sapporoguy

Newb alert: I've never had a dedicated GPS device.
I'm a regular RWGPS user on my iPhone for navigation. I use it 90% of on-road time in voice-navigation mode. With corded earbuds feeding me turn-by-turn directions, I don't have to look at the screen much. That's much safer, more enjoyable on a tour and lengthens battery life.
I was thinking of buying a Garmin 830 for its specialized functionality, maps and long battery life..
But what's this?
It doesn't generate its own voice? No earphone jack and no way to beam a voice into bluetooth earbuds?
It appears I'd have to pair the Garmin with a smartphone to get voice navigation. So I'd have to have two devices running at the same time?

Tourist in MSN

I can't comment on the 830, but my Garmin 64 will give me a beep at some distance before a turn and again closer to it. At bicycle speeds, I usually have figured out well in advance what the voice would have said (which usually would be right or left or you have arrived at your destination), thus the beeps work for me.

sapporoguy

Yep, a beep would be fine in lots of areas--like on the long rural stretches we we rode in Colorado and Kansas last summer.
But riding unfamiliar routes in and round cities--like around here in the SF Bay area--there are too many turns, too often, to memorize, and stopping to look at the screen regularly is annoying and time-consuming.

Steve B.

I think you get beeps for turn notifications, but no voice prompts. Can’t think of any cycling GPS that does this.

As well, wearing a pair of ear buds is illegal in many states on a bike (NY) and dangerous, though maybe for just voice prompts not terribly.

Seattle Forrest

You don't have to stop to look at the screen. Most people mount the device near the handlebars and glance down at it for a split second. This works well for millions of cyclists.

sapporoguy

I use only one earbud, which is legal at least in California.

sapporoguy

but doesn’t this mean having the screen on all the time, sucking battery? And this works in strong sunlight? Serious question, not rhetorical!

Steve B.

As you stated “With corded earbuds“, and was curious as to if you needed both.

Also look at Bryton, Lezyne, Magellan, Polar and Rand McNally, whose Foris 850 unit states “spoke trail routing”. In general do a Google.

unterhausen

I think the screen on my garmin 830 works pretty well in the sun. The 800 was okay. Certainly not as useless as a cellphone in the sun

I forgot to bring my GPS with me one ride and tried to use RWGPS voice. I found it to be highly inadequate.

Seattle Forrest

I think on all Garmins, the screen is always on (when the device is on). It uses a different type of screen than a phone or laptop, more like e-ink. It's called "transflective" and works best in the sun, worst in the dark when there isn't light to reflect. The battery lifetime numbers are with the screen constantly on.

For navigation, it can show you a map with your route, a compass-like screen with the name and distance of your next turn, etc. It's easy to glance down and check even when you're moving at a good speed.

tomtomtom123

Locus Map for Android phones does voice navigation, and the screen will automatically turn on and off whenever there is a new direction. The duration of time that the screen remains on can be adjusted in the settings, for example 20 seconds. The distance before the turn when the voice direction is given can also be adjusted, for example 200 meters. There is also a hand wave function that turns on the display if you pass your hand over the IR proximity sensor, but when it's in my waterproof handlebar bag, the transparent plastic blocks IR light, so the hand waving doesn't work for me. When superuser administration privilege is given to Locus Map, map functions will be available even over a secure lock screen, so that you don't need to unlock the phone to pan through the map. It also has offline mode, route generation, and rerouting, if you install the offline plugin.

I have Locus Map connected to my bluetooth speed and cadence sensors, and I customized the map display to show the speed, cadence, odometer, ride time, etc.

My phone battery lasts 10 hours for me while GPS and track recording is on. I can also fit a power bank behind my phone in my waterproof handlebar bag, which had enough power to recharge the phone to full power 3 times.

Tourist in MSN

My Garmin 64 works well in bright sunlight with the back light off. Early in the morning or in evening I have to turn the backlight on to see it well. I can't comment on the Garmin 830 screen.

I usually have it configured to time out in 30 seconds to save battery, screen goes blank after that time. But I know where the buttons are on my GPS by feel, so I often reach over and press the enter button to turn on the screen before I glance down to look at it. If I am doing something like a brevet where there are a lot of turns, I will re-configure it to keep the screen on, backlight only if I need it. I have no idea how long the batteries will last if I have the screen on continuously with or without backlight. Bike touring or doing a brevet, I have a handlebar bag on the bike with a pass through cache battery (or power bank) and I can plug the GPS in to keep it charged, and use the dynohub to keep that power bank charged. Thus, battery life is something that I have not determined.

That said, on a long bike tour over a month I try to avoid wasting electricity because all of my power for lights, phone, etc., are from my dynohub. Thus, I have my GPS set up for minimum battery usage, have WAAS turned off, have the russian satellites turned off, etc. If you do not know what all that means, it just means my GPS is a little less accurate the way I set it up, probably plus or minus 50 feet instead of 15 feet in horizontal distance.

Photo of my GPS below, but this was on my touring bike last summer on a five week bike tour, I had the bars cluttered up with a bike computer, inclineometer, heart rate monitor, etc. Paper map on the lid of the handlebar bag.

The GPS is pretty close to my eyes, I am of an age where I need reading glasses, I have sunglasses with reader inserts to make it easier to see my GPS in good focus while I am riding.

***

Above I said above that I get beeps, not voice. But I should clarify, I get beeps on a "route" but I do not get any audible warning to turn on if I am following a "track". I am not sure how to explain the difference, so instead a few examples.

If I am going from point A to point B, I tell the GPS to go to point B, I manually select "tour cycling" and manually select "minimize ascent", and let the GPS pick a route for me. It then calculates a route using my preferences, and tells me on the map screen where to go, it gives me the beeps I mentioned above for turns.

But if I am following a "track" that I downloaded from the internet as a GPX file, it plots that course or "track" on the map screen as a fat purple line, it is up to me to see where I need to turn, I do not get any audible warning. If for example I am doing a brevet and glance down and see that my purple line has disappeared, that means I missed a turn and I have to turn around and go back to it on the map screen and take the correct turn.

To make a long story short, it is easier for me to put a track into my computer using Mapsource on my computer the way I like it than a route, thus I usually get the silent treatment.

So, where I said you get beeps, you get beeps for certain things but silence for other things. If the audible warning is that important to you, research if further. And, different GPS units may work differently in this regard, perhaps other Garmins give beeps on staying on a track? I have not researched that and have no plans to.

In the photo below, I have the GPS on a data screen, not a map screen. I am quite confident that the backlight was turned off at the time I took the photo.

Tourist in MSN

My Garmin 60CSX has a continuous screen, but my Garmin 62S and Garmin 64 both will turn off the screen to save battery, I can tell it how long to keep the screen on or I can set it to not turn off.

The backlight is on or off or somewhere in between and that is independent of the screen on/off function on my 62S or 64

I prefer a GPS that I can use backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, etc., not only cycling. Thus I do not use a cycling GPS, instead want one that works on AA batteries, but one that I can charge it while also using it when i am cycling.

I would not be surprised if the cycling ones are always on.

ADDENDUM ADDED LATER:
The Garmin 60CSX screen always stays on, but the backlight can be set to time out to save battery. And since on a sunny day it does not need backlight, that works amazingly well for me when I use it for backpacking.

mibike

I have a 64 and agree with you it works for me. I almost never miss a beep there needs to be a lot of noise before I miss it.

I also have an Edge Explore and almost never hear it’s beep. The beep on it is useless. I’ve talked with Garmin support and they say no way to make it louder. I don’t know how this compares with other Edge units.

daoswald

I've done 7 hour rides with my Garmin 820 with the screen on the entire time. It still had some life left. I don't know how long it's designed to last.

Also there's a mode where the screen will shut of between navigational cues, and turn on as you approach course adjustments/turns, etc.

Elvo

Karoo hammerhead does voice TBT but you'll need a bluetooth headphone or speaker

Seattle Forrest

I use a Garmin watch, it can vibrate on my wrist instead of beeping. Can't miss it.

sapporoguy

Thanks, all, for the thoughtful responses! I clearly need to try one of these devices.
I forgot one reason I like RWGPS's voice prompts over a screen: No need to pull out the reading glasses!

tunavic

The Garmin Edge 830 has a battery save mode that turns the screen off after a small period of time (I think 5 seconds or so). You can set what functions will wake the screen (such as alerts) and you can also wake the screen by simply tapping the screen and the map (or whatever was displayed prior) will appear for about 5 seconds.

Turn notices are announced by a beep and if in battery saver mode, the screen will turn on to show the upcoming turn. It does not have a headphone or earbud jack. The screen is very easy to read in bright sunlight and if needed there's a back light with adjustable brightness. Battery life is excellent even when not using the battery save mode. I've ridden a double century (about 15 hours) and it still had life left. I'm very happy with my 830.

daoswald

Well, there is something to this. I wear progressive lenses for my normal glasses. My sunglasses are not progressive; just my distance prescription. This does make it difficult to read the GPS sometimes. I mean I can read it, but it's a little fuzzy. The solution is I'm going to have to pay the price for progressive lens sunglasses next time I upgrade.

As for voice prompts, they would be hard to hear unless they were broadcast at a volume that I would be self-conscious about using with other people around. But I'm a little bit that way.

sapporoguy

I'm with you there! I mean through earbuds, the way I now use RWGPS via iPhone. There's no reason Garmin couldn't let us plug an earphone into a dongle jack off the USB port or listen through a bluetooth earbud.
I get it that a screen works fine for lots of cyclists--and I shall try it!
But why not offer voice to those of us who want it? Voice prompts are a wholly proven, widespread technology, not some expensive and esoteric curiosity.
And Garmin already has the technology!
How hard could it be for Garmin to embed in its $400 cycling GPS what it offers in its $199.99 Drivesmart car device:
Garmin Real Directions™
Easy-to-understand, spoken turn-by-turn directions guide like a friend, using street names, store names and recognizable landmarks (e.g., “Turn right after the red building”).

Seattle Forrest

Just wanted to chime in about the excellent battery life. I have a Garmin GPS watch, Fenix 6X. Just went away for my birthday. I charged the watch to 100% on Wednesday, used it for about 21 hours of skiing (XC), and as a watch 24/7 with all the features like heart rate and pulse oxygen monitoring, phone notifications, screen never off, etc. I charged it again the following Tuesday. I didn't even need to bring a charging cable. Garmin nailed it. All of their devices are pretty good in this regard, that's a priority of theirs, and it's why a lot of things are the way they are, like the screens being lower resolution and less bright and colorful than our phones.

Seattle Forrest

For what it's worth, all of their devices are waterproof. (Their watches track swimming in a pool or open water, bike computers are meant to be ridden in the rain.) I doubt you'll ever see them support a dongle. But there's no reason they couldn't do this through Bluetooth. Some of the new watches they make can stream music. If you get in touch with them and suggest it, it might wind up being a feature some day. Of course, they'll probably only put it in their newest devices and make you buy new hardware to get it...

sapporoguy

I thought of doing that but couldn't find a way on their website to give suggestions. I'll try again, as I doubt anyone from Garmin is monitoring our ilk.
Seems like adding voice nav via bluetooth would be a software task deploying proven technologies atop the hardware's existing capabilities, but what do I know.

Tourist in MSN

One last suggestion, the plastic screen on my 62S was a bit soft and easily scratched. When I got my new Garmin 64, I did not want that to happen again, so I put a piece of clear 2 inch wide packing tape over the screen. It was hard to get it on with minimal bubbles, but that has protected it well from scratches. The tiny bubbles that were under the tape disappeared after a few weeks. I have replaced the tape a couple times after it got well scratched up, thus my screen is still unscratched and each time I replace the tape it starts out looking pretty good. The photo of the GPS above in post 12 is the one I am talking about, there is clear packing tape on that screen in the photo.

Also in that photo, I have a lanyard on the GPS that is wrapped around the handlebar so if I do something stupid and do not get it in the mount correctly, when it falls out of the mount it only goes a few inches instead of falling off the bike. And yes, that has happened a few times.