XPLOVA X5

T hings didn’t start well for the X5. Whereas Garmin and Polar computers boot up in moments and greet you with user-friendly menus, the X5 takes a full 30secs to get going. Finding the set-up functions isn’t intuitive and navigation is made worse by a touchscreen and buttons that are only sporadically responsive. You could try using the instruction booklet but it reads like it’s been through Google translate.

Once the X5 had located itself (which required downloading a map of England, taking a further 4:30mins), it showed an automatically calibrated altitude of 110m while its speed reading flickered between 0 and 3km/h. Given it was stationary in a spot only 77m above sea level, the device’s accuracy didn’t inspire confidence.

All the data it displays is almost secondary, however, because the X5’s USP is its integrated ‘smart’ video camera. Smart in the sense that if you don’t want to press the rec button as you ride you can set it up to record 3, 6 or 9sec clips whenever you hit a specified speed, heart rate or cadence. But even the 9sec clips are too short to get much feel for any ‘action’, and they’re shaky as hell because the 121g unit bounces around on its mount so much that even reading your ride data can be tricky. Based on this it seems having separate computers and cameras is the better option for the time being. RB xplova.com