Garmin Varia RCT715 Radar With Camera

Coming from separate Cycliq Fly6 (commuter) and Garmin's radar/light (road) units I find the 715 a decent but slightly flawed upgrade for both my commuter and road bikes.

Garmin's radar is something I wish I had sprung for long ago, naively believing that my dorky looking but very functional (Take a Look) helmet mounted mirror was good enough. Still keeping a mirror on my helmets because nothing beats visual confirmation of what's behind me, especially with some of the more 'gifted' individuals given a license. The radar combined with a Garmin head unit (1040 and now the sweeter 1050!) just makes me feel safer. Functionally, the 715 radar works almost seamlessly, save for occasionally having sensor communication issues (Bluetooth or ANT+?) with the head unit du jour. The connection usually pops right back after a few nagging beeps and has yet to do so during alerts.

The camera portion is the flawed part, alas. No image stabilization is the real head scratcher from Garmin, given their otherwise well designed Edge and radar only Varia models, especially after years of iterations to get them right. Heck, I still run 10 year old Virb cameras on the front of my commuter that have stabilization! I bought this for safety (mostly so my widow has something to try and get compensation from whomever takes me out), not to record my epic commute, so I didn't expect action camera level. If I want that I'll get a dedicated action camera, and it sure isn't going to be rear facing. The lack of stabilization is something even Cycliq offers on their Fly6 models, at least of late. I have several older Fly6 models I used for safety, but they were never up to Garmin level build or support. One other nitpick with the 715 is that the lens material appears to be plastic or very soft glass, and there are reports of it easily scratching. I was able to find glass lens protectors from brotech that fit it, however getting them shipped to the US is problematic.

The 715 has flaws that make the additional cost questionable but worth it to me, given I get one rear device with lights, radar, and safety camera.

After using the Garmin 515 for several years, I finally decided to upgrade to the 715. As far as radar and tail light functionality, I haven't noticed a difference in performance between the two models. Both warn me to scoot back into the shoulder when Im riding out in isolated backroads by myself. Both give me a greater sense of confidence while I'm out riding. The camera feature is a bonus for me. This is NOT an action camera by any means, but good enough to capture license plates, car make, model, color,etc - should I ever need this information after one of my rides.

I recently purchase the 715 and 830. Its nice to know there is a car coming up behind you, but the really important part, is that car going around you or over you. I expected the camera to show me a image of the car so I can tell its going around me. Apparently not. A cyclist was recently killed here. I don't know what devices he had but the road didn't have a shoulder, so this device would have just let him know a car was coming up behind him until he was struck. Not good enough.

i bought this to replace my 515 radar unit which was working very well but i wanted a bit more insurance in case of an accident and thought the video function would be helpful in that regard. this radar works just as well as the 515 model.

video quality is OK during the day but dont expect to be able to see most license plates in the evening or nighttime. audio quality is odd...it filters wind noise well but picks up gear shifts as loud clanks. voices are very difficult to hear as well.

i'm not sure anything short of a real "action camera" like a gopro will get high quality and/or smoothing but at least this exists to give a small piece of mind.

I love my RCT715. I have no complaints. Let me address what others have complained about, including You Tube reviewers. Firstly this is a dash cam not an action cam. Two different animals.

Segment Limit 30 sec recording (Dash cam technology)

Front plate illegible (Designed for direct line of sight, up close. As in seconds before you are hit, not passing you)

No image stabilization (Not needed since you are only looking at individual frames after an incident)

Size of unit (Increased battery capacity, lighter than camera, radar, and light separately)

Cost (Less than priced individually. Can be found on sale)

This is meant to be used for investigative purposes. You may get some unexpectedly cool clips-Bonus! OTOH- If you want to relive moments in a race, get a Go-Pro.

This is my first bike radar and I found installation and set-up easy, the alerts on my Wahoo computer are clear and easy to understand. The video is cool too but I feel like they could add image stabilization for the price (hence the 4 stars). I would definitely recommend it to anyone riding on busy streets.

I've found the RCT715 to work well and to be worthwhile. I ride a lot on 2-lane country roads and the visibility of the tail light (especially in "day flash") is great. Radar picks up objects at around 140 yards back. The camera has stabilization - a must. The 1080p setting is what I find I need to capture sufficient details. You will need a new mount (one is included), which is very secure and not compatible with the 1/4 turn Garmin mount, but I still use a special tether. The battery life seems sufficient for longer rides - 3+ hours - at 1080p. Garmin says up to 6 hours at 1080p on flash mode. The Android app is clunky - while you can view your ride (in short 1-minute segments, unless you change that in the app) using the app and a peer-to-peer WiFi connection that the app sets up and closes automatically, I'd suggest popping out the SD card and using your PC if you have one. All in all, I think this was a good choice for me, riding alone, or with a friend.

I have a RTL510. When I saw this product announced, I immediately ordered one. After seeing the DCRainmaker review, I changed my mind, as the video review and transfer is so slow and to be unworkable.

I did receive the RCT715 but sent it back. There are three issues.

1> It is bulky and heavy. It's about 1.5 times the size of the RTL510/515 (thicker and taller) and about twice as heavy.

2> It uses a different mount. This is a problem for me, since I already own the RTL510 and planned to use it as a backup on longer (60+ mile) rides when the main light ran out of battery.

3> I want to be able to retrieve video to make police reports about dangerous drivers. Based on the DCRainmaker review, I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the hours necessary to find and transfer the right video.

For the money, I think the RTL515 is a better investment.

Please take this for what it's worth. I don't think this is a good upgrade from the RTL series, but it still might be a good investment if you are starting from scratch and really want a radar/camera combo.

The radar works just like the other varias. The camera works just fine as an incident camera. Do not buy this if you want an action cam. Do buy this if you are tired of running a Varia + Cycliq Fly6 side-by-side in a custom 3d printed mount that keeps breaking.

This essentially combines the Fly6 and the Varia together into one package. If you're using this as an incident camera, you really shouldn't need to get footage off of it very often, so the software side doesn't bother me at all.

This is a must for ride safety in road cycling

Nice to know when cars are coming up along side of you , as you know these new electric cars are practically silent. I think it's a must have especially if you riding solo.

Super great idea . This is one of the coolest tools to make your feel safer one the streets. The light is bright and the camera is awesome. It let's you know about oncoming cars and gives you plenty of early warnings with beeping and notification on your head unit!

My wife and I are users of the radar tail lights and were looking forward to the version with the camera. It was a surprise that we would have to change the mounts on all 5 of our bikes. The camera version is significantly heavier, maybe that's why they changed the mount.

I've used this on several rides now and it has worked flawlessly. It integrated seamlessly with my 1030 Edge, and it is great knowing when a car is approaching from my rear. The battery life isn't awesome, but for most of my rides it is sufficient. It is a bit expensive, but living in the country where the driver's are prone to driving distracted I think it is a great investment so far.

Lets you know if there is car behind you and I've looked at videos and the quality is okay. The unit is a little heavy but for safety is not a bad.

Reassuring I can not only get video but seeing on my Garmin screen when vehicles are approaching . It's all about safety !

To many times cars come up on you now you can record them if you need some more info on the car

great item, love it, super quality video, a must for all cyclist !!

At first, I was put off by the weight of this light vs my Lights in motion tail light. But the radar tracking of aproaching vehicles is fantastic. I've always used a small rear view mirror on my helmet, which I'm not abandoning, but that involves me tipping my head to look up every so often. The Varia alerts me to cars and even other bikes consistently, so I know well in advance if something is comming. If there are several cars in a row, the Varia shows me that as well, without my taking my eyes off the road ahead. I have it paired with a Garmin 840 edge computer.

I've seen some useres complain about the difficulty picking out specific instances to view on the cameral video aftereward. I agree. You have to scroll through a lot to find what you might be looking for, and can only do so when viewing on your cell phone. But the main reason for the camera is to document a crash or other dangerous incident. In that case , you can mark the spot on your computer widget, or if you are hit, at least the camera will have automatically recorded it for retrieval later.

It can be set to record only when the radar is detecting something, and then continues for about 30 seconds after. This saves battery, and disk memory, which is several hours anyway on flashing mode. You can get even more battery life by setting it to only flash when there is a vehicle aproaching from the rear.

For me, the benefits of this light are worth the weight, sort of like electronic shifting and disc brakes are worth the added weight over old cable shifting and rim brakes. And unlike disc brakes, you don't need to upgrade your entire bike frame to add the light.

Once I got everything set up with a larger memory card and formatted and the picture clarity is good. It's not a camera for pictures, but set up for safety purposes to catch license plates. I got online and add some apps to let me know how fast the cars are gaining and if I get hit it will record how fast the vehicle is going that hit me (Ya I know, I might be dead...that's where the lawyer comes in) I also got 20 mm lens covers (thin plastic) for it while using it on my road bike and will replace the cover with hard glass before I mount it on my gravel bike before the next gravel adventure/race. I have it set on only recording when a car is coming up (30sec.) and not continuously. I still ride with a mirror and occasionally see the car before the radar lets me know. It chirps loud enough to let me know when a car is coming ever over my earbuds are set at a low volume. I'm starting to learn to check my Garmin bike comp. before moving around on the bike that might throw me in to traffic. I'm depend upon the radar more than my mirror. I also like it because those sneaky quiet electric cars no longer catch me off guard.