Thanks to Mark Gaglione of Garmin Malta I had the opportunity to test this awesome new device of Garmin, conceived for cyclists who want to track their workouts and refine their training.
I know the Garmin products quite well, starting from the aeronautical GPS I use for my job (496), going through the state of the art device for triathletes, the 910XT, to the 705 I use for cycling and mountain biking. (or I "used" beeing very tempted by this new 810)
This is the reason why I was very surprised by the innovation brought by this new 810.
The device itself seems to have the same size and shape of his precedessor, the 800, but it shows some new features which I have been testing during some bike rides, both MTB and road.
The bike mount is exactly the same as the 800, 910xt and other Garmin devices, it can be simply attached to the bike stem or handlebar with the provided rubber bands.
Once the device is switched on it shows a new graphic layout, all the other functions are similar to the 800, like the input of different bikes, the setting of the different pages to be displayed and the fast and reliable satellite search.
In the main display mode we have another nice innovation, the user can choose between a "Race" and a "Train" function, having to different page layouts according to the user's preferences.
The MAPS function is complete as usual, a specific sd card can be inserted in the 810 to have a more detailed map display or to download maps from the net.
The main innovation is the possibility to link this device to a smartphone through a free "APP" called Garmin Connect which can control some of the new "live track" features.
I have downloaded the Mizieb mountain bike race track from Facebook, sent it to the device via the garmin connect APP of the smartphone and used it during the race survey last Saturday... Awesome, no use of cables, computers, USB connections, just a simple click on Facebook.
(Sorry for the Italian Layout of my iPhone)
Once the 810 is connected via bluetooth the garmin connect application shows the different menus to handle the live tracking, choosing whether to share the tracking on facebook, twitter or directly on garmin connect sending an invitation link to a specific email address.
Once the Live Tracking has started (for example on Facebook) all those who want to track the ride can do it easily directly from the user's facebook page
As example this is my facebook personal page where the link is displayed, clicking on it as we normally do with other applications we will be switched to a real time map display showing every movement tracked by the 810 through the smartphone's internet connection.
Needless to say that if you want to prevent your wife or girlfriend to know every movement you are doing you'd better switch the live tracking OFF...
From the smartphone's Garmin Connect APP the 810 can also receive weather information and forecast which are displayed on top, together with the useful battery percentage and the time, which are not displayed on my old 705.
To have an idea of the dimensions I made a comparison between the 810 and my 705, the new device is also much lighter and shows a nice "EDGE" graphics all around the case.
In the MAP feature the user can memorize his own POI's or download the ones close to the area where he will be riding directly from the internet.
Obviously the 810 supports all the ANT+ connections with Heart rate strap, cadence sensor and other sensors.
Performing a navigation on a downloaded map is easy and accurate, the device "beeps" every time a turn is approaching and also when off-track.
Another feature I found useful is the "movement sensor", with the old 705 every time I restarted my ride after a break (mostly during long MTB rides), i kept forgetting restarting the timer, losing part of the tracking.
If you forget on the 810 it beeps showing a message "movement detected, start the timer"... Fantastic.
I will update the review during my future rides, trying to find out all the "user friendly" possibilities of this new Garmin product and performing a more extensive study on the live tracking and connectivity of the 810.