I’ve been a Garmin Varia user for several years now with near zero complaints - but the battery on my unit seems to have gotten low, it’s barely making it to 3 hrs now, so I decided to try out the Bryton Gardia just to try something difference.
To save anyone else the money and hassle - just avoid it and get the Varia instead. The Varia is well worth the extra $50 premium and then some.
The problems I encountered:
I knew there would be some ‘ghost cars’ if I didn’t update the firmware, and sure enough I got them on my first ride with big climbs. The ghost cars (cars that aren’t there but show up as dots bouncing back and forth) were pretty annoying too, as they stuck around for a LONG time (like 20+ minutes), and other cars coming through wouldn’t clear them.
I downloaded the firmware update, which wasn’t that hard but did require downloading the Gardia app to do it. That seems to have solved the ghost cars, but then:
The Bryton does miss a car rarely. Something my Garmin NEVER did. It happened today, I was shocked, but it def occurred today, and made me quickly decide I couldn’t rely on this unit. Even if it happens 1/100 times, that’s not good enough, especially when the Varia misses zero cars. This is the main dealbreaker for me.
The Bryton also missed several motorcycles and then a fast-moving e-bike completely. The ebike road up within arms length of me, and there was zero warning as it passed me (it was decked up more like a motorcycle than an ebike and going like 27mph on a uphill) I’ve read reviews that it doesn’t pick these up, but given how fast these things were moving, it really should. Again, deal-breaker.
Unexpectedly but also seriously annoying, there is a paucity of mounts for the Bryton. The one it comes with is good, but doesn’t work well on my aero post. The KOM Garmin mount does work and is excellent, but even with that mount, they tell you to unscrew the Bryton mount from its original mount and swap it to the KOM mount - it doesn’t give you a separate Bryton mount. And I was unable to find Bryton-style mounts sold separately anywhere, even aliexpress. The Garmin mount actually does work, but the Bryton doesn’t ‘lock’ into place, and I’m def hesitant to use it as such (it’s not loose though).
Had this been the 1st gen of radars, I might have said “wow radar great stuff - can tolerate the glitches” but with how good the Varia is and for not much more, it’s no contest. Just avoid.
Any good stuff about the Bryton? I’d say the different look is nice, and the battery life for sure is legit, I rode for 5.5 hrs and am pretty sure it was still in the ‘green’ battery zone, meaning it could do it over 2-3 more times. I’m hoping my new Varia will run 5+ hrs like a lot of folks are reporting. And I’d still take the Bryton over no radar, as when it works it does work and that’s the vast majority of the time.
Trek has just seen your feedback about the Bryton and said here, hold my beer….LOL.
In all seriousness, besides cost for me it’s just so hard to go past the Varia. I have had basically all iterations (yes I should declare as a conflict of interest that I am a Garmin fan boi), but they basically just work so well as claimed. Integrate so well with their other devices, and have been in the game for so much longer than anyone else when it comes to this product.
I was an early adopter and certainly saw many cynics early on wondering how this would really be of use, these days though they are so common and I for one feel “naked†if I am ever riding without one (which is really never).
I know Cycliq just released their new rear light/camera and I feel bad that they are a local company to me, but because this did not have an integrated radar I feel they have really limited their market now. I was hoping their new unit would combine the light, camera and radar, given the camera issues with the Garmin, but alas it did not.
Yes, at the $150 Varia vs $110ish pricepoint of Bryton and the other one, there’s no reason to get the others. The hassle of the mounts alone will cost way more than the $50 savings.
When the varia used to be $250ish in the early days, I could see the other two making a strong value case, but at this price point, I couldn’t even recommend the Bryton unless in was in the $50 range - those missed cars are really problematic, and makes it at best a ‘2nd check for cars’ instead of one you really can confidently rely on (even if you still look back if you’re taking the lane.)
I was on my way to ordering a new Varia (when the battery on mine also decayed to unacceptable levels), but saw a deal for the Bryton for like $80, so checked it out. Also I hate micro-USB with white-hot rage (FFS, Garmin, update the 515), so liked the USB-C on the Gardia.
Haven’t noticed any single-car false negatives, unlike you. But the Gardia doesn’t seem as good at multi-car detection. The Varia could by some magic pick up 3-4 cars in a row and pretty accurately show their ranges. The Gardia tends to show the first one fine, detection of anything after that is sketchy. It will eventually pick up the other cars as they become the first car in the line, but often very close to me instead of giving me a long heads-up. This is my biggest beef with the Gardia. Not a show-stopper, as even with the Varia I did not trust it enough to not look before moving into/across a lane. But a clear performance difference.
I have noticed occasional false positives. Usually other cyclists, and briefly.
Riding side-by-side with a Varia a few days ago up a mountain I noticed the Varia would pick up cars about 5 seconds before the Gardia. Both “good enough” - plenty of time for me to jump ahead to go single file - but the Varia clearly had better range.
Concur on mount choices. The OEM mount is OK on my D-shape seatpost, but slips around just a little more than I’d like. Just today I tightened it another notch, hopefully that works without wearing out the stretchy thing faster than I’d like.
Agree that Varia is unambiguously the superior product. But I do not regret my $80 given I have a bunch of rides longer than 6 hours scheduled this summer/fall, and I don’t like to play battery pack games on bikes unless I really have to.
That’s a good point re: good Bryton battery life - I’ll keep mine around not just as a backup (like if I forget to charge my Varia) but may also be useful for those long century fondos where it seems everyone’s Varia is dead by the end.
In retrospect, the ‘missed car’ I was surprised by may actually have been a car behind another one, just farther away than I maybe am used to due to my experience with Garmin.
But you’re def right and I forgot to mention it - there’s a clear difference between the multidots of Garmin vs the Bryton - I def was waiting for the ‘all-clear green’ on the Bryton the entire time I was using it because I saw very quickly that one dot on the screen could very well more than 2, which will def catch you surprise when the last one blows by.
Has anyone tried replacing the Varia battery? I’ve got two and the first one is basically a paperweight at this point, so I’m tempted to try a swap. I’m wonder if they also might have more mAh than the stock one - not a ton of details (or really any reviews) on the couple I’ve found - https://a.co/d/fZETRQB
I keep my older Varia with crudy battery life reserved for short rides ((<2 hr). The newer unit I reserve for long rides only. Helps give some life to my older one while saving a bit of the new. I do abhor the micro connection and will absolutely buy another Varia when they swap to USB-C. I’ve used them since the first gen original rectangular unit. I’m on my 4th one now, and its the one piece of electronics that I feel is mandatory for road riding. I am guilty of over trusting it, but it has never let me down. Good to know on the Bryton. I imagine they will dial it in over time and it may become a worthy competitor, but I do not want to be a tester for the small amount of savings over a mature and trusted device. However, about them random disconnect/reconnect annoyances with the Varia…no one is perfect.