The good - small, effective, and long lasting lights that can be easily attached. Variety of band sizes will let you use these in a variety of ways. Multiple flash patterns, with good duration.
The bad - charging these is weird and difficult. They're not USB mini/micro/USB-C - - they need to plug directly into your computer USB port or a USB charging dock. They take up a lot of space, so if you're charging these the other USB ports may be covered, and they're finicky (wouldn't work with my USB charging adapters). These are hindrances to otherwise good lights. Oh, beware the packaging 'cause it's difficult to get open.
love the options, but not the battery life. Many times this thing dies on me after just 1 hour and 15 minutes. It override the low light switch all the time witch drains the battery even faster. for this much money I demand better. I use a garmin head unit and radar tail light so this seemed like a no brainer, but I am going back to my cyclic head light. It's half the price and does everything this garmin does for twice as long. sorry garmin, you missed the mark on this one.
Finally picked up a radar taillight with the outgoing Varia RTL515 on discount and I have to say, I've appreciated the radar/light more than I thought I would. I haven't used it in the dark yet, so I cannot speak to the effectiveness of the tail light, but the radar function has made me wonder how I survived so long without one. I assume no bike radar is 100% perfect when it comes to picking up cars, but in several weeks of usage, this model has been probably 99% accurate. Get yourself one before they're all gone!
Midwest weather had a freak warm day last week (72 degrees in March!) so we ventured a short leg-stretching ride. This Varia 820 is an upgrade for me from the 515, and it IS as-advertised. I use it with an Edge 1040 and the new vehicle icons and wider display are far more useful, particularly in the kind of riding I do... out in the country, where a car/pickup can sneak up on you really really fast. The ONLY complaint I have so far has to do with the same, ongoing problem: the volume of the notification chime. Windy rides, at pace, you just can't hear the notification. You just have to get into the habit of the quick glance as part of your awareness "rotation." These will be gifts for my grandson and his father as well.
See the online YouTube reviews from Llama and DM for really good tech evaluations.
