Garmin 540/840 launched

Cool, but I still think they're living in a pre-smartphone world. £500+ is a lot to spend on a piece of hardware that could just be an app. It could even be an app buddled with a battery extending case / protector for the phone if they really don't want on give up on selling hardware.

Recently bought an 830 so I’m hoping there aren’t any new features that make me regret being too hasty! The biggest upgrade would actually be debugging the software - I’d pay money for that.

Not really much of an upgrade if you have a 530/830.

Same screen resolution
USB C
Climb pro on non preplanned routes
Better GPS
Solar

Meh.

Not even wireless charging.

Garmin are great at some stuff, but just have their heads stuck in the sand for some basic functionality.

Yeah, bought a 530 last year when Amazon were punting them out at £185, fully in the knowledge that an update was probably not too far away.

USB-C would be nice but, I do not regret my purchase 😃

but I still think they’re living in a pre-smartphone world.

Agreed, in fact it would be nice to have a music option as they have on some of their smart watches to allow me to leave my phone at home more often.

Phone GPS is generally pretty poor compared to dedicated units, and they overheat in the sun, and the touch screens don't like water, the battery runs down really fast with the screen on all the time, and the apps used for recording crash...

Nah. A dedicated GPS unit (be that a bike GPS or a watch) are just better.

I don’t agree, my phone is WAY too expensive, and too big, to want to have on my bars (especially on MTB!)
Maybe I’d go for a cheap, dumb head-unit that could connect to the GPS on my phone, but I don’t really want a bike computer to be running down my phone battery so

Big is kinda the point through. I can record all the data I want on my watch, so that's the default for strava uploads.

I want the thing on my bars to show me a map, and maps are always better on a bigger screen. Garmin don't have the economic scale of phone makers, the hardware is barely-par with a £50 smartphone. I've got a garmin mount stuck to the back of my old S10's case, it's just that so far I've not found an app that makes a decent job of combining navigation/mapping with data display and other metrics. Feels like something STRAVA should be able to do, they must be up there with garmin for shear volume of user data on routes, climbs, etc.

Phone GPS is generally pretty poor compared to dedicated units

I think that's more to do with where your phone is. Burried under stuff in a pocket/camelback, or out in the open on the handlebars.

Putting your phone on your handlebars isn't going to do the camera any good either. A lot of them have OIS and I'm not sure they like the vibration.

For what it's worth, the Edge 1040 is currently available for £480, only £30 more than the Edge 840 and with a bigger screen.

Not sure I see the point of solar given the excellent battery life on the standard model. Maybe for world tours and the TCR.

Not really much of an upgrade if you have a 530/830.

ah but it is now. For the first time in a couple of years use my 830 crapped itself mid-ride at the weekend. A matter of hours after an update. Makes you think . . .

I want the thing on my bars to show me a map

And give me an always on display showing distance to my next way point, to alert me on approach showing where I need to go next, to display my current hr, power, and a bunch of other ride stats,and it's very nice to be able to control it from the magic di2 buttons on my road bike. I've tried the "phone on the bars" and compared to a dedicated device it still falls a fair way short (imo) - maybe there's different use cases or, just perhaps, not everyone likes the same stuff.... But this is the Internet so I am prepared to argue to the death with anyone who has a different opinion.

Dedicated unit over a phone every time - phone is absolutely fine for trail centre riders where you don't need to look for for the next direction marker, but for everything else - phone is used for phone stuff (calls and messaging - so it sits in my bag and tends not to be used). Dedicated GPS unit for riding is much better - better sensors, better range of sensors to get connected, a more efficient battery for how it is being used and a smaller size so if you do go OTB then it is more likely to survive without being smashed.

I've a 520 and I'm thinking an upgrade may be in order - I've no interest in touchscreen, but it would be good to know if these units got included in your Garmin Fitness minutes thing on Garmin Connect - since I've been doing more turbo sessions and using the 520 instead of my watch, my Garmin Fitness Age is creeping up as the activity minutes aren't being counted when recorded on the 520.

If the new units contributed to this then I reckon I could be tempted (as it would hopefully also then get my Garmin Fitness Age reduced (which I know is made up mince, but I have to use something as a gauge!).

These seem to tie-in with Trailforks so that might be suitable for navigation - but again, probably depends on the kind of riding you do - big day out on the hills that is more point-to-point then it might not be great if your route isn't on Trailforks - if you've added it as a Course then it might work very well, but it isn't likely to offer alternative routing if you miss a turn (or deviate as you have changed your route).

They aren't cheap though, but you do get a lot of data recording possibilities (way more than a phone can provide).

I’ve a 520 and I’m thinking an upgrade may be in order – I’ve no interest in touchscreen, but it would be good to know if these units got included in your Garmin Fitness minutes thing on Garmin Connect – since I’ve been doing more turbo sessions and using the 520 instead of my watch, my Garmin Fitness Age is creeping up as the activity minutes aren’t being counted when recorded on the 520.

Activities on my 530 count so I'm certain those on the 540 do.

I hit my minimum possible fitness age last week. It might be a lot of crap but it was nice to see Garmin report that I'm 9 years younger than my "birth" age 🙂

Awesome work! Got a couple of mates who are also using it and we are all trying to better each other - I'm now last in terms of progress! However, the exercise is all making improvements so not all bad.
I see the member discount is doing the 530 for 170 quid...might be tempted if that isn't touchscreen.

Nope - it's all button operated.

I was hanging on for the 540 looks like but much spendy.
I can get a 530 for £160 through work so nearly 200quid more for usb-c and that climb thingy.
i think ill pass and get the 530.

The 530/830/540/840 etc all have physio trueup which means it's all synced between that and any other Garmin watch with the feature - FTP/vo2 max/intensity minutes, training load etc etc.

The Garmin's also have trailforks built in which is fantastic, when you're stopped it switches to a map to tell you which trail you're on/What's coming up.

The fitness age thing is rubbish though, mine has never changed from 20. V02 max is useful though, although again it highly depends on what sort of training you're doing. If you do a load of z2 work it doesn't like that, and you'll see your v02 max dropping. You need to do regular hard sessions to get it to progress.

I held off buying a 530 before Easter when they were £180, ~£400 for the 540 is a joke.

Seems Climb Pro isn't working well on the older models, where you have to plan your route...

New models get predictive Climb Pro...

Newer Climb Pro on beta firmware for 1040...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDQNv0lOM2Q

Interesting comments after a weekend of endlessly having to stop to get my phone out of my pocket to check navigation. I think I just want a simple one with buttons, as my gloves don’t work with touch screens, that links to komoot and Trailforks. Trying to use a fenix watch to navigate by isn’t much good

Edge 1040 can now be had for as little as £468 using the STW member discount at Garmin, only £18 more than the 840.

Edge 1040 can now be had for as little as £468 using the STW member discount at Garmin, only £18 more than the 840.

Can someone explain to me like I'm 36 with a masters degree in engineering, how you actually access any of those deals?

I can log in, find Garmin, and I get a thumbnail of a lovely lady in a sports bra doing single arm rows, which if I click on gives me a full page picture of a lovely lady in a sports bra doing single arm rows. But there doesn't seem to be any sort of link to any sort of shop?

Once you have stopped oggling the image, scroll down and there are some words with some of those words linking through to the Garmin site - click the link and Garmin opens up and gives you all the items on a discount pricing offer.

The brand new instinct 2x solar is also 20% off on there already, at £384.

Once you have stopped oggling the image, scroll down and there are some words with some of those words linking through to the Garmin site – click the link and Garmin opens up and gives you all the items on a discount pricing offer.

None of the words appear to be hyperlinked for me.

Cheers for the link but it didn't work, presumably it's linked to you being logged in.

Works on my phone now but not on the desktop?

It's tempting, although to make any real use of the new functions I guess I also need a power meter (or four, seeing as I'm on a different bike every day seemingly).

Anyone successfully ordered and received a Garmin direct with the discount? I ordered a 530 at the reduced price a couple of hours ago and have just had the order cancelled & refunded with no explanation...

So these (even the previous 530 generation) have Trailforks built in now? And it doesn't require a subscription - is that right?

@noddythegoat looks like the discounted price for the 530 if you become a STW member would still be under £180 including your membership for the year

Also, 540 is £349 though that's still a major price hike from the £229? 260? list price of the 530... I guess will probably be able to get it 10% off list fairly soon (or via a shop discount somewhere. Tredz gave a £25 code as soon as I clicked on the site)

Answered my own question/confusion, it didn't like using Paypal for payment with a different billing to shipping address (even though it lets you fill both out separately). Re-ordered with the same billing & shipping address and it's been despatched!

i had one a few weeks back but it went back as I realised the update was imminent.

however, the benefits the 540 bring are usb-c, climbpro without a route and replaceable 1/4 turn wings (a lot of reviews seem to have over looked the last one) and they are not worth 200 quid!!

I'll be reordering a 530 this weekend

The Edge Explorer 2 @ £250 looks far better value if you're more interested in the mapping rather than roadie metrics and training.

I can record all the data I want on my watch, so that’s the default for strava uploads.

I want the thing on my bars to show me a map, and maps are always better on a bigger screen.

^^this^^ except phones do not make great bike navigation devices (IMO/IME), batteries die faster, they wobble about and are delicate/expensive and their real job just isn't being a bike GPS.
Like you My instinct watch is now my default GPS/HR logging device, so a bar mounted GPS is primarily for navigation, to that end I've taken a 'backwards step' and bought a Lezyne 'super-pro' just to see how it compares to my edge explore as a navigation tool. It might seem odd ditching a bigger colour screen and relatively good native nav for a dinky B&W thing that relies quite a bit on your mobile for routing, but it's been surprisingly good so far, miles ahead on battery life, it handles auto re-routing pretty well and while basic the screen is pretty legible...

If I decide to opt out of Garmin bar mounted GPS I could well be persuaded to try a Lezyne mega XL as that has a bigger screen, claims 48hrs battery life and is currently about half the price of a 540.

Wahoo and hammerhead are also offering more interested looking devices too. I think where Garmin have shone historically is training related stuff, sensor connectivity, metrics on the screen, climb-pro and that sort of stuff, But if navigation is your main concern the competition are making inroads and even climb-pro it's unique to Garmin now...

The Edge Explorer 2 @ £250 looks far better value if you’re more interested in the mapping rather than roadie metrics and training.

Except for it's battery life, read the blurb and it seems clear (to me at least) that the Explore 2 is meant to be plugged into an e-bike...

I'm not completely down on Garmin but if I can get better battery (the solar on 540/840 seems like a gimmick TBH) and decent enough Nav for less outlay then I will.

I’ve just bought a Hammerhead Karoo2 - I’m very very impressed with it. I have come from the awful system included on the Bosch Nyon so I’m easily pleased 😄.  The only downside is the battery life but for me that’s not an issue as I only do day rides and will always be able to charge it up.

Edge Explore

Except for it’s battery life, read the blurb and it seems clear (to me at least) that the Explore 2 is meant to be plugged into an e-bike…

edit - re-read the specs. Explore 2 is bigger and 'up to 16 hours'. 540 up to 24 hours.

Both are 'power mount' compatible so you can run off your e-bike though.

Just based on previous devices I'd knock 25% off of any claims Garmin make for any flavour of 'edge' out if the box, take a bit more off if you're navigating with it.

'Battery saver' on the Explore 2 will probably just turn the screen off between prompts (at least it does on my explore 1) by doing that I can eek 7ish hours of navigational use from it (claimed life of 12hrs IIRC) and you have to do periodic hard resets of the device (deliberatly run it down to zero battery and reset the thing) to recalibrate it's measurement of battery life, if you ever need it for a multi-day trip or just a big day out pack a powerbank.

It's mostly that big old screen that kills it, if you absolutely need a big screen, useful battery life and it has to be a Garmin, either look for a 1030 on sale or take a deep breath and buy a 1040 I reckon...

I certainly wouldn't bother with another 'explore' now; Garmin seem to see it as a third tier device well below the 10xx and 5xx/8xx. It's not just a lack of software features or training metrics, they're happy to short change you on battery life, just be warned...

Just based on previous devices I’d knock 25% off of any claims Garmin make for any flavour of ‘edge’ out if the box, take a bit more off if you’re navigating with it.

Previously I'd have agreed with you, but I have a 1040 and the battery life is bonkers good, in real life. It's almost too good, inasmuch as I would always charge my 820 before a ride since otherwise it'd have no chance of lasting. Now though I just hardly need to charge it, so one day I'll probably pick it up to go out and find it's on 4% or something...

@gray well of course, it's brand new and top of the range.

Hence my advice to give the 'explore' end of their products a swerve, great navigation for the price, bobbins battery, not a tool for "exploring"...

The Extra £100 - £230 quid over an edge explore is worth it IMO. I'm not sure the current asking price for an Edge 540 is worth it compared to a 1030 right now...