GEAR REVIEW : Speedo Aquabeat 1GB Waterproof MP3 Player

I have been after swimming MP3 player for some time so spent a lot of opportune moments hinting for Father Christmas to bring me one and to my you he did, a Speedo Aquabeat, complete with arm strap.

The Speedo Aquabeat is a basic, but waterproof MP3 player for swimming (or in the bath or shower …) The Aquabeat can be safely used up to a depth of 3 metres in the water so you can enjoy your favourite tracks when you're swimming! - ideal to break up the monotony of training in the pool. (or so it says) 

The Speedo Aquabeat comes with an extension for the headphones or you can keep them short if clipping the player to your goggles, which is what I did.  I thought it would irritate me clipped to the back of my goggles but once in place you can not feel it so a thumbs up on that front.

The ear phones come with a variety of sizes of buds included so its easy to find ones that fit and that is one of the hardest parts clipping the clips around your ears and inserting the ear buds correctly so they are far enough in to keep out water but not so far in that sound is muted.  It took me a few lengths to get this right but after a while I was happy.

The sound quality is quite good, not as good as your normal MP3 player but good enough considering you are in water.  From time to time you loose sound in one ear or the other when you push off the wall and water gets in your ear but its still OK and soon clears.

One thing I would say is not to use the same tracks, like I did, as you use for a hard core spin or run ,,, something more relaxed may be better.

Loading tracks and charging the device and loading tracks is as simple as plugging the provided USB to 3.5 cable into the same sockets as used for the headphone and into the USB port on your PC. The PC sees the device as an external storage device and you simply drag the tracks onto it.

The controls are basic and easy to use, wit a skip back/forward button which doubles as a pause play button and another button for volume all easy to fid by touch, but once I started swimming I just left It alone until I finished my sets over an hour later

All in all I like the Speedo Aquabeat and award it 8.5 out of 10

8.5 out of 10

The Techy Bit

• 3.5 mm headphone socket 
• Battery Life: 9 hours
• 1GB waterproof MP3 player
• Playtime up to 9 hours
• Waterproof compact design (can be used safely down to 3 meters)
• Waterproof earplugs
• Floats for easy retrieval

WW 

GEAR REVIEW: Petzl MYO XP

The winter, as the nights draw in, normally pushes evening onto the roads and more well lit routes that are normally suffer from being boring, choked with fumes from traffic or clogged with pedestrians, Well this year I wanted it to be different .. I wanted to embrace winter wild running, to be able to continue to enjoy runs along the river banks and through woods and parks, so to this end I decided to look at head touches as a means of lighting my way.

After quite a bit research, I new what I wanted, something light that took regular batteries, had a good burn time and most importantly was bright. There were a couple in the running a model from Lennser and another from Petzl … and, by default, since I could not find anyone with the Lenser in stock I ended up by the Petzl.

The model I purchased was the Petzl MYO XP and off I went for an evening run on the heath.

I originally had reservations about the battery pack on the rear of the strap, but once I had but the Petzl on I found it adjusted easily and was comfortable to wear; I used it on maximum power for about the last hour of a hard interval run, during which the light stayed in place and did not irritate.

The light was bright enough for me to see comfortable, meaning I was able to push myself during the session without fear of tripping over an unseen obstruction and its adjustability meant it shone exactly where needed.

I will definitely be using the Petzl MYO XP to allow me to continue running off road this winter and as a supplemental light while out on my bike … you can never be too safe out there

RATING 9/10

Features

• Shines up to 97metres (boost mode)
• 86 lumens (maximum level)
• 150 lumens (boost mode)
• 3 lighting levels (maximum, optimum, economic)
• Wide angle lens allows to quickly switch from flood beam proximity lighting to focused long distance lighting in a single movement
• Boost mode increases power if needed while optimizing energy consumption and weight (175g with batteries)
• 180 hour light duration at economic level (80h on maximum)
• Battery charge indicator light warns when batteries are 70% and then 90% discharged
• Head Band includes top strap.
• 3 year warranty

Specification

• Dark grey, black headband with grey graphics
• Water resistant for all weather use
• Polycarbonate wide angle lens
• Operates on 3 AA/LR6 batteries (included)