From smart sunglasses to super shoes, 3 new essentials for the running season
From Oakley’s Meta Vanguard smart glasses to Garmin’s latest Forerunner and Puma’s new performance shoes, Lounge tried out these three products that promise to enhance your running experience
The running season is upon us. The Delhi Half Marathon just went by and the World Majors are coming thick and fast as are some of the biggest races in India, including the Spice Coast Marathon in Kochi, the Chennai Marathon, the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata and the Tata Mumbai Marathon. This is probably the best time to invest in accessories that could take your performance to the next level. A whole lot of products — from wearables to nutrition to shoes — have flooded the market in the last couple of months. Team Lounge reviews three new picks that could bring you joy while improving your training and race experience.
OAKLEY META VANGUARD
Smart glasses have been touted as the next big thing for the last few years but have failed to tickle mass interest till recently. Ray Ban was the first to launch Meta-powered smart sunglasses for the mass market. Now, Oakley has launched two models of smart sunglasses — the Oakley Meta HSTN and the soon-to-be released Oakley Meta Vanguard sports sunglasses. The Oakley Meta Vanguard, priced at USD499, is the sportier of the two with a wrap-around fit and you are likely to spot several runners, cyclists, skateboarders, hikers and winter sports enthusiasts sporting them.
As far as sunglasses go, you are unlikely to go wrong with any Oakley product although they are a tad bit pricey. While Prizm lenses are a standard issue in Oakley’s sports range, the fun bit in the Meta Vanguard is the camera and the electronics loaded in this pair. It has a camera lodged on top of the nose bridge and you can record videos and take pictures at the push of a button or via voice command. The pair also has built-in integration with Garmin and Strava letting you see your stats on the lenses mid-workout without having to turn to look at your watch.
The Meta Vanguard has a customisable action button on the right temple that can be used to activate Meta AI, capture video, click pictures, send voice messages and more. A tiny white LED light turns on every time the camera is activated letting others know that recording is in progress. It also has built-in microphones and speakers allowing you to take calls while working out without having to put in your AirPods. However, all this fun comes at the slight inconvenience of having to charge yet another gadget.
PUMA FAST-R NITRO ELITE 3
Puma has been in the game along with Nike and Adidas for almost as long as one can remember. It has had tremendous success with Usain Bolt on track events but has struggled to give recreational runners a dependable road shoe like its competitors have successfully done for a couple of decades. When carbon technology debuted in 2017 and triggered a race for carbon shoes among all sports brands, Puma grabbed the opportunity and finally developed good high performance foam and shoes that runners can rely on.
The Nitro Deviate range is reliable, performs well for different kinds of runners and on different surfaces. The latest in Puma’s Nitro range of carbon shoes is the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3. The neon orange colourway literally glows in the dark and during daytime turns a fair few heads. The pair is very light despite the thick foam that houses the brand’s trademarked carbon PWRPlate. The upper is made of lightweight mesh and utterly breathable so much so that you might require warm socks while running in cold weather.
As far as performance goes, the shoes will literally force you to pick up the pace as the energy return during foot-strike and toe-off is excellent. The foam is firm and wide enough to not let your feet wobble while running on curves and turns. Its outsole is slick yet grips the road well even in wet conditions. The pair works better for midfoot and forefoot-strikers than for heel strikers despite its rocking boat geometry. Do remember, the foam is quite soft and does start showing signs of wear and tear quickly. Chasing personal records comes at a price and if you do it in Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 it will cost you
₹23,999.
GARMIN FORERUNNER 570
Do you really need to upgrade your old Garmin? Probably not. Will you still upgrade it? Most likely, yes, you will. That’s why Garmin keeps launching new GPS watches every year. This year, Garmin’s best launch has been its Forerunner 570. One can’t really call it mid-range any longer considering it costs an eye-watering ₹66,990 but it is still significantly cheaper than the Fenix line and more feature-rich than the Forerunner 55 and Vivoactive 6.
The Forerunner 570 comes in two sizes — 47mm and 42mm — with a brighter AMOLED display than found on previous generation units. The biggest change is that this version comes with an aluminium bezel, which makes it look more like a proper watch. Garmin has also loaded it with a built-in speaker and microphone, multi-band GPS and has sensors to measure your skin temperature. In addition to the popular Morning Report, the Forerunner 570 also gives you an Evening Report, and it also has Google Maps, A music player, and tracks accurate lap distances in meters on tracks all across the world. Apart from the usual tracking of runs, swims, rides, workouts and hikes, you could also make use of Garmin Coach to train for a race and benefit from its inbuilt sleep coach to improve your sleep hygiene.
Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.
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