iGPSPORT BSC500

[Stormyshadows]

Pretty new device, so maybe a review is helpfull to others.
This is my first bike GPS, so I can’t compare it to other devices. Until now, I’ve been using Komoot on an iPhone 13 mini for navigation. But the battery life and the frequent loss of the GPS signal really annoyed me. With some things, you definitely have to adjust or set different standards.



The BSC 500 comes with a simple stem mount and a safety strap. That’s perfectly sufficient for me.

I think the build quality and feel are okay—functional, but nothing more.

The display is great. It was always easy to read—whether in the woods or in direct sunlight—even though the brightness was set to only about 60 to 70%. You don’t need to worry about that at all.

Battery usage was just under 15% on the 2.5-hour ride. However, I only had a speed sensor and a cadence sensor connected (which, by the way, worked absolutely flawlessly). For me, that’s more than enough….

Navigation also worked wonderfully with the device. I didn’t try rerouting, though. At the start, it sometimes jumps straight to the end destination if the two points are close together. After the first few meters, though, it suddenly worked again. I also find the voice prompts with the navigation instructions quite helpful. I also really like how the map automatically zooms in during turn-by-turn directions. The GPS seems extremely precise. Auto Start/Stop is great, too. It feels like it stops immediately as soon as you reach a stop sign.

Syncing with Komoot works wonderfully in both directions.



But now for the things I didn’t like so much. I hope these will be optimized with future software updates:

For some reason, setting up the data screens is a bit buggy, which caused iClimb to stop working for me. The climb was detected, but the iClimb data screen didn’t appear. I ran into the same problem on the second climb. I stopped and reset the data pages to factory settings. Then the iClimb page suddenly appeared. After I reconfigured my pages at home to my liking, two Sports Camera pages suddenly appeared (which I don’t need anyway). We’ll see if iClimb works next time.

Configuring the data screens is somewhat limited. You’re restricted to predefined layouts. It’s not possible to simply make one data field larger and another smaller if there isn’t a corresponding layout available. On the other hand, there’s a really wide selection of data fields, including graphical displays.

When navigating, almost every turn is announced with a turn-by-turn direction. It didn’t really bother me, though. But it feels a bit unnecessary…

There’s a slight delay when switching between data pages. After you swipe, it takes a moment for the next data page to appear. But you get used to it, and I think it’s tolerable given the price…

The route display on the map isn’t ideal in terms of color, especially if you’re colorblind (red/green). Unfortunately, this can’t be adjusted either. The arrows do help, and you can tell which way to go, but a different color—like a bold blue—would be much better…

When a new map segment loads while you’re driving, part of the map turns white for a brief moment. It’s not a big deal, but it just shows that this is a low-end device and that they probably cut corners on memory and the processor….

Zooming and panning the map also seem to overwhelm the device and are only somewhat helpful (if this feature is important to you, you’re better off buying a different device…). When you zoom out, for example, the displayed route suddenly stops. If you zoom out further, it reappears. If you zoom out even further, the map eventually disappears and all you see is the route on a white background…

The ringtone could be a bit louder, but it’s audible at close range. The only annoying thing is that the double-tap on the screen doesn’t work reliably. It feels like every other time, only the ringtone button appears, but no ringtone plays. If that would work reliably, it would probably get rid of my Hardware bell.


Conclusion:

All in all, I’m still very satisfied with the device. Navigation and data display work really well, even if there’s still room for improvement. However, iGPSPORT really needs to figure out the issue with iClimb and the bell. Then, in my opinion, the BSC500 is a top-notch device at a really good price. I bought the device on AliExpress and paid just 123€. But even the 159€ price in the official store is still a bargain for what it offers…

[Serge_K]

i have the iGS630S. They never fixed the ghost watts, and i've emailed them many times, then gave up. Also can't calibrate the power meter with the device, i have to use my watch.
My next device will not be IGPSport, that much is sure.

Edit: more software sh1ttiness: i have favero assioma pedals. I export activities from the igpsport app, upload to garmin connect, which then auto syncs with strava & intervals.icu. Issue: if i export in .fit, i get temperature and pedal smoothness and torque effectiveness, BUT the power zones are completely off: it's useless. If i export in .tcx, i get the right time in power zones, BUT i dont get temp, or power analytics. So yet another aspect of igpsport pretends to be a legit bike computer brand, but they absolutely suck at anything software.

[shaxberd]

First two rides in for me as well now, will get another one done tomorrow to test rerouting and some other bits, then do a little writeup and comparison to the Magene C706 too.

When navigating, almost every turn is announced with a turn-by-turn direction. It didn’t really bother me, though. But it feels a bit unnecessary…

Is the "Lau 5" in one of your photos a street name? Did you do anything specific to make them show up in navigation prompts? Is that route a gpx track, or a route from iGPSport's own route builder or sth? Asking as I'm not getting any road names in directions.

[Stormyshadows]

Lau 5 is actually a street name. I didn’t do anything to make them show up. Actually just realized that it’s there when I read your comment. I don’t think that it usually shows street names. Just the distance to the next turn. Maybe it showed up because I stopped and left the route a few meters. In the map menu I disabled street names.

The track is imported from a route planning app called Komoot.

[shaxberd]

Some more testing done, a bit more due, but here's my impressions so far

Hardware
Look & Feel is fairly cheap, but sturdy. A lot of plastic, and comes with very limited accessories (stem/rubber band mount and a security cord, so no cable/case/screen protection). Depending on the mount used it seems somewhat prone to no/limited stoppage at a quarter turn as well, but it hasn't come loose yet.

vs. C706: Charging port is easier to open and seems slightly more trustworthy regarding water ingress. The bell is slightly louder and more distinct ("ding ding ding ding" vs "Rrrrring Rrrrring" 😅) than Magene's one. C706 comes with more accessories and feels a bit more premium in general. Size is about the same.

Screen
Somewhat prone to glare but so far I haven't had trouble reading it at all. Auto brightness works well too, and the touch screen feels responsive enough. You can set up a screen flash on navigation prompts but I haven't found it all that useful.

vs. C706: the BSC500 comes with a touch screen lock which might be handy in rainy conditions, glare is worse on the C706 but no massive issue either.

GPS and data quality
Perfect - that said, it's using dual band GPS by default, so you'd expect that. Haven't tried single band or its automatic mode yet. File exports (.fit) look decent and import into intervals.icu fine.

vs. C706: Very similar deal really, no notes.

Maps and Routing
I haven't managed to get road names to show up in navigation prompts, but other than that the routing has been pretty great. The track's visuals could be better (or adjustable) but maybe that'll come later (I think it's a thing on the BiNavi Air?). I've used GPX and Komoot imports thus far and both worked fine - similarly to the C706, you first add the route to the app before transferring it over to the device.
Navigation prompts can be displayed on all pages (overlay) or included as a data field. Alongside the prompt sound and/or voice instructions (either on the device or your phone), it's hard to miss a turn. If you still do, rerouting works but is a bit slow to calculate the new route initially.

Maps are mostly preloaded - and thankfully so, because there is no user frontend to update them. Instead, you have to download new versions from the website, connect the device to a PC (only works at full battery it seems) and transfer the files over. The USB transfer speeds are abysmal - like half an hour for about 1GB of data. Some countries seem to be missing from the initial setup but are available on the website, e.g. Austria.

it does have some quirks regarding the GPS track rendering: For example, rerouting looks like it's overshooting the re-join point, but then disappears when you're back on route. Tracks are simplified (less geo points/more straight lines) in certain scenarios - this happened both when selecting/viewing a route and when coming back past a bit that I had already ridden in the same sessions (did two laps of the same track, basically). It doesn't happen with the active track once you are navigating though, so it's far from a big issue in my opinion.

vs. C706: Slightly better map rendering on the BSC500 in my opinion (street names are fewer, don't interfere as much and can be disabled), better initial map package but more cumbersome with updates.

Climbing
It comes with iClimb 2.0 which means it only starts the climbing mode while routing a track - which is completely fine with me, but if you are looking for "free ride iClimb", you might have to keep your fingers crossed for an update, or look at the BiNavi Air or the Magene.
It also seems like it's pulling the climb data from the route file, which feels superior and more accurate to whatever database Magene is using. I have only done some very mild local climbs though, so maybe more on that after the weekend as I'm planning do to a bit more then.

vs. C706: Better accuracy on the BSC500 (depending on your GPX source of course), but no free ride climbing mode.

Battery
Battery usage has been swinging around 5-7% per hour with 2 connected sensors, making it trend towards the lower end of their claims. I'll probably end up using this in an ultra in three weeks time, so we'll have some proper data then 😅

vs. C706: Similar capacity, similar usage and estimated life.

Data Fields
Plenty of customization, if a bit cumbersome as pointed out by Stormy - there's a limited number of layouts, and they are also limited to certain pages, all of which feels like a bit of an odd choice. But with some trial and error you should be able to get a decent layout for your needs going. The zone graph fields are really nice.
Unfortunately, there's no 5min/20min average field for power or HR data.

vs. C706: More/full layout flexibility on the Magene, but similar choice of fields overall (and similar missing fields). The device has to be connected to make changes while the Magene's screens can be edited "offline" too.

Ecosystem and account data
iGPSport seemingly wants to have a bit of a "Strava at home", leading to some noteworthy stuff IMHO.
During account setup, you are asked for your city/region of residence as they have a local leaderboard thing going. You can't opt out of providing this info, but at least only activities set to "public" are counted towards the stats so you can stay "invisible/inactive".
A bit more of an issue in my book is the fact that if you connect your komoot account and then import a planned route, it's automatically set to public and thus added to the public library of routes. You can not change this in the app at all (you can via the web interface but that's super basic and most users won't even know about it I reckon), so if you don't want that you'll have to export the GPX from komoot and then import it as that gives you the option to have it stay private. I assume it'll be similar for Strava.
If you want to share a picture with some ride stats after your workout, you'll have to set it to public as well as sharing is completely disabled otherwise, even if "sharing" in that case would only be image generation 🙄

vs. C706: No similar functionality (and thus issues) on Magene's side.


Overall, I think the BSC500 is better value for money if you can look past the basic look & feel, don't need/want a freeride climb mode and either don't care about map updates (or Austria 😬) or the hassle they come with.
Magene's C706 feels more premium and while it's still a bit rough around the edges as well, it feels like a more streamlined experience in total.

If anyone has specific questions, particularly regarding the comparison to the Magene, let me know

[benquick]

Could you post the two devices side by side? I am currently using a smaller bike computer, and I am curious how the proportions, screen size and overall size comapre.

[shaxberd]

Sure thing! Bolt v1 on there as well, and a AAA battery for scale 😅

Edit: Added a powered-on one for easier screen size comparison.

[jeffrey]

Thanks, that's a great review.
I was thinking just today, while struggling on a pretty average climb, that I could use some help from an iClimb feature.

I currently have a BSC300 and it often starts announcing every single turn of the route, even though it's just a bend with no other ways to go.
When it does it I'm under the urge to throw it into the trees, is the 500 the same?

[Tijoe]

Interesting to read about this model bike computer.   From my perspective, purchase the iGPSPORT iGS800 and be done with it. This model has been a fantastic bike computer for me.

[shaxberd]

I currently have a BSC300 and it often starts announcing every single turn of the route, even though it's just a bend with no other ways to go.
When it does it I'm under the urge to throw it into the trees, is the 500 the same?

Yeah, that sure sounds familiar - it's not every single bend, but there's definitely plenty of alerts when there's no alternative anyway. My guess is that they're really only analyzing the bends without cross-referencing map data or anything.

[shaxberd]

Quick update after a few longer rides this past weekend:

- there were a few instances of compass confusion during very low speeds, similar to the Magene C706 but nowhere near as much. It also automatically resumed the climbing mode when it readjusted whilst the Magene would've cancelled out.
- there's a (rare) scenario in which the map view can fully freeze. I haven't quite found out what sequence causes it, but some combination of changing screens and/or touch screen interaction seems to be the culprit. It's easily fixed by swiping back and forth a screen, but can be annoying.

[Serge_K]

Thanks, that's a great review.
I was thinking just today, while struggling on a pretty average climb, that I could use some help from an iClimb feature.

I currently have a BSC300 and it often starts announcing every single turn of the route, even though it's just a bend with no other ways to go.
When it does it I'm under the urge to throw it into the trees, is the 500 the same?

Ah yes, that sucks too! forgot about that. It does have the uncanny tendency to intrusively notify for random bends in the road where there's nowhere else to turn but follow the road. Another aspect of "they suck at software"

Am i the only one minding the ghost watts? I'd have thought it'd almost be a deal breaker for anyone using a power meter? I sure AF wouldn't have bought mine had i known that would be a problem, let alone one that would never get fixed because igpsport clearly gives 0 F about it.

[jeffrey]

I don't have a power meter so nothing in that regard.

What's the comparison on the apps side?
Before my current BCS300 I had a fairly simple Magene C406, so I can't really make a apples-to-apples comparison, but when switching over I liked the iGPSport app much better than OneLapFit.

[raisinberry777]

Ah yes, that sucks too! forgot about that. It does have the uncanny tendency to intrusively notify for random bends in the road where there's nowhere else to turn but follow the road. Another aspect of "they suck at software"

Am i the only one minding the ghost watts? I'd have thought it'd almost be a deal breaker for anyone using a power meter? I sure AF wouldn't have bought mine had i known that would be a problem, let alone one that would never get fixed because igpsport clearly gives 0 F about it.

If the Thinkrider PP5 thread is anything to go by, accurate power meters aren't really a priority for members here.

[biph]

Am i the only one minding the ghost watts? I'd have thought it'd almost be a deal breaker for anyone using a power meter? I sure AF wouldn't have bought mine had i known that would be a problem, let alone one that would never get fixed because igpsport clearly gives 0 F about it.

I am dealing with the same issue with my BiNavi. I thought they would have fixed it by the time I get a powermeter and bought it anyway. Guess I was wrong. But what about ipgsport's support suggested workaround using Bluetooth instead of Ant+. Did anyone test this?