Summary of Reviews
We have read all expert and user reviews on the Garmin Varia RCT715. In summary, this is what cyclists think.
10 reasons to buy
- The RCT715 offers four light modes: solid, ‘peloton’, night flash, and day flash.
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Testers feel secure with the RCT715’s output in night flash (29 lumen) and
day flash (65 lumen) modes. - The RCT715 incorporates a rear-facing camera.
- A radar-activation sensor automatically initiates the camera to record before, during, and after a “potential incident”.
- The RCT715’s incident detection system notifies you of approaching and encroaching vehicles.
- Testers report from 4 to 6.25 hours of battery life, from the Varia RCT715, while recording camera footage.
- Owners say the Varia RCT715 is easy to set up.
- Three different adaptors are provided, to fit round, d-shaped, and aero seatposts.
- Some testers say the RCT715’s camera resolution is good enough to read number plates.
- An IPX7 water-resistance rating means the RCT715 can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water, for as long as 30 minutes.
7 reasons not to buy
- Some testers and users say the RCT715’s camera resolution is not always good enough to read number plates.
- Testers feel a better-quality camera could be found on an action camera. Image stabilization is frequently criticized.
- Reviewers see the Varia RCT715 as expensive for the quality of the features offered.
- Both reviewers and users are disappointed with the lack of performance and user-friendliness offered by the included Varia app.
- Garmin provide users with a somewhat miserly 16GB microSD card for storage.
- Some experts are bothered by the weight of the Varia RCT715.
- A tester found that incident detection became hypersensitive. When turned off, there’s no guarantee that incidents are captured on camera.
Bottom line
The Garmin Varia RCT715 aims to be a lot more than just a quality rear light with four flash modes. It incorporates a rear-facing camera and ‘incident detection’ radar, which warn of and record approaching vehicles. Riders and reviewers are impressed with the concept, and with the RCT715’s operation, when it works. However, testers experienced issues with video quality, stabilization, radar sensitivity and using the Varia app. It needn’t be pointed out that the RCT715 is not cheap. True believers are expecting improvement from Garmin’s next firmware app.BikeRide finds and shows you the best prices of the bikes you want to buy. Prices constantly change and it’s impossible to compare them all yourself.
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