00:07today Garmin is announcing the
00:09long-awaited edge 540 in Edge 840
00:13cycling computers and it's been four
00:15years since they've updated this very
00:17popular series of devices and just like
00:19me over those four years it's become a
00:22little bit wider since 2019 but they've
00:25also got a few new tricks up their
00:26sleeves so in this video we'll go over
00:28everything that I think that you should
00:30know about these new devices and like
00:32always I'll tell you what I like about
00:34them what I wish were different and of
00:36course my overall buying recommendations
00:38when it comes to these all new Garmin
00:41Edge 540 and 840 cycling computers
00:49okay first things first there are a few
00:51more buying options than there have been
00:53in the past because each of these new
00:55cycling computers now has a solar option
00:58but the base model of the edge 540 now
01:00costs 350 dollars in the base model of
01:03the 840 now cost 450 of course the
01:07difference between the 500 series of
01:09devices in the 800 series of devices is
01:12basically that the 800 series of devices
01:14has a touchscreen and that's similar to
01:16how it's been in the past so each of
01:18these base models has gotten a 50 price
01:21bump which I think we could attribute to
01:23inflation perhaps but there's also solar
01:26models of each of these devices which
01:28cost an additional hundred dollars more
01:30so that's 450 dollars for the edge 540
01:33solar and 550 dollars for the edge 840
01:37solar and I'll leave links to the best
01:39place to buy each of these in the
01:40description of this video as well as
01:42I'll pin a comment to the top so you
01:43guys can find it easily as well as any
01:45sort of discount codes that I can find
01:47for you guys and I think I'll be able to
01:49find one it's kind of hard to find
01:51discount codes for brand new products so
01:53how much more battery life do you get
01:55when you get the solar well the base
01:57model of both of these devices will go
01:5926 hours in a high demand use case
02:02scenario they also have a battery saver
02:04mode which will go 42 hours so that's up
02:07quite a bit from the around 20 hours
02:09that the 530 and 830 could do and if I
02:12had to guess I'd probably say it's
02:14mostly due to the new multi-band GPS
02:16chip that's part of both of these
02:18devices now the solar version can go
02:21about 32 hours with about 75 000 Lux of
02:25direct sunlight on there or about 60
02:27hours in that battery saver mode in 75
02:30000 Lux is a pretty reasonable estimate
02:32for Garmin to use for these solar
02:34devices I'd say that your cycling
02:36computer out in the sun on an out front
02:38mount should be able to get that on a
02:40decently sunny day even here in the
02:43Pacific Northwest in the Solar versions
02:45of both of these devices have a solar
02:47intensity page where you actually can
02:49see how much sun you're getting and
02:51actually how it's affecting the battery
02:53life the solar versions will also tell
02:55you as you turn it off how much solar
02:58it's seeing so if you want to you can
03:00kind of place it somewhere sunny and you
03:02can actually charge this while the
03:04device is turned off and I should also
03:06say that the solar versions do weigh a
03:08slight amount more it's only four grams
03:11I can't imagine it's enough that you'd
03:13notice if you are holding both of them
03:14in your hands but I know how some of you
03:16guys are especially when it comes to
03:18weighing things that go on your bike
03:30if you do decide to buy one of these in
03:32the Box you're going to see the device
03:33itself three mounts one out front and
03:37two stem mounts two little Allen
03:39wrenches for attaching the out front
03:41mount USBC charging cord two rubber
03:44shims of different thicknesses a little
03:46lanyard instruction manual and warranty
03:49and safety information
04:01now looking at these new devices the
04:04thing that I think you'll probably
04:05notice first is just the new size and
04:07shape of the 540 and 840 compared to the
04:10older devices it just looks a little bit
04:12wider here and I should also say that
04:14the dimensions of the 540 540 solar 840
04:17and 840 solar they're all exactly the
04:20same but comparing it to the 530 or in
04:22this case it's actually an old 830 you
04:25can actually see it's a bit wider here
04:27the new 540 and 840 are actually about
04:2958.3 millimeters wide if you actually
04:31measure button to button here and the
04:34older unit was more along the lines of
04:3651.5 millimeters now the height of the
04:38device is pretty much the same as the
04:40older 53830 devices the older ones were
04:4384.5 millimeters and the height of this
04:46new one is almost exactly the same it
04:48might be a half a millimeter longer and
04:50it's actually a little bit Slimmer in
04:52depth the older one was almost 21
04:54millimeters in depth and the new one is
04:57about 19 and a half millimeters in depth
04:59here's how the device looks compared to
05:01a few other popular devices on the
05:03market and here's how they look compared
05:05to some of garmin's older devices feel
05:07free to pause the video but hopefully
05:10that gives you some idea on size if
05:12you're considering upgrading from a
05:14previous iteration of an edge device but
05:16you can see that the screen size stays
05:18pretty much the same until you get all
05:20the way up to that 1030 Plus in the 1040
05:23solar here on the far right in like the
05:251040 the new 540 and 840 devices are all
05:28powered by USBC instead of micro USB
05:31which is a nice little Improvement and I
05:33also think that the new cover on the
05:35bottom of these devices is actually a
05:36little bit bigger and a little bit
05:38easier to open on the new device
05:40compared to the old device and even
05:42comparing it to that 1040 device and
05:44that charging port cover is still
05:46attached the same way it's a little
05:48rubbery attachment so it is possible
05:50that we'll still see issues with these
05:52charging port cover covers getting
05:59now when you actually fire up either of
06:02these little devices you're going to
06:03notice the new UI right away it's very
06:06similar to the edge 1040 devices if
06:08you've seen any of those videos or if
06:10you have an edge 1040 device yourself in
06:13fact that's going to be kind of a theme
06:14in this video all the 1040 updates and
06:17features they're all brought over to
06:19these new 540 and 840 devices for
06:22example you can now set up your Edge
06:24cycling computer edit data fields all of
06:27that right from your phone on the Garmin
06:29Connect app and I think a lot of you
06:30guys will probably prefer that setup
06:32method but one of the updates that I'm
06:34most excited about on these devices is
06:37an update to the climb Pro Ascent
06:38planner feature and that's the feature
06:40that allows you to see the gradients of
06:42climbs as you're climbing them and it'll
06:44actually show you how much you have left
06:45on any particular climb it used to be
06:48that you'd have to actually plan a route
06:50either on the device or on a computer or
06:53something like that and load that
06:55particular route details before you
06:57could get the climb Pro feature but now
06:59the planned route part it's not required
07:02meaning that Garmin is going to make
07:04some assumptions about the direction
07:05that you're heading and it'll show you
07:07climb details even if you don't have a
07:09planned route if you do happen to make
07:11an unexpected turn it's not a huge deal
07:13it just switches out of that climb Pro
07:16screen early and this kind of brings it
07:18in line with how the Hammerhead crew too
07:20does things and I actually much prefer
07:22it that way I almost never plug in a
07:24ride route when I'm going out for a bike
07:26ride unless I really want to see The
07:28Climb Pro screen itself now I don't
07:30actually have to worry about that which
07:31is fantastic I just I like the Klein Pro
07:34screen and I like not having a
07:37particular direction or route to go I
07:39guess you could also say that it's a
07:41nice competitive Advantage if you're
07:43comparing Garmin to Wahoo devices which
07:45I do want to do I want to make some more
07:47videos comparing some of these newer
07:49Garmin devices to some of the newer
07:50Wahoo devices let me know in the comment
07:52section if you want to see that but
07:54Wahoo does have a client Pro style
07:55feature they call it Summit segments I
07:58think but that's one of those devices
08:00that you do have to plan the route to be
08:02able to see those particular climb
08:04details Now power guide is another new
08:06feature on the 540 and 840 basically
08:09it'll give you suggested power metrics
08:11in order to write a specific route as
08:12fast as possible so it's looking at the
08:15course so that's stuff like the course
08:17distance and the course elevation but
08:19it's also looking at yourself and your
08:21own FTP how much power you can push and
08:24as you know if you push the climbs a
08:25little bit and then ease up the power on
08:27downhills a little bit overall your
08:29time's just going to end up being a
08:30touch faster so the power guide feature
08:33does all of that work for you and all
08:35you have to do is just follow the
08:37suggested power numbers on the screen
08:38there's also two new metrics one called
08:41stamina and one called stamina potential
08:43that are available on these devices I
08:46guess technically as part of these
08:47metrics there's also an estimation of
08:49time and distance that you could hold a
08:51current given effort that time is
08:53rounded to five minutes and the distance
08:55is rounded to half a mile or half a
08:57kilometer but the basics are that stem
08:59is your short-term fatigue and stamina
09:02potential is your longer term fatigue so
09:04if you hit a short Hill your stamina
09:06might go down a little bit but it might
09:08also recover on the next you know
09:10descent or sometime like that whereas
09:12the stamina potential will slowly
09:14decrease over a longer period of time
09:16and this is a metric that we've had on
09:19the 1040 as well as a lot of the Garmin
09:22watches and things like that that are
09:24out there but it's also a metric that I
09:26find I'd say a little bit more useful on
09:28a cycling computer as opposed to a
09:31running device where you might be going
09:32a little bit shorter distance there's
09:34also a new insight in here that they
09:36call cycling ability it's not something
09:38that I find super useful but it'll tell
09:42you if it thinks that you're an
09:43all-arounder or a sprinter or you know
09:46in my case an endurance specialist which
09:50I think is just Garmin kind of calling
09:52me slow now if you also have a power
09:54meter and a heart rate monitor the 540
09:57and the 840 will do a pretty good job of
09:58a assessing your training status in your
10:01acute load it'll actually give you a
10:03daily suggested workout and those
10:05workouts can have little training
10:06prompts right on the screen itself and
10:09that stuff can actually be based on an
10:10event that you designate and you decide
10:12that you're training for now also on the
10:15540 and the 840 is a new GPS chip and
10:18that GPS chip allows for multi-band gnss
10:21or the ability to connect to multiple
10:23satellite systems at the same time now
10:26recently I went out cycling with I think
10:28four cycling computers and two watches I
10:32actually had one cycling computer in my
10:34back pocket it's a little dangerous
10:35being out there like this I don't think
10:37anyone wants to be out there looking
10:38like DC Rainmaker but it's probably the
10:41best way to compare GPS accuracy on
10:44these new devices so if we pull up a map
10:47here we can actually take a look and we
10:48can actually see that the 540 that I
10:52have on hand here it is more accurate
10:54than some of the computers that don't
10:56have multi-band GPS is it something that
10:58you really truly need when you're just
11:01doing Road cycling probably not but I do
11:04think that some of those differences
11:05when you get into some more technical
11:07stuff maybe mountain biking maybe biking
11:10next to some sheer rock wall and things
11:12like that you may have better results in
11:23what's the difference between the
11:25all-new 540 and the 840 well it's
11:28primarily the touch screen and I think
11:30that this new UI does lend itself a bit
11:33more to touch screen but I'm also
11:35thankful that the 840 has the same
11:37button configuration options as the 540
11:40just like garmin's high-end watches you
11:43can use the touchscreen or the buttons
11:45to accomplish pretty much whatever you
11:47want to do on the 840. that's actually
11:49kind of new the 830 device actually
11:52eliminated buttons in comparison to the
11:54530 device so yes they're just requiring
11:57that you use the touchscreen itself and
11:59they eliminated four of the buttons on
12:01this particular device so I'm happy to
12:02see Garmin bring them back on the 840
12:05device also if you look closely at both
12:08the 540 and the 840 the 540 actually has
12:11this slight gray color trim it's kind of
12:14along the edge and the 840 is all black
12:17then the other place you might be able
12:19to tell a slight difference between
12:21these two device is if you look at the
12:23charging port cover you can read Edge
12:25540 or 840 and then solar if that's the
12:29option that you choose
12:36okay so after all that it might sound
12:38like there's a ton of new changes here
12:40but I think a lot of the fundamentals
12:42are still the same the screen for
12:44example still pretty much the same
12:46screens 246 by 322 pixels it's a 2.6
12:51inch color memory and pixel
12:52transflective display and I do think the
12:55display I would say it looks a little
12:57bit better on the new device I think it
12:59has a little bit more contrast and a
13:01little less of that glare than the
13:03previous model had and currently as of
13:06early April 2023 I am seeing the
13:09previous Garmin Edge units the 530 and
13:11the a30 for 50 off their suggested
13:14retail price so that's 250 dollars for
13:16the 530 350 dollars for the 830. so if
13:20none of the new hardware or any of the
13:22new features that I've been chatting
13:23about here in this video are all that
13:24appealing to you uh saving money that's
13:27always a great option I will say you
13:30know my hesitation would be that Garmin
13:32is going to continue to innovate on the
13:34software side of things through firmware
13:35updates and it will be unlikely that
13:37they're going to continue to support
13:38devices that are four years old or older
13:42so looking at these new devices I think
13:44I'd probably lean towards the non-solar
13:47840 touch screen device if it were me
13:49and that's actually for a few reasons
13:51for me you know I don't actually live in
13:53the high desert there's not a ton of sun
13:55here for the most part I'm in the
13:57Pacific Northwest and there's a lot of
13:59rain however when I'm out doing longer
14:01rides it's probably going to be decently
14:04sunny out I just don't see myself
14:05needing the extra six hours that you
14:08could potentially get from solar I think
14:11that it's you know more likely that I'll
14:13even a long ride would be maybe six
14:15hours total and then of course that
14:18extra hundred dollars is a huge jump in
14:20price going from The Edge 840 to the
14:22edge 840 solar like 22 percent increase
14:26in price and then you know why I think I
14:29would go for the 840 versus the 540 is
14:32the the new UI and at least for me it
14:34really feels like it's designed with
14:36with touch in mind I'm actually a huge
14:39fan of having buttons or at least the
14:40option for buttons on all of the
14:42high-end Garmin watches that I test and
14:44love I love having buttons as an option
14:46and then the touchscreen more for you
14:48know going through some sort of detailed
14:50Graphics or something like that or or
14:52even maybe using it as more of a backup
15:02okay overall I do really think that this
15:05is a good update for Garmin but similar
15:07to my 1040 review I do wish that Garmin
15:10had pushed the envelope a little bit
15:11more with this update it's been four
15:14years since they've updated this device
15:15and I would have loved to have seen
15:17something like wireless charging on
15:19these devices Garmin does have one
15:21device that has wireless charging as
15:23their Vivo move watch I think I haven't
15:25tested it but I think that's the one
15:26that they have and it does use that QI
15:29charging system it seems awesome and I
15:31think that would be fantastic for a
15:32cycling computer just put it down and
15:34have it charge I'd also love to see
15:36Garmin design these devices to where you
15:38could more easily replace the batteries
15:41when it gets a little bit old these
15:43Lithium-ion batteries they really start
15:45to degrade after about two years or so
15:48I'd also love to see Garmin move the
15:50start and split buttons a little bit I'd
15:53actually like to see them move them uh
15:55up on top of the display itself or up on
15:58the top of the device itself they
16:00actually have done this in the past with
16:01the edge 810 I believe of course waku
16:04does it they have their three buttons on
16:06top here so it's like start stop and
16:08select and it is a bit easier when
16:10you're biking and especially if you have
16:12one of those nice out front mounts and
16:14you don't want to dig your finger in
16:15between the handlebar and the cycling
16:17computer itself to start your ride or
16:19even worse to try to hit a split while
16:22you're doing a workout and then I guess
16:23you'd have the same problem if you're
16:25actually trying to charge these
16:28computers via the USB cable while you're
16:30actually out on the go and you have your
16:32device on one of those out front mounts
16:34Garmin does make this um they have like
16:36a charging power pack for cycling I
16:38actually haven't used it but actually
16:40goes on the bottom of your out front
16:41mount and it adds I think 24 hours of
16:45additional battery life it actually
16:46looks like a cool product definitely
16:47something that it be interesting to
16:49check out for sure in the new 840 and
16:52540 they are of course compatible with
16:54that device any of these bike computers
16:56that you see those little metal prongs
16:58on the bottom that's what that's for and
17:00yes you could just move the computer
17:02itself up to the stem of your bike I get
17:04it I do that I actually do that on my
17:06mountain bike I just think a lot of us
17:07would prefer those out front mounts I
17:09think it's just like a design thing I
17:11like the way it looks it's just a little
17:12bit smoother when it's in line with my
17:14handlebars might just be me I don't know
17:16let me know in the comment section what
17:18you guys prefer last thing that I wish
17:20were different I think this is kind of
17:22always my deal uh the price I really
17:25wish that this was more similar to the
17:28price that it was in the past I was
17:30actually really proud of Garmin when
17:32they lowered the price of the base model
17:34of the 955 and then even with its 965
17:37with its AMOLED display it's actually
17:39the same price as it was for that
17:41previous version the 945 models at 600
17:44bucks but I think you know inflation is
17:46real it's it's somewhat understandable I
17:50think the problem that we run into here
17:52is that garmin's mid-tier model now the
17:54A40 is either 450 or 550 whereas the
17:58rest of the Market's high-end devices
18:00are closer to 400 and I'm thinking about
18:02you know the Hammerhead Crew 2 or the
18:05Wahoo element Rome version two those are
18:08kind of in that 400 range but what do
18:10you guys think is this something that
18:11you would consider what do you guys
18:13think of the price uh you guys you guys
18:16know how I am I always love to continue
18:17these conversations down in the comments
18:20section and let me know if you'd be
18:22interested in a comparison between the
18:24540 and the Wahoo bolt version too kind
18:27of their mid-tier entry-level cycling
18:30computers from each of those companies
18:32either way solid update here from Garmin
18:35and it's been a long time coming so huge
18:38congrats to the Garmin team over there
18:39for making this happen and as always for
18:42you guys make sure you're getting out
18:44there swimming biking running rinsing
18:46and repeating it all over again in and
18:49we will see you guys on the next one
