VUE- First impressions

Image quality- This is *not* an action cam! Under ideal conditions, image quality borders on ok, but contrast is an issue (highlights blow out easily) and image stabilization is not what you're hoping for. There's no horizon stabilization at all, so if you're prone to standing on the pedals, the image goes all over the place. Image processing is very rudimentary.

Think there are two reasons for this. First, there are very few "extra" pixels to play with; the camera's sensor isn't heavily cropped, as you get with an action cam. Second, heavy on-the-fly processing consumes a lot of battery power, and the point to this gadget is to allow for continuous, several-hours-long recording. You'd need a massive battery to pull off what an action cam does.

Light- Pretty good! Flashing light is powerful and night time lighting is very good. 

Physical layout- Whomever thought it would be a good idea to put the usb-c and media card access at the back of the camera doesn't understand modern bikes. Unless you have a quick release mount, dealing with charging the unit and changing out the media card is a pain... most of us have cables and stems and whatever behind the camera, giving us limited access. Why didn't they put the connections on the side?

And the media slot- am I the only one who notices how difficult it is to fully insert (until it clicks into place) the card and remove it? It's flush with its surrounding, so unless you've got fingernails, it's going to be really tough.

Overall the package is reasonable, providing your expectations are realistic. 

  • I'm pretty happy with mine. I only want a safety camera with good battery life (vs GoPro with less than 2 hrs). I'm fine with the access ports in the back, and prefer it if anything. I take the light off the bike to charge. I use a 512GB memory card. I got it installed and never need to remove it. If you don't have fingernails use a slotted screwdriver: problem solved.

    I've done some spot checks of the video. The 4K with EIS does what I need it to: records cars and resolves license plates. That's all I need. Between that and the RCT715 I'm good to go if I need to hold a motorist accountable for getting it wrong.

  • I have been so lucky to have every bike friendly product from Garmin since the first 305 computer. It has been a joyride with mostly up. The Varia Vue for me was to replace the UT800 and the VIRB. 

    The camera  suits my needs and are perfect, but the font light is the first Garmin product I totally regret to put on my bike.

    I live in Norway and my old UT 800 is a bike light you can use, Varia vue light is like stepping back to the middle age with candles and matches.

    What have you been thinking Garmin with this, it is the first useless Garmin product I have ever owned. At the moment I would have been happier flushing 6000 NOK down the drain rather then putting it on my bike, and the best is yet to come I also bought one for my wife. The circle is complete and another flush of 6000 NOK.

    Come on Garmin make this in theory fantastic product work in real life.

  • Do you think it's the cut-off beam on the VUE that's causing the issue? 

  • No, the beam is ok, at least for now. I live in Norway and it is not so dark at night at the moment. What I really hate is that it is only high and low for no daylightblink or nightblink available. With the UT800 I could set my lightnetwork to Automatic, but now with Vue I have to setup the lightnetwork to Individual and every time I start I have to go into the settings of the Vue and set it to low. For me this is a giant step backwards compared to the UT800. 

  • Now I am close to get happy with my Vue. Finally the lightnetwork on autmatic is ok with Vue. Although there is still no daylight or nightlight blinking according to Garmin support due to Norwegian laws. Thank you Garmin!

  • Nothing but problems with my Varia Vue. I will most likely be returning it. Out of the box, it wouldn't turn on or charge until I did a factory reset by holding buttons down for like 30 seconds or more. Then it just will not see any wifi networks for connecting to the vault. No matter what I do, it says no networks found. Then started using it and it didn't get any better. Vue constantly disconnects and reconnects every minute. Says light network disconnected and keeps saying connecting over and over on my Edge 830. Also disconnects when just sitting idle and running the Varia app, and the edge is not turned on. I chatted with support, but didn't get any answers yet, so maybe they will offer some kind of help. I love my Varia radar cam, and it always worked perfectly. I was hoping this would be similar, but not so much.

  • I just read the entire manual again and saw this section, which leads me to believe they know about this issue. It constantly disconnects, so you mean I have to keep removing and totally repairing it to Edge again and again. Come on Garmin, you need to do better than that, especially with the price tag on this unit.

    Varia_Vue_OM_EN-US.pdf page 27

    " The headlight disconnects from the Edge bike computer WARNING The device can improve situational awareness. It is not a replacement for cyclist attentiveness and good judgement. Always maintain awareness of your surroundings and operate the bicycle in a safe manner. Failure to do so could result in serious injury or death. If the headlight is not connected, Garmin recommends that you stop riding and check the devices in a safe location. • Turn both devices off, and turn them back on. • Pair the devices (Pairing the Varia Vue with a Compatible Edge Bike Computer, page 14). The Varia Vue sends light data to the Edge bike computer. The Edge bike computer displays connected."

  • My Varia Vue was fine out of the box and has worked pretty well. I bought my wife one too, but it had issues during the initial firmware update and never completed. After that I couldn't pair it via BT or connect to WiFi. Similar behavior to what you describe. I spend some time with Garmin support and they ended up sending me a new replacement. That one worked out just fine. 

  • Thanks for the info. Interesting, I did the update once I got it to actually turn on. I think it finished the update, but it seemed to take a really long time, so it's possible something did go wrong.

  • When my update failed the light wouldn't work at all, and it wouldn't pair via BT or WiFi.