Garmin has announced its latest and its first 1080p action camera – the Garmin VIRB. With Garmin’s strength in developing military and aviation-grade kit for decades, the Garmin VIRB is certainly worth checking out.
Garmin seems to have taken the best of the GoPro and even overcome some of its weaknesses. The Garmin VIRB Elite comes with built-in Wi-Fi, accelerometer, altimeter, GPS and even shoots 1080p video, albeit at 30fps. It even comes with image stabilization, lens distortion correction and takes 16-megapixels stills. All this compared with the GoPro Hero3 Black that manages 1080p at 60fps and can take 4K video.
While the GoPro wins on frame rate and even sensors, the Garmin VIRB hits home with a whopping 3-hour battery life over the GoPro’s one hour and a half. It also gets points for having a built-in 1.4-inch Chroma colour display and HDMI output, allowing users to not only frame and watch video easily but also enjoy instant video playback on a big screen.
Garmin also infused its expertise with ANT+ sensors into the Garmin VIRB. Both VIRBs work with ANT+ sensors and allow users to link it to their heart rate monitors, cadence bike sensors, speed sensors and more.
For those who love water, the VIRB’s rugged casing has an IPX-7 rating which means it can be submerged up to 1 metre deep for half an hour. Those who wish to take it deeper can go for the dive case option.
Stay tuned for the full Garmin VIRB and Garmin VIRB Elite reviews!
