Wearables on Tour: A Travel Diary

When was the last time you caught yourself in the middle of something and thought, “Is this normal”?

We all have our passions and interests, but just occasionally these tip over from hobbies into something a bit more personality-defining. I’ve got two main things that tick that box: my love of sports and my love of technology. Long-time blog readers will know I’m an enthusiastic runner and triathlete, with eight marathons under my belt so far. Meanwhile, my love for technology intersects wonderfully with my role as a devices analyst, meaning I regularly get hands-on with the latest phones, wearables and plenty more besides.

Recently, these two passions combined in a fairly new way when I headed off to Lanzarote in search of a bit of winter sun. However, it wasn’t just for a beach vacation – the destination was Club La Santa, a dedicated sports retreat, complete with a 400-metre running track, road bikes, three 50-metre swimming pools, and more activities than you can count. And, alongside this, I found myself packing seven different wearables, just for the one trip.

Is this normal?

I’m not sure it is. It appears that years of covering the devices landscape have turned me into the sort of person who goes on holiday while inadvertently trying to set a new world record for most wearable devices taken on a Ryanair flight. For what it’s worth, the full line-up of wearables was:

• Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses
• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses
• Ultrahuman Ring Air
• Form Smart Swim goggles
• Garmin Forerunner 55 smartwatch
• Google Pixel Watch 4
• Garmin HRM-Pro chest strap

(Side note: I’m not even counting the two pairs of wireless earbuds that made the cut and arguably could be added to the list.)

The most entertaining thing was that only the Vanguard glasses were deliberately brought on the trip under the guise of “testing”. The other gadgets were largely there as a very normal part of my everyday life, particularly as someone who loves sports and tech and tends to max out on both.

To this end, I was so excited to test out the Oakley Meta Vanguard. Ever since the Ray-Ban Meta glasses launched, I’ve been crying out for this product, along with many other cyclists and runners I know. Until now, I’d been forced to choose before each run or ride — do I wear the Ray-Ban glasses so I can take great photos and videos? Or do I choose my dedicated Oakley sunglasses, which are lighter, more comfortable and, critically, have better lenses for sunny activities?

Excitingly, it seems like the need to make a choice between the two is behind me. The Vanguard glasses manage to blend the best of both in a high-quality design. They capitalize on Meta and Essilor Luxottica’s partnership to deliver the smart features we’ve come to expect from smart glasses, combined with Oakley’s leading optics in a pair of performance sunglasses. Critically, they work well as a pair of cycling sunglasses, sitting comfortably to keep the wind out of your eyes and to give you great visibility of the road. However, they also take excellent pictures and videos, as you can see:

What really hits home is that the Vanguard product feels like it was designed with sports at the front and centre. Little touches like adjustable nose pads to ensure comfort on the move and IP67 rating for sweat and water resistance add up to make a device that will survive a few adventures. Meta has also added integrations with Garmin and Strava, such as overlaying workout data onto videos — beyond the scope of this blog, but a welcome addition for athletes already invested in these platforms.

This sports-first focus reinforces my observations when testing out the Form Smart Swim goggles. As I argued then, the best devices are those that become indispensable because they fit perfectly with how people actually use them. As I mentioned above, the Form Goggles also made it into the kitbag for Lanzarote, an absolute no-brainer given how much use I’ve had from them in the water.

However, the inverse is also true, that you can be left disappointed by devices that don’t perform in some places where you’d really like them to. The clearest example would be my experience of running with the brand-new Pixel Watch 4, compared with using the Garmin Forerunner 55, which isn’t a particularly new or premium model.

The Pixel Watch 4 has a host of great features and I’ve been very impressed by its overall abilities in testing, but one of its downfalls is its usability during sports. For example, when running, adding a manual “lap” to an activity can only be done by swiping left on the screen to summon a menu and tapping “add lap” — something that’s far too fiddly to do regularly. And when swimming, the Pixel Watch 4 essentially offers no data; it simply acts as a stopwatch for the activity, with no insight into distance, heart rate, pace or anything else.

In contrast, a device like the Forerunner 55 only does a few things but does them well. Sports tracking is a good example. Dedicated buttons make recording a breeze even on the move and the software and user experience is focused on providing data and feedback on sports in real time. When running there’s a clearer set of metrics available and fully customizable, while the swimming feature set can display distance, pace and much more.

I don’t mean this to sound like criticism of one device. It’s more an encapsulation of a drum I love to bang in opinion pieces on this blog: the best technology is that which really suits the need of the user. When it comes to devices for fitness and exercise, the intended purpose must be built into the entirety of the product, both hardware and software — otherwise it simply will not do the job.

So, looking forward, will I take as many wearables on my next vacation? On one hand perhaps I shouldn’t — the elusive “digital detox” is always an opportunity worth thinking about. But on the other, it’s hard to see how I’d be able to leave my wearables behind. Whether it’s on my head, hands, wrist or somewhere else, I’m always keen to test out the latest and greatest and make sure that wearable technology is fit for purpose. Having an active lifestyle, be that at work or on holiday, lends itself perfectly to that task.