The latest cycling GPS from Bryton has come a long way from where they were a few years ago, but has their progress been enough to match the competition? In this video I cover the good, the bad, and dive down a few technical rabbit holes in areas Bryton need to address on the S500.
The S800 is out! When is your review of it coming out?
Never it seems. S810 is out, S-510 also. For some reason most youtubers stick to a hand full of mainstream brands.
Here’s the deal on this, take from it what you like:
Bryton content (and content on lesser known brands) does very poorly. It’s a loss maker for me to review their products, even if they send them for review. There’s simply not enough people looking for these reviews. They’re also not doing anything uniquely better than their competitors to make them stand out. Their radar was unique at the time, so I dug deep into that.
A lot of the time, given my experience with the higher-end bike computers, I’ll find flaws or things that need to be improved to meet what I’d consider ‘industry standards’. Take for example the iGPSport units having issues with sticky watts that overestimates energy expenditure. Or how some GPS units don’t correctly record paired devices, or support Cycling Dynamics, or screws up their power phase data… just to name a few. When reviewing GPS units that screw these up, nobody wants to watch a 10, 15, 20 minute video of criticisms which is ultimately just handing these companies $1000s and 100s of hours in free technical consultation. The videos aren’t engaging. They’re not entertaining. They’re boring.
I also have to deal with companies planting comments. Bryton themselves were posting on Reddit earlier this year as standard users looking to ‘buy a GPS for their partner’ and biting back at people who recommended anything other than Bryton products – I called them out so fucking hard on this as they’d replied to me in such a strange way that I spent all of 10 minutes exposing who they were and their shady marketing practices. Enjoy the timeline if you have a few minutes: https://www.reddit.com/r/cycling/comments/1igjn57/valentines_day_cycling_gift_ideas/mb2ba5a/
Ultimately this is why YouTubers stick to the mainstream brands. Smaller brands are a time suck, they’re a loss to review (unless the reviews are paid for, which a LOT are), and the products are usually frustratingly shitty to use, and some of them have really shitty business practices.
I hope this provides some insight as to why things aren’t as simple as expected when it comes to product reviews.
I totally understand your point regarding content ROI and the frustration of providing ‘free consulting’ to certain brands. However, I feel this approach creates a biased market where Garmin’s dominance overshadows what the average rider actually needs.
Not everyone is a pro or a data freak. Here is why Bryton (and others like iGPSport) remains a vital alternative:
Value for Money: Cycling is already an incredibly expensive sport. Paying a premium for a Garmin only to use 30% of its features is a waste for many. Bryton offers the essentials at a fair price.
Battery Life: This is a deal-breaker for many long-distance riders. In this area, Bryton often outperforms the market leaders, whose battery life doesn’t always justify the high price tag.
Essential vs. Over-engineered: What some reviewers call a ‘lack of features’ is often seen as welcome simplicity by regular cyclists who just want reliable data, basic sensors, and a solid GPS track.
Real Improvement: The S510 and S810 series have addressed many past issues. While the app still isn’t the best, the hardware has become much more robust and reliable.
It’s a shame that the industry standard is dictated solely by the most expensive brands. For many of us, a device that ‘just works’ without costing a month’s rent isn’t a ‘failboat’—it’s simply a pragmatic choice.