#Garmin virb edit soft manuals#
#Garmin virb edit soft update#

Weight-wise I broke out my trusty little scale to see how things stacked up:Īs you can see, it’s actually closer than you’d think. Though again, it’s all about where you plan to place it, because angle-wise it’ll matter a fair bit which direction it’s going from a space occupation standpoint. But, it’s actually slightly skinner – just barely. Here’s how it compares to the GoPro Hero 3 Black:Īs you can see, it’s a fair bit ‘taller’ than the GoPro is, no matter which way you hold it. It’s longer than most, albeit actually skinnier. When you start to look at size, the VIRB immediately stands out as a bit awkward. With that, let’s talk about how it stacks up size-wise with other units on the market. Here’s the same glamour shots of the VIRB Elite:Īgain, like above, you’ll never see the color screen look like that in real life. If you open up the door, inside you’ll see the battery compartment and a place to stick the MicroSD card. Everything below that is ‘accessory’, so you can detach and change it around. The upper piece is relatively flat against the camera. Here you can see the actual camera size, versus the mount. The USB port can also be used for a microphone attachment to get external audio into the unit. One is a micro-HDMI, and the other is the mini-USB. Note that the entire thing detaches just above where it says ‘Garmin’. This allows you to import in your files afterwards, as well as charge the unit. Next, we’ve got the ever exciting USB cable. On the right, we have a mount that changes the orientation of the camera 90* (different than the mount seen attached to the camera above). In addition, to the left we have a GoPro compatible mount, so you can snap it into any GoPro accessory out there. Looking at the mounts, you can see how you’ll twist lock it down first into the base, and then the little ridges (teeth) will lock it in place. The VIRB’s major claim to fame is it’s longer life battery than the GoPro, largely achieved through simply a longer battery.

#Garmin virb edit soft manuals#

And then the manuals to the right of that.įirst up, the battery. On the left you see the battery, then the USB charging cable (standard mini-USB), then two adhesive mounts (one flat, one curved), followed to the right by a GoPro compatible adapter, and then a second mounting piece for orientation changes. Inside the box, you’ll have an assortment of parts.

This gives you a bit of practice in how the mounts work. You’ll detach it by simply rotating the top portion of the mount away. This is a not so subtle hint to not throw away said mount. The VIRB will actually be attached to the box, using one of its own mounts. Once you remove the inner shell from the outer shell, you’ll find the unit hanging out inside: Perhaps with enough illegal drugs it might, but not by itself. See that glorious looking color screen below on the box shot? I promise you, it never looks like that. In fact, externally the only visible difference is the color. When push comes to shove, the VIRB Elite and VIRB regular contain the exact same components within the box. So – with that intro, let’s get into things.

#Garmin virb edit soft update#

Also, because the technology world constantly changes, I try and go back and update these reviews as new features and functionality are added – or if bugs are fixed. But, if I’ve missed something or if you spot something that doesn’t quite jive – just let me know and I’ll be happy to get it all sorted out. I write these reviews because I’m inherently a curious person with a technology background, and thus I try and be as complete as I can. Lastly, at the end of the day keep in mind I’m just like any other regular athlete out there. Most of my ordered ones have since come in, and their box of mounts will head back shortly – just like always. They also sent over a box of mounts to start with until my retail mounts came in. That VIRB has already gone back to Garmin. Garmin had sent me over a VIRB Elite to start testing with until retail availability.

In the case of this review, I own all the VIRB’s seen here (bought myself). Thus, much of this review will be focused on whether or not Garmin has been able to execute on that vision – and thus by extension whether or not they can realistically take any of GoPro’s pie. Where Garmin has the potential though to differentiate is the inroads in sports and fitness that primarily audio/video companies lack. There’s plenty of others much larger than Garmin, take Sony and JVC for example. Of course, large companies focusing their attention on the now billion-dollar business of GoPro is nothing new.

Most notable however, is that they’re squaring off directly against the biggest player in the industry: GoPro. When Garmin announced the VIRB action camera late this past summer, it represented further expansion into the outdoor market, due to it’s significant product tie-ins with other Garmin products.