Garmin Varia RCT715

Just revisiting this and something that @secret_squirrel, @Davidb67 and other owners may be interested in...

Got this from Amazon the other day, a rubberised case and tether for the RCT715. The case seems robust enough to survive an unplanned detachment and the tether is short enough to keep it out of the back wheel for less than a tenner and fits like a glove  

https://amzn.eu/d/jeNNP1X

Photo shows it on a bike. 

<Insert That Escalated Quickly GIF here>

I could make a snide remark that if you've sunk £350 of your own money into a product there's always going to be an element of cognative dissonance / confirmation bias in any reaction to someone else basically inferring you've made a bad choice. But that would be to disrespect reader's lived experience, so I won't

I was given this unit to review, so I have no such investment - financial or emotional - in the outcome. I wrote the review from the perspective of how I would feel, had I parted with my own money. 

One of my assorted backgrounds is in mobile phone design. I was a founding part of the team that developed the 3G INQ1, a 2G-iPhone-competitor handset that won Mobile Phone Of The Year 2009. I'm named in a few patents for mobile UX design. I was responsible for the company's IPR management. So I like to think I'm a wee bit smarter than the average bear when it comes to objectively assessing device UX, camera performance, etc - and particularly in a cycling context. I've also spent more than my fair share of time submitting rear-camera evidence of close passes to various police forces. And I'm now at 300 Road.cc reviews and counting.

So this isn't my first rodeo

None of the above detracts from Varia 715 owners thinking their devices are great, that it suits their needs, that for their use cases, level of experience and familiarity with the device, that it's fine. Maybe they're so invested, they literally feel naked without it looking backwards for them.

So of course when I come along and point out multiple failings that I've noticed and are not prepared to let slide, they rebut with their thoughts and even photographic proof that look - the camera is fine. Super - that's what we're here for. It would be a boring world if my opinion was taken as relevant to 100% of people out there - we need alternative takes. 

What I would hope comes through is that I have taken a lot of time to assess this product, and that my points are factually correct - eg mediocre resolution camera, mediocre light output, slow/buggy app UX, high price, etc. If you look at each of these individually and then at the £350 pricetag, I think most people would be challenged to applaud Garmin for what they have built here. As in the review, the only way this is a product anyone other than its mother could love is if your particular niche case called for an all-in-one that was not masterful at any individual aspect of performance.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised here - I'm assuming no-one spends £350 on an accessory without reading at least half a dozen reviews first. And looking at the usual suspects - especially DCR and GP Llama - you can't say you weren't warned.

But you purchased anyway - so you knew what you were getting into. 

My review findings are pretty close to that of DCR & GPL - I never read other reviews until I've written my own, and it was pleasing to see we were much in agreement. So it's not like I'm wildly out of step with the broad consensus here. 

DCR: "Stepping back, I don’t really understand how this went so wrong – primarily on the camera side"

GPL: "This really is underdone... this to me defines a Minimum Viable Product"

Again - if the 715 at £350 floats your boat - that's great. More power to you. If OTOH your expectations are higher, and you need your £350 to deliver an excellent experience across the board - I'd recommend holding out for a different version or product.

Cheers all - ride safe

Mike

(also for those claiming the images shown aren't representative of quality due to Road.cc processing-  here's the file I sent to the team. Viewing them on a 26" monitor, there was only one plate out of the five I recorded on my last ride, that was discernable. And this was on the brightest-possible day, with relatively slow speed differentials.

I do not doubt that in some circumstances the 715 can capture plates clearly, and I have a few clearly-visible examples myself. But it is very subjective to conditions, relative speed etc. If you are relying on the 715 to be your source of legal proof of a driver's guilt, in my experience  - NOT opinion, but experience based on hard proof - you will likely be disappointed)

Wow , what an unexpected review. Garmin Radar plus any or no add on , is a ride-life  changing feature. I can understand critcism on cost etc but not on the way the Radar functions and reports traffic. It is an absolute marvel that is always reliable. 
I truly don't know an owner who would ever want to ride without it.

I’ve had one of these since launch and don’t recognise this review of it. Yes the app is crappy (but so is the Cycliq one) and you only need use it once for set up. If you want do something with a video you plug it in with a cable and it will copy at USB3 speeds . WI-FI video transfer is for mugs.
I’ve reviewed a dozen videos for police submissions and everyone had at least 1 clear number plate image. I’ve scored 1 NIP using the video from it. (only actual submission from it)
The lack of OIS is a bit disappointing but doesn’t seem necessary unless you are filming your buddies on a chain gang.
Cars do vanish if they match speeds but frankly that’s a rarity and no different to the other radars afaik.
I can count the number of times on one hand that 1 car has been 2 and that’s just because if you get a tailgater the radar can’t defy the laws of physics.
The spotting of trains is a double edged sword I find it useful because it means the radar penetrates bushes on windy roads.
I trust it enough not to do shoulder checks when out of town.
The battery life is also better than my now retired Fly6.
In short I think you should take Mikes review with a large chunk of salt - he seemed primed to prejudge it.

I don't comment that often on reviews as I believe they're the opinion of the reviewer and of course we all have our own, but I thought I would on this one as my experience of the RCT715 is very different, so here is my $0.02...

I've been running one for over a year now (checks order date, 18/05/22, day of UK launch), so have a fair amount of use of riding in varied conditions, since the very early firmware and app versions.

The app was crap at launch, since then it has improved, so is now just mostly crap. Unfortunately the limitations are always going be dragging HD video files (300Mb per clip) over a localised device wifi connection, this is always going to be a bit slow. That's why for browsing video I plug the device into a computer via USB, or pull the microSD card out and pop it in a reader. For downloading an individual incident, I still do this over wifi, it takes the time it takes to make a cup of tea, no big deal. Therefore the major challenge for the app when browsing the clip galleries is the speed of dragging HD video over wifi.

One issue that the reviewer has is "browsing a hundred clips" - this is rarely necessary, as in reality the camera is going to be used to record a close pass or other problem, not footage of your pals descending Alpe d'Huez in full broadcast quality glory. It's easy to browse any incidents that occur on a ride, something not mentioned is that most Edge devices (certainly those with a touch screen) have a camera widget, so after a close pass, swipe down on the head unit, swipe to camera widget, touch "save a clip" and your pre and post footage is saved into a locked folder. Post ride, you only need to navigate to the locked folder and pick up the 2 or 3 (OK 5 or 6) incidents to download. From there you also have the timestamps in the app gallery so you can still go straight in via USB if you're in a hurry now you have the timestamps. Similarly, the incident detection on board only starts the recording automatically, the notification is not required because if you're using an Edge head unit with incident detection, that overrides the onboard function, handles the notifications and also starts the auto record. Incidentally I have submitted an improvement request via the Garmin forums to suggest that on the Garmin Edge Di2 configuration, the function for press & hold of the D-Fly hood buttons could be set as save a clip and save a photo, fingers crossed for that.

On the subject of quality, I have never considered lack of 4K or stabilisation a problem. I would rather have more efficient storage and longer battery. To date I have submitted over a dozen closes passes to Op Snap, I have never had an unreadable number plate, and have had a couple of NIP results (NIP rate is more down to Dorset Police interpretation of close pass than the camera evidence). See attached images for example of good light and bad light, they may end up being compressed by road.cc hosting, on a computer screen grabbed from the video they're easily readable.

Finally, the flaky connections - this really isn't my experience, I've paired it once in the year I've had it with my phone (nothing special, a 2+ year old iPhone 12 mini, up to date iOS & apps), and apart from the occasional dropout on wifi when browsing the gallery (expected, I'm surprised that even works, but I can't think of another way of getting it to communicate with a phone), it's been reliable. Most of the other comments regarding the flaky software from "respected reviewers" were from May 22, and things have been updated on both the light and the app since then.

It's a shame to see this version get a disappointing review. I have the radar version and it's been faultless. It's one of those bits of kit you didn't realise you need but once you have you can't live without. 
 

knowing I have a car behind me dictates my road position. If I deem it unsafe for them to pass I will move more central in tbe lane. Otherwise I will sit closer to secondary. Knowing what traffic flow is like behind can really help you make decisions. I had hoped to upgrade to this but if it's not a great a product I may just stick with a go pro and live with the seat post clutter. 

Thanks for this.

I was swithering on getting one as I'm not impressed with the battery life on my Fly6 Gen 3 - which was pretty my only gripe.

This review has made me think that while not ticking every box, the Cycliq cameras are easily the best *dedicated* cameras out they for everyday use.

I am disappointed that the Garmin device has scored so little when it has the ability to deliver so much.

Still, saved me a few hundred quid ... and just means I have to keep charging the Fly6v3 at coffee stops.

Be interested to see if mark1a posts as he has this model.
He did report you can now get an overlay of your speed and the car speed on the recording.

You really need the my bike radar traffic data field from iq connect then you will know how far someone is behind you. If they get to 5m or less, then they are behind you or turned off.
The radar won't register a vehicle at the same speed otherwise in a group it will be constantly going off.

I have the radar-with-light Varia and it's the best accessory on my bike. 
When there is no car behind, you can power-down the hypervigilance, go to the lowest defcon level, relax, and enjoy the ride. 
And then when it pings to show that there is a car behind, you get twice as much warning as you get with your ears, and can decide better how to react, such as whether to ride primary to control the situation.  
It's best on country roads, rather than in town.  Yes, it gets confused by trains, but it's otherwise reliable and informative.
Apart from the battery life being terrible (maybe 3 hours), it's a fantastic piece of kit that I would recommend to every rider.  Don't leave home without it.