Garmin Varia RCT715, Rearview Radar w Camera & Tail Light, Built-in Camera

This is an expensive and valuable safety device. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money, but I'm glad I did. It works exactly as advertised, pairing seamlessly with my Garmin 1030+. Picture and video quality are excellent. It is very easy to read license numbers of cars that pass. In an actual emergency, I am confident a full description of the vehicle including the license number would be readily available. The rear light is bright, so you don't need to double up. This unit has only two shortcomings. Both are the result of the high power consumption required to run a light and radar and video camera continuously. Because the unit has a big battery, it is heavy and has a relatively short battery life: about 8 hours in my experience. So I can't recommend it for people who count every gram or who would be put off by having to recharge daily. I recommend it highly for those who put safety first, those who would enjoy the rear facing videos and pictures you can take any time, and those who would like to know how fast was that car going when it passed me? I'll point out one feature that I think is excellent, that does not get enough attention in Garmin's own advertising for this device. When you trigger a manual video, the resulting 90 second video that is saved actually begins about 45 seconds before you pushed the trigger. That means you can record bad behavior AFTER it has already happened!

I am so impressed with this. I even had to upgrade from my Garmin Edge 800 to a compatible model of cycling computer (I went with the 1040 solar), so the price point of BOTH was just incredibly painful, even on sale. But I'm coming back to cycling after having taken significant time off due to health struggles and I've seen friends seriously hurt from getting hit out of the road. And I feel like in the area I live, driving manners and common sense just went to heck during the pandemic and haven't improved much. And as I am back out there, I think of those friends, and I realize I'm much older now and can't hear the cars coming up behind me as well as I used to. Or maybe I never heard them well and just benefitted from someone with great hearing in the back yelling "car!", but now I'm riding alone while I build up fitness again. And for everything I've been through with my health surprises, this is a form a self-care to invest in my safety. I don't think after getting clipped or hit from behind, I would think, gee I'm so glad I didn't spend that "x" hundred dollars! This is less than my surgical co-pay by a lot. The radar detects cars well out of my hearing range and I'd say even farther than I can turn to look behind me easily right now. I can get a sense if someone is hauling toosh as they approach me or if they're being gentle, safe and sane in their approach. If they slow down, they'll probably take care in passing too. An over the shoulder check is still appropriate but that's one point in time. This lets you see their whole approach. The tail light is very large and bright as well and has different setting for how it shines or blinks and it coordinates with your computer as well. So if you don't want to completely unclip and walk to the back of your bike to push the button to change it for different lighting conditions (coming home a bit late from a ride), you can do it on your Garmin Edge with just one foot down. (I suppose you could do it while cycling, but I can't and have strong opinions on distracted driving that make me not even want to try). In summary, this is totally worth the investment.

Bought this after a truck hit me on my bike and sent me to the emergency room when I came to. Three things stand out about this radar device. First: I can now ride with greater confidence knowing that a vehicle, or several, are approaching from the rear. I like that it will let me know how many vehicles are approaching. I have always ridden with a rear-view mirror and would not ride without one, but this allows me to concentrate on my ride and not the approaching traffic. My mirror is now for verification of presence or absence of vehicular traffic. Second: Because the radar will light up on my bike computer when there is a vehicle 150 yards (or something like that), I now ride nearer the middle of my lane where the traffic has smoothed out the chip seal we have here in Texas. The ride is so much more comfortable and my elbows and butt appreciate it. What?, you say...how about the cars? Well, 150 yards is plenty of time to move on back to my shoulder or "bike" lane to give the vehicles more room and communicate that I'm doing my part to avoid a collision. Third: By riding less on the shoulder, I'm less likely to get a flat from all the crap that ends up there. So there, three wins! I know it's spendy, but I believe it to be one of the best bike "stuff" purchases I have ever made. I also ride with Specialized's ANGi on my helmet which will alert my emergency contact if I'm in a wreck.

After using the Garmin Varia RCT715 for a while, I can confidently say it is one of the best safety investments I have made for cycling. It reliably detects vehicles approaching from behind and gives you clear, early warnings, which is invaluable whether you ride on open roads or in mixed traffic. The alerts are timely and accurate, allowing you to stay focused on the road ahead instead of constantly looking back. The built-in camera is a serious bonus. Video quality is more than sufficient to clearly capture incidents, license plates, and road situations. The fact that it automatically saves footage when an event is detected gives real peace of mind. You hope you never need it, but when you do, it is there. The tail light is bright, highly visible, and well integrated with the radar system. Battery life is solid, even when using radar, camera, and light together on longer rides. Setup is straightforward, and integration with Garmin head units and the Varia app is seamless. Once installed, it simply works in the background without any distraction. it is a serious safety tool. For anyone who rides regularly on the road and values awareness, protection, and accountability, the Garmin Varia RCT715 is absolutely worth it.

Let's face it. Most drivers are pretty good around bikes... except the ones that aren't. It's a small percentage, but they're the ones that will kill you. I never used radar but I won't ride without it ever again. The good: 1. Easy mounting, a light that can easily be seen from 1/2 mile away in day or night conditions. 2. Easy pairing with Garmin head units. Very obvious and intuitive interface and display. I've used it with a phone too, which works pretty well, but you can only have the Varia app on your screen when using a phone. It's really made to work with a bike computer. 3. Zero false positives or negatives so far. I've used it maybe 6 rides and probably been passed by 1000 cars. Picks up multiple vehicles at once. 4. Excellent battery life. The just OK, could be better: 1. The camera is average. It definitely isn't meant to be used as a GoPro. I'm fine with this as it isn't why I purchased, but others might care more. I would like higher resolution. It isn't a slam dunk you're capturing a plate number with this thing. 4K is kind of the minimal standard these days, and it's really needed for this device. I nearly returned it and just got a 515 but figured you just never know if the unthinkable happens, the camera MIGHT be helpful. Still, for an extra $200 I would have liked more from the camera. 2. A place to attach a lanyard would have been nice. This is an expensive piece of kit to potentially lose in the road. They sell aftermarket silicon covers that allow a lanyard, but it's unknown how this could affect radar performance. 3. It would be nice if it could know the difference between bikes and cars. Sometimes I'm out front and will slow down to allow other riders to catch up, and the radar doesn't know the difference between if it's a car coming or just my gf closing the gap. It would be nice if it could use the size of the object to at least make an educated guess and have a different icon if it senses a road bike. 4. It would have been nice for Garmin to include a seat rail mount as you can't really carry a bag while this thing is mounted on the post. So plan to add an extra 30-40 bucks to the purchase as you'll likely want a different mounting solution. This is still relatively new tech, and hopefully it will keep getting better. Right now despite the flaws it is still worth having. You could get away with the much cheaper 515 version, still well worth it. Be safe out there.

I love the garmin. I have been run off the road so bought the Garmin to record traffic behind me. Also made a custom mount to eliminate the rubber bands and mount with screw

Next to your helmet. This is a safety MUST. IT WORKS. In conjunction with a mirror it literally can mean life or death for you. The flashing strobe by day is another win.

So far all I've done is charge it and connect it to my Edge 1050 and my phone. The connection with the Edge was easy andworks fine. The phone connection is a nightmare. I had to google to figure out I need a Varia app, not Garmin connect. The device connected easily, then needed an update which basically bricked the device for about 10 minutes. I then had to do a hard reset and finally it came back to life. finally, I had to remove the device from my phone both the app and the bluetooth list before I could get them both to connect again. Important to get the settings on the device correct so that you maximise battery life - set recording to radar activated. Also add the data overlays so that you get GPS and speed in the video recording. the bike mount is good, once you figure out how the connection and switch mechanism work, they are stiff to start with. You will need a mount for each bike, kust like your head unit. I found this entire process clunky and Garmin are famous for their clunky connection processes. If it was not for the echosystem of connected devices I would be on another brand. USD10 per month for cloud storage of videos is outrageous. It only has one purpose, not like your main storage. I'd pay 2, not 10.

For the price, this camera and tail light has everything it’s meant for

Buen radar, pero en las grabaciones no es posible observar las placas

Easy to set up and operate Being a beach rd rider questioned the value of the radar. But handy to know when cars are passing Great bit of safety kit

Great Concept and functionality within Garmin ecosystem BUT 1. video not stabilized 2. poor quality video during daylight = unable to identify car number plates at 1080 recordings 3. my Garmin Edge 1040 latest firmware keeps dropping radar during ride 4. Wifi function via Varia app to view footage is completely useless, way to slow 1x star for that! 5. same with Wifi clip download function - do u really wanna wait 1min to download one 20-80MB files = NO 6. overall it does its job well but camera sensor is weak, requires an upgrade => hence this device is not worth its money with the exception why I bought it in the first place => automatic recording whilst a car approaches as well in combination with front Varia Vue Camera Light

After a very close call with a stupid driver that decide to pass me on a road work zone, I purchase the Varia RCT715 and I don't regret it. The unit packs a lot of features that are well integrated. Setup was super easy and quick, it works very well with my Wahoo Elemnt Roam v2 computer bike. I love the color coded warning (Green: road clear, Orange incoming cars, Red fast approaching vehicle), color adjust with your speed. I like also the fact it shows how many cars are behind you and where. The continuous recording is great and created little clips of 30 seconds easily sharable with time stamp, your speed and vehicle speed. The image is clear and you can read license plate. All in all, I love it, and feel a bit safer on the road as I can anticipate a bit more knowing what is happening behind me. I wish Garmin would bring to the market a headlight with camera recording that sync with the Varia RCT715.