Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlight

I just bought my second as the battery started to wear down after 10 years or so! Bright enough for riding at night, but I use it when road cycling as well for visibility in bright sunlight.

One month of use, 11 rides and twice the mount dropped the light. the twist release is nice but poorly designed. vibration is allowing the light to fall to the ground. Not a recommended product for this reason.

Bought this headlight to integrate with my Garmin Edge cycling computer and replace a Niterider headlight that I�d been using for a number of years. The construction and light strength is every bit as good as the Niterider and the fact that it plays nice with my cycling computer (along with a very intuitive app) is a big plus and the main reason I bought it. It also attaches to the same mount as the computer, meaning more space on my handlebars due to one less clamping mechanism.

This headlight is very good. Garmin allows you to pair it with your Edge cyclo-computer via ANT+ and set up a "Light Network" which allows you to control your lights via the cyclo-computer, including battery status. However, creating a Light Network causes the light to continue to broadcast ANT+ even after you have turned it off. This causes the battery to drain and the next time you ride it may be dead. You don't have to use the ANT+ and then it works just like any other light, and the battery lasts a long time, especially in flash mode. When/If Garmin fixes this issue, the light will stand out over similarly spec'd lights

I was excited to add the Varia Headlight to my Garmin/Varia rig. I purchased the light as a safety light rather than for night riding. My typical ride is about an hour to an hour and a half with much longer rides on the weekends. However, I am disappointed in how long the battery lasts, about an hour, even at the lower setting. Pairing the light with my Garmin 540 took a bit of work and seems to "lock" the light at one setting. It may be me, but I should have paid better attention to the reviews. I'm surprised at how short the battery life is.

I was excited to add the Varia Headlight to my Garmin/Varia rig. I purchased the light as a safety light rather than for night riding. My typical ride is about an hour to an hour and a half with much longer rides on the weekends. However, I am disappointed in how long the battery lasts, about an hour, even at the lower setting. Pairing the light with my Garmin 540 took a bit of work and seems to �lock� the light at one setting. It may be me, but I should have paid better attention to the reviews. I�m surprised at how short the battery life is.

This thing is great. Very powerful, multiple brightness options, daytime blinking �be seen� option. Syncs with computer. Love it.

I bought the Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlight to replace my Garmin Varia HL500 Smart Headlight, which is now discontinued.

The HL500 was a very good headlight, but for one design flaw. The power button is made of a rubber-like material which degrades over time and eventually breaks off. This is the same design flaw that affected the Garmin Edge 100 bicycle computer.

The power button on the UT800 is much sturdier solid plastic. Just like the power button on the Edge 1030.

The UT800 emits a maximum of 800 lumens at the high setting. 400 lumens and 200 lumens modes are user selectable. Garmin says the 200 lumens mode provides 6 hours of lighting time. The UT800 also has two flashing modes.

The UT800 is certainly bright enough for the nighttime road riding that I do. I usually run the light on the low setting, only switching to high when there is no street lighting.

Which brings me to my favourite thing about the UT800. It can be turned on and off, and switched between modes from a Garmin Edge cycling computer. So no fumbling in the dark for the button on the UT800.

My minor gripe is with the locking ring mount used to attach the UT800 to the supplied out-front mount. If the locking ring is not aligned with the quarter-turn fitting on the out-front mount, the light will not be securely fixed to the out-front mount. There is no positive sign - like an audible or tactile click - to alert you that the UT800 is securely attached to the out-front mount. I found this out the hard way when my UT800 fell onto the road after I hit a couple of bumps.

To its credit, the UT800 survived its fall onto the tarmac with just a couple of scratches.

The UT800 is not the cheapest headlight, but it works as advertised. I think it is worth the price premium for the convenience of being able to control it from my Edge 1030.

Just make sure that locking ring is properly secured before you head out onto the road or trail.

I use the headlight primarily during daytime road riding and use one of the flashing light settings. During these rides I keep the headlight disconnected from my Garmin 1040 since I don't need the additional controls (set and forget at start of ride). During rail trail rides where I will be going through tunnels I do have the headlight as part of the 1040's light network for the additional controls. Most of my rides are 2 to three hours long so I started to recharge the headlight after every ride since I haven't found a reliable way to determine remaining battery charge.

This light mounts as a Garmin well. I had a problem with a bontrager light that kept on falling off. The only big issue is that full bright light only works one hour rather than double with my bontrager. But I am very happy with it.

I use this as a stand-alone light (not synced with a computer) The light works very well and has a strong beam. I can see potholes and other road hazards easily at 20 mph. My one peeve with this light is that, after charging t, if it sits for more than a week, it seems to lose its charge. Then it will automatically go into an energy saving mode on the next use, even if you need full beam for a short timespan. I think that it's maybe using up battery searching for a Bluetooth connection. My work-around is just to charge the night before a ride. But my other lights can be charged and left to sit for weeks without losing their charge. Otherwise, this is a good light and the attachment options for this light work well for my needs.

It synced to my 1030 plus immediately. It adjusts brightness according to speed. It turns on during the day without me needing to think about it. The 1030 tells me when the battery gets low. It mounts well to the underside of my out front mount.

I haven't had enough time with it to really judge battery life but it seems okay. Remember that because it turns itself on when you start an activity that you have be ready to charge it even if you're only riding during the day. I've only been commuting with it and haven't had it out on a multi hour ride yet. I don't usually do more than an hour in darkness on either side of a ride anyway so as long as it lasts an hour I'm okay.

The Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlight is used daily on my bike! A realiable product and a must to as a cyclist. Daytime/nighttime, it doesn't matter this light gives me security while on a ride. It is connected to Garmin 1030 and lights streets and pathways automatically. The Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlight is a great investment and a must have!

This is an incredibly disappointing product. No matter how easy to pair with the Garmin Edge 530 or how smart the light is, it is near worthless when the battery dies after about 1 hour of use. From the Bike Tires Direct website: " In turn, these automatic adjustments help conserve the battery for extended use between charges." If you allow the light to pair with the Garmin 530 for these automatic adjustments, count on no more than 60 minutes of light. The whole point of a light is to allow others to see you and this one simply conks out after way too little time. And if you aren't going to pair the light, at $99, save your money if you actually care about safety and long life (yours and the battery's). There are way less expensive lights on the Bike Tires Direct website with the same or better battery life for considerably less money. Garmin/Bike Tires Direct should willingly accept this for return. What would be of most value is if Garmin improved battery life and exchanged an updated model for this inferior product.

I have to agree with many of the other reviewers. It's a nice light. It syncs up with your Garmin. It changes intensity depending on speed like it's supposed to but the battery life is not good for $100 light. I commute 45min to and from work. Going home is in the dark. After 5 minutes I lose 1 of the 5 bars on my battery life. After 15min I'm down 2 bars. When I'm 10min from home I get the warning flash indicating that the battery is low. It's just disappointing that it doesn't last longer. My L&M lights can get 2 days on a charge on high at 1000 lumens. If Garmin can get the battery to last longer, this is a home run.

I ride about 40 miles in the morning before the sun comes up and will say, this light is amazing with how bright it is and how the beam gets stronger the faster you peddle. With that said, I really wish the battery life was better. For the price, it's a bit of a headache to be riding in the dark and the light go out without warning. I charge it after every ride now but still, for as expensive as it is I probably would've bought something cheaper knowing what I know now

Great integration with Garmin Light Network. I leave it in STBY along with my Varia Radar Light. My 1030 plus controls everything when I turn it on. Leave both in AUTO and it does a great job of maximizing power usage. It's a tad heavy but I don't mind for what it does, I'm okay with the weight. Wish it had USB C .

This light works amazingly well with the Garmin mount allowing the installation of the light under the computer and not on your bars taking up space. That said even though the light comes with an upfront dual mount, that mount places the Garmin Edge (1030 in my case) too high above the bars. But that might be as well a matter of opinion. I purchased from BTD the Garmin Out Front Mount (Edge 1030) Part Number 010-12563-00 and that places the Garmin at my preferred height flush with the bars. Pairing the light with the Garmin Edge is a snap and very easy to operate while riding as far as changing from the various settings. Highly recommend this light.

Ive used this bike for about 1,000 miles in sunshine and dark morning rides. First the good, it is compact and mounts well to a GoPro style mount well. I have had to really synch it tight to keep it from slipping down when I hit bumps but as long as I do it works great. The beam at night is really bright and the road is well illuminated I can be seen and see very well. In daylight I use the flashing mode to be seen and to conserve battery. My riding buddys tell me its really visible from a long distance and the flash mode Really catches the eye, which is why I bought it and use it every ride. switching modes manually is reallyeasy with the large tactile button. My rides are 2-3 hours long and I have no battery problem with 1 hour steady and 2 hours flashing. I have not syncd with a cycle computer as mine was not compatible, yet. It takes a while to recharge and once fully charged slowly discharges over time. I charge mine after every ride and if I go a couple of days without use it will lose about 30% of its charge so I have to top off the charge the day of ride if I plan to go long. Hence the 4 not 5 stars. all in all, I would recommend this light.

This headlight is very bright, easily adjusts to different modes, and it's best feature is how it mounts out of the way by mounting on the bottom of the GPS. Only disappointment is it still uses the old micro usb to charge