After reading and watching video reviews for the recent months after the 820's launch date, it appeared that it had some significant shortcomings for those users. However, I purchased my unit in mid-2017 and have not had the problems noted in their reviews. My unit came with software version 8.0, which may have solved their dilemmas. I find that the screen responsiveness is satisfactory for me even though it requires a more definitive touch than a smartphone. I later purchased a Garmin remote to jockey the 820's data screens easily while riding. An added benefit with the remote is that it keeps the flat glass surface free of finger and glove smudges, which helps me see the ride information on the screens. I like the 820's size. It's on the small side for mapping, which I don't use much. Heck, I don't even like big smartphones - I got an iPhone SE instead of the bigger iPhone 7 so it fits more comfortably in my pocket. So, far the group ride track rider feature is not too useful to me since older Garmins don't have that feature. It's hard to convince other riders to participate in that for my benefit alone. It may be a while before others purchase newer units such as the 820 and the 1020 for that to happen. I do use live tracking on every ride so my wife can monitor my location. My typical rides are 40-60 miles and I am away for three hours, give or take. It was a great upgrade from the Edge 500, but may not be worth it for riders with more recent Garmin units.
Bought 820 for my wife, liked hers so much I bought one for myself as upgrade to the great Edge 500. The 820 has more data screens, more potential data entries and is much easier to read than the 500. Map function fantastic and the smaller size than the 1000 is not a problem. My favorite function is Bluetooth connectivity, so phone calls and messages pop up automatically without digging out my phone. Very easy to set up. Touchscreen not my favorite interface, but thankfully still has onoff and startstop buttons.
Been using my new Garmin for a couple mouths now and love it. I feel comfort knowing my wife can track me on my rides from her phone.
I bought this device primarily for a 400 mile cycle the erie canal ride. Since my sense of direction is so poor I figured that I would be able to get to the night's lodging if I lost track of the road markings.
However, due to touchscreen, , sensor and software issues I am considering selling this thing on Ebay.
First the touchscreen.
I rank it somewhere between horrible and unacceptable. Never again will I purchase a Garmin product with a touch screen. It is slow to react , unreliable and I still do not have the hang of the gestures needed to navigate across screens. In fact I am surprised that I have not crashed while being distracted trying to change screens with this thing on my bike. I also believe that a side effect of having a touchscreen also dims the display , like what happened with the Garmins that are used for hiking. I have no idea why Garmin doesn't offer a push button model.
Sensors- The bike cadence and speed sensors work OK on this device. However, the altitude sensor is wonky with quite a discrepancy between it and my Fenix 3 on the same source. I suspect it needs re-calibration. Another issue is that I got spikes in altitude initially. This caused the altitude display to look flat on the Connect.garmin website since it had to expand the display scale to accommodate the spikes. I had to edit the .fit file to eliminate the times where the spikes occurred.. This resultant Altitude display did scale properly but still had the annoying offset that I mentioned earlier.
The gradient displays are a disappointment , since they are slow to react and seem inaccurate.
Software- I did have the Edge 820 lock up when I was using it for navigation. I had to reset it during a bike ride.
On the positive side - I was able to navigate to where my car was when I on a bike ride, so that should count for something.
However, since I have a Fenix 3, I do not believe that this Unit's features offset the problems I've had.
There were some minor challenges linking to a Quark Dfour power meter, particularly the cadence feature, but once paired and configured, this unit does it all. Outstanding functionality and customization is endless. I have exactly what I want on the home screen and have set subsequent screens to my needs. Training or racing, the metrics are easily downloaded and sent to myself and my coach for analysis. Available metrics are great, and in a very usable format.
Set up has proven difficult. Was linked to smart phone, then connection was lost. Some settings are hidden far too deep in the menus.
Garmin 820 meets all my expectations,
