Garmin Varia UT800 review - It's great! BUT...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2018
- Check out my full review: www.lavelocita.cc/la-velocita....
Buy a Garmin Varia! Go on, it's PRETTY good most of the time: amzn.to/3jnVQA5
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great review mate, loved the pros and cons of the light. Kudos!
Thanks for your honest review.
I use the Bontrager Ion Pro on the front and the Flare R for the rear (both Bontrager with ANT+ controls). They are set up to run on "auto" via my Forerunner 935. The Edge units with touch screens have even more controls that you can use while on the bike but full auto works perfectly for me. The Ion Pro is so bright that I've never once used full power. I used to run two separate Cree T6 LEDs with separate battery packs and the Ion Pro is better because it has a better battery and reflector designed specifically for the LED and application. Worth every penny. Having optimized "smart" circuitry ended up being a fantastic bonus that I didn't even count on when I placed the order.
Great review, thanks for it. I totally agree on Garmin products too! 80% great!
Perfect, very helpful review thank you!
I agree.
Not sure if you tried this, but if you swipe down on the edge there is a light management screen. With on swipe and one touch you can override smart mode with the mode that you want. Same screen allows you to put it back into automatic mode.
Great review, thanks ever so much. Out of curiosity, have you seen any improvement in the battery life with firmware updates or is it still poor when communicating with the bike computer? I noticed that Garmin did not update the front bike light model last year when they released the new Varia rear light, so I thought they might be addressing some of the negatives you mentioned through software releases rather than a new model.
i bought this over a year ago and i am still loving it i like the fact that its neat and centred but i use the light manually and change the brightness as needed on the go. yes bit expensive but i rather have this on the centre than having a light off to the side which annoys me. great video i still recommend a year later and i use this with the garmin edge 520. oh and on a good note you can use this with a go pro too but you loose the light.
To get the light to respond to ambient light levels, you'll need a compatible edge device with a light sensor. If that's an edge 520 in the video, you won't get that functionality! There is no light sensor within the UT800
Great review, really helped me in my choice. Can you also explain in one video how you mounted the light and the cyclometer?
Great review. But no more background pseudo music,! 😩
It’s like he’s got a stereo on too loud in the room. Not a fan of it.
@@rstyknfe Not just me then! Ha ha
Great review
excellent review
Thank you kindly!
What type of bar tape are you using on that bike? Looks crazy cool.
I found the same thing with the automatic modes on the Exposure lights. The accelerometer feature chews through the battery. Luckily the way the programming works it’s really easy to switch between appropriate modes for ascending/descending with a press or 2.
Who dis?
You’re right about the play in the mount. I suspect that you got yours from the same batch that that I did. Because of the play one day while descending down a rough road the mount and the light snapped off. This was only after a few months of using it. I contacted Garmin and to their credit sent me a mount free of charge. This mount when I attached it to the light didn’t have the same play that the original mount had. In fact it had no play at all. So I think that somehow the earlier batch of lights had a defect in the mount. I have many Garmin devices and I have noticed that the first wave of new devices that have been introduced always seem to have some type of defect. So usually I wait for a few months before buying any new Garmin products
Ahhhh that's interesting! Wow, that's pretty terrible that it just snapped off.
I use another light but the same mount system. I added a piece of electric tape inside the mounts that attach to the light. It take out the play when I attache it to the mount and I ear nombre rattle when I ride. Easy fix.
Great review. You touch on many cons and pros with this light. A couple of things worth mentioning though. In my view the biggest fault this and any light Garmin make is that they will not operate while charging. This is a huge problem for long distance riders that want to charge their lights from an external battery while riding. You can do this for all the head units, so why not either support charging or at least running of external power while riding? Exposure lights will not only do this but support power transfer between two lights via an umbilical cord. Further drawback is that the play in the mount increases over time as the rubber padding in the mount wear down, this is easily fixed by shoving something in between to shimmy it up again. Now for the plus side, and this is where I find this light to be brilliant and do things no other light will do. If you're running Dura Ace Di2 or the latest iteration of Ultegra, you will be able to control the light via the buttons in the STI hoods, this will allow you to switch light modes as you ride, thus leaving it off auto, but giving you easy access to core features without cluttering up your handlebars with more gear. It's a very good light, has never let me down, and I have really put it through its paces. But it's certainly not perfect.
Great feedback Jonni! That sort of long-term testing is really valuable to find all of the flaws. The increased play in the mount is a major bummer. I'm testing some K-Edge and For Cycling mounts to avoid using the Garmin one. I'm bummed that I have the hydro Di2 levers that don't have buttons in them because being able to control the light with those hood buttons would be cool.
Ditto.@@JustRideAdelaide - Today's hydraulic Di2 levers have these hood buttons. I think they've been like that for the last couple of years now. They are a good upgrade. I use them extensively for both head unit and lights. For those not running Di2 you can also easily control the lights from your head unit. I do this on my non-Di2 bike and find it in many ways better than running auto mode. Auto mode on the 500 light (the previous version) was in many ways better as it would change beam and focus based on your speed. But that light was enormous. I did try out a few other mounts, but have come back to the Garmin mount as I find it to be the best one. Also using a dual head unit / GoPro mount had me over-tighten the light in the mount and subsequently break one of the fixtures off the light (which Garmin were kind enough to replace under warranty). I'm under the impression that the GoPro mount may have slightly wider dimensions than Garmin's GoPro like mount, but that may also be the case with the mounts I've tried out and not the light. The play in the mount I've pretty much solved with a little piece of cardboard that I shimmy in between. Best lights in my opinion are made by Exposure, but sadly no smart features for these as of yet, but rugged build, amazing light quality and battery life.
Jonni TM I have a K-Edge Combi mount - your experience has got me wondering whether the UT800 is actually going to work with the GoPro part of the mount though.
Will Johnson I think it’s mostly think it’s a matter of over tightening the light in the mount. K-Edge are good quality mounts and should be well dimensioned. I’ve used my light adequately tightened in my Garmin mount for well over a year now and had no problems. I can also easily adjust its angle when needed.
Incidentally, after seeing this review, I used my 800 on a 5 hour night ride in auto mode, using my Di2 switches to swap between pulsating mode in lit areas and constant light with intensity determined by my speed in unlit areas. Light lasted for the entire ride (so did my Garmin Varia Radar) with power to spare. I guess the last few firmware updates have greatly improved power management on both lights.
Still won’t run while charging, though.
Jonni TM Can you comment if the running while charging is a software or hardware limitation? Would be great if Garmin could fix this through a SW update.
This has been my experience with Garmin products. Great potential let down by crappy software engineering. C'mon Garmin, hire a capable software engineering team, and your products will be recommendable.
I have this experience with all kinds of hardware (headphones in particular), software is absolutely crappy. I have to add that most of the time it's not the engineers who fuck projects up, but business people trying to squeeze out 10 people and 1 year worth of development from 2-3 people under 4 months or something. Then the engineers must cut corners. Very sad, but companies can milk their products faster this way. Of course I saw very incompetent software developers, but that's rare at proper companies.
Source: I'm a software developer, and I had to do this many times before.
So please don't blame the engineers, their hands are tied. (Most probably)
@ Good experience design doesn't take much time, it just needs someone to consider it enough early on in the development. Some of these oversights smell to me like the wrong specification set too early, and the faults found out too late (coming from too many years being an UX designer in engineering firms)
@@TomPritchard_turtlefish Yeah, that's very much possible, but then that's not an engineering oversight. (again, most of the time)
All lights are battery hogs when attached to the Garmin GPS. My Bontrager lights do the same thing. I have the 800 ion and flare RT units. I was shocked at how much battery was lost in a relatively short time
Do you know what firmware version the light had when tested?
Maybe one of the newer firmware releases has fixed the battery life issues?
the only update was done in 2017, after that there have been no updates, garmin is pretty bad with this, had a chance to make something great and they missed the mark.
Great video! I really love all the cool features, but the key feature for a light is the LIGHT! You really sold me on the negatives. "It's a great light except when it isn't." A great summary. For me, the negatives far outweigh the positives. I need more lumens anyway! I travel down serpentine hills at night at 35 mph/53kmh. I use a niterider 850 lumens now and it is insufficient.
Tks for the review, I’m buying one !
What Garmin edge you are using in this review?
Tks from Brazil mate!
Hi Antonino, this is a regular old Edge 520!
Tks 👍🏻!!!
@Ride Adelaide. Really informative. Great video, save for that god-awful elevator music. Can you charge the Garmin while in use? I have a Cateye which runs out too quick but when you charge it, it is inoperable.
haha yeah this was made back before I'd figured out TH-cam sound compression is friggin weird. Anyways, it turns off when charging. Maybe next generation with USB-C it'll be possible to get enough power in to charge and use it.
As to a pure visibility light for oncoming traffic during rides I assume with manual setting it works great??? I don’t need a light for seeing…….just being visible.
do a RTL510 review if you can please, I think u will love it
It'd be cool bit that's a bit too much cash for me
Did the battery draining on smart mode got solved with the firmware upgrades?
hi! Hosszabb túrákon is lehet használni? töltés közben is működik?
Thanks for this video. I’ve just purchased the light and have found your connection to unit comments still an issue. It’s just losing that connectability and user friendlyness and it’s just a bit expensive as a manual front light, £150.00. But I use the K-Edge mount and the light is solid on this as of the casing and integrated mount… I’m not happy you told me what I was hoping not to hear😁 I’m on the fence as to send it back or keep it. Cheers😊👍
Why do people come to a review after they have bought the product? Do you need validation on your purchases to make you feel better?
@@bongobob7079 who’s a grumpy bollock today then. Need a hug. To put you right in your comment I am letting some know the issues I’ve had and others have had as well. I watched some reviews to see if others were having the same issues. Anyway take care and enjoy a meditation or 2.
That's Garmin for ya. I use the Garmin 500 still because all the new versions although include new features, have some deal breakers for me
Prastt
A rear radar like the Garmin Varia Radar actually saves lives when dealing with distracted drivers. A realty more now than ever and forever will be. The Garmin 500 as you know is not up to that task. For years I loved the Garmin 500, now stays on my trainer for power meter interval training only. Went with the 530. Well worth it in many levels. Consider helping to mitigate rear oncoming traffic danger with integratabtle technology when available. Could be the best money spent.
can i connect this light to the Bontrager wireless system?
I own the Fenix BC25R and BC30R 2017 amd they put the most expensive lights like Bontrager and Garmin up to shame, most of their price is mostly marketing XD
agreed but more bulky
When it comes to size, BC25R is comparable to the Garmin, BC30R is the bulky one.
Except they look terrible.
I also own the Fenix BC25R and its perfect. Espescially for oncoming traffic. Great output, great patern. Simple button.
Rear i have the Fenix BC05R, also very Nice and cheap
Will you be reviewing the Edge 1030?
Hopefully! I'm currently working on getting a couple of review units from Garmin Australia. I've got a Lezyne Mega XL and Mega C already that I'll be making reviews for soon.
Where did you get that hat?
Thank you.
Hi. I have a question for the Author. Is the lamp lit after connecting the PowerBank?
Hey Jacek, the light can't be used when charging. It switches itself off
@@JustRideAdelaide thank you
Crazy expensive for 'not much light'😂 I would take Magicshine any time comparing to this
I'm pretty sure that play is for high and low beam.
Will this work with my wahoo roam???
Excellent review. I'm not gonna get one now!
With these problems at this price point, I am lost why he recommends it. I got a light for 20 bucks, similar form factor, well bright enough, lasts two hours. All the same except those functions that don't function anyway :-D
Garmin need to make this mount that will suit flat bars...….
It's just a great review. No "BUT" here.
Thanks a ton for sharing your thoughts about it!!!
Don't understand how the mount is a triple decker and why the bottom mount he calls "middle".
Can battery be replaced ?
do you have mounts for aero flat handlebars?
The light does have a standard GoPro interface on it so it'll fit anything with that on it.
Thank you for the good review, also some comments helped...to know i do not really want to buy one. I was curious and hoped for some good features at that price. Only for the mounting options and the quality look - does not seem like such a good deal after all. The option to switch lights on my Garmin - no need for that, pushing a button that is in front of my face works just fine. Looked at the Cyclic lights, but there is also many reasons not to buy those, asides of the price. I wish for a good front light/camera combination, that could be made into a really smart tool for safety, ride videos, in combination with light & light sensor. Can´t be so hard for a company like Garmin.
Recently got myself some 10€ set of front&back lights with brake sensor from a discounter... Front light can be charged via usb. They turned out to be so good, i use them for road cycling now. Lightweight, charge last longer than any lights i had before, really bright & the beam is very well spread. Rather spending my money on cycling gear that makes more sense.
So what happen when you pass in a tunnel and you don't have a chunky wheel speed sensor ?? Does it just shut down cause it is loosing gps signal and you then don't get light in the tunnel, seems sketchy.
I like my 15€ aliexpress light which just work.
Hmmm... dunno. I suspect it'll just react to the low ambient light and stay lit. No long tunnels in my area to test.
Can you connect it to a Garmin Fenix watch instead of a Garmin Edge Cycling GPS?
80% seems to be the industry standard for quality.
Probably why you can make all their stuff work if you only have only three fingers
If they were a restaurant they would forget to give you a napkin
My experience is the same.
I'm sorry, but this is a single LED light with light cone shape of a regular flashlight (which honestly shouldn't have any place on your handlebars, at least not at these output levels) that sells for more than some premium double LED lights capable of powering your ride throughout the entire night.
Fenix BC25R - Slightly lower output, better battery life, just about the same build quality, less aggressive tone of light, anti-glare lens, comparable dimensions and weight. Costs four times less tan UT800.
Fenix BC30R. Admittedly much bulkier and heavier (+90g). It is a double LED light. has higher output, much better battery life, excellent build quality, less aggressive tone of light, anti-glare lens. Premium features include an OLED display which tells you exactly how long you have before battery depletion, three physical buttons (one On/Off, two for switching modes) and a remote switch. What's more, it still costs considerably less than UT800.
Do people really believe that the Garmin logo is worth that much money?
Blackburn countdown 1600 is more then half the price and rips 10 hours min 2.5 hours 1600lmns
After my second Garmin Edge 520 died unexpectedly I decided to try something different - the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt instead of the Garmin 530. Boy! I'm glad I did. th-cam.com/users/postUgkxXZCtB-wGdHVTBSz8RswePK5vllHNi06N The display on the Wahoo Bolt is much easier to read. I like the configuration of the display more (up to 7 items visible on page 1 without scrolling and the first item chosen is larger characters than the next 3 rows that have pairs of items (still very readable). I also like the configurable item selections. The Bolt synced with my Garmin ANT+ Speed sensors on both bikes easily so no additional investment was required there. While the rated battery life is a couple hours less than the Garmin 520/530, I easily get a weeks worth of 1+ hour rides before recharging (and it's never really low on charge). At the end of a ride syncing to the Wahoo app, Strava, and Apple Health app is painless.
..... what did you expect when it has smart connection? It need to send signal to the other devices and communicate... most likely Bluetooth, even RF still need power... just like using your Bluetooth on the phone... you not expecting the battery life to increase when has all the wireless feature... if they make the battery larger and heavier then you will complain about the weight...
Well, it is not like there is a huge amount of data to transmit, so it is perfectly possible to use one of the low power technologies (BLE, ANT+). And being Garmin product, ANT+ is more than logical. So there is no reason for such a huge battery drain.
Great light butttt.... starts flashing randomly for no reason 😢
That's a flash feature , it's a setting.
wow this light sounds almost like a scam lol.
A smart light that is not smart enough....
bontrager ion800 doesn't look that cool as Garmin