Should I upgrade my Garmin?

I’ve got an Edge 520+ and whilst it works perfectly fine most of the time, there are a few things I find annoying.

The buttons can be a faff to my touchscreen phone honed mind, the screen can be difficult to read to my aging eyes and it can be a PITA when it’s trying to re-route to the planned ride.

I’m toying with upgrading to an 830 or possibly an 840 in the BF sales – mainly led by the touch screen option but will they answer my other wish list requirements?

I’m sure the ‘features’ will be fun but really aren’t a primary driver to a change.

So if I blow a £couple of hundred on the older model or even more on the latest and greatest, will I be ecstatic beyond my wildest dreams or find myself poorer and disappointed?

I’m largely ignoring other brands such as Wahoo … am I foolish to do so?

I went from an 820 to 1040 last year. In some ways it wasn’t mind blowing, but it does now actually do all the things that it should have done before. Battery life is insanely good. Screen is responsive, routing is very fast. Climbpro etc. is, well, fine.

I actually got the 1040 because (a) the 840 wasn’t released yet, and (b) I knew I’d be having cataract surgery soon (despite my very young age) and I figured I might need the bigger screen.

I bought the 540 earlier in the year, then sent it back to get an 840, the touchscreen is far better for navigating the device IMO. The 840 is usbc while the 830 is micro usb, for me that is a pro in the 840 column and a con for the 830.

The wahoo devices get good reviews, but I have bought into the garmin eco system, and have 15 years worth of data on connect and several garmin devices, so it would take something exceptional from wahoo to make me buy one.

I Have just got a 840 and now I have got to grips with it, it’s great.

The Edge Explore 2 offers a better screen for £220 if you can do without the training features.

I killed my 810 last week. I’ve just bought a new Edge Explore for £149. I mainly use it for navigation as my Fenix does activity tracking duties.

Garmin have, fairly recently, made some significant improvements to their entire range. Battery life is now excellent instead of just average, routing is quick instead of “Christ, has it still not processed it?!” and the overall user interface is an improvement. Not perfect but much better than it used to be.

Features like ClimbPro are fantastic – I was sceptical at first but it’s brilliant, even on local climbs I know well.

The Connect app is still a bit clunky at times but I just manage all the route planning and stats through Strava.

I’d say yes, well worth an upgrade if you can find some decent BF deals.

wrong thread doh

I went 510 to 530 a couple of years ago and the big upgrade was the maps. I don’t use the training features though. As above the general quality of life stuff seemed to have stepped up a fair bit too- I mean, there’s still the old Garmin insanity of ‘you can have all sounds on and therefore get beeped at every time you go too slow on a tricky climb or have them off and miss turn warnings’ instead of some granularity, but it’s improved.

I do however wish I’d gone 830 as it would make the maps useable without a preprogrammed route whereas now they’re only really useful when following a line. If you’re remotely interested in using the maps get a touchscreen.

I’d suggest giving the Hammerhead Karoo 2 a look. It was crippled by poor off road rerouting that couldn’t be disabled, but now can. The Web application is a joy for planning routes and importing gpx files. The device has the best screen, mapping and user experience of them all ( I’ve used various Garmins, and Wahoo Roam 2). Only downside is battery life. I easily get 8-10 hours and not many of us do longer rides. Currently widely discounted to £220ish – rumours of a Karoo 3 imminent but if it does what you want now, who cares?

If features aren’t needed the Explore 2 is ideal for navigating and ease of reading. I’m more than happy with the Edge Explore (older one) although battery life isn’t fabulous, it will still do 8-9 hours navigating off road routes with ‘power save’ activated, so  not that bad.

I went from a 520+ to an 830 for not a lot of money, and it’s a generally nicer experience all round,  battery life is better, the touch  screen is useful, it’s mostly easy to use – as far as the Garmin UI is generally too easy to get lost in the weeds. Some of the mountain bike specific measurements (grit and flow) are a bit **** really, but easily ignored I guess. 

I’ve just found out about the Edge Explore 2 and it looks perfect for my first Garmin. I want the big screen with the colourful maps and the best navigation, I can do without all the crazy triathlete training info which I don’t even understand anyway.

Currently £224.99 with STW discount which is only a £25 saving. I kind of want to order one now but if they get reduced on Black Friday I’ll be livid.

Have they sorted the touch screen not working in the wet issue yet?

No, not really, but they’re better than they used to be  The rain will really effect the hole of the baro on the underside as well, so the height gained can be screwy.

I had the original explore and it developed the battery issue. Went to a 1040 for battery life and screen size. It has a lot of features that I don’t need but it’s fantastic. If it’s built to the same standards as the old 810, it should last!

Currently £224.99 with STW discount which is only a £25 saving.

Currently £209 on the big A… link.

Have an 810 and a 520. The 520 is smaller which I like, but doesn’t have the touch screen. I miss the screen swipe to change screens. I like the very small size of the 520 and my brain is now honed to buttons. Battery 🔋 only lasts three hours or so.
i don’t care for climb or training modes. The biggest advance of the 520 was removal of bike profiles and a bin of ANT sensors. My profiles are set very carefully and that took time with the buttons. Moving to a new one apparently transfers those modes via Garmin Connect when I do upgrade.

I wouldn’t pay £100 for the touch screen. The 520 used to be recommended over the 810 as the 800/810 had only two buttons. Now the 840 is a 540 with swipe on the screen. That’s not worth it for me.

Currently £209 on the big A… link.

Thanks for that. I can feel a buy coming on. Potentially my first ever Amazon purchase.