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. 

  • UPDATE: Garmin decided they didn't know what was wrong, so they sent a replacement. The replacement was much better. It turned on right away, it connected to my WIFI networks with no problem. First ride with Edge 830 went smoothly also. It actually stayed connected the whole time. My only issue right now is that I think they need to rethink the vault. The fact that it only uploads "saved" or "locked" footage and costs $100 a year is kind of insane. 

  • UPDATE to the UPDATE: The replacement Vue worked great for 3 rides (one was 75 miles). On ride 4 nothing but problems. I even upgraded my Edge from the 830 to 1050 because my battery life was no longer good enough for long rides. The Vue connected to Edge 1050 for 20 minutes, then disconnected and refused to reconnect no matter what I did. Rebooted it several times, Edge refuses to see it. Also, my Varia radar constantly disconnects when the Vue is turned on. The radar workers fine if the Vue is turned off. No response yet from Garmin support. I can't be the only one having so many problems.