Magene C706

[poyo]

🔥 Magene C706 officially launched for the global market! 🌍

Today’s the day: the Magene C706 has already been available in China for some time – but now it’s finally launching globally! 🚴‍♂️
What do you think? Could this be your next bike computer, or are you sticking with your current setup? 👇

Let’s discu



https://bikebiz.com/magenes-new-c606-v2-and-706-bike-computers-add-premium-options-to-line-up/

[alfiomotrambo]

FINALLY, excited to see the new climb pro functionality

[poyo]

Also, the C606 V2 has been released.

[alfiomotrambo]

The V2 will also have the same Climb Pro?

I hope to find the same thing in the old 606 too

[shaxberd]

That's the first Magene computer with Dual Band GPS, as well as the first Chinese computer featuring an electronic bell, right? Or am I missing other options?

[Merry]

The V2 will also have the same Climb Pro?

I hope to find the same thing in the old 606 too

My friend bought the 606V2. I'll ask him when it arrives and let people know of his thoughts. For context, he's a gravel rider and wants navigation in his bike computer. He is also planning to bike pack at some point.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I have also been waiting for a cheap climb pro computer. On magene's website at least they list the 606v2 and 606pro as both having route climbpro but not freeride climbpro. Only the 706 has freeride climbpro. https://www.magene.com/en/content/17-magene-bike-computers

[sbellote]

Soon I'll be going to China for work (June probably), so I'm writing my wishlist lol
does anyone know if the C706/C606 chinese version is different than the 'global' one?

I have also been waiting for a cheap climb pro computer. On magene's website at least they list the 606v2 and 606pro as both having route climbpro but not freeride climbpro. Only the 706 has freeride climbpro. https://www.magene.com/en/content/17-magene-bike-computers

this is very useful, thanks!
the climbpro on freeride is really a nice addition, and at not a big difference from the C606 Pro too..

[snack]

Yes it’s different. I’m from North America and am here in China for holiday. I asked Magene and they said the maps would not work if I purchased the Chinese version.

[LiGuangming1981]

Yes it’s different. I’m from North America and am here in China for holiday. I asked Magene and they said the maps would not work if I purchased the Chinese version.

Yep, that's true. I have a Chinese C706 (I live in China) and it only has China maps with no ability to install maps for any other country.

[Merry]

Soon I'll be going to China for work (June probably), so I'm writing my wishlist lol
does anyone know if the C706/C606 chinese version is different than the 'global' one?

this is very useful, thanks!
the climbpro on freeride is really a nice addition, and at not a big difference from the C606 Pro too..

Others have already mentioned C706/C606 not working already. But I'll also mention this while at it - don't also get your hopes up for powermeters as well. Magene told me that they make Chinese versions of those too, so the new pedals or buying the crankset also won't work.

[sbellote]

thanks for the quick replies,
I imagined it would be limited, but that there'd be some way of downloading and making it work abroad..
but if it's really blocked then not worth it
I was looking at powermeter and other electronics too, so those are out of question then... bummer

Yes it’s different. I’m from North America and am here in China for holiday. I asked Magene and they said the maps would not work if I purchased the Chinese version.

Yep, that's true. I have a Chinese C706 (I live in China) and it only has China maps with no ability to install maps for any other country.

Others have already mentioned C706/C606 not working already. But I'll also mention this while at it - don't also get your hopes up for powermeters as well. Magene told me that they make Chinese versions of those too, so the new pedals or buying the crankset also won't work.

[Merry]

My friend bought the 606V2. I'll ask him when it arrives and let people know of his thoughts. For context, he's a gravel rider and wants navigation in his bike computer. He is also planning to bike pack at some point.

He just received it and took it for a ride today. Got off the phone with him, and summarized, it's a glowing review from him. I'm summarizing his thoughts and ratings.
Background: He's a gravel rider and plans to bikepack, so that means long routes and navigation. Also occasional roadie cause we both ride. I gave him a Wahoo Bolt V1 in the past, so he's coming from a Bolt V1.

I asked him to rate the value, screen and navigation 1 - 10.

Value: 10/10
Display: 7/10, 6/10
UI: 7/10
GPS Navigation: 8/10
Battery Life (in terms of advertised): 10/10

The biggest flaw he says is the screen. He split his ratings into two parts - the screen AND the anti-glare coating. The display itself has good resolution and colours, so it's a 7/10 on just the display alone. The anti-glare however isn't as good. He said that it can be prone to glare, but only in very sunny conditions and direct sunlight. (Performs really good in indirect sunlight but poorly on overcast days from his testing). It's not a dealbreaker nor a big issue for him, but it was the biggest flaw he spotted in his use case. So he rated it a 6/10.

He prefers the Wahoo UI but he finds the Magene UI navigable. The UI displays his data such as speed and heart rate perfectly fine. He doesn't own a powermeter but it'd probably display just fine as well. Also, it does not have a media player unlike my Bolt V2. So he can't connect a song / podcast and control his media through the computer. Other than that, nothing else much to say here.

For the GPS navigation, it's about on par with my Bolt V2. the navigation is concise and clear, as well the GPS signal. He said that he was riding deep in the forest (on some black diamond trail, something on Van Island lol), and didn't lose signal. The rerouting was snappy and quick. He said he received a software update on navigation like today, further improving the conciseness of it. We're both from Canada and he is using this on Vancouver Island.

But he gave it a 8/10 because on the turn by turn directions, the street is not named. He means that it just says "Turn Left in 80 metres", "Turn Right in 80 metres" etc; instead of saying "Turn right in 80m onto Chinertown St", even though the display shows the street itself on the map. For the ClimbPro, he gives it a 10/10 and says it works as intended.

So far, he gives the battery life a 10/10 in terms of accuracy of the advertisement. Magene advertises it lasting 15 - 25 hours and on his 3 hour route, battery life seems accordingly to the advertised figures.

His overall conclusion is that the Magene in his words, "not a Garmin nor a Wahoo killer, but a budget king". He paid $240 CAD and summarized, it's not going to be quite like a Garmin 850, Wahoo Bolt V3 etc. in terms of software, but it will fulfill mostly everything that you need it to do.

My brief takeaway from his review is that the issues he had are fixable via software updates. Definitely worth seriously considering it.

Edit: Oh and here's a picture of him out on his ride.

Update: So he tested the display again today (ratings did not change). Basically the display works really good in indirect sunlight but poorly on overcast days. Also asked to see what it's like to use the computer and he sent me this video (with permission to share).

[shaxberd]

Bit the bullet and got one of these - initial impressions after a first ride are good, but we'll see how it holds up.

I ordered directly from Magene's store as there was a discount available in their DE shop. If you can't find one for your region's one, it might be better to order via amazon (if available), Magene's shipping from China and they're fairly slow.

Just to establish a base line - like Merry's friend above, I too am coming from a Bolt v1, so stuff like offline navigation, ClimbPro and the like have been foreign concepts so far The main motivation for a new/this purchase were the Bolt's degrading battery life and the Magene's dualband GPS and bell (yes, really - one less separate thing on the bike).

Bit of a roundup dump coming up for now, let me know if you got any specific questions though!

The Good
- GPS data is flawless (as expected with dualband), elevation data looks spot on and there's essentially no jitter - not too many woods for now though, so the first gravel ride will be the real test
- plenty of screen customization options in terms of layout and data, the only missing bits are longer averages for power and HR in my opinion, e.g. 5m/20m power, hopefully will be added eventually
- alert sounds are pleasant and get your attention without being annoying (I disabled navigation voice prompts from the get-go though)
- the bell seems to be loud enough, a few reviews indicated otherwise but it worked all 5-6 times I used it on the ride
- in parts, the app and the (can) lead separate lifes which I really like: Routes have to be added to the app, then imported to the device - might be an annoying extra step for some, but I think I'll really like not always having everything in there at once. Similarly, you can edit some things (primarily screen setups) in the app without the device connected and it'll sync later.
- .fit file exports and data structures look really good, not necessarily a given with some Chinese sport devices (looking at you, Oppo/Oneplus)

The so-so
- map logistics will take some getting used to and are a bit weird: instead of region/country maps, you choose specific areas on a map that are then downloaded - you can also deselect any of map/offline navigation/climb data, but despite omitting nav data, the device will still try (and then obviously fail) to reroute until you rejoin the route
- battery life seems to be trending towards the lower end of their "17-25h" claim, though that might/will be dependent on widgets/navigation I reckon
- as indicated by Merry, the display itself is very nice but definitely prone to some glare - not worse than the Bolt (without backlight) though
- coming from the Bolt, ClimbPro still feels gimmicky but maybe that'll change over time. That said, the device had a panic attack on one of the 5-6 climbs where it constantly started and stopped the climb despite no obvious issue with the route, GPS data or whatever else, maybe just a one-time outlier.

The bad(ish)
- all roads are unnamed in navigation: I'm not sure whether this is due to skipping offline navigation data (and will test that tomorrow), but while the map clearly shows street names, they aren't used in navigation hints
- no ability to edit HR/power zones in detail as far as I can tell - it just uses FTP/MHR data to calculate those itself

Update:
- the "unnamed road" issue persists even with navigation data downloaded, will give them a headsup on that
- rerouting (somewhat obviously) works with navigation data downloaded
- rerouting resets your map zoom both on the beginning and end of the newly-calculated bit - might be intended though
- somewhat curious, but explainable map data choice: all paths/tracks that bikes aren't allowed/expected on as per OSM data aren't displayed at all

[kyrliot]

Hi,i bought c706 a couple of weeks ago.I can't find a way to make ny di2 hood buttons work with this bike computer.They work perfectly with my element bolt v.2 .The hood buttons are set as d-fly channel 1 & 2 in the shimano app and i have paired the di2 as a sensor to the c706 so i can see the gears on screen page.I have also set commands in the smart assistant section of onelapfit app ,to change for example the screen pages or ring the bell but the buttons don't do anything.I got a response from a lady at magene support when I reacted out that is just to answer without any meaningful information.If some have manage to make them work i would be grateful if he wrote a guide how he did it Thank you