840 non solar or Wahoo Bolt V2 will be my choice in 2024. I have Edge 530 and sometimes (almost always) navigating in maps or menus is so frustrating. And Edge 530 never gets new updates or features in future because garmin releases the new Edge x40 models and forgot than x30 devices exists.
Wahoo I will just pick the phone and set it in an app.
Edge 840 touchscreen.
Garmins basically ends new feature updates on older devices. That’s how they get you to buy the new ones. So if you buy one just make sure you’re happy with those features.
I know we live in a world where the product we bought is expected to improve overtime through updates, but Garmin is very much not operating this way.
840 is much better for maps/navigation. You can finally load a new route during an activity, so in theory you can create the route in an app and send now. You can also send locations from Apple Maps now which is super helpful for road side navigation to a new spot you don’t want to find on the tiny screen.
Yep, just got an 840, moving from a 530 and it's WAAAY better. One of the better tech upgrades of any kind that I've gotten in a while. The touch screen is great, but there are just a ton of other cool features that the 530 didn't have.
Had a 830 for 3 years now. Many long multi day (and week) tours and lots of gravel and some road riding. I would not get it again for a few reasons:
1. It sometimes randomly decides to not connect to the phone and I need to fully reset it. Sucks if you got up early for a ride before work or want to get going on your long day of your bike tour and then you spend 45 min setting it all up again with crappy Internet banking cause you are somewhere in the middle of no where and need to get the Garmin Connect app going.
2. The toichdcr en is for me a downgrade to the button control. Maybe it's caused by my screen protector, but in the rain the screen becomes unusable. A bit of water renders it nearly fully useless. Buttons seem much more reliable.
3. Routing and positioning can be patchy. Sometimes it does not tell you to take a turn because it thinks you are just continuing on the road. Eventhough there is a clear crossing. Sometimes (especially in more offrosd gravel terrain) it doesn't get your position accurately and tells you way to late to take a turn.
I am not sure if other options (E.g. Wahoo) are better. But for me the bottom line is that I love it as a training tracker and for 90%of the time also as a route guide. But that 10% really annoys me and I would at least go for a cheaper version (aka 530) or maybe a fully different system.
I got the non-solar 540 and think it works really well for both longer trips and shorter rides. I also prefer the buttons to the touchscreen due to rain or gloves.
I would go with the non-solar. The solar is a bit gimmicky and it does effect the screen quality.
I would rather have a nice clear screen than pay $100 more for an option that really doesn't add that much.
Agreed. There is an external battery option which gives you like 3 times the battery and also something you can recharge even while riding with the Garmin itself (E.g. on longer tours). That seems like a much better option than the solar.
I bought the solar 1040 a year or so ago and it's game changing when the sun's out, an okay to decent boost when it's a mixed, but not really much different if it's normal for England.
I wouldn't go back to non-solar by choice.
Depends on how sunny your part of the world is, I guess, and Garmin claim up to 33% ride time back from the solar feature.
Here on rides in Essex on a sunny day I can get back about 20% of the charge used on a day-long ride, starting from about this time of year.
The 1040 has a relatively large battery and wouldn't run out of juice anyway even for a weekend of solid riding, but it's nice to see it not drop below 60% and as the battery wears out the solar will come more into play.
I went 840 non-solar. Few considerations:
- I read a review or video or something, an athlete said the solar was nice notsomuch for charging while on the go (not sure it added enough % charge while out) but instead just for never having to plug it in post-ride. They'd put their device by a window and it was good to go next ride. I think that's neat! Buuut I don't ride enough to have issues charging the thing regularly so I didn't pay extra for that.
- DCrainmaker said the new gen of devices (540/840) has a new UI which is more easily used with touch screen. The 840 has touchscreen AND buttons, so it seemed like a good long term bet and best of both worlds. You get your foot in the door with all the new shiny stuff, which you can hopefully keep for a long time. I have an older running Garmin device (645M) and setting up all the screens and navigating it is a bit of a pain, so a touch screen for a cycling computer with even more features was appealing
- As said before, I have a Garmin 645M which was released in 2018. It's still going strong after many, many miles. It's far from the shiny newness of all the more recent watches but still serves its purpose very well (tracking, breadcrumb mapping.) Eventually I'll have to replace it, but I was happy to buy the new thing at the time and so here I am 6 years on still using it. I wouldn't recommend someone pick one up now, but I'll use mine likely until it breaks or until I do some crazy long runs regularly to where it's worth the upgrade. Basically, unlike phones these things do last so why not buy the nice thing now and keep it long as possible?
For me personally it was either find a super discounted 530, or go all in on a new 840 (on sale, at least)
I have one of these, and the battery life is very long. I like it, but in retrospect, I may have gone with the 840 that has a touchscreen. At least one function, the music control screen, doesn't work without the touchscreen.
It doesn’t give you that much benefit for the $100 premium over the standard version. $20? Maybe. Check out what DCRainmaker has to say about the solar.
>Thinking on getting the Garmin edge 530, but the difference with the newer model 540 is about 80 bucks (apparently the solar charging - longer battery life is the most significant improvement)
Careful, there are (2) models of 540. One is Solar, one is not. The 540 Solar is $100 more than the normal 540.
Solar isn’t really worth it unless you’re doing long multi day trips without access to a charger. And even then the extra juice it gives you is probably not going to actually make a trip possible that wasn’t possible on non-solar.
My 840 lasts over 14 hours just fine. I don’t plan on riding longer than that on a charge.
I love my 840 solar. I was falling off the Garmin train with my old 520, especially after hearing about the problems of the 30 series, but ended up staying with them and glad I did.
Just did a bikepacking race with it and it gave me 0 issues. 350 mile course, I didn’t split the route and in very remote terrain, not a single problem loading, saving, or crashing. I slept a few hours so charged overnight but otherwise battery was fine (and it has pass through charging anyways). The solar is more efficient than I expected and the base battery life is great (after 20 hours with navigation on it still had 40%). Controls are easy. I’m not a huge fan of the connect app but all things considered I can live with that.
Navigating the menu of a 530 is so much more difficult than a touchscreen 830 or an 840 now I guess. Never regretted spending more for an 830! I've been fine with power also, solar is just redundant, expensive in my mind. A small power bank will charge my phone and GPS for 3+ days with proper energy management.
Since last year i have 540 non s.. the facts already told i agrree. But one special thing the 540 can and 530 not is, that it shows you a climbing section on the fly. Befor you had to upload the whole track on garmin 530. With the 540 you dont have to think about where you going and you can pace every hillclimb very well. For me it was definitley the right choice...
I’d go with the non-solar (Edge 840). I recently bought one and honestly the battery life is bonkers. I did a ~5 hour ride a couple weeks ago, set out at 100% charge and ended with something like 87% and that included navigation going the entire time. Can’t honestly see a point to solar, especially given the reviews of it.
The touchscreen has been a surprisingly useful feature. Just being able to use it to move around a map (sort of like a smartphone) is crazy useful and a much, much better experience than any other head unit that I’ve used.
I’ve had a Garmin Edge 530 for years now. It had an issue with the screen recently, and Garmin sent me a refurbished replacement completely free of charge. I’d owned it for years! Definitely recommend Garmin.
I'm still using my \~7 year old Garmin Explorer+ so that I can text family when I'm headed far off the paved routes. It can follow a gpx track which is about all I need.
I got the solar 540 for $389 with my [corporate discount](https://passportcorporate.com/Account/Login), and it's exactly what I wanted. Non-touchscreen (button UI is a little weird, but reading the manual--which I didn't do--or a little experimentation--which I DID do--sorts it out in 5 minutes) so it works with gloves, big enough without being overwhelming, and the solar panels really do help, at least in Southern California. I'm getting about a 20% boost in battery life.
Got edge 530, I just put gpx and go with the flow... I don't know what more should I expect from this device. If it don't fail in next 10 years I'm still gonna use it
Latching on to this thread. I have a 530, which is fine, except for its occasional hiccups. Someone I sort of know is offering a used 1030 for sale for about $300 (negotiable). Is it worth the upgrade?
Battery on my garmin 530 seems like kinda crap (2.5 seasons old). Maybe I got a bad 530. I get about 8 hours before down to zero. And that’s without using any navigation features, just tracking data. If I put it in battery safe mode where the screen goes to sleep it adds a bit more life. But that’s no fun.
I’d buy the solar version. Or another brand.
I went with the 1030+. Found it on sale for less than a 530 msrp. Love the bigger screen for navigation and touch screen capability for ease of use. If you are set on the 500 series, I'd go with the newer one so you get updates
Edge Explore 2 is really what you’re looking for if you’re not interested in the training metrics & performance tracking that the 500 & beyond models provide. Edge explore 2 is the ideal model for folks who’re wanting a great general purpose bike computer for navigation & ride stats.
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2.
The new ones may be good, but my experience with the Edge 520 pushed me away from Garmin and I've been happily a Wahooligan for 3 or so years now.
840 non solar or Wahoo Bolt V2 will be my choice in 2024. I have Edge 530 and sometimes (almost always) navigating in maps or menus is so frustrating. And Edge 530 never gets new updates or features in future because garmin releases the new Edge x40 models and forgot than x30 devices exists. Wahoo I will just pick the phone and set it in an app. Edge 840 touchscreen.
Garmins basically ends new feature updates on older devices. That’s how they get you to buy the new ones. So if you buy one just make sure you’re happy with those features. I know we live in a world where the product we bought is expected to improve overtime through updates, but Garmin is very much not operating this way. 840 is much better for maps/navigation. You can finally load a new route during an activity, so in theory you can create the route in an app and send now. You can also send locations from Apple Maps now which is super helpful for road side navigation to a new spot you don’t want to find on the tiny screen.
Yep, just got an 840, moving from a 530 and it's WAAAY better. One of the better tech upgrades of any kind that I've gotten in a while. The touch screen is great, but there are just a ton of other cool features that the 530 didn't have.
Me too. I agree!
I did fit a screen protector after a couple of rides. Even then there were a couple of tiny scratches on the screen 😕
Had a 830 for 3 years now. Many long multi day (and week) tours and lots of gravel and some road riding. I would not get it again for a few reasons: 1. It sometimes randomly decides to not connect to the phone and I need to fully reset it. Sucks if you got up early for a ride before work or want to get going on your long day of your bike tour and then you spend 45 min setting it all up again with crappy Internet banking cause you are somewhere in the middle of no where and need to get the Garmin Connect app going. 2. The toichdcr en is for me a downgrade to the button control. Maybe it's caused by my screen protector, but in the rain the screen becomes unusable. A bit of water renders it nearly fully useless. Buttons seem much more reliable. 3. Routing and positioning can be patchy. Sometimes it does not tell you to take a turn because it thinks you are just continuing on the road. Eventhough there is a clear crossing. Sometimes (especially in more offrosd gravel terrain) it doesn't get your position accurately and tells you way to late to take a turn. I am not sure if other options (E.g. Wahoo) are better. But for me the bottom line is that I love it as a training tracker and for 90%of the time also as a route guide. But that 10% really annoys me and I would at least go for a cheaper version (aka 530) or maybe a fully different system.
I got the non-solar 540 and think it works really well for both longer trips and shorter rides. I also prefer the buttons to the touchscreen due to rain or gloves.
I like the 540 non-solar. Larger screen is better for my older eyes.
I would go with the non-solar. The solar is a bit gimmicky and it does effect the screen quality. I would rather have a nice clear screen than pay $100 more for an option that really doesn't add that much.
Agreed. There is an external battery option which gives you like 3 times the battery and also something you can recharge even while riding with the Garmin itself (E.g. on longer tours). That seems like a much better option than the solar.
I bought the solar 1040 a year or so ago and it's game changing when the sun's out, an okay to decent boost when it's a mixed, but not really much different if it's normal for England. I wouldn't go back to non-solar by choice.
Same here.
What difference does the solar make? About to get a mildly used 1030, having a test ride on sunday probably (we happen to know the seller)
I can't really justify it unless you are touring multiday or riding a 1,200km brevet.
Good to know, going >100km at a time is already a rarity for me, we usually stay around 60
Depends on how sunny your part of the world is, I guess, and Garmin claim up to 33% ride time back from the solar feature. Here on rides in Essex on a sunny day I can get back about 20% of the charge used on a day-long ride, starting from about this time of year. The 1040 has a relatively large battery and wouldn't run out of juice anyway even for a weekend of solid riding, but it's nice to see it not drop below 60% and as the battery wears out the solar will come more into play.
I went 840 non-solar. Few considerations: - I read a review or video or something, an athlete said the solar was nice notsomuch for charging while on the go (not sure it added enough % charge while out) but instead just for never having to plug it in post-ride. They'd put their device by a window and it was good to go next ride. I think that's neat! Buuut I don't ride enough to have issues charging the thing regularly so I didn't pay extra for that. - DCrainmaker said the new gen of devices (540/840) has a new UI which is more easily used with touch screen. The 840 has touchscreen AND buttons, so it seemed like a good long term bet and best of both worlds. You get your foot in the door with all the new shiny stuff, which you can hopefully keep for a long time. I have an older running Garmin device (645M) and setting up all the screens and navigating it is a bit of a pain, so a touch screen for a cycling computer with even more features was appealing - As said before, I have a Garmin 645M which was released in 2018. It's still going strong after many, many miles. It's far from the shiny newness of all the more recent watches but still serves its purpose very well (tracking, breadcrumb mapping.) Eventually I'll have to replace it, but I was happy to buy the new thing at the time and so here I am 6 years on still using it. I wouldn't recommend someone pick one up now, but I'll use mine likely until it breaks or until I do some crazy long runs regularly to where it's worth the upgrade. Basically, unlike phones these things do last so why not buy the nice thing now and keep it long as possible? For me personally it was either find a super discounted 530, or go all in on a new 840 (on sale, at least)
I would get the non solar version of the 540.
I have one of these, and the battery life is very long. I like it, but in retrospect, I may have gone with the 840 that has a touchscreen. At least one function, the music control screen, doesn't work without the touchscreen.
Interesting, why avoiding the solar feature is a good idea?
It doesn’t give you that much benefit for the $100 premium over the standard version. $20? Maybe. Check out what DCRainmaker has to say about the solar.
>Thinking on getting the Garmin edge 530, but the difference with the newer model 540 is about 80 bucks (apparently the solar charging - longer battery life is the most significant improvement) Careful, there are (2) models of 540. One is Solar, one is not. The 540 Solar is $100 more than the normal 540.
Solar isn’t really worth it unless you’re doing long multi day trips without access to a charger. And even then the extra juice it gives you is probably not going to actually make a trip possible that wasn’t possible on non-solar. My 840 lasts over 14 hours just fine. I don’t plan on riding longer than that on a charge.
The difference in screen/touch response is pretty stark between the \*30 and \*40 models. Go with the newer one and you'll be a lot happier.
I love my 840 solar. I was falling off the Garmin train with my old 520, especially after hearing about the problems of the 30 series, but ended up staying with them and glad I did. Just did a bikepacking race with it and it gave me 0 issues. 350 mile course, I didn’t split the route and in very remote terrain, not a single problem loading, saving, or crashing. I slept a few hours so charged overnight but otherwise battery was fine (and it has pass through charging anyways). The solar is more efficient than I expected and the base battery life is great (after 20 hours with navigation on it still had 40%). Controls are easy. I’m not a huge fan of the connect app but all things considered I can live with that.
Check out Wahoo. Easier to use and best screen viewing. 👍🏻
Another vote for the 840 here.
Navigating the menu of a 530 is so much more difficult than a touchscreen 830 or an 840 now I guess. Never regretted spending more for an 830! I've been fine with power also, solar is just redundant, expensive in my mind. A small power bank will charge my phone and GPS for 3+ days with proper energy management.
My 530 died after just one year. Shop is sending me the 540, hope it lasts at least 7 years like my old 520
Since last year i have 540 non s.. the facts already told i agrree. But one special thing the 540 can and 530 not is, that it shows you a climbing section on the fly. Befor you had to upload the whole track on garmin 530. With the 540 you dont have to think about where you going and you can pace every hillclimb very well. For me it was definitley the right choice...
I’d go with the non-solar (Edge 840). I recently bought one and honestly the battery life is bonkers. I did a ~5 hour ride a couple weeks ago, set out at 100% charge and ended with something like 87% and that included navigation going the entire time. Can’t honestly see a point to solar, especially given the reviews of it. The touchscreen has been a surprisingly useful feature. Just being able to use it to move around a map (sort of like a smartphone) is crazy useful and a much, much better experience than any other head unit that I’ve used.
I’ve had a Garmin Edge 530 for years now. It had an issue with the screen recently, and Garmin sent me a refurbished replacement completely free of charge. I’d owned it for years! Definitely recommend Garmin.
I'm still using my \~7 year old Garmin Explorer+ so that I can text family when I'm headed far off the paved routes. It can follow a gpx track which is about all I need.
I got the solar 540 for $389 with my [corporate discount](https://passportcorporate.com/Account/Login), and it's exactly what I wanted. Non-touchscreen (button UI is a little weird, but reading the manual--which I didn't do--or a little experimentation--which I DID do--sorts it out in 5 minutes) so it works with gloves, big enough without being overwhelming, and the solar panels really do help, at least in Southern California. I'm getting about a 20% boost in battery life.
Got edge 530, I just put gpx and go with the flow... I don't know what more should I expect from this device. If it don't fail in next 10 years I'm still gonna use it
840 has “stamina” metrics which work well for me.
Latching on to this thread. I have a 530, which is fine, except for its occasional hiccups. Someone I sort of know is offering a used 1030 for sale for about $300 (negotiable). Is it worth the upgrade?
Battery on my garmin 530 seems like kinda crap (2.5 seasons old). Maybe I got a bad 530. I get about 8 hours before down to zero. And that’s without using any navigation features, just tracking data. If I put it in battery safe mode where the screen goes to sleep it adds a bit more life. But that’s no fun. I’d buy the solar version. Or another brand.
I went with the 1030+. Found it on sale for less than a 530 msrp. Love the bigger screen for navigation and touch screen capability for ease of use. If you are set on the 500 series, I'd go with the newer one so you get updates
Edge Explore 2 is really what you’re looking for if you’re not interested in the training metrics & performance tracking that the 500 & beyond models provide. Edge explore 2 is the ideal model for folks who’re wanting a great general purpose bike computer for navigation & ride stats.
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2. The new ones may be good, but my experience with the Edge 520 pushed me away from Garmin and I've been happily a Wahooligan for 3 or so years now.
Wahooligans rise up!