Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth Speaker Unboxing Preview

So I got a new Portable Bluetooth Speaker. Did I need a new Portable BT Speaker? Some might say no (like my wife for instance), but I on the other hand I felt it was time for an upgrade from my 5 year old Kinivo BTX270 Wireless Bluetooth Portable Speaker I've been using for a while now.

I have to say my trusty Kinivo BTX270 Wireless Bluetooth Portable Speaker has been good to me and survived many trips, falls and the battery seems just as good as the day I got it. It's just that I have always liked the huge sound that seems to come out of the Bose Portable BT Speakers, even their super compact speaker line have a great overall sound with lots of base for such a small package.

My main criteria for a new Bluetooth Portable Speaker was:

• Super portable and easy to throw in my backpack without taking up too much room.
• A big sound in a small package with lots of bass and clear mids and highs.
• Because this speaker was often going to be used in group situations I wanted a speaker that sounded good all around it, not just in one sweet spot.
• A quality solid build that could take some abuse including a little bit of moisture.
• Enough battery life to last the day off and on so I don't have to worry about the tunes cutting out right when the party starts to happen.

Well I'm very happy to say that the Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth Speaker meets all of my criteria and yes at a bit of a cost but big expectations do come at a bigger price tag.

So far I am very pleased with my Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth Speaker and I look forward to taking it with me shortly on my trip to Las Vegas for my 50th birthday!

Here are some specifictions for the Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth Speaker to leave you with:

• Drivers - 1 x 3" / 76.2 mm
• Built-In Mic - Yes
• Bluetooth Version - 4.2
• Supported Bluetooth Profiles - A2DP / AVRCP
• NFC - Yes
• Inputs - 1 x 1/8" (3.5 mm) Stereo / 1 x USB Micro-B
• Battery Chemistry - Lithium-Ion
• Expected Battery Life - 12 Hours
• IP Rating - IPX4 (Splashes and rain are OK)
• Dimensions (W x H x D) - 3.2 x 6.0 x 3.2" / 8.2 x 15.2 x 8.2 cm
• Weight - 1.5 lb / 0.7 kg 

How to Connect an External BT Heart Rate Monitor to your Samsung Gear or Galaxy Watch

If you're reading this then perhaps you are like me and where or are looking for a way to connect an External Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor to your Samsung Gear or Samsung Galaxy Smart Fitness Watch? Well get ready because I have found a way to connect many popular External BT fitness devices to your Samsung Gear or Galaxy Watch even though Samsung says this is not possible within Apps.

Now before I get into the details I think I should clarify why this is even necessary. It all comes down to the accuracy of the built in Optical Heart Rate Monitor on your Samsung Gear or Galaxy Watch. These built in Optical Heart Rate Monitors simply do not do a good job reading your heart rate especially when your heart rate is jumping around a lot or your arms are moving around as in when you are doing a weight lifting, Crossfit, Bootcamp or other HIIT style training.

So back to the solution on how to connect an External BT Heart Rate Monitor to your Samsung Gear or Galaxy Watch. You are going to need to download and buy a Watch Face called "Sporty Watch". Sporty Watch is much more than your typical Watch Face, most importantly it has a settings option that allows for the connection of external BT Heart Rate Monitors and even some other Bluetooth Fitness Devices. Sporty Watch also taps into your Samsung Watche GPS for tracking GPS details during outside activities. Sporty Watch has access to pretty much all of the watches fitness related real time data which gives it all the information it needs to track your workouts in full detail.

When you are finished your workout, Sporty Watch saves the workout data to its own Diary if you want to recall the info later. SPorty Watch also syncs this data to a number of possible sources: Strava, TrainingPeaks, Google Drive, Diary Webserver.

I personally have Sporty Watch send the workout data automatically to Strava where I can see and share that data to MyFitnessPal and Samsung Health. The only thing that Sporty Watch and Strave don't take into consideration would be the total steps for your day which helps programs like MyFtinessPal figure out your total calorie burn for the day. This is not a problem because your Samsung Gear or Galaxy Watch your steps for you where you can see it in the Samsung Health App and also share step data with MyFitnessPal.

So there you have it!

Which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch?

The big question I often get from Clients and in general from people online is... "Which Fitness Tracker or Fitness Smartwatch should I get?" This is really a loaded question. It's kind of like randomly asking me what vehicle is best for you when next to no information about you has been told to me. Even if I did know what your vehicle needs are, there are so many options out there to choose from. Which company, what type of vehicle, what price range... This is the same when trying to figure out the best Fitness Smart Watches to consider.

Do you want a fitness watch more for fitness or for it's smart features, may be a little bit of both? How much money do you want to spend? How integrated with other software do you want it to be? Do you want a stylish Fitness Watch or perhaps a Sporty one? Are you going to be doing basic activities or complex and diverse activities? Do you want the utmost in accuracy when it comes to heart rate, steps and GPS tracking? Do you see what I mean here?

It gets even more complicated because it seem that every watch figures things out a little bit differently then the other ones. Some count more steps and distance than others, some will give you more calories for an activity then a different fitness Smartwatch or Tracker. Some allow for external heart rate monitors which is more accurate and some will only allow you to use the built in optical heart rate monitor. And at the end of the day which one is telling you the truth? Maybe all of them are but in their own way...

I have jumped from one Fitness Tracking device to another in my quest to find the best solution for me and just when I think I have found it, someone comes out with a device that draws me in and I have to try it out. Sometimes it works out for me and sometimes I find myself taking a step back but I kind of enjoy all of this fitness tech in the end.

So which is the Best Fitness Smartwatch? Hell if I know, you're probably going to have to try a few out until you find the one best suited to you. If you have no idea where to start, take a look at some of the Garmin and Fitbit products, they have a combination of really solid software and hardware offerings for a variety of needs.

Good luck in your quest and enjoy the journey...

Amazfit Fitness Smartwatch Fail

I hate to be negative about a product line, I prefer to talk about the good stuff or at least focus on the good rather than the bad but but in this case of Amazfit I am really let down lately by what has been happening to me with my Amazfit Stratos and Amazfit Verge.

There is a lot I say in the video about the problems I am having but in short my Amazfit Stratos has gone mad and is giving me all kinds of bad data when it comes to my activity tracking. I have been working with Amazfit support to try and fix this problem for around a month but have decided to call it quite because we seem to be going around in circles and not getting any closer to fixing the problem.

I did purchase the new Amazfit Verge and just recently it arrived, I was hoping this new Amazfit product would solve my problems but quickly realized I would have a new set of problems with it, mainly the fact that it does not count calories even remotely close when recording and activity. Very sad when both devices are made by the same company, use the same App and have virtually the same software on them, yet both give completely different calorie counts for a similar activity.

All said and done I am sadly dropping Amazfit and moving on to a new platform for my Fitness Tracking.

Smart Fitness Watch Update Video - Vivoactive 3

In this Smart / Fitness Watch Update video I talk a lot about Fitness / Smart Watches. I go over some of my experiences using them and what features I look for when I'm considering a Smart / Fitness Watch. Everyone's needs are going to be a lot different for sure! Some people are strictly looking for fitness data, some people love the SmartWatch capabilities like notifications, access to Apps and other tech, and even being able to make a till payment with your Smart / Fitness Watch. And then some people want a Smart Watch with a certain style to it that matches their personality. You may want a little bit of all these things?

I did end up buying a Garmin Vivoactive 3 mainly because my Amazfit Stratos is not working properly when it comes to tracking workouts and for me this is a huge deal breaker. I'm pretty sure something is wrong with my Amazfit Stratos since it worked flawlessly for many month and only recently decided to give me problems. I'm working with Amazfit to try and resolve this problem but so far it's not going well?

I am liking the Garmin Vivoactive 3 but I don't think I will be keeping it since I am expecting to get my new Amazfit Verge very soon and hope this will become my new daily diver Smart Fitness watch.