Seattle Forrest

I'm using the RTL510 and happy with it. This doesn't interest me, but the appeal to some is obvious.

The camera can be off, on, or radar activated. It's 1080p but can be run in 720p for better battery life. Six (6) hours total with constant-on light and camera, according to a German language spec sheet.

Looks like it will cost $400.

tempocyclist

From what I've been told it's shaping up to be a great (if expensive) product.

I've been waiting for a rear camera-light-radar combo package to be released for a long time. If this reviews well by the usual guys I'll be straight onto it!

Polaris OBark

str8jakett

Yeah, I can't say that I won't need this. I wouldn't give up my radar for a camera but I'd certainly spend the necessary cash to combine the two, especially after the increase in hatefulness I've seen on rural roads in the past year.

PeteHski

But it could potentially save you a lot more. I will be getting one of these for sure.

seypat

Will a golden earring be included in the package for all the fan boys?

jwalther

Will definitely buy, once Garmin straightens out the inevitable early release software bugs. Now on the website: Varia RCT715

mvnsnd

Review at DCRainmaker: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/05/...ra-review.html

seypat

Not a glowing endorsement.

chaadster

DCR is so nice…talking about how people had higher expectations than a hot mess of a Garmin unit. I certainly didn’t. Garmin’s user experience is the worst.

WhyFi

Most of the software/firmware hiccups, like the fact that the video portion of the app isn't terribly... functional... doesn't worry me too much - I'm sure they'll improve it - but the lack of image stabilization on a $400 unit is really disappointing.

chaadster

I look at it from a diametrically opposed position: given what the camera actually does. As DCR concludes, the unit really only functions practically as an emergency recorder when used in conjuction with the newest Edge units. It’s functionally inoperable as an action cam. Based on the DCR cam comparison pics, it doesn’t seem like image stabilization is necessary for emergency recorder functionality, so the absence of image stabilization makes sense.

What I find disappointing is that Garmin couldn’t make it usuable action cam. Also disappointing that they’re charging $400 for an emergency recorder. Were it a $200 emergency recorder/light/radar without image stabilization, that’d work. Were it a $400 action cam/light/radar with image stabilization, that’d work. It’s neither of those two things, and that’s what’s most disappointing.

Personally, and speaking as an RTL515 user, I’d be happiest with just a simple, front or rear mountable, small form action cam. I don’t find the radar functionality of the Varia particularly useful, and would not buy that feature again. Taillamps are a dime a dozen, many with designs I greatly prefer over the Varia, so I can go either way on whether to integrate a light with a camera, but I think I’d prefer to have the units separate, particularly as a multi-bike user; I do more miles where I’m not interested in using an action cam than I do rides where I want to capture images, so not having to both remove a light/cam unit and replace a light unit would be simplfied by simply adding a cam as needed. I mean, I’ve never wanted for a light to integrated into my front mounted GoPro…. The Fly12 CE has it’s appeal, but it’s bulk and feature set is a trade-off on versatility.

It’s interesting that DCR mentioned the old Garmin VIRB action cam, because I thought that, if they could get the size and form factor right, that it could have been something nice for my needs. They got close with VIRB360, but bungled it by making it 360º cam. Had they offloaded the VIRB’s GPS functionality and left that to a connected head unit, they could’ve had a pretty compelling cam, I think.

WhyFi

Well, yes - this is exactly the reason for my disappointment.

You're an exceptionally rare example of a Varia owner that don't value its functionality - I get the impression that most, including myself, would replace it immediately if it were lost or broken.

I have a Cycliq Fly12 - it's a nice product with a couple of warts. In terms of being an action cam, the battery life far and away exceeds anything that I've come across that doesn't require an external battery. The light is a nice and sensible inclusion for cycling use - I don't want to keep track of the location or of the battery charge status of a separate light and I sure don't want anything else strapped to my bars.

fooferdoggie 

well its out audits only 400.00 I have been happy with the radar but this is pretty expensive.

Sy Reene

The lack of IS isn't terribly bothersome. I suppose there are those who want rear-facing action cams for some types of purposes, but I ain't one of them.

chaadster

I know…I got it because of all the hype, but yeah, I’m not impressed by 515 in any way. I find it best for solo gravel, but even then, could totally do without it. And it’s a hideous looking appendage which makes a lot of noise, so it sees more bench time than bike time. Lemme know if you wanna buy it!

What I hate most about Varia, perhaps, is that it doesn’t stop reporting when the bike is not moving, so if I pull over at a junction to regroup, it beeps for all the passing cars as if I don’t expect cars to be passing by on the road! I also find it unreliable, sometimes only reporting one or two cars when there are more, perhaps especially at the first part of climbs, when my speed drops quickly but riders behind are approaching quickly as they hit the incline. I think the Varia gets confused about whether it was reporting the rider, who eventually slows to below radar threshold approach speed, and any cars which may have been coming up at the same time. I dunno, but the net effect is that I cannot trust Varia to get it right on group rides, which are most of what I do.

Seattle Forrest

There's speculation on ****** that this was deliberate because stabilization is processing and can interfere with the use of the video as evidence. That sounds untrue to me, but it's what I've heard.

Seattle Forrest

I already have a Varia radar tail light. I love the added situational awareness, I like that it leaves solid mode and blinks at drivers according to their speed to make them aware of me. I even find it useful to see the gaps in traffic behind me sometimes.

Let's both hope I never get hit and regret not upgrading to the camera model.

WhyFi

They're saying that a recording might be disqualified as evidence because of stabilization? Yeah, that sounds pretty... suspect. FWIW, all of the current Cycliq cameras feature stabilization, and they're ostensibly built for the same purpose.

Polaris OBark

I bought the gen 1 radar soon after it came out, and it is still going strong. This would be something worth upgrading to, but after reading the DCRainmaker review, I think I might wait for gen N+1, or at least some substantial firmware upgrades.

(The other thing is the size. The square box of the gen. 1 radar fits nicely on my seatpost, but I think this thing might simply be too big. A chainstay mount could help, or a horizontal mount.)

Iride01

Well if you want video for just incident protection and radar and a rear light on your bike, you could get the Cycliq gen 3 plus the Varia RVR315 and slide in about $20 - $30 less than the current $399 for the Varia RCT715. But then the realestate on the back of your seatpost will be competing with your seat bag.

If you only want an action cam, this is not the product for you. If you only want a rear light and rear camera this is also still not the product for you.

WhyFi

The other thing, that gets overlooked with this approach, is the adaptive flashing of the Varia units with a light - that's a key feature for me and the reason that the 315 isn't as compelling of a product. If would be nice if all of these products played nice together, and the 315 could transmit information to ANT+ lights, changing their flashing patterns, but I'm not going to hold my breath on it.

bampilot06

Step in the right direction, but obviously it can be improved upon and most likely will be.

Litespud

I don't know that it's supposed to be an action cam - how much action going on behind you do you want to capture (that being said, my Cycliq Fly6 did film a wheel-touch and a cyclist going flying into the roadside undergrowth - no-one hurt, so kind of funny in retrospect). The lack of stabilization makes recording of tag numbers and other car details iffy, which defeats the purpose of the rear-view camera, IMO.
I bought a Gen2 Fly6 a few years back - I used it mainly for the decent strobe, although one time it proved useful following up on an SUV that intentionally buzzed the pace line - the cops followed up, but only because one the the riders memorized the tag# (NC cars have no front tags, so a rear-facing camera is useless in this regard). The Fly6 died after ~2 years - I replaced it with a Gen3 - smaller, but the trade-off is that the battery life is reduced. I get 4h of camera + daylight red LED flash - not long enough for many of my rides, so I end up carrying a small spare light in my jersey.
I bough the Varia mainly for the light and the battery life of 12-14h - the radar was a bonus, but I was skeptical of its usefulness, given I have a mirror and ears. However, a few rides sold me on it - I still use the mirror, just less often, and the ability to track multiple cars graphically is nothing short of amazing for a small consumer-grade box. I think it makes a far more useful attachment to my seat post than the camera, particularly considering the limited car-identification utility of rear cameras in NC. However, if Garmin or someone else came up with a more evolved combination cam-radar-strobe that wasn't quite so chunky and had decent run-time, I'd be all over it but, but this Garmin isn't it, alas.
Not sure what I'll do with the Fly3 - possibly repurpose it as a front camera - it's a pretty compact and well-evolved bike-cam (decent imaging, OK run-time, and straightforward incident capture and playback management), and I should get better run-time if I leave the red strobe off.
A while back I suggested to Cycliq that they build a white-strobe Fly6 as a compact front cam, given that I'm not interested in having a combination headlight-cam like the Fly12 (I want to be able to choose my own headlight), but they didn't bite.

Troul 

if it had stabilization, it would be a lot more useful for road use in my area. Although, if it had it, it not only would be much more expensive, but that B+ life & memory would suffer a lot, unless they grow the packaging size. 64 gig & 6 hours run time using it's full potential is never going to exist for a reasonable price & at a small enough packaging.