Garmin Varia UT800 headlight released

For years, Garmin has been telling you where you’re going with its GPS head units. More recently, it’s literally been showing you where you’re headed. On Wednesday, it released its new Garmin Varia UT800 headlight.

The unit can pump out 800 lumens for as many as 1.5 hours. At full power. Garmin says the LED will be visible from roughly 1.5 km away. It doesn’t, however, blaze at full intensity if you don’t need the high beam. It has five modes: high, medium (400 lumens), low (200 lumens), night flash (100 to 300 lumens) and day flash (more than 700 lumens). When you pair the Garmin Varia UT800 with compatible Edge units, the beam can adjust its intensity based on available light, your speed and the ride’s profile. These features, the company says, will extend battery life. On day flash, the light lasts 25 hours, six hours on night flash as well as on low.

“As leaders in cycling technology, we are excited to introduce the Varia UT800 to our line of innovative Varia cycling awareness products,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice-president of global consumer sales. “With five light modes, whether riding on the streets or the trail, the Varia UT800 smart headlight shines brighter for longer allowing cyclists to ride with greater confidence.”

You can mount the light to you handlebars or helmet. To turn it on, you have a few options: from you Edge unit, a dedicated remote switch (possibly a button atop your Dura-Ace 9150 hoods) or the standard on/off switch on the light. You can also control brightness remotely.

The Garmin Varia UT800 measures 96.6 mm x 33.5 mm x 29.7 mm and has 270 degrees of visibility. It costs $200.