For the last 9 years I have enjoyed swimming with music. Not\nevery swim, but for some swims the added auditory stimulus has enhanced my\nconcentration and quality of swimming. I like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For these 9 years I have used the Finis MP3 device. The\noriginal player which lasted for about 5 years, and then the newer Duo model\nwhich is still up and running\u2026. but not without some frustrations. I have\nabsolutely no issues with the sound \u2013 it delivers crisp, clear melodies with no\nstatic or vibration. The Finis Duo is relatively comfortable for its size and\nshape, and I never had any issues with the programming. Its biggest downfall\nand most frustrating aspect is the charging. Yes, those reviews were correct.\nThe first Finis model had a direct USB connection which was fantastic. The\nnewer Duo has magnetic pins. Hit and miss on the connection and half the time it\nmay look like its charging but fair dinkum it\u2019s not. Bring in the mech eng\nhusband who gets a mini clamp to hold it in place to charge. On a good day that\nwould work. However, I would sigh every time I needed to charge the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well this week was the last straw, two attempts to charge\nand no dice. A minor dummy spit, a quick click and ship, and the Aftershokz\nXtrainerz was at the front door. Yeah baby, who doesn\u2019t love a new toy. I\nripped that sucker out the package and went straight to charge. Exciting\ndoesn\u2019t begin to describe it\u2026 the Xtrainerz come with a charging cable and its\nown little mini house (cradle is the official word) for the pogo pins that the\nheadphones snap in to. Genius. It was super quick and easy to charge and load\nsongs. I was already sold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking closely at features of the two devices I can give\nyou the following Cliff notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xtrainerz charge in less than 2 hours\u2026. the Finis Duo\nmay charge if the stars are aligned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xtrainerz play time is 8 hours\u2026. the Finis Duo 7 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xtrainerz support a few more file formats than the Finis\nDuo but both support MP3 and WMA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xtrainerz have the ability to create folders and change\nbetween them on the device, for example, switch from a music playlist to an\naudiobook. Winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both have storage of 4GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xtrainerz have a two year warranty, the Finis Duo has\none year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t wait to swim this morning to take the Xtrainerz for a whirl. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some notes on the practical side\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no significant weight difference between the two.\nCheck. The Xtrainerz are far more streamlined and discreet. The shape of the\nXtrainerz, and the fact that you don\u2019t attach them to the goggle strap like the\nFinis, made for a more comfortable fit. I did play with putting the rounded\nstrap of the Xtrainerz under my cap, then over my cap, and it did not change\nthe comfort or quality of audio. I would say do what feels best for your\nnoggin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did really like when turning on the Xtrainerz, it gave you\nan alert for the level of battery -even more in its favor regarding charging! I\ndid not wear the ear plugs included in the Xtrainerz kit (along with a swim cap\nand storage case, thank you Aftershokz!), and the audio was still clear and\ncrisp. I wondered if there would be movement of the device when going to\nbreathe, and to my delight there was not. The audio did change a little in that\nmoment though, when the device shifted from water to air. Just a volume change\nit seemed, nothing major and could entirely be my ears\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The smaller buttons for on\/off, volume and mode are much\nmore responsive than the Finis Duo. And here is one added feature y\u2019all\u2026. the\nXtrainerz will flash solid red for charging, solid blue for charge complete,\nred flash every 5 seconds for low battery, one second red for power off, one\nsecond blue for power on. Flashes red and blue, lookout, there is a problem.\nCommunication! The cornerstone of every great relationship! As of this moment I\nam one happy, tuned in swimmer with the Xtrainerz!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please note I am not affiliated with any company, just\nlooking for an enjoyable swim! If anyone is heading to the swim studio soon and\nwould like to compare, I am happy to guide you through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coach Dinah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the last 9 years I have enjoyed swimming with music. Not every swim, but for some swims the added auditory stimulus has enhanced my concentration and quality of swimming. I like that. For these 9 years I have used the Finis MP3 device. The original player which lasted for about 5 years, and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[9],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2392,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390\/revisions\/2392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}