Being a Bryton owner (Rider 40) I can say that I'd advise you to at least check out their Facebook support pages (if you're a FB user that is) for some idea as to how many issues they seem to have.
I know that all user support forums show a skewed view but I've had numerous issues with the software & web side of mine, one of which has yet to be resolved after almost 6 months.
It reports all rides as being an hour out as it doesn't properly understand DST. There's no fix for it, and no setting to change to remedy it. Numerous users including myself have reported it but the stock answer from them appears to be to say "really? I'll do some test rides to check" and then ignore it and hope it goes away.
It seems like they're just waiting for the clocks to change rather than fixing it.
They've had numerous issues with different features of the website not working, which at one point was the only way of getting data onto and off the devices.
Even simple things like looking at your stats on the Bryton site can be a pain as (at least on my account) it still counts deleted rides, so if you upload a 0.001 mile test because you were playing with the device in your living room, it still counts in your total and messes up averages.
On the plus side you can export the files and import into Strava, Endomondo etc. to keep a proper record.
They're getting better, and it's a great piece of hardware, battery life in particular on mine is excellent and it's never missed a beat or recorded a dodgy position. It also finds satellites very quickly. Would I buy another Bryton? I'm not sure. They're certainly great value for money and now that Bryton Bridge 2 can export files without the website it does help to eliminate a lot of the issues caused by the flaky website.
How Garmin compare I couldn't tell you because I don't own one. Good luck with your purchase!
