Garmin Alternatives

[Nancy Drew]

On 3/20/2025 at 11:50 AM, capediver said:

Reviews...when first released so buyer beware...but if it has been updatede to match Garmin/Wahoo/Hammerhead, then battery life is a winner

 

Following my initial thoughts, I also watched DC Rainmaker's review and there are some navigation elements that concern me. One doesn't want to be in the sticks with dodgy navigation, especially in unfamiliar territory, so I'll probably end up sticking with Garmin for now.

[liebenw]

On 3/19/2025 at 9:32 AM, Dexter-morgan said:

I think wahoo is a good alternative, I am a Garmin fan-boy but my soft strap is a Wahoo.

So they compatible? Tired of the Garmin straps and those silly gaskets failing when you replace the battery. 

[Dexter-morgan]

2 minutes ago, liebenw said:

So they compatible? Tired of the Garmin straps and those silly gaskets failing when you replace the battery. 

Yip, my pod is still Garmin but if you get a Dual(ant+/bluetooth) Wahoo pod works well, my wife uses one.

[RossTopher]

12 hours ago, Nancy Drew said:

Following my initial thoughts, I also watched DC Rainmaker's review and there are some navigation elements that concern me. One doesn't want to be in the sticks with dodgy navigation, especially in unfamiliar territory, so I'll probably end up sticking with Garmin for now.

i'd love it if iKhambi could get some test units out for people to actually give real world feedback, rather than us all hang on the word of an outdated early version review.

I have no horse in the race, i love my Wahoo, but i have been keen to try one, and recommended a friend buy one, and if he doesnt like it, i'll swap him my wahoo. at R7k for all those features, its a score.

i think we need to be a bit more critical of these reviewers. DCR and GPlama are the main voices in this realm, but they need to do better in terms of updating their reviews. his thoughts are nearly a year old on what i understand was a pre-release device. a quick google shows that there have been numerous updates, and the video text states "COROS won’t have a more stable firmware until tomorrow (June 18th, a day after this announcement), and even then, it sounds like many of the issues I’ve raised will take weeks or longer to sort out... Point being, this IS NOT a review. That’ll come at some point down the road, likely in early July, or whenever they end up start shipping units (now slated for July 15th)." - as far as i can tell, he never updated his views post this.

for instance, some early testers had an issue with the quarter turn tab, Coros immmediately revised it and they seem to actually consume user feedback and release updates and enhancements, rather than apply "Garmins take it or leave it" approach. 
i know various wahoos and the early hammerheads had issues, and their companies released updates, we could have written them off and all be using garmin.