Magene C706

[shaxberd]

Bit of an update after an ultra this past weekend that I used the C706 for - no real revelations or anything, more a confirmation of all impressions mentioned before:

GPS Quality
Flawless, even in denser woods or narrow valleys, no issues here - quick fixes after breaks too.

Data
Missing averages for longer periods (5m, 20m power/HR data) are reaaally annoying.

Maps & Routing
No news here, the "Unnamed Road" issue is annoying but doesn't really stop you from navigating correctly in my opinion. I tried the app's own route planning to check whether that fixes the issue, but it's absolute garbage and a nightmare to plan with, so I didn't bother.
Every now and then, the map rendering itself can be a bit cumbersome when encountering long road names for short roads, leading to the text spilling waaaaay past the limits of the road (akin to Garmin's web interface Leaflet integration).
Also, the compass tends to get confused on very low speeds sometimes, leading to it temporarily turning around and adjusting routing accordingly. Usually it fixes itself fairly soon, but it can also lead to a ClimbPro segment terminating.

ClimbPro
It's a bit of a mess, really. As mentioned before, it's far from a focus feature for me, but still - if it's there, I'd prefer it to work. It's fairly sensitive to some situations (termination on compass confusion or deviation, start/stop although that hasn't happened since) but more importantly, it's just plain wrong far too often. This starts with pure climb choice, ie. some smaller ramps that I'd have expected just not being classified as one while 20m inclines over 2km are then listed, and goes on all the way to profiles that are just so far away from reality: Far too often, you're riding a "green" bit of the climb while the grade is reaching double-digits.
Add to that the fact that more often than one it seems to also start/end the climbs in the wrong place and it just feels useless.

Battery
With a power meter and HR sensor connected and navigating a GPX file while mostly (98%+) using the map/climb view, 17h (and thus the lower limit of their stated battery life) was the absolute max.

Screen
As mentioned before, prone to glare but not too bad - as long as it's relatively clean. Get some gel or sugary drink on there and it's a different story. Not one that is easily read anymore.

Thankfully, most of these should be fixable with firmware updates, so hopefully they'll be on top of that.

[sandwich]

Any more thoughts a few months later?

I had a really frustrating week with my Garmin 530.  I've been thinking about replacing it with a Karoo as I don't like the new wahoos and can't afford the new garmins.  Just saw the Magene lineup and it looks pretty good.

[shaxberd]

tbh there's nothing to add - they haven't released any firmware updates at all, so the software issues/shortcomings persist.
I also haven't encountered any other problems and kinda got used to all roads being unnamed.

That said, iGPSport's BSC500 lists very similar specs at a lower price, though I haven't delved into reviews for that one so I don't know whether it delivers. Would definitely investigate if I was in your position though!

EDIT: Whoops, might have gone and ordered the BSC500, will report back (and then eventually sell the weaker one, I guess 😅)

[benquick]

That said, iGPSport's BSC500 lists very similar specs at a lower price, though I haven't delved into reviews for that one so I don't know whether it delivers. Would definitely investigate if I was in your position though!

EDIT: Whoops, might have gone and ordered the BSC500, will report back (and then eventually sell the weaker one, I guess 😅)

I have also been thinking about Magene C706 vs. iGPSport BSC500. I currently own the iGPSport BSC300T, and I have to say that the Magene's software experience seems much smoother, including less lagging, Strava segments, and generally more features. Now, I know that the BSC500 is a completely different device (arguably the same as BiNavi Air), and I am very interested to hear how the two compare.

Btw, I am also wondering what the resale value of Chinese bike computers is. Are they impossible to sell similarly to Chinese bikes?

[shaxberd]

Btw, I am also wondering what the resale value of Chinese bike computers is. Are they impossible to sell similarly to Chinese bikes?

I reckon it'll be a challenge, yeah - that said, I did check eBay and similar sites (and would've been happy to pay ~70-80% of the RRP depending on condition) before ordering my C706 so while it may be small, I guess there'll be a bit of a market.

[Unknownftp]

I reckon it'll be a challenge, yeah - that said, I did check eBay and similar sites (and would've been happy to pay ~70-80% of the RRP depending on condition) before ordering my C706 so while it may be small, I guess there'll be a bit of a market.

If you end up selling the c706 I may be interested in taking it off your hands, seems to be a step up from the 606

[shaxberd]

If you end up selling the c706 I may be interested in taking it off your hands, seems to be a step up from the 606

Might be happening as I feel slightly better about the BSC500 I think - will give it a few more days and let you know though

FWIW, I put my thoughts on the BSC here, along with notes on how it compares to the C706.

[gplama]

Has anyone used the C706 with polarized sunglasses?

The unit I have appears to have the screen polarization offset by 90 degrees. With polarized sunglasses on, the screen is only visible if I rotate my head or view the unit sideways. In normal riding orientation, it’s effectively unreadable.

Curious if this is normal for the C706, or if my unit has the display/polarizer installed incorrectly.

[shaxberd]

Has anyone used the C706 with polarized sunglasses?

The unit I have appears to have the screen polarization offset by 90 degrees. With polarized sunglasses on, the screen is only visible if I rotate my head or view the unit sideways. In normal riding orientation, it’s effectively unreadable.

Curious if this is normal for the C706, or if my unit has the display/polarizer installed incorrectly.

Oh whoops!😅

I don't have polarized glasses at hand, but this is through a CPL so yeah, seems to be the case for the Magene.

[ZacItaly15]

Has anyone used the C706 with polarized sunglasses?

The unit I have appears to have the screen polarization offset by 90 degrees. With polarized sunglasses on, the screen is only visible if I rotate my head or view the unit sideways. In normal riding orientation, it’s effectively unreadable.

Curious if this is normal for the C706, or if my unit has the display/polarizer installed incorrectly.

this problem is very common in motorcyclist that use GPS to navigate with polarized glasses.
Polarized glasses are not reccomend for driving and that's why oakley cycling glass are not polarized but used prizm tecnology (that is something close to polarization)

[shaxberd]

Magene's released a small firmware update (1.967 > 1.97) in the meantime, albeit with very basic patchnotes (something along the lines of better offline routing and navigation improvements).

Went for a quick ride yesterday to see whether there's any noteworthy changes, and.. kinda? At least for me, ClimbPro feels improved as it now seems to pull elevation/climb data from the route if you're on one, resulting in better accuracy depending on your gpx source*.
It also doesn't start "nearby climbs" in the middle if you happen to join one on your route, though it still puts you in the middle of your route's climbs if you (re)load the route but that seems fair.
So while i haven't re-tried freeride climbing, it seems that their ClimbPro database now lives a separate life from routed climbing which is a good thing IMHO.

Also noticed that during rerouting, distance to finish remains accurate instead of switching to "distance to rerouting end" as it did before.

*very niche background info on this: I live in an area with a lot of (big) active and former open-pit coal mines, so elevation data is all over the place. This often results in komoot displaying massive ramps while planning as it's still working with old data from former mining days while the pit has long since been closed and leveled.
One instance of this lead to two "ghost climbs" on my ride yesterday, prompting me to notice the change. When I unloaded the route, the climbs also weren't visible on the "nearby climbs" page, so they must've come from the GPX data.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, there's a few changes to the app as well: It now doesn't double-export fit files anymore, and komoot can be connected.