Last year, Google launched its first smartphone: Pixel. Right out the gate, the camera on the Pixel stood up to those on other leading smartphones, including the iPhone 7. Fast-forward one year and the arms race continues. Apple just launched the iPhone 8 with a camera that is a noticeable improvement over the 7, and Google now has the , which is also significantly better than its predecessor. We’ve been playing with the Pixel 2 over the past week. Here are our first impressions.Ěý

Better Overall Photo Quality

If you’ve been following cell-phone camera development, you’ll know that improvements are made through software and hardware updates. On the hardware side, the Pixel 2 ($650) and Pixel 2 XL ($850) get a faster aperture (a new f/1.8 versus the old f/2.0) on their single 28-millimeter lens. This means that the 12.2-megapixel camera drinks in more light and allows for sharper daytime photos and better low-light captures. Even more important, the wide-angle lens also gets optical image stabilization, which helps reduce shake and blurring when the light isĚýlow. Finally, the sensor on the 2 and 2 XL is actually slightly smaller than the original Pixel, but has a different pixel configuration that makes focusing faster and allows for a bokeh, or low depth of field effect, which we’ll get to later.

On the software side, the big update is a new HDR, or high dynamic range. With HDR, your camera typically takes three photos—one that exposes for the highlights, another that exposes forĚýshadows, and one with an exposure between the two—and then combines those photos to give you a shot with a lot of dynamic range. On the Pixel 2, the camera takes up to tenĚýphotos, many of which are underexposed so that you can nail the highlights. The shadows in this composite photoĚýcome outĚýdark, but there’s still enough data in the group of photos to pull out details and make them look normal.Ěý

In the past, photos shot on a phone camera would fall apart if you tried to edit them after the fact—there just wasn’t enough data for tweaking. With the new HDR, however, we went in and tried to brighten the shadows on a couple shotsĚýand were impressed with how much detail we could pull out before the image started to look processed.

The question, of course, is whether the images on the Pixel stack up to the iPhone. OverallĚýthey’re very similar. In daylight, both the Pixel 2 and the iPhone 8 shoot color-accurate, detail-rich photos that look great on Instagram or blown up on a screen. Both phones are getting better in low-light situations, thanks to features like image optical stabilization and HDR. (Though they still can’t stack up to DSLRs or mirrorless cameras in terms of quality—professional cameras have bigger sensors that gather more light and data.) But there are some important differences between the iPhone 8 and the Pixel 2.

One Lens Versus Two LensesĚý

The biggest difference between the Pixel 2Ěýand the iPhone 8, which is the easy comparison, is that lack of a second 56-millimeter zoom lens that comes on the iPhone 8 Plus. We talked to Isaac Reynolds, the product manager on Pixel, and asked why Google decided to stick with just one lens. He said it was all about tradeoffs. Without a second lens, the Pixel 2s (both the regular and the larger XL) areĚýabout 30 percent lighter than their iPhone counterparts, which you notice almost immediately. The Pixels’Ěý28-millimeter lenses also stabilized, unlike the 28-millimeterĚýon the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. (Only the 56-millimeter zoomĚýon the iPhone 8 Plus is stabilized.) Finally, with only one lens, there’s less hardware to scratch or break.

Those are the upsides. There are a few downsides, though. First, you can only zoom in digitally on the Pixel, versus optically on the iPhone. The lack of an optical zoom is a true downside, because optical zooming doesn’t affect the picture quality, whereas digital zooming does. (AĚýdigital zoom is essentially just a crop). Google used software to try and compensate—and itĚýdoesĚýa good job—but it’s still not the same.Ěý

Google also had to come up with a way to create the bokeh effect—that shallow depth of field look where your subject is in focus but the background is blurred—with just one lens. (Apple uses both lenses to create the bokeh effect.) We were impressed with how Google managed to pull this off with just software. The portraits we shot usually looked great, with sharp subjects and blurred out backgrounds. But we also found that the portraits were not as consistent as what we’ve gotten withĚýthe iPhone 8 Plus. For example, sometimes parts of the subject were accidentally blurred; this didn’t ruin the shot, but it was easily noticeable. Also, a wide-angle 28-millimeter lens isn’t ideal for portraits. Wide-angles tend to warp your subject if you shoot closeups, so you have to be careful and hold the phone at least a couple feet back. Apple’s 56-millimeter lens, on the other hand, is ideal and cuts down on that warping.Ěý

The Pixel 2 does not come with anything like Portrait Lighting—the Apple software that lets you adjust the lighting situation on your portraits—but it does allow you to get a bokeh effect from the selfie camera,Ěýsomething Apple will eventually offer on the iPhone X.

The Power of Google In Your Camera

Since Google makes the Pixel, the companyĚýwanted to harness itsĚýenormous search history and merge it with the camera. The result is a feature called Lens, which for the momentĚýis still in beta. To use Lens, you snap a photo, then press a small button in the menu that tells the phone to do an image search online. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But when Google thinks it’s found a match, it pulls up relevant data to help augment your photo.Ěý

For example, we shot this mural in Kingston, New York, and Google was able to determineĚýthat it was painted as part of the O Positive Music and Arts Festival. We also shot hot air balloons at the annual International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Though it was able to recognize the objects, it couldn’t guess that we were at the Fiesta. As Lens get better, we should be able to walk through the world pointing our phones at whatever and getting relevant data sent back about everything from the name of a mountain, to the difficulty of a climbing route, to the make of a particular bike.

Buttery-Smooth Stabilized Video

Unlike the iPhone 8, the Pixel 2 cannot shoot 4K at 60 frames per second, nor can it shoot slow-motion 1080p at 240 frames per second. But it does provide really good video stabilization, which some might consider to be more important. Reynolds told us that the footage is ultrasmooth thanks to the optical image stabilization in the lens matched with additional digital stabilization. That’s not sexy on paper, but a lot of phone footage is unusable because of shakiness, and the Pixel 2 goes a long way toward fixing that.

A Phone that Stands Up to the Elements

The Pixel 2 now comes with weatherproofing and dust protection, so you can dunk your Pixel in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes—which is a handy feature for those who like to play outside.Ěý

A Free, Quick Backup for All Your Photos

Like the original Pixel, the 2 will upload all your full-resolution photos and video to Google Photo, for free, meaning you have a perfect backup.Ěý

A Battery that Charges in Minutes

Like the original Pixel, the Pixel 2 alsoĚýcharges to 75 percent in 15 minutes, which is particularly handy when you’re on the road.Ěý

Bottom Line

So should you buy a Pixel 2? If you want to be able to zoom optically, if you shoot a ton of shallow depth of field portraits, and if you care about things like Portrait Lighting, we’d say go with the iPhone 8 Plus. But if you want a lighter, slightly less expensive phone that’s easier to travel with, has an easier-to-charge battery, and shoots high-quality photos and damn nice portraits, the Pixel 2 is a better choice. You’ll have to remember that neither of these phones can replace a professional camera, but both are great to have in your pocket.

The post Google Keeps Pumping Out Great Smartphone Cameras appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Wrist computers finally show their style.Ěý

Apple Watch Series 2 ($599)

Gear of the Year

The earned our Gear of the Year nod for doing one thing insanely well: worming its way into every corner of our lives. It patches through texts and calls directly to our wrists. It tracks daily motion and automatically prompts us to keep active throughout the day. No wearable has simpler navigation, and it integrates that famous ease of use into each of its fitness functions as well. Want to go for a run? Just say “Hey, Siri, let’s run,” and once you’re on the trail you get verbal pace, distance, and elapsed-time updates. When you’re finished, the watch will keep track of your daily, weekly, and monthly mileage goals. Like its predecessor, the Series 2 is more welcoming than other watches when it comes to third-party fitness apps like Strava and MapMyRun. And those revamped good looks are indicative of a larger trend in wearables: shedding all that teched-out styling for something you’re not embarrassed to wear on a date. After all, nobody wants to broadcast “Look at me—I run!” even if that’s exactly what you’d rather be doing, every chance you get.

Garmin Fenix 5S ($599)

Best For: Superb on-wrist heart-rate monitoring.

The Test: The svelte yet. It delivers up to nine days of battery life (or 14 hours of continuous GPS tracking), and its fitness diagnostics are superb. After a run, we synced our workout to the Garmin Connect app and manipulated overlay charts that showed, for instance, average steps per minute against pace to see if our form fell apart as we increased speed. There are also interval modes and custom alerts for pace and distance. On-wrist heart-rate capture was among the best in our test, matching the Suunto Spartan Sport. The only bummer: Garmin doesn’t allow onboard music storage.

The Verdict: A long-lifed wearable with fitness chops.

Samsung Gear S3ĚýFrontier ($350)

Best For: Samsung devotees.

The Test: Too many timepieces that combine altimeter, barometer, and compass (ABC) functions feel like they’re stuck in 1999. , on the other hand, is wholly 2017, with analog ABC sensors that work together with Wi-Fi and a built-in SIM card to triangulate your precise location. Thanks to that SIM, the watch also lets you send an SOS beacon to friends and family. Three days of battery life make it a great weekend-escape watch, too. Did we mention it may have the most versatile pay-from-your-wrist system on earth? So you can leave not only your phone at home but also your wallet. The interface—a slick rotating bezel—is clever and easy to use. We especially love that Samsung’s proprietary S Health app automatically logs various workout activities. Plus, you can run other fitness apps, including Under Armour Record and MapMyRun.

The Verdict: ABC watches, welcome to the 21st century.

LG Watch Sport ($349)

Best For: Dialed user-friendliness.

The Test: Android wearables came out of the gate a bit clunky—physically big, with illogical, cumbersome interfaces. However, the new is one of the first timepieces to get Android Wear 2.0, streamlining things considerably. The watch has its own SIM, so you can listen to Spotify and make calls sans phone. Like the Samsung, navigation is smooth: rotate the watch crown to scroll through menus rather than tapping and swiping the screen, which can be a real problem with sweaty fingers in the middle of a jog. Android lets you download fitness apps (Runtastic, Strava, Seven, and more) directly to the watch. All told, though, we wish it had a slightly slimmer design.

The Verdict: The best Android Wear watch on the market.Ěý

New Balance RunIQĚý($299)

Best For: Fleet-of-footĚýAndroid fans.

The Test: Strava fanatics,Ěýthis is your watch. Sure, itĚýruns Android Wear 2.0, but Strava comes preloaded and fully integrated; simply tap the upper-right button to fire it up. Plus, Strava boasts a few features just for the RunIQ that you won’t see on other Android or iOS watches, like footfall ­cadence, accurate speed metrics, and easy-to-use lap mode. ’s five-hour battery life (with GPS running) doesn’t even match the half-as-costly Polar, but it’s fully waterproof down to 50 meters—good news for tri­athletes. And New Balance—with R&D by Intel—includes highly accurate heart-rate monitoring that held up impressively well during high-intensity intervals. Also, this puppy stores up to 50 hoursĚýof music.

The Verdict: A dedicated running watch with stealth wearable capability.

Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR ($499)

Best For: Going hard.

The Test: The name may be a mouthful, but —12 hours of battery in GPS mode, water-resistant to 100 meters, and 80 different preloaded sport modes, including trail running, open-­water swimming, and adventure racing. It has an easy-to-read touchscreen, but the physical buttons on the side were clutch when our hands got sweaty. On-wrist heart-rate accuracy was matched only by the Garmin, and GPS was top-notch. Workouts get logged in Suunto’s MovesCount app and desktop program, and you can use the latter to download nearby routes and preplanned training calendars.

The Verdict: A multisport workhorse.

Polar M200Ěý($150)

Best For: Giving you gobs and gobs of data.

The Test: is ­light­weight and comfortable, and despite its price, it tracks a ridiculous number of sports, including badminton, disc golf, and literally a hundred more. Using it couldn’t be easier, with just two buttons and an intuitive operating system. Like most wearables, the M200 has GPS and accurate on-wrist heart rate, and your workout data syncs to your phone via the Polar Flow app. The M200 also works with Android’s Google Fit and can populate Apple’s Health Kit. However,Ěýits six hours of GPS battery life left us hanging on all-day epics.

The Verdict: Looking to track your handball stats? There’sĚýa watch for that.Ěý

The post The Best Fitness Watches of 2017 appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Sketchy Forest Roads

Jaguar F-Pace

The Test: After throttling across frozen lakes in Scan­dinavia and over 11,000-foot passes in the Colorado Rockies, our opinion of the 340-­horsepower V-6 F-Pace boiled down to this: it’s a riot. The 18-inch wheels rolled over uneven terrain with verve. Our con­fidence was further boosted by an on-demand all-wheel-drive system that sends power to the rear by default, engaging AWD only when needed. Interior space is enough for two mountain bikes with the seats folded down. All that, and this cat can still ferry four adults.

What’s Missing: Despite the F-Pace’s ample thrust, it’s a heavy, thirsty beast.

The Verdict: If you’re a skier, biker, or dog lover looking for a rig with sex appeal, this is your new ride. $41,985; 18 mpg city/23 mpg highway.

Porsche Cayenne

The Test: is that it’s the most capable SUV that ­almost none of its owners take beyond the pavement. Back in 2003, when it debuted in North America, we drove one through nearly hood-deep standing water, what felt like bottomless mudholes, and even up steep, root-strewn rocky slopes. The Cayenne only got better in 2011, when Porsche added center differential locks, which make all the wheels turn at once—useful for getting unstuck. Although the Cayenne defaults to rear-wheel drive on tarmac, it can send nearly all its power to either axle depending on which tire has the most grip. Switching to off-road mode lifts the chassis to 10.7 inches, besting the ground clearance of some otherwise hardier pickup trucks. What truly continues to distinguish a Cayenne from, say, a Jeep Grand Cher­okee is that it handles like a sports sedan during regular driving, with some of the best braking of any car on the road and corner­ing grip even at super­car speeds.

What’s Missing: Not much. But this summer, Porsche will retool the Cayenne, which could cost the SUV some of its notorious capability.

The Verdict: A tank that handles like a sports car. $60,650; 19 mpg city/24 mpg highway.

Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro

The Test: This —thrive in the rough. As we learned over 120 miles of tooling around town, the truck’s ride is unapologetically stiff, and the 3.5-liter V-6, while plenty powerful, is geared for dirty duty rather than interstate cruising. But once we ventured into the rough, the Tacoma’s burly Fox shocks, wide stance, and 9.4-inch ground clearance gave us every excuse to ­explore. For ­novices, the Pro model’s six-­speed ­automatic transmission affords superpowers in the form of its . Basically cruise control for off-roading, Crawl Control propels the truck up and over the gnarliest terrain, automatically modulating braking and power between all four wheels. The driver only has to steer.

What’s Missing: The Tacoma can take you almost anywhere, but good luck seeing the vistas out of the squat windshield.

The Verdict: An unabashed, user-­friendly 4×4 hero. $43,700; 18 mpg city/23 mpg highway.

How To Outfit Your Vehicle to Carry Anything

From tips professional #vanlifers to how to not to tie a surfboard on your roof.

See more.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk

The Test: With the Trailhawk, from its traditional center of burly SUV-cum-­comfort stud and invests heavily in the rough-and-tumble game. Its signature feature is Jeep’s , which jacks up the ground clearance from 8.2 to 10.8 inches with the push of a button. Rumbling on 20 miles of washboard Forest Service roads along Colorado’s Front Range, it turned an otherwise teeth-­chattering 40 minutes of miserable driving into something tolerable. In addition to four-wheel drive and its terrain-select system, the Trailhawk comes with an armored underside, as well as red hooks up front for pulling lesser vehicles out of a jam. Jeep also includes massive Goodyear All-Terrain şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř tires, and they conquer almost everything. Even with plenty of trail moxie, the interior is plush—almost too nice for the dusty, muddy, sloppy conditions the Trailhawk is made for.

What’s Missing: A bare-bones version with all the confidence, fewer tech flourishes, and none of the luxury.

The Verdict: That same sweet Grand Cherokee ride but with hardcore cred. $44,090; 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway.

Honda Ridgeline

The Test: It may look and act like a truck, but at its heart, the . On a 920-mile road trip between Colorado and New Mexico, the 3.5-liter V6 engine in the AWD version clocked a respectable 24.5 miles per gallon even while hauling a family of four, plus all their gear and a cooler, which stowed neatly in the truck’s clever locking waterproof trunk located under the bed behind the rear axle.

Getting into the trunk was made easier by the Ridgeline’s rear gate, which can swing either open or down, like a traditional pickup truck, making a bigger platform for hauling boats or bikes.

The fun continues with six speakers in the lighted truck bed, which can double as a sleeping platform with the rear gate down. Honda even sells a tent that fits inside the bed. As a ski truck, it’s a dream machine: plenty of room in the bed for boards and sticks or for ferrying backcountry bros back up to the top of the pass, while still being a cushy interstate cruiser for everyday needs.

What’s Missing: While Honda doesn’t claim that the Ridgeline is an off-roading champ, and its AWD system will get it through more muck and mud than you’d think, we’d have liked a little more giddyup.

The Verdict: Call it the anti-truck for those who want utility without a harsh ride and dismal fuel economy. $32,175 (with AWD); 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway.

Smooth City Pavement

Cadillac XT5 AWD Luxury

The Test: Whether meandering through San Francisco’s tight, traffic-clogged streets or coasting along open stretches of Highway 1 south to Santa Cruz, is, in a word, easy. Easy to maneuver, easy to spend all day in, easy to get in and out of, and easy to throw stuff into and retrieve. It’s like the Goldilocks of midsize crossovers. While that doesn’t necessarily mean exciting, it’s a key selling point for a premium rig. On a cross-continent blitz, the XT5 would be a welcome cruise liner compared with the stiffer, more aggressive ride of the Jaguar F-Pace. Cadillac also gave rear ­passengers 39.5 inches of leg­room and seats that recline for snoozing. The 310-horsepower V-6 with all-wheel drive spends most of its time judiciously powering the front axle, shutting off half its cylinders when turning all four wheels is fuel-sucking overkill.

What’s Missing: The eight-speed automatic transmission helps with fuel economy but can make passing ­maneuvers frustrating since it can take a while to find the optimal gear.

The Verdict: The luxury crossover for those who want a happy medium between a Euro sports car and an American truck. $48,790 (with AWD); 18 mpg city/ 26 mpg highway.

Cars That Only Spit Out Water Are Finally Here

Hydrogen Cars You Can Buy Now

See more

BMW 330e

The Test: The 330e is the latest step toward to power the bulk of its cars electrically by 2026. While it’s not a full-on EV, the 330e can range 14 miles in pure electric mode. Unlike past BMW hybrids, it’ll truly hustle (up to 75 miles per hour) without burning a drop of gas. Then there’s Auto eDrive, where the transmission passes seam­lessly between electric and gas, staying in EV mode if you’re light on the throttle. The surprising part is that the 330e has better acceleration than the gas-only 3 Series, because it combines propulsion from a 180-­horsepower, two-liter, four-­cylinder ­engine and an 87-horsepower electric motor. Handling is ultra-crisp and tactile, inspiring confidence no matter how hard you push. And yep, BMW kept trunk-to-cockpit fold-down rear seats from pre­vious versions, so there’s room aboard for everything from backpacks to bikes.

What’s Missing: Greater range in electric-only mode.

The Verdict: A (nearly) no-­sacrifices sports sedan that happens to be a hybrid. $44,695; 72 MPGe, 30 mpg ­combined.

Nissan Pathfinder

The Test: It may look like the same old Pathfinder, but a peek under the hood proves otherwise. to pump out 284 horsepower and tow up to 6,000 pounds (e.g., a 27-foot Airstream). The suspension is better, too—stiffer and more capable. On a hilly drive near Big Sur, California, the smooth continuously variable transmission (CVT) was well mated to the engine, with little of the whining drone found in other CVT setups. While it’s primarily built for the asphalt, the Pathfinder has adventure chops. We locked the transmission into four-wheel drive to power up a sandy lane in the mountains, and descent control stopped us from sliding on the way down. Nissan’s provides a 360-degree image of the terrain, so we could skirt around boulders and $100,000 Benzes in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. Think of the Pathfinder as a bigger Subaru Outback with a more refined on-road ride and twice as much towing capacity.

What’s Missing: While three rows of seats make the Pathfinder seem capacious, there’s not enough headroom in back for an adult to sit up straight.

The Verdict: A suburban cruiser with an active-lifestyle soul hidden under sheet metal and leather. $32,920 (with 4WD); 19 mpg city/26 mpg highway.

Toyota Prius Prime

The Test: An edgy hybrid? With this , yes. Just stare at the Tron-esque rear lights and aggressive front end. A sports car it isn’t, but the Prime is a spry daily driver that lives up to the Prius enviro heritage. Toyota tweaked the handling, affording more predictable cornering, and the Prime can run entirely without gasoline for 25 miles (farther than the average office commute). Even if you floor it, the car stays in EV mode until its cells are depleted and can cruise up to 640 miles when using both the gas engine and electric motor. Getting to a distant trailhead and back is no sweat.

What’s Missing: The rear hatch gives the impression of storage space, but only that.

The Verdict: The archetypal hybrid bares its teeth. $27,965; 133 MPGe, 55 mpg city/53 mpg highway.

Volvo V90 Cross Country

The Test: Driving near dusk on ice-coated roads near Are, Sweden, we couldn’t help but marvel at the amenities on offer. Sure, it was bitterly cold outside, but inside, ten-way-adjustable leather heated seats and a heated steering wheel kept everything as cozy as a Swedish sauna. Every piece of glass in the car is laminated, cutting ambient noise to a murmur, even though we were driving on studded tires that would ordinarily create an unholy din.

Volvo gifted the V90 with AWD and more than eight inches of ground clearance—besting the off-road chops of many tall-riding SUVs in this realm. And yet it handles like its S90 sedan cousin, with the poise of a fast performance car, not a bloated box. Plus, this is Volvo, meaning de facto safety, from active-cornering head- and fog lamps (which make it easier to see around sharp bends) to crash protection that overrides the steering and braking to yank the V90 CC back onto the road in case the driver doesn’t realize the car has drifted onto the shoulder.

What’s Missing: The great ground clearance doesn’t include armored undercarriage protection.

The Verdict: A ridiculously gorgeous alternative to the default luxury SUV. $55,300; estimated 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway.

Winding Mountain Passes

Volkswagen Golf Alltrack

The Test: As soon as we hit snaking blacktop in the shadow of Washington’s Olympic Mountains, it was clear that . It’s lighter, it steers more sharply, and it feels sportier than any SUV-like creature in its class. A 1.8-liter engine paired with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission keeps torque right in the sweet spot when climbing steep grades in sport mode. The Alltrack has 4WD as well and comes standard with an off-road setting that allows more wheel churn before the traction control kicks in—a huge help if you’re trying to power out of mud or snow. Shift back to D on the interstate, and the Alltrack defaults to luxe-sedan quiet, with superb sound deadening. The seats are plenty supportive for long hauls, and stock amenities include fog lamps and smartphone integration via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

What’s Missing: The maximum 66.5 cubic feet of stowage doesn’t quite match a Honda CR-V.

The Verdict: A European SUV ­alter­native without the sticker shock. $27,770; 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway.

Mercedes-Benz GLC300 4Matic Coupe

The Test: It’s better to think of as a taller, roomier sedan than as an SUV. With 6.3 inches of ground clearance, the GLC300 Coupe rides a few inches higher than a normal about-town car, but that’s not quite enough lift for barreling over rutted forest two-track. Still, it’s plenty capable of shuttling you and your crew to where pavement ends and trail begins. Its max 56.5 cubic feet of storage bests the ­Volvo V60, its nine-speed transmission is smooth, and its center of gravity is low, so you never get that high-riding car sickness on mountain hairpins. Plus, the two-­liter turbo­charged four-cylinder engine delivers a gutsy 273 pound-feet of torque. Inside, every surface, from vent knobs to window levers, feels tailor-made.

What’s Missing: The price of fashion is function, and the GLC300 Coupe’s sexy roofline chops six cubic feet from the standard GLC’s total cargo capacity.

The Verdict: A sedan-crossover mashup that’s fun and fairly pragmatic. $45,950; 21 mpg city/28 mpg highway.

Volvo V60 T5 AWD Cross Country

The Test: Credit the Swedish carmaker for knowing how to handle winter. This V60 has heated every­thing: seats, windshield-washer nozzles, and side mirrors. Plus, there’s a transparent electrical defroster embedded in the windshield. Skiers will dig the second-row pass-through, which is wide enough for powder sticks. While the (44 cubic feet with the rear seats folded), this wagon is superior to any ­sedan when it comes to hauling gear, and with standard AWD and ground clearance at an impressive 7.9 inches, you’re getting reasonable wherewithal that actually bests some crossovers. Handling is nimble, if not quite as firm as the Volks­wagen Alltrack, but the Volvo is quick, with 240 horsepower on tap from a turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

What’s Missing: The rear seats aren’t roomy enough for anyone bigger than a teenager.

The Verdict: The ideal chariot to chase first tracks. $42,695; 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway.

Subaru Impreza

The Test: Once we hit 100 mph on an empty stretch of mountain highway close to the Mexican border in Southern California, we were . Subaru made the hatchback roughly 1.5 inches longer and wider, not to mention stiffer. The decidedly higher fuel economy belies its sports-car handling. Credit the brand-new chassis, sport-tuned steering, all-wheel drive, and more than half an inch less ground clearance, which affords it glue-like grip on the road. Beyond the frame, the ­Impreza impresses with a spacious inter­ior. Subaru also dropped the roofline for improved aerodynamics and easier roof-rack access.

What’s Missing: Guts. The Impreza’s 152-horsepower engine and CVT transmission are geared for fuel economy, not oomph.

The Verdict: The value-pick AWD star just became a joy to drive as well. $19,215; 28 mpg city/38 mpg highway.

Kia Sportage SX Turbo AWD

The Test: With each mile we ascended up the snow-packed road to St. Mary’s Glacier, outside Denver at 10,400-feet of elevation, . Ten miles later, at the trail, with four inches of snow covering the iced-over tarmac, we locked the center differential to turn the spritely 240-horsepower, two-liter turbo crossover into a full-time 4WD tank. Foot-high snowdrifts were no match.

Inside, we were coddled with a heated steering wheel, heated seats, tunes via Android Auto, and enough leg- and headroom for four six foot adults to sit comfortably. Behind all that was a cargo area big enough for backcountry snowshoes and winter gear for four. On our 120-mile winter mountain adventure, our fuel economy far exceeded the EPA’s numbers—we notched 26.8 miles per gallon on highways and slow mountain roads. Overall, it was hard to find anything the angular Sportage SX didn’t have in terms of features and options.

What’s Missing: A bare-bones version of the turbo AWD vehicle for a lot less money. And true snow tires for icy roads; AWD and traction control don’t do anything to help this Kia’s stock rubber stop on ice.

The Verdict: The top-shelf, feature- and option-packed SX Turbo version looks and drives all city, but will handle more country than you’d expect. $34,895; 20 mpg city/23 mpg highway.

Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL 4

The Test: Charging around muddy two-tracks in England in in the brand’s history, it occurred to us that the brand has addressed some of the size complaints while staying true to what makes the car, well, mini. It sits higher than any other hatchback on the market, with 6.5 inches of ground clearance, offers more cargo space than almost any other hatchback, and is finally the first Mini that’s genuinely comfortable for full six-footers in the second row. And as the name implies, the ALL 4 edition has AWD. Would we take one rock-crawling? Nope. But for snow-caked or gravel-strewn fire roads, it’s perfect, and even though it matches or bests many compact SUVs for roominess, precise steering and quick acceleration from a 189-horsepower inline, turbocharged four-cylinder engine make it far more of a joy to dart through traffic.

What’s Missing: More off-road prowess, since the Mini lacks features like hill-descent control or an off-road transmission mode you can find in rivals like the VW Alltrack.

The Verdict: The biggest, most pragmatic Mini for adventure. $31,950; estimated 28 mpg city/35 mpg highway.

The post The 16 Best Cars for şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

The post A Secret Skier’s Paradise in Norway appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

You might already be familiar with the emergency beacon ICEdot. It’s a sensor that attaches to your helmet and can sense when you crash, thanks to a built-in accelerometer. Once it records the crash, the device then triggers a countdown on a smartphone app. If you don’t stop the countdown (say, because you’re unconscious), it prompts your phone to send a text with your GPS coordinates to your emergency contact.

ICEdot had one major flaw: it didn’t work out of cell range. A new device called solves that problem. Like ICEdot, PhiPAL uses an accelerometer and a countdown, but if you’re out of cell range, it can hook onto a satellite signal, ensuring that your emergency contact receives your location.

The base version of the product connects only to a cell tower, just like ICEdot, and will cost $150 when it hits retail. The Pro version, on the other hand, talks to a satellite and will cost $300. It will also require a $120 annual subscription for the satellite connection. That’s a high price tag but still cheaper than the $150 subscription cost of . And unlike PhiPAL, the Spot requires that you’re physically able to use its emergency button to send for help.

The technology is sound but has its own challenges. The device is not only expensive but also large and ungainly. ICEdot is roughly the diameter of a quarter and fits on the back of your helmet. PhiPAL is the size of a Clif Bar and goes on top of your lid. Manufacturers have already warned that helmet-mounted cameras can stop their helmets from effectively protecting you in a crash, and the same might be true for PhiPAL.

Bottom line: Automatic distress beacons are a potentially life-saving idea. But, to me, this one only warrants the high price tag and unwieldy design if the user plans to spend lots of time skiing, biking, or climbing alone in the backcountry.

The post This Satellite Tracker Knows When You’re in Trouble appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Chevy debuted its new on Tuesday night at the L.A. Auto Show. The truck, available April 2017, is clearly designed to dethrone the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro as America’s mid-size, off-road vehicle of choice.

The specs include: a track (the width from the leftĚýtire to the right tire) that’s a full inch bigger than the Tacoma's for better stability; an inch higher ground clearance than the Tacoma (10.4 inches compared to the TRD Pro’s 9.4 inches); and a 2.8-liter diesel with 369 pound-feet of torque that's perfect for slow crawls up difficult terrain. Chevy even redesigned the bumpers to improve the truck's approach and departure angles to make clearing off-road obstacles easier.ĚýThe ZR2 will also be the only midsize truck you can buy new from the dealer with front and rear locking differentials, plusĚýa locking transfer case, all of which are intendedĚýto make the four-wheel drive more robust.Ěý

Ěý

The post Chevy Colorado ZR2 appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

When we think of top-shelf smartphone cameras, we think of offerings fromĚýApple and Samsung. Now it’s time to add Google to that list. With its new ,ĚýtheĚýtech giant has produced a portable,Ěýpowerful adventure cam. We've been testing the XL version for the past few days: here are our first impressions.Ěý

Camera Design

Both Pixels come with a 28-millimeterĚýf2.0 lens that’s fast and sharp. That's not quiteĚýas fast as the iPhone 7’s 28-millimeterĚýf1.8 lens, but it still produced crisp photos in variable lighting. Amateur photographers will be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two.ĚýThe color was a little too vibrant at times—partly because the camera defaults to HDR,ĚýwhereĚýit combinesĚýthree different exposuresĚýinto one—but the photos (both in HDR and in regular mode) still took very little toning.Ěý

The 12.3-megapixel sensor isn’t huge, but each pixel is larger than what you normally get on a cell-phone chip and they gathered a decent amount of highlight and shadow detail that we then pulled out in post-processing. We could darken blown-out clouds, for example, and overall it felt very similar to what's in the iPhone 7.ĚýTo be clear, the sensor is nowhere near as powerful as what you’dĚýfind in a new DSLRĚýlike the Canon 5D Mark IVĚýor a mirrorless camera like the Sony A7R II. But you’ll be plenty happy with the shots if they’re going to live on the webĚýor if you want to make smallĚýprints, such as an 8-by-10.Ěý

Software Design

As withĚýthe iPhone 7, the Pixel lets you control exposure by swiping up or down on the screen. Unlike the iPhone, you also have the option toĚýmanually setĚýwhiteĚýbalance. InĚýauto, the white balance is usually spot on, but it’s nice to have manual control for when you’re trying to nail the color under indoor lights.Ěý

Press down onĚýthe shutter, on the screen, and the Pixel will take a burst of photos, like an iPhone. What's new hereĚýis that the Pixel can turnĚýthatĚýburst of photos into a sharable GIF.ĚýThe Pixel can alsoĚýblur out the background, creating a shallow depth of field—which is particularly useful for portraits.

Video

There’s nothing particularly impressive about the video capabilities, but the phone hits all the most important benchmarks. You can shoot stabilized 4K at 30 frames per secondĚýor 1080 at up to a slow-mo 120 frames per second. You can also shoot super slow-mo 240 frames per secondĚýat 720p.

Sharing and Storage

The phones aren’t as big as what you can get from Apple—they come in 32- or 128-gigabyte versions—but that’s intentional. Since Google makes the phone, it gives users unlimited cloud storage for all your full-resolution photos and videos on Google Photo. This meansĚýyour photos are always backed up on the cloud and easy to share.

Downsides

Neither Pixel phone gets a second, longer lens like the iPhone 7 Plus. That means zooming in is pretty much out of the question, asĚýdigital zoom is terrible: it just crops in and ruins the resolution.

The build quality is excellent—it seems ready to put up with plenty of abuse—but the Pixels aren'tĚýwaterproof like the iPhone 7s.

As mentioned before, the camera wants you to shoot in HDR, where the camera reads the scene and brackets three shots into a single image in order to capture shadow and highlights. We’re fans of HDR in some very specific situations, and Google does a good jobĚýblending the photos, but the process often makes the photos lookĚýoverly toned, and we didn’t like having to manually switch back to the regular shooting mode.

Finally, Android doesn’t have quite as many photo apps as Apple’s iOS. We’ll see if the Pixel spurs more development.

The Verdict

Android users willĚýbe very happy with this camera. It stacks up well against the other top competitors, plus it comes with someĚýimportant features unique to Google. As a bonus,Ěýthe phoneĚýworks with the Google Project Fi service, which uses a WiFi network whenever possible to make calls—and piggybacksĚýonĚývarious cell providersĚýthe rest of the time. It'sĚýgreatĚýfor international travel.ĚýIt costs $20 a month for unlimited talk andĚýtext, and $10 per gigabyteĚýas a flat fee, anywhere in the world. That’s about ten times cheaper than what you’d pay if you stayed on your regular provider and opted for the international package.

The post Tested: The şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Camera Buried in Google’s New Smartphone appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

We’ve written a lot about the rise of mirrorless cameras. The şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř staff uses them frequently because they’re small and powerful—but that doesn’t mean we’ve given up on DSLRs. Case in point: the . The company’s new flagship shooter is built like a tank, fires like a machine gun, has whip-fastĚýautofocus, and goes up to a mind-blowing ISO 3.3 million. I’ve spent the past couple months testing one and think it’s just about the best camera for people who like to shoot action sports and find themselves in low-light situations.

Autofocus

The D5, with its 153-point image detection system, makes tracking your subject easier than ever. Put another way, the system helps the camera stay locked on a subject as it moves across the frame. I shot cyclocross riders training and was amazed at how easy it was to track them as they wove in and out of obstacles. The camera also balances light and shadow with 180,000-pixel, three-dimensional metering. That means if your subject is moving from light into shadow, even at high speed, the camera can adjust and nail the exposure. Once you’re locked on, the D5 fires up to 12 frames per second—plenty fast for capturing a skier hucking a cliff or cyclists flying by—and doesn’t fill the bufferĚýuntil you’ve shot 200 images.

Design

Yes, the D5 is a large camera. It weighs a hefty 3.1 pounds, versus the smaller D500, which comes in at just over 1.6 pounds. That’s a lot of weight to haul around for one body, but in return you get great hand feel and balance. What does that mean? Because it’s so large, the camera features a giant pistol grip for both horizontal and vertical shooting, making it easy and intuitive to hold. The vertical pistol grip features another shutter button and adjustment dial for easier shooting, and both grips help balance big telephoto lenses that want to pull the camera out of your hands. Like the D500, the D5 is weather-sealed, so you can shoot in the snow or a rainstorm, and its magnesium alloy case will put up with a decade of regular abuse and even the occasional fall.

ISO

The D5 made headlines because it goes up to an ISO of 102,400 and is expandable up to ISO 3.3 million. Three million is a big number, but in tests it’s been proven that you never really want to go that high because the images get so grainy. The camera does, however, excel in low-light situations—noticeably better than the D500. This is one of its most important selling points.

The Downsides

The most immediate downside is that the D5 costs $6,500—more than three times the D500. The D5 is faster—12 frames per second versus 10—and the giant 36-by-24-millimeter FX-format sensor in the D5 is better in low light. But for most amateur photographers, those differences are pretty subtle. The D500 gets the same 153-point image detection system as the D5, as well as the 180,000 pixel, three-dimensional metering system.

Do more frames per second and better low-light capabilities make up for a $4,500 difference in cost? Only you knowĚýif those things really matter to you.

The Verdict

If you shoot skiing and mountain biking or other high-velocity sports for a living, then you want this camera. It has the power and features to nail the action, it works especially well with telephoto lenses, and you’ll notice a difference over a slower camera like the D500. Plus, you get a camera that does really, really well in low light.

But if you’re just shooting action occasionally and casually and want a camera for portraits that’s lighter and less expensive, I’d point you to something like the D500 instead.

The post Tested: the Nikon D5 appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Engineers futz with things for a ­reason: that’s how breakthroughs happen. And as these 29 products demonstrate, there’s never been a better time to mess around.

Protection

Durable gear for a rough and tumble world

1. Packable Climbing Cradle. Built with hardy but featherweight Spectra fabric, the weighs just 5.3 ounces and takes up a fistful of cargo space in your pack. Leg-loop buckles let you slip it on without removing crampons or skis. $80

2. Ultralight Avy Insurance. Airbags are buoyant in an avalanche, but the extra pack weight can be a bummer on the way up. 3.0 is svelte (just under six pounds), and shoulder-strap integration provides better protection when the snow slides. $730

3. Collapsing Bike Lid. Don’t worry, it holds its shape when it’s in use. From high-end cycling gearmaker Brooks England, the has an accordion folding mechanism for easy storage. The look recalls the classic leather “hairnets” of seventies racing, but it meets crash-test standards. $170 and up

4. Tear-Proof Cycling Kit. Road rash is the bane of bike racing, which is why the fabric used in the shoulders of can stand up to a belt sander. (Seriously, Google it.) The secret? ITD ProTec, a material produced in part­nership with the textile whizzes at Schoeller that adds carbon-fiber yarn to the polyester knit. $125

5. Backcountry Armor. Fresh from Voormi is the Inversion jacket, with ultra-thick wool in the shoulders, arms, and hood that’s as bulletproof as ballistic nylon yet more breathable and stretchy. A tightly ­woven wool-nylon mesh shrugs off rain, courtesy of a durable water-repellent treatment. $500

6. The Burliest Pants. We challenge you to wear a hole in these dungarees by urban-bike-wear company Chrome ­Industries. For the U.S.-made jeans, the brand worked with Cone Mills to create raw denim with 8 percent Dyneema fiber, used in some climbing ropes. $150

Movement

Travel fast and free, from city to mountain

1. Float Like A Butterfly, Carve Like a Knife: Moment’s are the first with wavy triple camber—small curves placed fore and aft of the bindings, plus a rockered tip and tail. The result: all-mountain sticks that float in powder and hold an edge on crust. $750

2. Rejoice, Ski Mountaineers: The lateral stiffness that makes for a good downhill boot is terrible for scaling steeps in crampons. bridges that gap. The two-piece upper cuff bends 23 degrees side­ways for sure footing on rock and ice, then locks in place to rip big-mountain lines. $1,000

3. Iced Tee: Polartec’s four-season Delta fabric has a honeycomb structure that increases yarn surface area to move more heat and moisture. Cycling-apparel brand Kitsbow incorporates Delta side panels into its for the ultimate warm-weather, casual-but-techy top. $69

4: A Jazzed-Up City Cruiser: Electric bikes have come a long way, but many are still clunky beasts championed mainly by early adopters. ­Faraday’s Dutch-style bucks that trend, pairing a 250-watt front-hub motor and integrated front and rear lights with eye-catching touches like bamboo fenders and leather grips. $3,500

5. Rock Wear With Flair: So Ill capitalizes on climbers’ footwear obsession with its. They blend technical features—like super-sticky Dark Matter rubber, developed for Navy SEAL boots—with throwback Velcro straps. $129

Connectivity

Next-level gadgets for tracking, logging, and playing

1.ĚýOne Punchy MusicĚýBox:ĚýLibratone’s wireless speaker pumps out crisp sound, not the muddy thumps and crackly highs of most Blue­tooth boxes. Credit theĚýfat sub­woofer and dual tweeters. You can link as many as six of them via Lib­ratone’s free app (Android and iOS). $249

2.ĚýAll-in-One Fitness Pal:ĚýGarmin’s has customizable faces and tracks your heart rate. It also maps your ride, run, or swim even when you leave your phone at home. But what we really dig is not having to constantly charge it—­battery life can reach 11 days. $450

3: AĚýSmartwatchĚýWith Panache:ĚýWhy does cost five times as much as otherĚýsmartwatches? Swiss engineering and a mineral-glass screen with “depth” (the digital hands cast faux shadows). You still get push notifications, but the look is more elegant timepiece than dork device. $1,500

4:ĚýGo-Anywhere Sky Cam:ĚýAt 1.2 pounds, the drone is less than half the heft of any other ­serious quad on the market, yet it shoots both 4K and syrupy-slow 120-frames-per-second 1080p video. In a crash the body pops free, dissipatingĚýforce. $1,295

5: Off-the-Grid Communicator:ĚýA handful of new backcountry devices let you send texts and location info without cell service. But goes further, giving adventurers the ability to make calls to other Beartooth users as much as five miles away. $149 for two

6:ĚýWearable Stride Coach:Ěý clips to your shorts, which is a better spot than your wrist for monitoring cadence, braking force, and ­pelvic rotation. And you get immediate voice feedback via the Lumo app (Android and iOS), as well as simple suggestions for improving form. $80

Warmth

Smart tools to conquer the elements

1. Fog-free Fun:Ěý are moisture creep’s worst nightmare. The key is in the heat-­conducting film layered between two pieces of polycarbonate, like a battery-powered version of your car’s defroster. Press the large button on the side and Active mode ensures an unobstructed view for six hours. $250

2. Snow Dogs:ĚýRedesigned with oversight from ĂĽber-alpinist Conrad Anker, are knitted from merino and nylon Indestructawool fabric, which the company says makes them 33 percent more durable than its earlier PhD series. A low-volume instep guarantees proper boot fit. $35

3. Rain or Shine:ĚýAt the heart ofĚýArc’teryx’s category-defying is W. L. Gore’s new Thermium, a breathable membrane designed to keep insulation dry, thus maintaining warmth. Arc’teryx pairs Thermium with 850-fill down for a 23-ounce parka that’s ideal for any lung-busting winter activity. $949

4. Hot Hands:ĚýOutdoor Research debuted its AltiHeat line in 2014, but the company doubled up on the warmth with this year’s . Literally. These are twice as efficient as the old Lucents. Wires in the hands and fingers conduct heat from two lithium-ion batteries per glove, which OR stashed in the cuffs to keep the Capstones fromĚýbeingĚýuncomfortablyĚýbulky. $500

5. Fire It Up, ThenĚýPackĚýIt Away:ĚýPrimus’s new seven-pound is a legit camp cooker in a messenger bag with Scandinavian style. The oak cutting-board lid doubles as a serving tray. When you’re ready to cook the frame ­unfolds, with a base that’s sturdy enough to support heavy pots and dual burners nested low enough to shield their 10,000-BTU flames from the wind. $140

6. Performance Après:ĚýOnce only the stuff of hard-charging apparel, the North Face’s ­Thermoball insulation is ­making its way into classier garments. excels as light protection for post-ski beers, especially when style points count: the fold-down collar and chambray trim lend an air of cool. $149

Vision

Bright ideas with an eye toward style and safety

1. VersatileĚýCamp Light:ĚýBioLite boostsĚýits rep with the 500-lumen , which does double duty as a power hub that can juice a phone up to four times. The most ingenious feature: when it’s dark, the lantern switches on as you approach with your phone—­perfect for those 2 A.M. nature calls. $100

2. Shades fit for 007:ĚýDashing enough for Daniel Craig in Spectre, Vuarnet’s Glacier Glasses feature glass lenses that block UV and infrared radiation. Vuarnet dials in the shading to block snow and ice glare at the bottom and sun at the top, leaving the center nearly clear for unimpeded vision on sketchy terrain. $540

Buy Now

3. AĚýBombproof Like-Generating Machine:ĚýThe action cam doesn’t need a case to with­stand the rigors of the wilderness. It performs to a depth of 100 feet and at temperatures as low as 14 degrees. A built-in thermometer and pressure sensor tell you when you’re getting close to its limits. $350

4.ĚýShoe Shine:ĚýVisibility is critical when running at night, but who wants to dress up like a neon clown? A great workaround is , which attaches to the heel of your shoe and flashes twin LED beacons up to 2,000 feet. It’s featherweight, two button cells last 70 hours, and a clamp ensures it stays put. $20

The post Tinker Tailor Solder Dye appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

Last week, Apple , 18 months after its predecessor went on sale. It got a few big upgrades—it’s waterproof and has built-in GPS—plus a whole host of other improvements, including a faster operating system. The sum of all those changes: a more sophisticated, though not revolutionary, fitness tracker.

Of course, the Series 2, like the new base Series 1 (an upgraded version of the original Watch,Ěýwithout GPS), is more than a fitness tracker. We won't get into those productivity and communicationĚýfeaturesĚýhere, andĚýif you're looking for more details, .ĚýBut the Watch'sĚýidentity has clearly coalesced around exercise. That’s a conscious choice on Apple’s part: the brand’s spokespeople claim that its core buyers are increasingly prioritizing activity and the tools that measure it. These upgrades let Apple jockey more competitively for market share with Fitbit and Garmin, both of which offer wearables with GPS and at least some waterproofing.

I’ve spent the past four days testing the Watch 2, packing in as many workouts as I’ve had stamina for, including a few trail runs, hikes, a cross-training cardio-mobility-strength session, and two-hour sea kayak. What follows are my first impressions of the device. In short, the Series 2 has proven itself as an impressive daily fitness tracker for those who want a bit more power—and style—than a Fitbit but don’t need the deep-dive data granularity of a Garmin or Suunto.

Here’s the blow-by-blow of what worked, how it worked, and whether it belongs in your daily fitness routine.

Apple Watch 101

If you’ve never used the Apple Watch, here’s a basic primer to understand the analysis that follows. If you’re already an Apple Watch veteran, skip ahead to the goods below.

TheĚýSeries 1 and Series 2 WatchesĚýwork as extensions of the iPhone, just as the original did. You can’t use one if you don’t have an iPhone. They allowĚýmessage forwarding and let you answer calls from your wrist. You can also reply to texts by scrolling through a menu of a few canned words (“OK,” “Good”), send an emoji, or write a note via a new Scribble function that lets you spell out words on the screen. (It works pretty well.) My favorite featureĚýis still voice control, which lets you send recorded voice messages that the recipient can play back on her phone.ĚýYou can also access your calendar and email,Ěýand set reminders directly though the device via the voice control.ĚýĚý

For fitness, Apple built a basic but mercifully easy-to-use native app, called Workout, to track gym workouts, runs, bike rides, and more. It tracks all that activity with a built-in gyroscopic, accelerometer, and LED heart rate monitor. These sensors remain the same in the Watch Series 2. The Watch collates and presentsĚýworkout data, plus your standing and all-day movement stats,Ěýin its accompanying app, Activity.Ěý

To calibrate speed, Series 1 relies on your iPhone’s GPS. Series 2, on the other hand, uses its built-inĚýGPS. (More on thatĚýfunctionality in a bit.) I should note that all Apple Watches can also learn your stride length so you don’t need a phone to get a close estimation of distance. This is nice because even a GPS watch won’t know how far you’ve gone if you’re, say, running on a treadmill. I’ve found this feature to be quite accurate: the first Watch I tested,Ěýin 2015,Ěýon a three-mile track run,Ěýwas off by only 20 feet.

The Hardware: Series 1 vs. Series 2

First, a note about old Watches: Apple is stopping production of the original, but if you have one, it will run the new watchOS3Ěý(more below). Series 1 is basically the same device, just with a faster processor. It doesn’t have GPS or waterproofing.

A word about that dual-core processor: both Series 1 and 2 get them, although the Series 2 processor is slightly different so it can work with GPS. Apple claims both watches will run apps up to 50 percent faster than the original, and the seems spot on from my testing. Series 2 also gets a far brighter screen (twice the brightness of the Series 1), which proved more legible in bright sunlight on the trail and especially while paddling.

Series 1 and 2 will come in 38- and 42-millimeter sizes, just like the original. The Series 2 is just a hair tallerĚýand heavierĚýthan the Series 1, at 11.4 millimeters thick and 28.2 grams in the 38mm version. That's compared to 10.5 millimeters thick and 25 grams for the Series 1. TheĚý42mmĚýSeries 2 isĚý11.4 millimetersĚýthick and weighs 34.2 grams, while that size in theĚýSeries 1ĚýmeasuresĚý10.5 millimeters tall and weighsĚý30 grams.ĚýInside, they both have a three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, andĚýheart-rate monitor.Ěý

Series 1 is made only from aluminum, although you can get it in various colors.ĚýIt starts at $269 for the 38mm (almost $100 less than what the original debuted at) and $299 for the 42mm. Series 2 starts at $369 and goes up to $1,299. The more expensive versions have a ceramic case that Apple says is four times harder than stainless steel.

Athletes might appreciate the $369 Apple Watch Nike+, which alsoĚýgoes on sale in October. It’s a Series 2 model made from aluminum, with a special Nike Sport band (plastic, with perforations) and exclusive Nike watch face. This integrates the Nike Run+ app directly into the Watch operating system, with special run prompts to keep you on target with training goals and .

There was some talk that the new Watch would have a round face, but Apple officials say the square is more efficient when it comes to displaying data. Going round would require a bigger display, thus a bigger watch and more weight on your wrist.Ěý

GPS

Okay, so let’s dive into the GPS. The Series 2 pings nearby cell towers via WiFi, thus narrowing in on your location. It’s also constantly caching GPS and GLONASS satellite data.ĚýThe key point here is that Apple has made a few tweaks to this system to allow for nearly instant location accuracy. It’s fast, something Apple credits to its expertise learned from selling more than a billion iPhones. I didn’t see any problems with tracking accuracy when compared to the Garmin, and it loads with astonishing quickness. Even when my trail run took me through fairly dense forest, I didn’t find any gaps in the recorded Watch track.

Workout maps are the last really cool benefit of the GPS. Once you pair your Watch with the phone’s Activity app, you’ll get a summary of your workout, including a map showing how fast you were going and where. Third-party apps will be able to use the new GPS capability to enhance their own apps, so we should see a lot more similar features soon.Ěý

Waterproofing

Like the new iPhone 7 and 7+, the Series 2 isĚýwaterproof. Unlike the phones, the Watch is rated down to 50 meters.Ěý

You do have to remember to lock the display before submerging the device. This is easy: start the Workout app, and, no matter which exercise you’re in, there’s an option to lock the screen. Tap the lock button on the screen and head out. When you’re done with the workout, turn the digital crown; the Watch emits a series of beeps and automatically exhales water that may have trickled into the speaker.

Battery Life

Apple says the GPS won’t affect Series 2 battery life. Both series can allegedly last 18 hours on one charge. In my testing, the Series 2 battery seemed to last about as longĚýas the one in the original Watch: it drains more quickly in workout mode and still needs to be charged nightly if you work out at all during the day.

That’s a major weakness for athletes: unless you pair it with a heart rate chest strap to save energy, the Watch won’t last longer than a five-hour workout. Other competitors do better in this space. Take the $250 Garmin Vivoactive HR, which does all-day on-wrist heart rate tracking, has a claimed battery life of 13 hours in continuous GPS mode and a whopping eight days without GPS.

Working Out: The Test

WatchOS3 is the latest version of the Watch’s proprietary operating system. Whether you have an original Watch or plan to get a Series 1 or 2, the new operating system has some sleek upgrades that apply to all versions.

While testing the Watch, I wore a Viiiiva heart rate strap paired to a . Heart rate chest straps tend to be more accurate than wrist-based monitors, and I wanted a benchmark to measure the Watch’s accuracy. I also wore a Fitbit Charge 2 for direct comparison.

During my strength sessions, I added intervals of jumping rope between walking lunges, pushups, pullups, body rows, and band stretches. This makes accurate tracking harder for watches like the Apple and Fitbit because your arms are swinging and messing with the LED and infrared heart rate monitor. But the resulting averages were pretty close to that of the Garmin, which recorded my average heart rate at 108 beats per minute, versus 104 on the Watch and 106 on the Fitbit.

Native Apps

In the past, the Watch ran third-party apps like Runkeeper or Strava in conjunction with the phone it was paired to. It worked a bit like a TV remote, with the Watch simply controlling the phone’s apps, which loaded on the face. This limited functionality and required you to work out with a phone, and the apps were often painfully slow to load.

Apple fixed this with a new section called the Dock, which is accessed by a quick tap of the side button on the Watch. Load up to ten native apps in the Dock at a time from the Activity app, then organize and launch them through the Dock menu. All the other apps you download, in addition to the 10 in the Dock,Ěýlive on your phoneĚýand can be launched remotely from the Watch—just not as quickly as the ones in the Dock, whichĚýare stored in the Watch.Ěý

The best part about the apps in the Dock is they load instantly, and, of course, you don’t need your phone to use them. Plus, if you’ve set them to share fitness data to Apple, they’ll count toward your daily fitness goals in Activity.Ěý

These apps are still stripped down to fit on a tiny screen, but they work quite well. I loaded Wahoo’s RunFit app and used the 7 Minute workout function. If your phone’s around, this will trigger voice prompts through a quick fitness session (jumping jacks, pushups, wall sits). Even without the phone, it launched in one second, and then showed me the countdown clock between sets, the 30-second clock during each set, and prompts for each exercise. Simple, easy, and no need to have my phone nearby.

Shortcuts

You can add some of these apps as “complications” (timepiece-speak for watch-face windows and dials and Apple's term for single-tap shortcuts)Ěýto the Watch face. Say you want Under Armour Record to be part of your daily routine. It can live in the Dock and launch directly from your Watch’s display.

Faces

WatchOS3 debuts with better fitness faces. For instance, Activity Analog (above) shows Apple’s three motivational rings (Move, Stand, and Exercise) within a more conventional watch face, then lets you customize what you see in the corners of the screen as further shortcuts.

Below the rings, you get a shortcut button directly into Apple’s Workout app. Tap it for a menu of your most-frequent workout types (Outdoor Run, Outdoor Ride). A quick tap on any of these begins the countdown to start your exercise.

Workout

The Watch’s fitness app, called Workout, gets a few upgrades. For one thing, it launches instantly (see above). It also packs more data onto the main screen: for runs, you see distance, pace, active calories burned, heart rate, and elapsed time at once, compared to just one of those metrics at a time.ĚýFor rides, you see elapsed time, speed, heart rate, distance, and average speed. You can make any of those metrics pop by customizing its color.

Apple’s Workout still doesn’t give you a nice, clean X,Y graph of your heartbeat the way Garmin does with its Connect App. (Neither doesĚýFitbit, for that matter.) Apple says you can do this in Apple Health, but the interface is clunky. If you want to drill deeper into the data, you’re still better served with a Garmin orĚýSuuntoĚýor by running a third-party app on your Watch.

I used both the Garmin and the Watch during a hike and found that my recorded heart rate was about the same for both. But when I went for a trail run, the Series 2 showed some bizarre spikes during the first mile versus the Garmin. The takeaway here: if you’re determined to get super-accurate heart rate monitoring during high-intensity workouts, you’ll likely still want a Bluetooth or ANT+ chest strap paired with the Watch.

RunĚý

So how did it work during specific workouts?ĚýIt's a big upgrade to be able to see all theĚýaforementioned metrics (distance, pace, active calories burned, heart rate, and elapsed time)Ěýwithout having to swipe between screens.

But the key improvement was the ability to run third-party apps directly from the Watch—which, as a reminder, you can now do with the original Watch, if you upgrade the software. You don't need GPS to take advantage of this benefit.ĚýFor one treadmill interval,ĚýI used Under Armour'sĚýRecord app,Ěýand could get data likeĚýaverage heart rate, peak heart rate, intensity,Ěýand what UA likes to call “willpower.” That’s just one of many sophisticated apps now available on the Watch.Ěý

Hike

I had one major complaint while hiking:Ěýalthough the Series 2 hasĚýGPS,Ěýyou cannot access the route from your wrist. I had toĚýend a workout,Ěýthen look atĚýthe map on my phone. During my hike,ĚýI selectedĚýthe native Workout'sĚýOutdoor Walk category, whichĚýonly displaysĚýcalories, heart rate,Ěýand distance. After the workout, you get a cool map that shows you where you moved quickly or slowly (this is the same for Outdoor Run), but you don't get topography.Ěý

Apple says it reliesĚýon third-party apps for that kind of info, and hopefully some companies start to bringĚýsurface maps and navigation directly to your wrist soon.Ěý

Gym

For my functional strength trainingĚýI used Apple’s Workout app. On my wrist,ĚýI could see time, active calories,Ěýtotal calories, andĚýheart rate. A double tap of the screen captures an interval, letting me use the app like a stopwatch. Still, there's less visible information thanĚýsome people might want, and again, this is where third-party apps might provideĚýbetter data—say,Ěýtaking advantage of theĚýcountdown clock andĚýhaptic and sound functionsĚýto signal the next interval and displayĚýwhat to do in that workout.

Some of that already exists in current fitness apps. What changes with watchOS3 is the ability for app makers to tap into more data, like your heart rateĚýand GPS. UA Record, for instance, might use the GPS data to determine the intensity of a trail run whereĚýotherwise it would have relied on heart rate alone.Ěý

Stop, Start, and Lap

WatchOS3 adds another key fitness function: automatic pausing. This works only in walk or run modes, not cycling, because it relies on the accelerometer to know when you’ve stopped. (Apple isn’t using the GPS because the company wants this function to work inside, too.)

There’s also a built-in lap timer: just double-tap the face of the Watch to trigger it. When you’re done, those splits are broken out separately in the workout summary, showing time, distance, and pace.

More Exercise Categories

Apple added a lot of subcategories to the Workout app. If you do a nonstandard workout, you can choose “Other” when you start exercising. When you finish, choose from a long list, including horseback riding, Nordic skiing, and, of course, curling. Apple explained that the key here is both about creating unique algorithms to measure your caloric burn while, say, dancing or doing yoga, as well asĚýabout enabling you to sort all your workouts,Ěýaccording to type,Ěýin one place in the Activity app.Ěý

Swimmers will appreciate one upgrade: Apple added stroke recognition, and, if you set pool length before a workout, the Series 2 will be able to accurately measure laps and distance.

SOS

WatchOS3 adds another smart feature, called SOS, for outdoor athletes. As you probably guessed, it’s an emergency communication tool. Say you take a spill on your mountain bike in the Alps. You have no clue what the 911 equivalent number is. With the new Watch, you can press and hold the side button (it's not easy to initiateĚýaccidently), and it will automatically call emergency services in the area and send your location to first responders and emergency contacts on your phone. It does this through your phone and relies on cell service to work.Ěý

Breathe

This standalone appĚýreminds you to take a break however often you want (the default is five hours) to focus on breathing for one minute. Apple worked with experts at Harvard and the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital to build the new feature. The Breathe app auto-launches and then guides you, withĚýhaptic prompts, to breath at certain intervals. At the end, you get an average heart rate score for the session. You can also adjust the breaths-per-minute guidance.

I decreased the inhale-exhale frequency, which was easy to do. I can see myself using this on a daily basis to relax.Ěý

Sharing and Messages

As I wrote above, we aren’t going to dive into the Watch’s communications tools. But there is one important fitness update: wearers can now share workouts with friends, manually or though the contacts list, where you’ll see who has an Apple Watch and ask them to share or receive data. That allows for automatic sharing, where you’ll receive notifications on the Watch of your friends’ progress. You can also reply with notes, emojis, or manually write on the Watch screen.

What’s with the Hearable?

Apple wouldn’t divulge any information when I asked them if its new wireless AirPod earbuds, which go on sale for $159 in October, could be used as an extension of the Watch—like a personal coach in your ear. The earbuds have built-in sensors, including accelerometers and optical sensors, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they rolled out a pair with heart rate sensing, too. Apple officials didn’t seem surprised by my question, and my guess is AirPods are going to add to Apple’s suite of fitness-sensing tech down the road.

One thing we do know is that once you pair AirPods to the new 7 or 7 Plus, they also instantly pair to your Watch, allowing you to go for a run using just the Watch as your music source. I was given a preproduction to test, and the fit is excellent, not jarring free even while rope jumping or trail running. The sound is excellent, and they paired the moment they were in my ears, whether the music source was the Series 2 or the iPhone, and stopped playback the instant I removed the right earbud, just as Apple announced they would. AirPods inductively charge in their own case (about the size of a standard dental floss box), which also has its own battery and can recharge the AirPods with up to 24 hours of listening life.

We’ll have a more definitive take on the AirPods soon.

The Verdict

Apple has added solid GPS and waterproofing as well as native apps to an already versatile, easy-to-use, good-looking fitness device.

Should you upgrade to a Series 2 if you already have the original? That depends on whether waterproofing and GPS matter in your day-to-day fitness life.ĚýConsidering that the original Watch was already water resistant and will benefit from the watchOS3 upgrade, we don't consider it a must upgrade for most users, swimmers excluded.ĚýIf you don’t own an activity tracker or smart watch, the new model is a compelling reason to enter the market. It’s one of the bestĚýwatchesĚýforĚýpeople who want all-day tracking in an attractive package that is easy to use for much more than fitness.Ěý

If you want hardcore fitness metrics, the new Apple Watch may deliver that via third-party apps, potentially to rival or best the closed ecosystems of rivals such as Polar and Garmin. But it still doesn’t have the battery life of those competitors. You’ll probably still use something specialized, like that Garmin unit on your bike, for core workouts. And unless Apple makes battery life a priority, you won’t rely on it for navigation over a three-day weekend adventure in the wilderness.

But for daily fitness that mixes gym, trail, and, yes, work and home life, the Series 2 and even the new Series 1 are more than adequate fitness tools for most of us.

The post First Impressions: Apple Watch Series 2 appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.