I’ve been back and forth on the Karoo since June. In the past, I’ve had an Edge 830, and a Karoo V1. I have a Garmin 130 plus, and use iSmoothRun on my Apple Watch sometimes. I have used RWGPS a lot. I’m training with power on all my bikes now, and have been known to dabble in data quite a bit.
I picked up a V2 during their promotion. Here’s what brought me back to the platform:
1. Software Stability has improved dramatically. I had weird issues with my K1, like rides being tracked, but the timer not incrementing, and rides being paused/stopped because of light rain on the screen. Software has really stabilized in the last 2 months.
2. Feature releases are now happening every 4-8 weeks. This is supposed to be the benefit of taking a software product approach, vs a hardware product approach. They’ve released the Climber feature and an auto-lap feature in just the last few months. They are doing a better job of living up to the potential of this.
3. Better Screen than everyone else. The screen colors are competitive with your smartphone’s screen. Also, the whole OS is way more responsive than Garmin - instantaneous. The only screen that I’ve seen that is as clear is the Edge 130 Plus - because it’s a 4-tone grayscale screen (so you don’t get any color).
4. Competitive size, weight, and battery life. Body is slightly large than the 530/830 series, with a screen almost the same size as the 1030 series. Weight is inline with the 1030. Battery life looks to be 10-12 hours with at least two sensors (power and HR) connected, and display always on. That’s plenty - if I need more I can bring a small external battery pack and plug it in.
Granted, you’re investing in something without knowing which features they’ll release (they don’t have a public roadmap), but overall I think that they continue to move in the right direction.
And remember, this year they made it into @dcrainmaker’s list of best cycling computers - for mapping and navigation!