Garmin Varia RearVue 820 Radar In-Depth Review: Actually Worth It?

I dig deep into the new Garmin Varia RearVue 820 Radar, to figure out what works well, and what falls short. Garmin Varia 820 Radar on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4avdjBK (helps support the channel, thanks!!!) After nearly 6 years, we finally get a new Garmin radar, the Varia RearVue 820, which brings with a host of new features…and USB-C. Finally, USB-C to their base radar (only their camera edition had it previously). The new unit increases vehicle detection claims to 170m, though far higher in real life, and increases battery claims life to upwards of 30 hours (depending on mode). It adds a brake light, adds steady-state traffic tracking, and lets you see the size of vehicles (e.g. truck vs moto). Further, you can also adjust exact blink patterns and brightness, as well as it having a brighter light than previously (visible up to 2km/1.24mi vs the 1.61km/1mi previously).Of course, with all these new features comes a new price - $299 (compared to the existing $199…though really $149 most of the time). That said, Wahoo’s new radar is also in roughly the same ballpark at $249, though the new Lezyne radar is less expensive at $179. But more on some of those quick comparisons a bit later.And more importantly than all that: Does it actually work? Are these new features useful, or just a marketing gimmick? As you’ll see, the answer is mixed. There’s a lot of good here, but also some minor dumpster fires to address too. 0:00 Quick Overview 1:10 Inside the box 1:31 The New Mount 2:04 USB-C Port, Finally! 2:14 Size & Weight Changes/Comparisons 2:25 Why Get A Cycling Radar? 3:08 Increased Detection Distance 3:41 Detection Range Testing Deep-Dive 5:33 Increased Radar Beam Angle & Testing 6:23 Lane Detection Feature & Testing 7:06 Bike Commuting & App-Only Mode 7:29 Is Lane Detection Worthwhile? 8:40 Vehicle & Cyclist Size Classification 10:06 Same-Speed Vehicle Tracking 11:00 New Vehicle Coloring Scheme 11:52 Horse, Pony, and Goat tracking 12:10 New Brake Light Feature 12:31 Increased Light Lumens (Brightness) 12:41 New Custom Light Profiles 12:53 Increased Battery Claims-Specs 13:10 Real World Battery Testing Results 14:14 User Replaceable Battery (opened up!) 14:29 Upside-down Mounting 14:41 3rd Party GPS Testing (Wahoo/Hammerhead/etc…) 15:32 Bugs & Quirks 17:41 False Positives & False Negatives 18:58 The Price 20:42 Final Thoughts & Recommendations Note that links may contain Amazon Affiliate links, which help support the channel at no cost to you. #GarminVariaRadar #Garmin #GarminVaria