Sony-FES-Watch-U Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Sony
The FES Watch U is Fashion Entertainment’s second-generation e-paper watch, coming a year after the first made a splash in crowdfunding circles, albeit backed by Sony.
As a timepiece, the first FES Watch was an attention grabber, thanks to its unique E-Ink strap that could be changed with the tap of a button, and 24 E-Ink watch face variations.
It was a simple affair, however, with just the e-paper design and timekeeping. The upcoming FES Watch U adds new features and a sturdy makeover — and aims to compete with increasingly stylish smartwatches such as Michael Kors’ Access and Samsung’s Gear S3.
The FES Watch U adds digital modes to its face, along with multiple calendars. As most of the watch is made from e-paper, the calendars and even the clocks themselves now smartly extend beyond the metal bezel to display dates and time around the strap.
The new watch also supports wireless battery charging through its watch stand, eliminating the need for battery changes.
Perhaps the most sought-after feature was the ability to add custom designs to the displays themselves. With the FES Watch U, you can download designs from a dedicated phone app, adding to the 24 designs carried over from the first watch. You can also use your phone to take pictures and convert them into patterns, making any texture or image fair game. From there, you can share your unique designs with the FES online community.
The new version of the FES Watch is also much sturdier, with glass facing and stainless steel casing. The watch also comes in three flavours: silver, white and a premium black, which has additional sapphire glass with anti-reflection coating and titanium ion-plating for high scratch resistance.
The FES Watch U is still seeking crowdfunding, with over 15 million of its 20 million yen ($195,000) target already raised. It has until 7 October to reach its goal.
No pricing has been set for the new watches, and there’s no word on whether or not the device will officially go on sale outside of Japan. If you wish to take part in the funding process to make sure the FES Watch U gets made, you can find it on the First Flight website, though note our usual caveat below. Funding options start at 44,710 yen, which converts to around $440, £335 or AU$580.
Editor’s note: CNET’s reporting on crowdfunding campaigns is not an endorsement of the project or its creators. Contributing to a crowdfunded project comes with risk. Before contributing to any campaign, read the crowdfunding site’s policies, such as those for Kickstarter and Indiegogo, to learn more about your rights (and refund policies, or the lack thereof) before and after a campaign ends.
Fujifilm GFX series Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Fujifilm
The world was expecting a full-frame mirrorless camera from Fujifilm at Photokina 2016; the company surprised us with a medium-format instead. Hasselblad was first with a mirrorless interchangeable-lens medium-format, the X1D-50c, but the Fujifilm GFX 50S looks a lot more affordable: the company didn’t provide actual price or availability, but did say it would ship in early 2017 and cost less than $10,000 for the body and a lens.
I haven’t gotten full specs yet, but It has the same sensor specifications as the X1D-50c — 50 megapixels, 43.8 x 32.9mm 4:3 at a 5.3 micron pixel pitch — and it was designed by Fujifilm. Unlike Hasselblad, which puts the shutter in the lenses, Fujifilm puts a focal-plane shutter with a maximum speed of 1/4,000 second in the body. It’s dust and weather sealed and can crop to a variety of medium-format aspect ratios.
It will come with an electronic viewfinder that attaches in the hot shoe, and there’ll be an optional multiangle adapter to use with it.
Of course, it’s going to need lenses, and Fujifilm has introduced a new mount, G. The company says the lenses are designed to resolve to resolutions higher than 100 megapixels, and offers the usual claims of sharpness thoughout the aperture range, no diffraction and no distortion. The first models will be the GF63mmF2.8 R WR, GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR, GF120mmF4 Macro R LM OIS WR in early 2017, followed by the GF110mmF2 R LM WR, GF23mmF4 R LM WR and GF45mmF2.8 R WR. (To get the 35mm-equivalent focal length for reference, multiply the lengths by 0.77.)
GoPro Karma Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
GoPro just proved that there’s still room for something fresh in consumer camera drones.
After being teased for months, the company finally unveiled the Karma, its first drone designed for its cameras, but simplified for novice drone pilots.
Take the Karma’s controllers, for example. Many camera drones come with controllers loaded with switches, buttons and knobs. Sure, some are friendlier to use than others, but the Karma’s remote has the familiar feel of a gaming controller. On top of that, you don’t need to tie up your smartphone or drag along a tablet to get a view from the attached GoPro: The controller has a flip-up touchscreen.
The Karma’s small, too. Like fold-it-up-and-stick-it-in-a-regular-backpack small. In fact, it even comes with the backpack. And of course it’s made to work with the new Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session cameras, but will also work with Hero4 cameras. So you’re not stuck with a camera that’s permanently attached to a drone, you’re getting a camera you can use on its own or in the drone.
Perhaps its greatest asset is the three-axis camera stabilizer on the drone. Not only will it keep your video looking smooth in the air, but it can be removed and attached to the included Karma Grip. GoPro says the grip can then be used handheld, perfect for running, riding, skating, etc. alongside your friends, or mounted on other gear.
The controller has a built-in LCD screen and is designed for ease of use.
GoPro
For years now camera makers big and small have been trying to one up GoPro in a category it basically created. Now it’s GoPro entering a category with a clear leader in DJI. GoPro already has wide brand recognition, though — something DJI’s competitors and DJI too, for that matter, can’t really claim.
Combine that brand recognition with the flexibility of using the Karma in the air and on the ground and its potential ease of use, and the Karma might be a spoiler this holiday season.
Karma arrives on October 23 for $799 without a camera, $999 with a Hero5 Session and $1,099 with the Hero5 Black.
Stay tuned for our full review.
Executive Editor David Carnoy contributed to this preview.
GoPro Karma: GoPro’s first drone is ready…
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GoPro Hero5 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
After teasing a new camera for months, GoPro finally has two new models: the $399 Hero5 Black and the $299 Hero5 Session. Both cameras arrive on October 2. (Skip down the page to see Lexy Savvides’ hands-on video.)
The former is a complete overhaul and new flagship camera for the brand. The latter is a souped-up version of the original 2015 model, but minus some key features from the Black to help make picking one easier than in the past.
GoPro also announced its first drone, the Karma, at the same event in California.
Both cameras are waterproof to 10 meters (33 feet) without a housing. GoPro’s past cameras were only rugged and waterproof when in a polycarbonate housing, and dealing with them is a hassle. Presumably there will be dive housings for those who want to go deeper or need shock protection, but out of the box you can just take them out in the sand and surf.
The GoPro Hero5
GoPro
GoPro also introduced what it calls professional-grade electronic image stabilization. It’s disappointing the company wasn’t able to work in optical image stabilization for the Hero5 like Sony did for its latest, but at least there’s the option for EIS. I’m not sure if it comes at the cost of image quality or resolution, though. Speaking of resolution…
4K video all around
The Black and Session will be able to record in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. That’s the same as the previous high-end model, the Hero4 Black, but a jump for the Session. The Hero5 Black does get other imaging improvements, however.
The camera can capture 12-megapixel photos in raw format and there’s also a wide dynamic range mode. GoPro also added a linear-view setting that corrects distortion in its wide-angle photos and videos. The 10-megapixel Session has this option, too, but doesn’t seem to have the raw capture and WDR mode.
Quick controls
GoPro ditched the three-button control setup for the Hero5 Black in favor of a 2-inch touchscreen and a single button that turns the camera on and starts it recording. The touch interface has been updated, too, streamlining things a bit so you don’t end up endlessly swiping around.
GoPro Hero5 Session
GoPro
‘Connected and convenient’
Earlier in the year, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman said the Hero5 would be “the most connected and convenient” camera GoPro has ever made and any new hardware would do a better job of connecting to phones and the cloud.
Enter GoPro Plus, a cloud-based subscription service that makes it possible to upload, edit and share your clips with a phone or computer. Plug in a Hero5 to charge and the camera will automatically store your photos and videos to the service. This is actually pretty great for people like me who tend to just let microSD cards fill up and I’m never really sure if I’ve offloaded clips, inevitably resulting in duplicates or accidental deletion.
The service also gives you access to a library of licensed music to drop into your clips, 20 percent off on mounts and accessories from GoPro’s site, premium support and access to exclusive GoPro apparel. OK, maybe that last one isn’t going to seal the deal, but the music is a nice bonus.
GoPro introduces Hero 5 Session action camera
GoPro shows off its new $299 Hero 5 Session with 4K, image stabilization and voice control.
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Easier edits
The cloud service ties into a bigger issue that’s potentially stalled sales of new GoPro cameras: No one wants to edit their videos. To that end, in February, GoPro picked up two mobile video-editing apps — Replay and Splice — with the former relaunched in May as Quik.
The app, which is available for iOS and Android, analyzes your photos and video clips to find the most exciting stuff in to include and cut out the boring bits. You can trim it further if you don’t like what you got. It’ll then add transitions and effects and sync those to the beat of the music you pick. GoPro has now brought these same features to a desktop version of Quik, if you want to do your work on a bigger screen.
Also, for those times when you simply can’t wait to get your clips off the camera and on your phone for editing, GoPro will sell the Quik Key. It’s a keychain microSD card reader that plugs right into the jack on your phone.
GoPro Hero5 Session (pictures)
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Shout it out
Even with better software, editing can still be a drag as you scrub through your clips to find the best moments. GoPro had added easy highlight tagging with the last generation of cameras, but is taking it handsfree this time around.
With the Hero5 cameras, you’ll be able to shout at them to tag a section to find it quickly later. There are also voice commands for starting and stopping recordings, taking photos and changing shooting modes. The company also plans to have a new remote control, called Remo, to extend the range of voice commands.
Olympus OM-D Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Olympus rolled out the big numbers for its announcement of the update to its OM-D E-M1 flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II: a new 20.4-megapixel sensor with improved dynamic range, a new Dual Fast autofocus system with 121 phase-detection and 121 contrast-detection points, Cinema 4K/30p video recording, and 18 frames-per-second continuous shooting with autofocus (60fps if you don’t need AF).
The new sensor draws less power and a faster readout speed, though it’s supported by an updated image processor with 8 cores — that’s got to require some extra juice. The processor has updated autofocus algorithms as well, with better subject isolation for tracking. And a new Pro Capture mode starts bursting when you prefocus, keeping the last 14 frames before you take the shot.
It’s the same size as the original E-M1, though it looks a hair more like a dSLR and has a bigger grip plus a new higher capacity battery with faster charging. Dual SD card slots and a battery grip with a dedicated keypad round out the necessities.
Olympus makes some minor updates for the…
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Technically, Olympus considers this a “development announcement,” though that’s probably because there’s no price or availability (“later this year”).
Olympus stresses that the combination of compact size and speed makes it a desirable alternative to APS-C. While I don’t want to diminish the company’s achievement — I think the EM1M2 sounds like a really nice camera with a great feature set — keep in mind that even though it’s the same resolution as competing dSLRs, the APS-C sensor in those cameras is much bigger, they output 14-bit raw files vs. the EM1M2’s 12 bits and they hit higher ISO sensitivities. Plus there’s a lot we don’t know yet about it, including how many shots the buffer can hold, battery life or price.
The announcement also comes with some pro lenses to round out your kit.
Comparative specifications
| Canon EOS 7D Mark II | Nikon D500 | Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II |
| 20.2MP Dual Pixel CMOS14-bit | 20.9MP CMOSn/a14-bit | 20.4MP Live MOS12-bit |
| 22.4 x 15.0 mm | 23.5 x 15.7 mm | 17.3 x 13mm |
| 1.6x | 1.5x | 2.0x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 100 – ISO 16000/ISO 51200 (exp) | ISO 50 (exp)/ISO 100 – ISO 51200/ISO 1,640,000 (exp) | ISO 64 (exp)/200 – ISO 25600 |
| 10fps1,090 JPEG/31 raw | 10fps79 raw | 18fpsn/a(60fps with fixed AE/AF) |
| Optical100% coverage1.0x/.67x | Optical100% coverage1.0x/0.67x | EVFn/a-inch2.36 million dots100% coverage1.3x – 1.48x/ 0.65x- 0.74x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 65-point phase-detection AFall cross-typecenter dual cross to f2.8 | 153-point99 cross-type(15 cross-type to f8)Multi-CAM 20K | 121-point cross-type phase detection AF,121-point contrast AF |
| -3 to 18 EV | -4 – 20 EV | |
| 1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync | 1/8,000 to 30 secs bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync (1/8,000 sec x-sync with FP shutter) | 60 – 1/8000 sec (1/32000 with electronic shutter); bulb to 30 minutes; 1/250 sec x-sync (Super FP to 1/8000) |
| 200,000 cycles | 200,000 cycles | 200,000 |
| 150,000-pixel RGB+IR 252 zone | 180,000-pixel RGB sensor 3D Color Matrix Metering III | 324 area |
| 1 – 20 EV | -3 – 20 EV | -2 – 20 EV |
| H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/60p, 30p, 25p, 24p @ 50Mbps | H.264 QuickTime MOV 4K UHD/30p, 25p, 24p | H.264 QuickTime MOVC4K/24p @237Mbps; UHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 102Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p @ 202Mbps |
| Stereo, mic input, headphones | stereo; mic input; headphone jack | Stereo; mic input |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4GB/29:59 mins | 4GB/29:59 mins @ 144 Mbps | 29 mins |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Optical | Optical | Sensor shift5 axis, IS Sync |
| 3 in/7.5cmFixed1.04m dots | 3.2 in/8 cmTilting touchscreen2.4 million dots | 3 in/7.5cmTilting touchscreen1.04m dots |
| 1 x CF, 1 x SDXC | 1 x SD, 1x XQD | 2 x SDXC |
| via optional WFT-E7A Version 2 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC | Wi-Fi |
| Yes | No | Included add-on |
| Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 600 shots (VF); 250 shots (LV)(1,865 mAh) | 1,240 shots(1,900 mAh) | n/a(1,720 mAh) |
| 5.9 x 4.4 x 3.1 in148.6 x 112.4 x 78.2 mm | 5.8 x 4.6 x 3.2 in147 x 115 x 81 mm | 5.3 x 3.6 x 2.7 in134 x 91 x 69 mm |
| 32.5 oz920 g | 30.3 oz848 g | 20.2 oz574 g |
| $1,600 £1,370AU$2,140 | $2,000£1,730AU$3,500 | n/a |
| $2,000 (est.) £1,200 (est.) AU$2.590(with 18-135mm STM lens) | $2,600£2,480AU$4,500(with 16-80mm lens) | n/a |
| n/a | n/a | n/a |
| November 2014 | March 2016 | n/a |
Garmin vívoactive HR review
Buy now from Amazon
Garmin has been making fitness and activity trackers for quite some time now, and perhaps one of the most beefy, jack-of-all-trade offerings from the company so far is the vívoactive HR.
The vívoactive HR comes with a built-in GPS, a great water resistance rating, 8-day battery life, and an accurate heart rate monitor, but are all of those features worth the high price tag? Or should you opt for a less expensive, less feature-packed option? We answer all of those questions, and more, in our full Garmin vívoactive HR review.
Don’t miss: The best fitness trackers15
Review notes: I’ve been using the Garmin vívoactive HR as my main fitness tracker for 24 days. The Nexus 6P has been my smartphone companion of choice for the duration of this review.
Design
The vívoactive HR is far from the most attractive fitness tracker on the market. It’s a slight step up from the design of the original vívoactive fitness watch, but it’s still not very good. It has a big, bulky design that will most likely look too big on most average-sized wrists, and will definitely look too big on smaller wrists.
This causes an obvious problem: fitness trackers should be comfortable enough to wear at all times of the day – even when you’re sleeping. When they’re not being worn, they can’t track your activity and sleep metrics, which makes them pretty much useless.
The one upside to having a bigger device on your wrist? You also get a bigger screen. The vívoactive HR sports a 1.38-inch color touchscreen display that offers more than enough room for viewing your daily stats, current workouts, the weather and more. The screen isn’t particularly easy to read outdoors, but it’s far from the worst we’ve seen on a fitness tracker. You can also adjust your backlight intensity and timeout length if you’d like in the settings menu, but honestly we haven’t found the backlight to be all that useful.
Below the display you’ll find two physical buttons. The back button sits on the left, while the menu button sits on the right side. Both buttons look nearly identical, though, so it can be a little difficult to differentiate them from one another – especially during a workout.
One other major selling point the vívoactive HR has up its sleeve: water resistance
One other major selling point the vívoactive HR has up its sleeve: water resistance. The fitness tracker has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, meaning it can withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 50 meters. This is a huge plus in my book.
The band on the vívoactive HR is quite nice, too. It feels high-end but not to0 rubbery, making it comfortable to wear on the skin all day. Also, if you aren’t a fan of the standard black model, you can find Lava Red, Force Yellow and White replacement bands on Amazon for about $30.
Features and performance
As we mentioned in the beginning of this review, the vívoactive HR is sort of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink device. Not only does it offer your standard step, distance, calorie and sleep tracking, it also provides smartphone notifications, plenty of customizable watch faces, detailed weather information, current and past heart rate trends, GPS tracking and much more, right on the watch itself. It can get a little confusing when swiping through all the menus on the watch for the first time, but you’ll get used to the UI sooner than you might think.
Before we get into the vívoactive HR’s fitness tracking features, let’s first talk about all the extras. Garmin says the vívoactive HR is a “GPS smartwatch”, and they’re not kidding. You can get pretty much any notification from your phone to appear on the device, like incoming calls, missed calls, new voicemails, texts, emails, and even other applications like Facebook, Slack, Hangouts and more. Even though you can’t reply to any of them from your wrist, we’re happy the vívoactive HR provides many more notification options than other devices like the Fitbit Blaze.
See also: Fitbit Blaze review14
Much like most other fitness trackers on the market, the vívoactive HR will tell you to get up and move if it thinks you’ve been sitting for too long. On the left side of the main digital watch face, you’ll see a red and white bar. This is called the Move Bar. Once it fills up, the vívoactive HR will buzz and tell you to move. And once the Move Bar is cleared, you’re good to relax for another hour or so.
The vívoactive HR’s sport tracking list is extensive
The vívoactive HR’s sport tracking list is extensive. Just tap the right physical button and you’ll see a list of everything the device can track. Here’s the full list of what it can track: run, bike, pool swim, golf, walk, row, SUP (stand-up paddle boarding), ski/board, XC ski, run indoor, bike indoor, walk indoor and row indoor. Not bad, right?
Garmin’s Move IQ in action
Once you tap the right button and select your workout, just wait a few seconds for the tracker to achieve a GPS connection, and you’re good to go. If you forget to select your workout, though, Garmin’s Move IQ technology will step in. Move IQ is basically Garmin’s version of automatic activity recognition, though it does come with a healthy dose of caveats. If you find yourself on a run or biking around town, the idea is that Move IQ will record that activity in the background automatically. The problem is, even if it detects you’re in the middle of a workout, it won’t enable the GPS. This means when you go into the Garmin Connect app for your workout stats, you’ll only see your workout duration, not distance. Also, these automatically recorded workouts don’t show up in the standard activity view of the app (like all other workouts), just in the calendar view.
You’ll get much more precise data if you just select your workouts manually. It can be difficult to remember sometimes, I know, but tapping a few more buttons before you begin will really be beneficial in the long run.
In terms of step tracking, the vívoactive HR is pretty much on par with most other higher-end fitness trackers on the market. As per usual, we went out and walked 500 steps with the vívoactive HR, while also comparing it with the Fitbit Surge and Garmin vívosmart HR. The vívoactive HR was actually the closest out of them all, ending with 504 steps. For reference, the Surge came in second with 506 steps and the vívosmart HR recorded 508.
You don’t buy the vívoactive HR just for its pedometer feature, though. You buy it because you need something more than what the average fitness tracker can provide. I’ve used the vívoactive HR primarily for running over this two-week review period, and we must say, it’s an incredible workout companion.
The 1.38-inch screen can show you plenty of info during a workout
When you’re in the middle of a run, the device’s big screen will be able to show you more than what other fitness trackers can at a glance. You’ll see your distance, time and pace all on the main screen. You can also swipe through (up or down) to reveal more metrics: lap distance, lap time, lap pace, heart rate, heart rate zone and average heart rate. For most runners out there, this should be more than enough info at a glance to get you through your run, though Garmin does have a pretty solid lineup of more high-end running watches if you need something more robust.
Once you’re done running, you’ll need to tap the right physical button to stop your workout, then you can choose to either save or discard what the watch just recorded. Once you save, you can then review your workout right on the watch. This short summary includes your distance, time, pace, calories burned, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, ascent and descent. I’ve found this ‘quick review’ feature very helpful after getting done with a run. It’s not always convenient to open the app to review your most recent activity right away, so this feature can really help save some time.
As far as heart rate monitoring is concerned, the vívoactive HR has one of the more accurate wrist-mounted optical heart rate sensors I’ve used thus far. To test heart rate accuracy, I’ve been comparing the vívoactive HR’s Elevate sensor with the Wahoo TICKR X heart rate monitor. Most of the time, in terms of resting heart rate, the vívoactive HR’s readings are spot on with the TICKR X, though we have noticed the Garmin device will sometimes be off by 5-8bpm or so.
Bottom line, if you want super-accurate HR readings, buy a chest-mounted heart rate monitor
The watch’s active heart rate readings are similar to those of the TICKR X as well, though I’ve found the differences to be a little more apparent. Especially during an intense run, I’ve noticed the vívoactive HR tends to lag a bit compared to the TICKR X, though the readings between the two devices are normally only 10bpm off at most. That’s par for the course when talking about wrist-based HR sensors, though. If you want the most accurate HR readings, you should opt for a chest strap. With that said, casual runners won’t be disappointed with the vívoactive HR’s readings in the slightest.
The vívoactive HR is also quite the accurate device for cyclists. After you begin your cycling trip, the vívoactive HR will display your distance, time, speed, lap distance, lap time, average speed, heart rate, heart rate zone and average heart rate. As was the case with running, these metrics should be more than enough for most cyclists out there. Once you’re done with your biking trip, you’ll be able to check more detailed metrics like average/max speed, moving time, average/max heart rate, elevation gain/loss, min/max elevation and calories burned.
Garmin’s Connect app only displays a limited amount of information regarding sleep trends overtime
Sleep tracking with the vívoactive HR could be a little better. Let’s start off with the positives. Unlike with activity tracking, the watch will automatically track your sleep when it senses you’ve fallen asleep. No need to hit any buttons. When you wake up, you’ll be able to see how long you slept, how much deep and light sleep you achieved, and how often you woke up. You’ll also see graphs showing how often you move during the night.
We don’t really have any problems with the way the vívoactive HR tracks sleep; everything seems to be pretty accurate. The problem is, Garmin’s Connect app only displays a limited amount of information regarding sleep trends overtime. Checking out day-by-day sleep stats is as easy as navigating to the calendar view and selecting a particular day, but you can’t really look back at how your sleep patterns have been progressing. There’s a dedicated sleep section that’s easy enough to find in the app, though it only shows your sleep from the past seven days. It would have been much nicer to see more days included in this view, as well as suggestions for getting a better night’s sleep.
Related: Moto 360 Sport review20
Garmin says the vívoactive HR will be able to last up to 8 days on a single charge in watch/activity tracking mode, which is in line with what I’ve been able to achieve throughout my testing period. Of course, the battery will diminish much quicker the more you use things like the heart rate sensor or GPS, so be sure to keep that in mind.
| Display | 1.38-inch touchscreen display, 183ppi |
| Heart rate monitor | Yes, optical |
| GPS | Yes |
| Water resistance | 5 ATM (up to 50 meters) |
| Sleep tracking | Yes, automatic |
| Battery life | Up to 8 days |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS, Windows 10 |
| Colors | Black (with interchangeable bands in Lava Red, Force Yellow and White) |
| Dimensions | Watch only: 30.2 x 57.0 x 11.4mm Regular: fits wrists from 137 to 195mm X-Large: fits wrists from 162 to 225mm |
| Weight | Regular: 47.6g X-large: 48.2g |
Software
Like we’ve mentioned in the past, Garmin’s Connect app is sort of difficult to get used to. It’s cluttered, a tad slow and not super intuitive to navigate, though there are some really good things here if you look hard enough.
Connect is divided up into a few main sections: Snapshots, Leaderboard, Calendar, News Feed and Insights. The main Snapshot screen features all of your stats for the current day, including steps, sleep, active calories, activities, intensity minutes and floors climbed. Swiping left or right from here will bring you to more detailed pages on steps, sleep, activity, weight, and the Garmin Community. You can also add more Snapshots by tapping the top-right menu button.
Tapping on a particular Snapshot will give you more detailed information on that metric. For instance, the running Snapshot only shows distance, time, pace and your miles over the last 30 days, but tapping on any one of these areas will give you more detailed workout data.
More: Fitbit Charge HR vs Garmin vívosmart HR13
Next up is the Leaderboard section, which is where you can connect with friends who also have Garmin devices. It’s here where you can compete with your friends to achieve goals and see how everyone else is doing.
The Calendar section is mighty useful, though it can get confusing if you don’t know what you’re looking for. This is where you’ll go to find a previous workout, sleep or goal. As you can see in the screenshot below, the Calendar is presented as a month view, with different colors indicating workouts, sleep and goals. There’s no easy way to tell which color stands for what, so you might be poking around a bit to find what you’re looking for. Luckily there’s a filter option on the top-right of the Calendar to help point you in the right direction, but we’re not sure this is a good solution.
Next up is the News Feed section. This is where all of your workouts are listed from the past month. Last but not least is the Insights page, where you’ll find a list of tips and tricks from Garmin that will help you make the most of your workouts.
It’s easy to have a love/hate relationship with this app. It’s confusing, and we’re constantly finding new areas of the app we didn’t know existed. There is a lot of good information inside the Connect app, though. Garmin just needs to move around a few menus and simplify the whole experience a bit.
Gallery
Should you buy it?
Buy now from Amazon
If you’re looking for a fitness tracker with GPS, a big screen, water resistance and aren’t worried about size, the Garmin vívoactive HR is for you. It’s not cheap at around $250, but we can honestly say that, for the money, this is one of the better fitness trackers on the market. While Garmin does have some room to improve with its Move IQ technology and Connect app, those are very small caveats in the grand scheme of things.
How did you like our review? Is there anything you’d like to add? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section below!
Next: The best smartwatches38
Panasonic Lumix FZ2500 and Lumix FZ2000 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Panasonic’s Lumix FZ1000 is the camera I recommend the most to those considering a digital SLR for photography, but who aren’t in love with the idea of buying and lugging around lenses. The new $1,200 Lumix FZ2500 arriving in December goes beyond that, eliminating the need for a high-performance camcorder, too.
According to Panasonic, the FZ2500 is essentially the company’s GH4 interchangeable lens camera — a model popular with moviemakers — but with a fixed zoom lens. In this case, a 20x f2.8-4.5 24-480 lens with an inner zoom structure for reducing image shift when zooming. Ever noticed a little jump in your video when zooming in and out with another camera? That’s what this system is suppressing.
Panasonic
The camera does not have a Micro Four Third sensor like the GH4 either, but the FZ2500’s 1-inch 20-megapixel sensor is still big. If the performance is anything like the FZ1000’s 1-inch sensor, you can expect better color, detailed dynamic range and low-light performance for photos and video than a typical camcorder or point-and-shoot.
So, how exactly is it like the GH4 then? Well, it’s all in capabilities:
- Record in 4K (4,096×2,160) or Quad HD (3,840×2,160) resolutions at 24fps or 30fps, respectively, in MOV or MP4
- Record in full HD (1,920×1,080) at 200Mbps or 100 Mbps in MOV, MP4, AVCHD progressive and AVCHD
- User selectable system frequency between 59.94Hz (23.98Hz), 50.00Hz or 24.00Hz
- Live output via micro-HDMI in 4:2:2/8-bit while recording to a SDXC card at 4:2:0/8-bit
- Live output via micro-HDMI in 4:2:2/10-bit for saving HDMI output to external storage
- V-Log/V-Log L support (paid software upgrade required)
- Full HD variable frame rate control for speeding up and slowing down the look of your video on the fly
- No limit on continuous recording (US only)
Design features like its 3.5mm mic and headphone jacks, a hot shoe, zoom and focus rings on the lens barrel, an SD card slot on the side for quick swaps when it’s on a tripod, front and rear control dials and a high-res 3-inch flip-out rear touchscreen that tilts up and down by 270 degrees only add to its flexibility as a movie-making machine.
The design is great for photography, too, including a large, high-magnification OLED viewfinder; built-in ND filters — -2EV(1/4), -4EV(1/16), -6EV(1/64) and AUTO – selectable with a switch on the lens barrel; built-in Wi-Fi for remote control and a nine-blade aperture for smooth-looking out-of-focus areas.
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The camera has fast performance in general, with a full-resolution burst mode of 12fps with fixed focus or 7fps with continuous autofocus for up to 100 JPEGs or 30 raw images at a time.
Like Panasonic’s other high-end compacts, the FZ2500 can use its 4K video capabilities to fire off 8-megapixel pictures at a blazing fast rate of 30 per second, grabbing moments you might otherwise miss. Another mode takes a burst of photos with different focus points and lets you select the area you want in focus after you shoot. Fans of close-up macro shots will appreciate the Focus Stacking mode, so you can decide how much of the shot is in focus.
If you were looking for a (slightly) less expensive competitor to Sony’s Cyber-shot RX10 III, this is it.
Panasonic Lumix G85 and Lumix G80 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Panasonic takes its Lumix G7 mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera upstream — literally — with the Lumix G85, an updated and more rugged version of a combination of a slightly redesigned G7 body with the internals of the GX85/GX80, intended to appeal to the outdoor photographer. In addition to incorporating the antialiasing-filter-free sensor and image processor and stabilization system from the GX85, the G85 improves on the G7 body with dust-and-splash resistance and the ability to take a battery grip. Plus it adds some more advanced video capabilities and improved image stabilization.
The camera will ship in October with a body-only price of $900 and a $1,000 kit with the 12-60mm f3.5-5.6 lens announced in February 2016. I don’t have non-US pricing or availability yet, but those directly convert to roughly £690/£770 and AU$1,200/AU$1,335. In the UK the name will be the G80.
Panasonic ruggedizes the G7 body for the…
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What’s new
- Design. In addition to the weather sealing and support for a battery grip (DMW-BGG1), Panasonic tweaked the design for improved usability. The SD card slot is now on the grip, where it belongs, and it adds electronic first-curtain shutter (EFCS) for decreased shutter vibration. It also has a magnesium front panel for increased rigidity which decreases vibration, as well. And the viewfinder has slightly more magnification.
- Performance. Panasonic incorporated a new gyro in the body to beef up its 5-axis hybrid image-stabilization system, dubbed “Dual IS 2.” While the continuous-shooting frame rate with autofocus remains essentially unchanged, it’s got a deeper buffer for a decent number of raw shots.
- Video. While the camera has the usual Panasonic 4K video-enabled features such as focus stacking and Live Crop, it also gains clean HDMI out (4:2:2), monochrome preview and the ability to fiddle with the luma value. In the US, you can shoot a single 4K video clip for up to 45 minutes rather than being forced to cut off at 29:59 (which is an artifact of European regulations). However, it lacks support for V-Log profiles.
My take
I tend to like Panasonic’s cameras because of the balance of speed, size, features and photo quality, and the G85/G80 combines the best of both worlds from its latest mirrorless models. Olympus’ OM-D models, probably the E-M5 Mark II, are its closest competitors, but the EM5M2 is two years old and needs a general update to bring it into 2016.
Comparative specs
| Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II | Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85DMC-G80 (UK) | Pansonic Lumix DMC-GX85DMC-GX80 (UK) |
| 16.1MP Live MOS | 16MP Live MOS | 16MP Live MOS | 16MP Live MOS |
| 17.3 x 13mm | 17.3 x 13mm | 17.3mm x 13mm | 17.3mm x 13mm |
| 2.0x | 2.0x | 2.0x | 2.0x |
| Yes | Yes | No | No |
| ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 200 – ISO 25600 | ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 200 – ISO 25600 | ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 200 – ISO 25600 | ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 200 – ISO 25600 |
| 5fpsunlimited JPEG and raw(10fps with fixed focus and IS off) | 6fps 100 JPEG/13 raw(8fps with focus fixed on first frame; 40fps with electronic shutter) | 6fps300 JPEG/45 raw(9fps with focus and exposure fixed on first frame) | 6fpsat least 100 JPEG/13 raw(10fps with electronic shutter and focus fixed on the first frame) |
| EVF100% coverage2.36 million dots1.3x – 1.48x/ 0.65x – 0.74x | OLED EVF100% coverage2.36m dots1.4x/0.7x | OLED EVF100% coverage2.36m dots1.5x/0.74x | EVF100% coverage2.8m dots1.4x/0.7x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 81-area Contrast AF | 49-area DFD Contrast AF | 49-area DFD Contrast AF | 49-area DFD Contrast AF |
| n/a | -4 – 18 EV | -4 – 18 EV | -4 – 18 EV |
| 60 – 1/8000 sec; bulb to 30 minutes; 1/250 sec x-sync (Super FP to 1/8000) | 1/4000 to 60 secs (up to 1/16000 with electronic shutter); bulb to 2 minutes; 1/160 sec x-sync | 1/4000 to 60 secs (up to 1/16000 with electronic shutter); bulb to 2 minutes; 1/160 sec x-sync | 60 -1/4000 sec; max 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter; 1/160 sec x-sync; bulb to 2 minutes |
| n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 324 area | 1,728 zone | 1,728 zone | 1,728 zone |
| -2 – 20 EV | 0 – 18 EV | 0 – 18 EV | 0 – 18 EV |
| H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/60p, 50p (52 Mbps); 30p, 25p, 24p (77 Mbps) | H.264 QuickTime MOVUHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 100Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p @ 28Mbps | H.264 QuickTime MOV4K UHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 100Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p @ 200Mbps | H.264 QuickTime MOV4K UHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 100Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p @ 200Mbps |
| Stereo; mic input; headphone jack on HLD-8G grip | Stereo; mic input | Stereo; mic input | Stereo |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4GB | 29:59 mins | 45 mins(in US only)29:59 elsewhere | 4GB/29:59 minutes |
| Yes | n/a | Yes | n/a |
| Sensor shift 5 axis | Optical | Sensor shift Dual IS 25 axis | Sensor shift Dual IS5 axis |
| 3 in/7.5cmArticulated touchscreen1.04m dots | 3 in/7.5cmArticulated touchscreen1.04m dots | 3 in/7.5cmArticulated touchscreen1.04m dots | 3-inch/7.5 cmTilting touchscreen1.04 million dots |
| 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi |
| Included add-on | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| 310 shots(1,220 mAh) | 360 shots(1,200mAh) | 330 shots (LCD); 320 shots (VF)(1,200 mAh) | 290 shots (LCD); 270 shots (EVF)(1,025 mAh) |
| 4.9 x 3.3 x 1.8 in124 x 85 x 45 mm | 4.9 x 3.4 x 3.1 in124.9 x 86.2 x 77.4 mm | 5.1 x 3.5 x 2.9 in 128 x 89 x 74 mm | 4.8 x 2.8 x 1.7 in122 x 71 x 44 mm |
| 15.7 oz446 g | 14.7 oz418 g | 17.1 oz (est.)505 g (est.) | 15.3 oz434 g |
| $1,100(body only)£950(with 14-42mm PZ lens)AU$1,400 (est.)(with 14-42mm lens) | £550(with 12-60mm lens)$700AU$900(with 14-42mm lens) | $1,000(with 12-60mm lens) | $800£600AU$1,200(with 12-32mm lens) |
| February 2015 | June 2015 | October 2016 | May 2016 |
Panasonic Lumix LX10 and Lumix LX15 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Panasonic
Adding to its enthusiast compact line, Panasonic’s Lumix LX10 is a somewhat confusing entry between the more consumer-targeted Lumix ZS100 and the similarly priced Lumix LX100. Panasonic sees the LX10 as the successor to the four-year-old LX7, but when the LX7 shipped there were no competing enthusiast compacts in Panasonic’s line with its fast lens and large (at the time) 1/1.7-inch sensor. (It does enable Panasonic to somewhat disingenuously proclaim “The 1-inch sensor is 3 times larger than the LX7’s 1/1.7-inch sensor” rather than saying it’s the same size as the sensor in almost every enthusiast compact these days.) The LX10 combines the 20.1-megapixel 1-inch sensor of the ZS100 with a fast but short-zoom lens like the LX100, which has a larger but lower-resolution 12-megapixel Four Thirds-size sensor.
Panasonic plans to ship the LX10 in November for $700; I don’t have price or availability for other regions, but it converts to approximately £540 and AU$935.
Relative sensor sizes.
Lori Grunin/CNET
What’s notable
- Design: Panasonic’s main design goal with this model was pocketability. Though it is smaller than the LX100, it’s not by a lot: The company shaved off 0.5 in/7mm or less in every dimension, putting it at the same size as the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II but still larger than the competing Sony RX100 II — which has a viewfinder and is about the largest size that will fit in a jeans pocket. The LX100 fits in a loose pants pocket. And it’s only fractionally smaller than the ZS100, which has a 10x zoom lens. It looks very much like the ZS100, but swaps the programmable ring on the lens for an aperture ring. And unlike the other two Panasonic models, it has a flip-up display for selfies.
- Lens: The camera’s 3x 24-72mm f1.4-2.8 lens does have the fastest maximum aperture in its class, but only by a bit less than 2/3 of a stop. And unfortunately, it lacks a built-in neutral density filter, which makes it difficult to shoot at slow shutter speeds at wide apertures in sunlight. It does have a 9-blade diaphragm for round out-of-focus highlights. It can focus as close as 1.2 in/3 cm, which is one of the closest in its class. And it incorporates Panasonic’s 5-axis hybrid sensor shift/optical image-stabilization system.
- Performance: It incorporates the company’s DFD (depth from defocus) contrast autofocus system, which is quite fast. That will likely give it an edge over competitors, since AF in these cameras tends to be a bit slow. However, the battery life is rated at only 260 shots thanks to the tiny, low-power battery.
- Features: All the standard Panasonic-specific features come in the LX10. They include 4K video with 4K burst, 4K photo, 4K Live Crop (which produces an HD video from a window panning around a 4K video), Post Focus and Focus Stacking modes. A new capability is Light Composition, a post-capture process which combines frames of a 4K video into the equivalent of a long-exposure still frame.
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My take
The LX10 sounds like a nice camera, as long as you’re okay without a hot shoe or a viewfinder, and are willing to trade higher resolution for the photo quality of the LX100 or a fast lens for a long zoom on the less-expensive ZS100. I suspect it will be a confusing decision among those models for a lot of people.
With the exception of the longer lens on the G7 X Mark II, the LX10 seems like it has a lot of advantages in comparison, and it has the potential to give the more expensive Sony RX100 IV some serious competition.
And while it’s certainly an improved option over the LX7 — which you’d expect after so long — you do lose the multi-aspect sensor, which produces images with the same resolution regardless of the aspect ratio you choose.
Comparative specs
| Canon PowerShot G7 X | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX10 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II |
| 20.2MP HS CMOS | 20.1MP MOS | 12.8MP MOS | 20.2MP Exmor R CMOS |
| 1-inch(13.2 x 8.8 mm) | 1-inch(13.2 x 8.8) | Four Thirds(17.3 x 13mm) | 1-inch(13.2 x 8.8mm) |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 100 – ISO 12800/25600 (exp) | ISO 80 (exp)/ISO 125 – ISO 12800/ISO 25600 (exp) | ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 200 – ISO 25600 | ISO 100 (exp)/ISO 160 – ISO 12800 |
| 24-100mmf1.8-2.84.2x | 24-72mmf1.4-2.83x | 24 – 75mmf1.7-2.83.1x | 28 – 100mmf1.8-4.9 3.6x |
| 2.0 in/5 cm | 1.2 in/3 cm | 2 in/5 cm | 1.9 in/5 cm |
| 4.4fps31 JPEG/n/a raw(6.5fps with focus and exposure fixed on first frame) | 6fpsn/a(50fps with electronic shutter and fixed AF/AE) | 6.5fpsn/a(40fps with electronic shutter and fixed AF/AE) | 2.5fps(10fps with fixed exposure)12 JPEG/13 raw |
| None | None | EVF0.4 in/10 mm2.764m dots100% coverage1.39x/0.7x | Optional OLED EVFTilting 0.5-inch/13 mm2.36m dots100 percent coverage |
| No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 31-areaContrast AF | 49-areaContrast AF | 49-areaContrast AF | 25-area Contrast AF |
| 250 – 1/2,000 sec | 60 – 1/4,000 sec (1/16,000 electronic shutter); bulb to 2 minutes | 60 – 1/4,000 sec (1/16,000 electronic shutter); bulb to 2 minutes | 30 – 1/2,000 sec; bulb |
| n/a | n/a | 1,728 zones | n/a |
| H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/60p | MP4 UHD/30p, 24p @ 100Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p | MP4 UHD/30p, 25p, 24p @ 100Mbps; 1080/60p, 50p | AVCHD1080/60p, 50p, 25p,24p |
| Stereo | Stereo | Stereo | Stereo |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4GB/29:59 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 29 minutes |
| Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes |
| Optical | Optical5-axis hybrid | Optical | Optical |
| 3 in/7.5 cmFlip-up touchscreen 1.04m dots | 3 in/7.5 cmTilting touchscreen 1.04m dots | 3 in/7.5 cmFixed921,000 dots | 3 in/7.5cmTilting921,600 dots(plus another set of white dots for brightness) |
| 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC |
| Wi-Fi, NFC | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, NFC | Wi-Fi, NFC |
| Yes | Yes | Bundled optional | Yes |
| No | No | No | No |
| 210 shots(1,250 mAh) | 260 shots(680 mAh) | 300 shots(1,025 mAh) | 350 shots(1,240 mAh) |
| 4.1 x 2.4 x 1.6 in103 x 60 x 40 mm | 4.2 x 2.4 x 1.7 in106 x 60 x 42 mm | 4.5 x 2.6 x 2.2 in 115 x 66 x 55 mm | 4.0 x 2.3 x 1.5 inches101.6 x 58.1 x 38.3 mm |
| 10.7 oz302 g | 10.9 (est.)310 g (est.) | 13.9 oz394 g | 9.9 oz280.7 g |
| $650£390 (est.) | $700 | $700£530AU$1,000 | $650£630AU$900 |
| October 2014 | November 2016 | November 2014 | July 2013 |
Panasonic Lumix GH5 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Although Micro Four Thirds video shooters have been eagerly awaiting an update to Panasonic’s flagship mirrorless movie model, the Lumix GH4 — it turned two last February — they’re just going to have to wait a little longer. Rather than announcing the camera at the Photokina 2016 show in Germany as expected by many, Panasonic instead revealed that it’s “in development” and will be available early in 2017. Probably just in time for its third birthday.
There isn’t much detail on it yet, but Panasonic did say it will support 4K/60p, 4K/30p at 4:2:2 (10 bit) and an updated version of its 4K photo (which uses specific settings to grab 8-megapixel stills from 4K video) that will be able to grab 16-megapixel images.
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