Bryton 30/35 vs Garmin 500

rolf_f

Hello all

I've been mulling over getting a Garmin 500 for nearly a year now!! I haven't because the blue one looks too flippin awful and the black (Neutral) one is too expensive (Hantec sell the package with HRM and cadence for about £175 but only in Blue. Everyone else seems to charge about £50 more and I'm not paying £50 extra for a different colour nor buying a colour I don't like!). Garmin won't help and Handtec refuse to stock the Neutral edition.

So Garmin and Handtec, having shot themselves in the foot (and everywhere else) on this one, I suddenly became aware of the Bryton 30 and 35 due to the legal battle between Bryton and Garmin posted in the news section. The functionality seems much the same as the Garmin and the unit is much better looking IMO.

As far as I can see, the Bryton and Garmin units are much the same except that the Bryton has double the battery life. Does anyone here have any direct experience of the Bryton 30 or 35 and the Garmin 500 to really say if they are similar or one usefully better than the other?

Also, is there any difference between the Bryton 30 and 35 aside from a slight change to the case shape? The 30 hasn't been out long and there is nothing in the spec to say that it is different to the 35; I'm tending to assume that it is just a minor case redesign to make it look slightly less like a Garmin 500.

Thanks in anticipation!

Down the Road

Bryton have just been removed from sale due to ripping off Garmin

They'll see each other in court

rolf_f

Down the Road wrote:

Bryton have just been removed from sale due to ripping off Garmin

They'll see each other in court

They've been removed from sale in Germany. I don't live in Germany!

danowat

Also tryingstop them selling them in the US, not sure if anything has been filled in the UK though

rolf_f

danowat wrote:

Also tryingstop them selling them in the US, not sure if anything has been filled in the UK though

Indeed. Generally, I'd be on Garmins side here but they are really not helping themselves. Ironically, if Handtec didn't sell the blue version at such a good price, I'd have bought the Neutral 500 months ago. But as I said, between the two of them they've effectively made it impossible for me to consider buying a product that I really would like.

antfly

What's wrong with the colour, I don't even notice it on mine? If you can get past that it's a really good device.

rolf_f

antfly wrote:

What's wrong with the colour, I don't even notice it on mine? If you can get past that it's a really good device.

Clashes with the bike! If they hadn't made the neutral one, I'd have probably lived with it. But they did and they effectively charge £50 extra for it. It just puts me off bothering with Garmin and now that there is an alternative, I have to (a little reluctantly) consider that.