Garmin Edge bike computers: buyer’s guide to all the models
We explain them all, from the Garmin Edge 1030 all the way down to the Edge 130
Garmin Edge bike computers are one of the most popular go-to choices for cyclists.
Over time, Garmin has increased the feature-set seen on its GPS bike computers and has extended these to all but its entry-level models.
So what does the Garmin Edge range offer and which one’s right for you?
What can a Garmin GPS computer do?
At a minimum, a bike computer will let you track where you’ve been, how far and how fast. It will usually have a GPS chip that keeps track of your position, although some budget models will pair with a smartphone and use that device’s GPS data.
All Garmin Edge computers have their own GPS chips though, and get position data from the Glonass, Galileo and standard GPS satellite constellations.
That basic data can be augmented with a raft of extras.
Most computers will give you mapping, letting you plan and follow a route, with turn-by-turn navigation. Cheaper models have just a breadcrumb trail that doesn’t superimpose your route on a base map.
You can also pair your computer wirelessly with peripheral devices such as a heart rate monitor strap, speed and cadence sensors, and a power meter to get more information on your performance.
Entry-level Edge models are controlled using buttons on the sides of the unit, whereas more expensive ones include a touchscreen. The screen gets larger as you move up the range too, and goes from black-and-white to a colour display.
All Garmin Edge computers let you control Garmin’s Varia front and rear lights, with the rear-facing units using radar to alert you via your computer of approaching vehicles. Most of the range can also be used to control the Garmin Virb action camera.
You can also link your computer to the Garmin Connect web app, where you can view and analyse your data and plan routes.
There’s a supplementary Garmin smartphone app too. This allows you to pair your Edge to your phone, and they will talk to one another, with the computer showing you notifications of incoming calls and texts. The app can also share your position and other metrics with other riders and family at home.
The Garmin Edge range explained
The Garmin Edge range starts with the basic models that feature simple black-and-white screen. Moving up the range gets you increasingly larger devices with larger format colour touchscreens and more training data available. That said, even the base models have a lot of Garmin’s features included.
As well as offering standalone computers, Garmin also sells bundles for each Edge model.
These package up the Edge computer with other kit, such as a sensor bundle, which adds a heart rate monitor strap and speed and cadence sensors.
Opt for the mountain bike bundle and you get an off-road-specific mount, a silicone case for the computer and a remote, so you can operate it without taking your hands off the bars.
Garmin has recently done some housekeeping on its Edge range, discontinuing some older longstanding models, so you might not see some familiar names below.
We’ll start with the simplest, most affordable Garmin Edge computers, and work up from there.
Current models in the Garmin Edge series
Garmin Edge 130
- Best for: Riders wanting easy set up and plenty of functionality without the bells and whistles
If you just want basic cycling data and don’t want a whole load of extra features, the Garmin Edge 130 gives you exactly that.
That means you also won’t spend ages setting it up rather than enjoying your ride.
The Edge 130 is compact too, weighing just 33g with overall dimensions of 62 x 40 x 17mm.
You get a super-sharp 36 x 27mm monochrome screen. It’s not a touchscreen, with the unit being controlled by five buttons on its sides, but the resolution is higher than Garmin’s more expensive models.
A pre-plotted route can be uploaded, which is displayed as a breadcrumb trail without a basemap. You do, however, get notification as you’re coming up to a turn.
Connectivity is via ANT+ and Bluetooth, the latter letting you pair the computer to your phone.
This will give you a notification for incoming calls and text messages, and also lets you push out your location via LiveTrack to a pre-defined list of email addresses.
Garmin quotes a battery life of up to 15 hours for the Edge 130.
- Read our Garmin Edge 130 review
- Navigation: Basic, breadcrumb-style with no basemap
- Training data: Basic speed, distance, time, elevation, heart rate and power data field
- Connectivity: USB, ANT+, Bluetooth
- Compatibility: ANT+, Garmin Varia, Connect IQ
- Size: 40 × 62 × 17mm
- Screen: 27 × 36mm, black and white
- Price: £149.99 / $149.99 / AU$299
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge 130
Garmin Edge 520 Plus
- Best for: Riders looking for lots of training metrics in a compact package
A bit larger than the Edge 130 at 73 x 49 x 21mm, the 63g Garmin Edge 520 Plus packs in a colour screen that’s 47 x 35mm. It’s still controlled via an array of buttons – seven in total – rather than a touchscreen.
The 520 Plus gets more features, including displaying Garmin’s Cycle Map basemap, so you get turn-by-turn navigation both on and off road. As with the Edge 130, there’s also Strava Live Segment compatibility (though to use this you need to be a paying Strava Subscriber).
Pair the computer up with a power meter and you can also track functional threshold power (FTP) and other performance metrics. It will also pair with SRAM and Shimano electronic groupsets to show you which ratio you are using.
- Read our Garmin Edge 520 Plus review
- Navigation: Good, with turn-by-turn directions, Garmin Cycle Map, automatic rerouting colour mapping and back-to-start feature
- Training data: Speed, altitude, power, heart rate, cadence, calories, gear selection (for electronic drivetrains), distance, time, temperature, sunset time, workout counters and more
- Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth
- Compatibility: ANT+, Shimano Di2, SRAM eTap
- Size: 49mm x 73mm
- Screen: 35mm x 47mm, 200 x 265 pixels, colour
- Price: £259 / $279 / AU$449
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge 520 Plus
Garmin Edge Explore
- Best for: Riders wanting navigation functionality but not interested in performance metrics
There’s just one Garmin Edge Explore now, and it’s a big one. In terms of form factor, it is most akin to the Edge 1030, with a large color touchscreen, a weight of 116g and up to 12 hours battery life.
At under half the price of the Edge 1030, the Edge Explore cuts out many of the performance features of the latter to concentrate on navigation, including the Garmin Cycle Map and turn-by-turn navigation. There’s also the ability to create a route on the device itself.
You get the basics such as speed and distance, and can hook up via ANT+ or Bluetooth with peripheral devices.
- Navigation: Turn-by-turn directions, Garmin Cycle Map, automatic re-routing, colour mapping and back-to-start feature
- Training data: Speed, altitude, power, heart rate, cadence, calories, distance, time, temperature,
- Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth
- Compatibility: ANT+, Bluetooth
- Size: 105mm x 55mm x 22mm
- Screen: 39mm x 65mm, 240 x 400 pixels, colour touchscreen
- Price: £219.99 / $249.99 / AU$N/A
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge Explore
Garmin Edge 530
Best for: Riders wanting the functionality of Garmin’s larger computers but in a compact package.
A bit larger than the Edge 520 Plus, the Edge 530 weighs 76g and has a slightly larger screen too at 51 x 38mm, while battery life is increased to a claimed 20 hours.
It ups the training emphasis, adding effectiveness measures and VO2 max, as well as recovery time. It also adds the ClimbPro feature, which tells you how much further a climb goes on and how steep it gets ahead.
The Bike Alarm is also a nice security feature that tells you via your smartphone if the bike is moved while you’re away from it.
It’s also the first model up the range to get WiFi-connectivity built in, so you can exchange data wirelessly, rather than needing to use a USB cable to connect up to your computer.
As with the Edge 520 Plus there’s a colour screen with basemaps. What you don’t get with the Edge 530 is a touchscreen. For that you’ll need to step up to the Edge 830 or Edge 1030.
- Read the full review of the Garmin Edge 530
- Navigation: Good, aimed primarily at following courses created in advance, with excellent turn-by-turn instructions and hazard warnings. Non-touchscreen means browsing map is mostly a waste of time
- Training data: Speed, altitude, power, heart rate, cadence, calories, gear selection (for electronic drivetrains), distance, time, temperature, navigation, performance monitoring and more
- Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth, BLE, WiFi
- Compatibility: ANT+ and ANT+ shifting, power meter and bike trainer, Shimano Di2, Vector power meter, Garmin Varia and Virb
- Size: 85mm long × 51mm wide × 16mm thick (20mm total including protruding mount)
- Screen: 38mm × 51mm (2.6in diagonal), 246 × 322 pixel colour screen (non-touchscreen)
- Price: £259.99 / $299.99 / AU$499 as tested, now £229.99 / $299.99 / AU$499
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge 530
Garmin Edge 830
- Best for: Riders wanting a larger format device with a touchscreen
The Garmin Edge 830 is the first model in the Edge range to get touchscreen control of its functions. It’s larger, but not a lot heavier, than the Edge 530 at 79g and with a larger 74 x 48mm colour touchscreen.
We also found it relatively easy to input a destination onto the device, although route calculation isn’t great, despite its Trendline routing based on riders’ most popular roads and trails.
- Read the full review of the Garmin Edge 830
- Navigation: Good, maps and navigation features are easy to understand and it’s relatively simple to programme routes. On-device route calculation isn’t great, though
- Training data: Speed, altitude, power, heart rate, cadence, calories, gear selection (for electronic drivetrains), distance, time, temperature, navigation, performance monitoring and more
- Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth, BLE, WiFi
- Compatibility: ANT+ and ANT+ shifting, power meter and bike trainer, Shimano Di2, Vector power meter, Garmin Varia and Virb
- Size: 48mm x 74.5mm
- Screen: 50mm x 82mm, 246 x 322 pixels, colour touchscreen
- Price: £349.99 / €399.99 / $399.99 / AU$599
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge 830
Garmin Edge 1030
- Best for: Riders wanting all the bells and whistles (and they’re willing to pay for it)
Top of the Garmin Edge tree, the Edge 1030 gives you a comprehensive feature-set in Garmin’s largest format. That’s 114 x 59 x 19mm with an 89mm diagonal colour touchscreen and a weight of 123g.
Battery life is around 20 hours, though this can be extended with an additional external battery that connects via terminals on the base of the computer’s mount.
You can store up to 200 hours of ride history and the Edge 1030 is the only model where you can add a MicroSD card if you want more storage.
That large screen means you can fit up to ten data fields at once and change them on the fly. Plus you get a really detailed basemap and the turn-by-turn navigation alerts you to hazards like sharp bends ahead.
- Read the full review of the Garmin Edge 1030
- Navigation: Best in class
- Training data: All the metrics you can think of, plus a few dozen more, displayed in standard numeric form or, with Connect IQ apps, in a variety of infographics
- Connectivity: ANT+, Bluetooth, WiFi, USB
- Compatibility: ANT+, Shimano Di2, SRAM eTap, Campagnolo EPS
- Size: 59mm x 114mm x 19mm
- Screen: 3.5in / 89mm colour touchscreen, 282 x 470 pixels
- Price: £499 / $599 / AU$749
The latest deals on the Garmin Edge 1030
Are there other options to consider?
It’s worth considering other brands’ bike computers too. Whereas a couple of years ago, a bike computer was a Garmin, there are now alternatives from the likes of Wahoo and Lezyne, which in some cases offer other features, such as better aerodynamics, or lower price points.
You can also get a lot of the functionality of a bike computer in a GPS watch/smartwatch, with more versatility if you’re into other sports besides cycling.
Garmin has a comprehensive range, but other brands to look out for include Fitbit, Suunto and Polar.
Discontinued Garmin Edge bike computer models
Garmin has done quite a bit of housekeeping on its Edge range recently, trimming its offering down to six. So gone are the smallest entry-level Edge 25 and the superseded Edge 1000 series, with the 1030 taking over deluxe duties.
Here’s a full list of discontinued models as at May 2020:
Authors
Paul has been riding since he was a teenager and has been writing about bike tech for almost five years. He was into gravel before it was even invented, riding a cyclocross bike across the South Downs and along muddy paths through the Chilterns. He dabbled in cross-country mountain biking too, before returning to drop bar bikes.
