Does anyone have Varia Vision? Reviews?

i have since two days... already i couldn't stay without it!

I received mine on 4/7. The pairing with the Edge 1000 was easy and quick. I took it on a walk to see how I'd like it before I got on my bike. I got used to it pretty quickly and took it for a ride on 4/9. It does not hinder your vision at all straight on. Depending on which side you have it, I did notice turning my head to check stuff to my right (side I had it mounted) versus looking out of the corner of my eye. It only takes a second to glance and see the screen. Less time than looking down at the unit itself. I had mine on medium scroll and liked that. I didn't try navigation, but did do a Strava segment. That was cool. I also received two text messages which appear and are not obtrusive. The big reason I wanted it was to pair with my Varia radar. The radar itself is great. It has really worked well. Adding the Varia Vision really made it that much better. I love being able to have a clue if the road is clear or how many cars are coming up behind me. All in, I am very pleased with the Varia Vision. It does work as advertised.

I definitely noticed the weight (it's a bit heavier than my Rudy sunglasses) but the position isn't intrusive. It was helpful not to have to look all the way down at my head unit; I still had to shift my focus but it was pretty quick.

Basic metrics (power, time, etc.) were fine, but there are some places where the software could use improvement:

• Distance to next (turn) – I prefer the “Course pt dist” version with an arrow showing the turn direction, but Vision only offered the distance to next field
  
• Navigation screen – pretty useless. This screen had three rows with compass directions and numbers; I think they were the next few breadcrumbs on the TCX course. I don’t expect a map like I can get on the 520 screen, but I don’t know why they even included this. Maybe it works differently with the 1000
  
• Navigation alerts – I don’t think I got any alerts of upcoming turns (though they did appear on the 520)
  
• Elevation screen – also not very useful. I like the screen on the 520 that shows where you are AND what is coming up (so you know how close you are to the top of a hill or start of a climb), but the Vision version only shows where you have been
  
• Varia Radar alerts – for some reason these were not showing up on Vision, though they did on the 520
  

Nice overall

Very good overall, but does need to refresh a little quicker than it is currently. The power and incline are both delayed about 3 seconds compared to the 520 display. If that can be fixed then it is a thing of beauty :-) Fits well, battery life at 8Hrs and 'just works'...

Please can A Varia Vision - Rear View Radar User confirm that the VV vibrates to alert regarding vehicles approaching from the rear.
Many thanks.

Please can A Varia Vision - Rear View Radar User confirm that the VV vibrates to alert regarding vehicles approaching from the rear.
Many thanks.

It does

It does

Thank you.

So my review is only two rides in but overall, I could do without. I'm happy to keep it because I spent the money and don't regret it but if I had spent some time with it beforehand, I would have waited.

You are still looking away even if it's not down to your Edge (mine is a 520) and because it has a max of four fields, I find myself looking down at the Edge from time to time. I had hoped it would eventually pair with my 920XT to potentially run with it but even walking around, you feel the jostle because of the weight so that won't work.

It's a cool novelty item and again, I'm not disappointed to have it but it's certainly not a must have and eventually, I would imagine a sleeker v2 should be more worthwhile.

My impression of the Vision after my first ride with it...

I just got my Varia Vision and took a ride with it today for about 4.5 hours. Overall, I am very happy with it. My complaints are few and simple:
- It does have a bit of weight to it - this causes my shades to drift lower on my nose and I keep having to push it back into place to see the HUD and it does become a bit weighty on the ear. A helmet mount would be awesome.
- As mentioned elsewhere, the temperature is in "F" not Celsius like my 1000.
- The navigation (I think it is the turn-by-turn) seems to alternate between metric (metres) and feet.
- I wish the screen and device could turn off when it is plugged in for charging. I suspect that the life of the screen would be greater if I could charge the unit without it running.

On the other hand, when I was rapidly approaching an intersection, I was able to see the turn notification in my peripheral vision and made the turn in spite of missing the indication on my 1000. Most of the time on this ride, I did not look at the Garmin 1000, I was able to get what I needed from the Vision. When I set the 1000 to automatically page through the screens, I keep missing information so I only page manually. On the Vision, because it is always in my peripheral vision, I can tell when it pages and take a quick glance. Very cool and very efficient.

Battery power was fine. My 1000 was down to 50% by 2.5 hours but the Vision was still above 50% at the end of the ride. (I do not have the radar which may increase the drain.)

I found the screen surprisingly easy to see.

I think what I like the most is that the information I really want is always visible, especially the navigation (even if it is sometimes in feet for some reason).

Received Varia Vision, Radar and Edge 520 and tried them out on a few extended rides on open country low traffic roads. I have an Edge 1000 mounted on stem head, and mounted the 520 out on the end of my aero clip-on bar. The Varia Vision is an improvement to the Recon Jet in screen alignment to my eye and the presentation of the data: clarity, layout, etc. Although, I still found it required a side look to see the screen and if glasses (Oakley Jawbreaker) moved very slightly caused the loss of full view of screen... depending how adjusted, either right/left edge or top. I personally found the side view and the loss of screen edge not workable for my riding. I adjusted & tried high & low mount vision angles, moved it futher out and in on sunglasses bow without finding a sweet spot that was workable for more straight alignment viewing.

I was impressed that vision clarity worked great with my aging eyesight and focal range. Without bi-focal lenses, it remained very clear and readable. I use single focal contacts on bike and bifocal lenses off-bike. The focal range and clarity of the screen was not effected.

The Jawbreakers are a rigid frame, so the weight wasn't noticeable and didn't cause any additional nose sliding than normal (very minimal) without varia vision mounted.

This is a Great product for generation 1, but I'll be returning and waiting for generation 2 of varia vision or HUD sunglasses that places data on the road in front.

With the E520 mounted forward, I found it was much easier and quicker to view. It may be overkill to have 2 edge units, but in comparison to using the varia vision to the small E520 as an alternate data screen the E520 is a better solution for my riding.

The Varia Radar was absolutely amazing! On open road, where one to several cars can sneak up on your six and fly by at high speed was very convenient to have an early warning of the approaching vehicles. I'd still check mirror, but it gave a perceived feeling of comfort knowing your back had eyes!