The Varia became a necessary part of my rides after I was hit by box truck while riding. As a result of the accident, I had sustained a severe spinal injury. Although I was lucky enough not to end up paralyzed...my spinal fusion surgery meant that it is not possible for me to turn sideways anymore. The Varia really helps me by alerting me about approaching cars (even other cyclists). This allows me to ride safer and enables to "see" what is behind me. The camera feature is a great addition as now I have videos of potentially harmful events. I would highly recommend this product or the less expensive version without the camera. It is a game changer these days with so many distracted drivers and also the prevalence of silent electric cars.
I'm a longtime fan of the smaller form factor of the 830/840 series. Was going to go to 850 until I saw the battery life hit the new screen causes. I decided to go for the 1050 as a compliment to my 840 rather than a replacement. Overall, I like this setup. As other have said, the screen, the nav, the bell and on are great. Also, having lived with slow, short runtime devices like the 820 with radar, the 1050 is fast and has plenty of battery life. Only downsides for me are the mounting requirements and the weight. If you have aerobars, the Garmin supplied mount won't work and it's likely your existing mount that would work on an 1040 will be short for the 1050. Good choices like Silca exist for aero bars but factor in you may need to get one with your 1050. On the weight, it's a heavy unit. That battery life has a price and its weight. My solution to this is to use my 840 when if I'm concerned about it. Switching between the 840 and 1050 is simple. Now back to the positives, that big screen is worth a few grams for 95% of my riding. Super happy I got the 1050.
I ride on a mix of a state highway, with an 8' shoulder, and quiet county chip seal roads. The Garmi Varia works very well, with no false positive or negative alerts thus far. I also ride with a rear mirror attached to my glasses at all times. This combination works well.
Although the rubber o-rings that attach the mounting bracket to the seat post work ok, I was not confident they would not eventually fail. So, I bought an aftermarket mounting bracket on Etsy [reasonable price) that uses a machine screw and nut to attach to the seat post.
As others have commented, the old style USB charger is not up to modern type c charging standards. However, it works fine and the sale price was very reasonable. This is a fair compensation for the outdated, but not obsolete, charging technology.
The good - small, effective, and long lasting lights that can be easily attached. Variety of band sizes will let you use these in a variety of ways. Multiple flash patterns, with good duration.
The bad - charging these is weird and difficult. They're not USB mini/micro/USB-C - - they need to plug directly into your computer USB port or a USB charging dock. They take up a lot of space, so if you're charging these the other USB ports may be covered, and they're finicky (wouldn't work with my USB charging adapters). These are hindrances to otherwise good lights. Oh, beware the packaging 'cause it's difficult to get open.
