iGPSport BiNavi

[raisinberry777]

First impressions (based on one week of riding):

Good
- big readable screen - form factor is excellent
- screens are easy to set up either through the app or on device. The default set is a bit odd but it was easy to set it up to my liking.
- very short startup time
- GPS lock + sensor connection is fast. Quick to auto-pause/auto-start.
- GPS positioning on road is accurate - some smoothing but overall very good. Not tested in more difficult tree covered / off-road segments.
- User interface is generally well designed, relevant settings easy to find. All pretty familiar coming from a Garmin, but this was a positive surprise.
- touch screen is nice and responsive, and interface responsiveness is... decent. Not like a smartphone but at least felt like an upgrade compared to the Garmin 530 (you'd hope so!) - probably in line with what I'd expect a modern cycling computer to do.
- was easy to change screens even with gloves on
- real world battery life seems to be 20 hours ish? Though I think my backlight might not have been turning off.

Bad
- sticky watts - apparently due to be fixed by end of September - but the fact that it launched with this issue is very bad and creates trust issues (what else is it not recording correctly?).
- ANT+ devices do not show their battery status - so you won't know if your HRM/power meter is about to die.
- Magene L508 light integration - auto start/stop doesn't work (and button seems to freeze up a bit when selecting it), battery life doesn't show on screen, but does show in menu. Shows as a light in menu but not from the status bar. Maybe better with SR Mini? But seems like it has not been thoroughly tested with various different ANT+ products.

Update: support got back to me and said to pair over Bluetooth instead. Magene only supports a bluetooth connection when connecting to its app, and only supports ANT+ when connecting to a cycling computer. These functions previously worked on a Garmin 530. Pressed this a bit further and just got - in short - too bad, can't support all third-party products. I get that, but it's disappointing to take a step backwards compared to the Garmin 530 - the signal is clearly being broadcast properly over the ANT+ protocol as that is how the Garmin is working with it. Liveable, but frustrating.

- Di2 integration can't show current gear ratio (e.g. 34-27), only the position (1-3) (not so bad). No tones at the end of the gear range like Garmin (not so bad). Can't see shifter battery levels - only system battery (quite bad).
- Power meter - calibration works, but gives you no feedback other than 'calibration successful'. Garmin computers show the calibration offset - so at least you know something is happening (and know if your power meter is doing something unexpected).
- IGPSport English website doesn't show latest firmware (note - now it seems to), but the Chinese site does. Also no access from mobile devices (why?)
- Battery levels are not shown for any third party sensors over ANT+. This is only supported for iGPSport sensors.
- No Strava Live Segments. Can create own segments in iGPSport app but who wants to do that? At least the interface for creating segments is quite easy - if you've only got a few segments on routes you already do (and only care about your own times) it wouldn't be too bad to set up. However, it's definitely a missing feature compared to every other competitor in its price point (even the Magene now supports it).
- iClimb (ClimbPro equivalent) only works when a route is selected, like Garmin x30 series. Modern Garmin/Wahoo devices integrate this for all riding. This doesn't really bother me but again, it's a major feature missing compared to its competitors.
- Phone app connection. Weather, notifications and ride syncing rely on a connection to the iGPSport app via Bluetooth. When it works, this is fine, but sometimes it doesn't - and I have to go into the app to make it connect. This seems to happen each time I turn the device on after it's been off for a significant period of time (maybe an hour or so) - it will connect fine if I turn it off and straight back on again. I have specifically enabled unrestricted battery use for the iGPSport app in my phone (Galaxy Ultra S24) so it shouldn't be killing it off in the background. Support were not able debug this issue before I returned it.

Not sure / meh
- TrainingPeaks integration - not a TP user so don't know how well it integrates, but otherwise workouts have to be created through the app. Not sure if there's a better way?
- No WiFi - does this matter? Not sure. Most competitors seem to include WiFi. Maybe this could substitute for the poor phone app connection? This also means different maps have to be loaded via USB (though wasn't an issue for me as Australian maps were already on there).
- Di2 integration - not sure if top buttons work as I only have 105 Di2 but didn't see anything about setting up their functions.
- No way to check for new firmware from device? Need to confirm.
- route syncing from Strava takes a bit extra - it's not just starting the route - need to go into the app, select third party route import, select route, push to device. Not too hard though.


Would I recommend it?
- at this stage, no, due to the power meter and light integration issues (I don't know how well it integrates with the Garmin radar/light, but I dearly hope that it's better than with the Magene). I would consider moving the Magene on and buying the iGPSport SR Mini radar but that would just be encouraging bad behaviour.
- current price is about the same as a Wahoo Bolt v2. For now that's probably a better option: better integration with devices, includes Strava Live Segments, has ClimbPro equivalent in free-riding. BiNavi wins on the hardware front but it's the software that really makes or breaks these.  Maybe spend a bit more on the Edge 840, or find a Roam v2 second hand.
- overall, it's not /bad/, but it's not the product I'd recommend to someone and it just feels not yet ready for the big time. Advanced users are likely to come across some kind of edge case where the experience is different to or less than Garmin/Wahoo pretty quickly. For new users, an older Garmin or Wahoo device is probably a safer recommendation.

I also have relatively little interest in maps/routing outside of the occasional gravel ride so I'm not the right person to be testing that.

[raisinberry777]

Also quoting Patrick Lino's thoughts from another thread.

iGPSPORT sent me their latest BiNav computer for review months ago at launch. They wanted a video for me within a week after delivery which is hilarious to offer up a comprehensive review in 7 days. This is my third computer from iGPSPORT after the original 630 (non-S) and BSC300.

These type of videos are always tough to make especially for iGPSPORT computers because they just aren't good enough to ever replace my Wahoo and Garmin computers. No matter how many features or huge toughscreen displays iGPSPORT offers.

Positives:
-FANTASTIC battery life. This cannot be overstated. For all iGPSPORT computers. I can ride 4-5 days a week for a month on a single charge.
-Bright and easy to read displays
-Comprehensive custom page capabilities. Having the screen real estate to display 8-10 data points is a handy.

Negatives:
-My previous 630 and BSC300 could calibrate my power meters within the computer. For some reason this new BiNav cannot. The software/user interface simply freezes and I have restart the entire computer. Most of my PMs have a separate mobile app to calibrate them. But regardless this should absolutely not be happening.

-No workout integration from the likes of XERT or Training Peaks. This one aspect is the nail in the coffin of a deal breaker for me not using iGPSPORT as a primary computers. I'm sure 3rd party support outside of Strava is just a licensing thing. But not being able to auto-load my coach's daily workout and instead having to MANUALLY create the workout with the iGPSPORT...yeah I'm not doing that ever.

-No climb segment feature. With Wahoo you can set auto live segment when approaching a climb. Regardless of loaded routes. "The Summit Live Segments page is set to automatically appear immediately before a climb." This is more handy than I realized. Not for the sake of live timed Strava KOMs (something iGPSPORT also does not have) but just having a heads up to prepare yourself. The climb feature in iGPSPORT only works if you've loaded a pre-created route that has climbs enroute.

-This is a nitpick but their choice of "beeping" sound is rather annoying. It pierces my ears. For light radars and other notifications.

For most recreational riders who just need a computer to display their typical stuff (speed, HR, cadence, power, distance, etc) it's fine. Again, the battery life and display is superb. But I just dont see seasoned athletes using iGPSPORT. The user interface with these Chinese brands always suffers.

[kbernstein]

I never had sticky watts on the 630 or on the binavi using 4iii PMs 

[raisinberry777]

I never had sticky watts on the 630 or on the binavi using 4iii PMs 

Connected via Bluetooth or ANT+? It's an issue with the implementation of the ANT+ spec (in short, the bare minimum implementation allows it, so they've not done what everyone else does and fixed it).

[raisinberry777]

I ended up returning the device after just under a week with it, there was some back and forth with their rep over AliExpress and then eventually they didn't end up responding within a time period and AliExpress granted me the refund.

I have updated my fuller thoughts in the first post. If they could get their ANT+ integration right, and the phone app to sync consistently in the background (maybe just an issue on my end, who knows) they'd be well on their way to a decent device. Give it some more time and they might get there - the form factor is great, the UI is pretty good. I really wanted to like it. For now though, I'll go back to trying to find a newer Wahoo/Garmin while my 530 is slowly dying.

[Tijoe]

The BiNavi appears to be a slimmed down IGS800. 
-17 grams lighter.
- 800mAh smaller battery
- Cobalt battery versus Lithium
- Only 35 hours battery life versus 50+ on the IGS800.
- $60 less expensive listed retail price.

The rest of the specifications appear to be the same.

I've been using my IGS800 for all my riding this year, and overall I am very pleased with it.
My IGS800 has become my baseline route navigator for one to 2 day rides.

For multi-day remote back-country bike camping/bikepacking rides,  the IGS800 becomes my back-up route recorder, and I install my Ulifone Armor 22 (22000mAh) cell phone, that cost me $30 less than my IGS800.   This phone is a heavy brick, but combined with the Ridewithgps App and google maps with offline downloaded maps, is proving to be far superior to any bike computer I have owned.   With a 20,000 mAh battery, I use the Ulefone to recharge other devices.   Navigating from a large cell phone screen is so much better than puny little bike computer screens.

[UnicycleSkid]

Any updates on the sticky watts issues?
Doesn't seem like the website has any signs but don't have hands on a device- not keen to buy knowing there's still the problem.
Slightly seeming like they may have given up on the fix.

[raisinberry777]

iGPSport BiNavi Aero model is coming:

https://www.fccidlookup.com/fccid-e/2AU4M-QW-BG03

[YonyTony]

How does it work with bike radars? I mean what kind of sound alerts are available? Are there any? Only beeping when car is ca. 140 m behind or beeping with increased frequency when it approaches? Is it configurable?

[kbernstein]

How does it work with bike radars? I mean what kind of sound alerts are available? Are there any? Only beeping when car is ca. 140 m behind or beeping with increased frequency when it approaches? Is it configurable?

Works well, but not configurable as far as I could tell. Only beeps when the first car is detected, a double beep when a car is approaching fast, plus I think when no more cars are detected after a long period of cars behind you

[gf]

Hello, I'm considering Bnavi or Bnavi air, can I ask if Igsport ciclocomputer are ok for off-road navigation? The maps are well visible and fire road, singletracks are presents? thanks

[kubackje]

Lack of Strava love segments is a killer. Do they plan do implement it?

[BlinkyBilge]

Does the iClimb 3.0 detect climbs without a route loaded? If not, are they planning on updating the firmware to allow for it in the future? Looking at getting the Binavi Air.