For $50 more than the original, the new model lets you play your own tracks (or playlists from select streaming services) wirelessly to Bluetooth headphones.
Garmin's Fenix 5 Plus watches help you survive mountain climbing
Garmin is no stranger to catering to fans of specific sports with its GPS watches. Its latest wristwear, however, takes that devotion to another level. It's upgrading its Fenix 5 outdoor watches with the Fenix 5 Plus series, whose star attraction is a new Pulse Ox Acclimation sensor that gauges your blood oxygen saturation levels when you're climbing at high altitudes. If you're not coping well with an arduous mountain ascent, your watch will let you know it's time to take it easy.
Garmin's Vivoactive 3 Music brings tunes to weekend warriors
Garmin has been rolling out GPS watches with music playback for a while now, but the current options aren't what you'd call trivial expenses for non-athletes. Thankfully, it's pushing the price of entry down a bit. It's launching the Vivoactive 3 Music, which (surprise) brings Bluetooth audio and 500-song storage to last year's model. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing -- you now have a soundtrack while you monitor 15 activities and shop with Garmin Pay. The seven days of battery life in smartwatch mode (five hours with GPS) doesn't hurt, either. This is also one of the first watches to support Garmin's advanced sleep monitoring in its Connect app, which might make it worthwhile by itself.
Garmin's Approach S10 GPS golf watch is simple and cheap
Garmin has added an entry-level golf watch to its growing number of wearables for those who love the sport but aren't obsessed enough to shell out two Benjamins for one of the brand's other devices. The Approach S10 has a 1.3-inch sunlight readable (non-touchscreen) display and comes pre-loaded with course maps for over 41,000 courses around the world.
How to buy a smartwatch in 2018
The smartwatch industry's identity crisis may be coming to an end. Familiar tech brands like Motorola, Microsoft and Pebble have retired from making wearables, while others like ASUS are rumored to be giving up on the category, leaving us with a shrinking selection of devices to choose from. But fitness and fashion brands have rushed to fill the vacuum, while more specialized watches are also on the rise. This means shoppers will need to prioritize some features over others. As it turns out, there's not yet a perfect solution.
Garmin's latest activity band is built for rookie golfers
To date, Garmin's golf tracking wearables have been aimed at experienced players, with the higher prices to match. Even the Approach X40 isn't a trivial purchase. But what if you're relatively new? Enter the Approach X10: the new model gives you data for 41,000 courses at a $200/£160 price that's easier to swallow for someone just starting to refine their game. You still get GPS positioning, a 1-inch touchscreen and connectivity with the Garmin Golf app to compete with friends. The main sacrifice is the absence of support for a TruSwing club sensor, so you'll need to step up to pricier gear if you want to perfect your swing.
TaylorMade's new putter can analyze your golf stroke
Blast Motion is known for making sports sensors aimed at improving your golf, baseball or softball performance and now they've teamed up with TaylorMade on a putter that can analyze your putting strokes. The Spider Interactive Powered by Blast putter marries TaylorMade's most popular putter with Blast Motion's motion capture sensors and can measure and report your backstroke time, forward stroke time, tempo, impact stroke speed and face rotation. With the accompanying app, users will be able to track their progress, access training modules and view videos of their strokes.
Garmin’s latest running watch packs music and payments
We get it: All you wanna do this year is go for a run and leave that pricey, thousand-dollar smartphone at home. That's why almost every running watch worth its salt now comes with built-in music playback that'll push tunes to your Bluetooth headphones. Garmin's support for this cause now includes the new Forerunner 645 Music, which, clue in the name, is a running watch that packs storage for up to 500 songs. As well as the music on your desktop, you can also pipe in songs from either iHeartRadio or Deezer to take on your outdoor jaunts.
Garmin's latest smartwatch can play music during your run
Yes, you can listen to music on a smartwatch without keeping your phone nearby, but that usually means settling for relatively simple fitness tracking. Garmin may have a solution that eliminates those compromises, however -- it just introduced the Forerunner 645 Music, a GPS running watch that (surprise) stores up to 500 songs for playback over Bluetooth earphones. You can track your runs (or bike rides, or swims) and the detailed stats to match while listening to tunes you've saved either from your computer or from streaming services like iHeartRadio.
Garmin Speak Plus mixes Amazon Alexa with a dash cam
Don't think it's enough to have Amazon Alexa in your car? Garmin thinks it has a better proposition: throw in a dash cam. Its new Speak Plus includes the same voice assistant that offers directions, music playback and other hands-free controls, but it also tucks in a camera that can both record "incidents" (read: collisions) and deliver alerts. It'll warn you if you're too close to a car, if you're drifting out of your lane or if that gridlocked traffic has finally started moving.
Garmin's new Vivofit lasts for a year with an always-on color display
It's hard to stand out in the fitness tracker world when you can easily cover the fundamentals at a very low price. Garmin, however, is trying its level best. It just launched the Vivofit 4, which combines an always-on color display with its predecessor's claimed year-long battery life. You can now check your activity goals or the time without having to either wake up the screen, kill your battery or settle for a drab monochrome display. Logically, the band includes Garmin mainstays like Move IQ automatic activity detection and the Connect online community to get you motivated.
Garmin and Samsung wearables could earn you health care savings
Wearable devices for health and fitness aren't anything new, of course, but insurance companies aren't really known for their fast response to tech trends. That may be changing, though, as big companies like Aetna and John Hancock have started offering steep discounts on devices like the Apple Watch, as long as customers use the gadgets to track their activity. Now insurance company UnitedHealthcare is looking to integrate both Garmin and Samsung wearables into its own bring-your-own-device program that rewards members for meeting daily walking goals.
Garmin's vivoactive 3 smartwatch can now help you pay for things
Garmin is mostly known for fitness watches, but introduced something with the launch of its new vivoactive 3 smartwatch: Contactless payments. Several months after announcing this new feature would debut with the wearable, the company's Garmin Pay system is now live, allowing wearers to leave their wallets and phones at home when going out for a run.
